ECO 2012 - You know your limits, but you don't know your abilities . . . . . . .

[JACOVV]

So I was told when we stopped at Wepener for a coffee . . . . . .  :ricky:

OK - let me start at the beginning.

The group would be myself, David, Ellio & his wife Patti, BradM, Ed, Roger & Mike.  The plan was to leave EL on Wednesday morning early for Cathcart (tar) and then jump on the gravel towards Aliwal North via Lady Frere, Dordrecht, Joubert's Pass and Lady Grey, but due to the rain that basically took away the N2, we decided to stick to tar  atch:  It can be described as BORING.

Photo's were taken by David and myself . . . . . OK - we also asked a waiter or somebody else here and there . . .

DAY 1
06H00 we left EL.  Ed & BradM would leave later that morning and Roger, Mike & Hennie would leave the following morning due to work commitments.

I'm not a talker, so let the photo's do the talking . . . . .

First stop.  Not too much rain yet.

At Queenstown we stopped for a coffee.  As we entered Queenstown, the water came down in buckets.

Our stop-over for the night - Aliwal (David & Myself)

 

[JACOVV]

The plan for DAY 2 was Aliwal - Clocolan.  Nothing hectic.

We left for Rouxville and while I visited a family member I last saw in 1981, the rest of the group waited for me patiently.  In the meantime the met the PE dogs and routes were discussed as the roads were "ride-able".

Here Dorothee is waiting while routes are changing hands

Jughead & Ellio discussing the route.

Are we lost??  Noooo - just checking

Scenery

Flip a coin

 

[JACOVV]

1st Time for me in the Vrystaat

Ou Dikkes waiting

We stopped for . . . . . . . . .

LIONS  :eek7:

I rather stop at the gate so that I can jump to the other side if they jump over the fence  :lol8:

and I take a photo of this spotted Cement Tiger

 

[The Badger]

Nice pics JMOL..........looking forward to the rest. :thumleft:

 

[JACOVV]

Nice pics JMOL..........looking forward to the rest. :thumleft:

Thanks - nothing serious, but we had a big JOL  :ricky:

 

[Lem]

ek hoop daars nog wat kom, want dis darem mooi wêreld daai  :thumleft:

 

[JACOVV]

We did a backtrack towards Aliwal to see the lions, but it was a nice ride with good roads etc.

From Rouxville the gravel road towards Wepener was taken.  David and myself just followed and we enjoyed the scenery.  I nearly came short after I changed "lanes" without "fokus my kind - fokus!!"

In Wepener we stopped for coffee.  David parked his bike close to the stoep where we were sitting.

While the Grey & Black ones waited under the trees in the shade talking to each other and discussing the route ahead.

While the bikes were talking and we were waiting for our drinks, I took the oppertunity of taking some kiekies. . . . . .

In the bar we met these two Afrikaner bulls and Ram

We also saw these pens that are framed.  Personally I like pens, but I haven't see something like this before.

 

[JACOVV]

Somewhere on the route towards Clocolan.

We arraived in Clocolan, save an sound.  Thanks Ellio for leading us  :director:

We started to get our flat ready for the rest of our stay in Clocolan.

View from our tents towards the Head Office . . .

Now this is not sommer just another kiekie!!  David doesn't have a cellphone, GPS or computor (Nothing wrong with that), BUT I told him that if he wants to go with me on a trip again, he has to know how it works because we might need it one day and then he'll be sorry that he couldn't phone for help.  So a day or 2 before we left, he had class / lessons of how to use a cellphone.  I was told not to tell his kids that he knows how it works otherwise they'll insist that he has to have a phone when he goes on his trips - he often goes on his own.

This was taken to black-mail him one day  :deal:   :mwink:   :imaposer:

 

[JACOVV]

ek hoop daars nog wat kom, want dis darem mooi wêreld daai  :thumleft:

Yep - daar is.  Was ook my 1ste keer in daardie deel vd land

 

[JACOVV]

DAY 3 and we were not sure what we gonna do.  Dorothee told us that she joined the Pta group for Orange 1.  So we followed . . .   What a nice route it was.  Thanks to Danny (I think) for leading the group and the Pta people who made us feel welcome.  Saying that doesn't mean that we'll support the Bulls  ot:  :ricky:  Here are a few kiekies that were taken on the route.

Please excuse me if I have a name wrong . . as I was  :deal: on the road.

I always admire these old farmhouses as I wonder how many kids were playing on the grass and how many discussion were held on the big stoep.

Scenery . . . .

Nou wat maak julle hier???

 

[JACOVV]

Now what do we have here??

Our sweeper - Pikkie if I'm not mistaken.

Man on the Moon flying past us

And then my "Partner in Crime", David going airborne  :laughing4:

We stopped at Marquad for a cold one and something to bite

And I have proof that I was there.  Thanks again for the lady who brought me my camera I nearly lost  :

 

[JACOVV]

David, Dorothee and I went straight back to Head Office to clean ourselves as we didn't want to miss the skills challange later the afternoon.  I'm taking my hat off to all the people that took part.

You are saluted  :salut: :salut: :salut: :salut:

Closing the gate

Pushing the rim

See-saw with balancing . . . .  :deal:  Fokus my kind, fokus

And then to this couple - :salut: :salut: :salut: :salut:  Dis BAIE sakke sout saam opeet die!!!

 

[JACOVV]

DAY 4

The original plan was to leave today, going to Matatiele via Clarens, Golden Gate and various gravel roads, but due to the heavy rain (according to all the reports), we decided that we would go to Clarens, Golden gate and then leave for Aliwal as we would like to do the 1st day's route in reverse (meaning from Aliwal to EL).

Early morning ready to go after a healthy breakfast . . .

But we 1st have to take a few kiekies of these old machines.  I think the farmers would enjoy this . . . .

My very 1st time I was driving something with a steering wheel, was a tractor like this on my uncle's farm in Barkly East.  Many many moons ago.  (Dink die KP was nog aan bewind  :imaposer

Look at the steering wheel etc of this tractor.

What if we still have to build roads with these??  Maybe the roads would be better  eepwall:

Apparently this "donkey' is over 100 years old.  We had hot water 24/7.

 

[JACOVV]

1st Stop in Clarens.  What a place.  I think all the people of J'Burg & Pta was there  :mwink:

Reverse parking did the trick.

Then these 2 funny guys were entertaining all the kids

Golden Gate Area - I have no words.

 

[JACOVV]

After Golden Gate we "klapped" the tar towards Aliwal as it was late.

What happens in Hobhouse, stays in Hobhouse  :bueller:

The church in Hobhouse

We booked in at the Welgemoed flats - very clean and well looked after place!!

And so another day in Afrika ended after I fell off my bike in the main road in Aliwal.  Stupid!!  Don't play - it's not a toy  :deal:

 

[Fuzzy Muzzy]

Looked awesome, thanks for sharing  :thumleft:

 

[JACOVV]

DAY 5

I love my wife, I love my kids, grand child, my house etc, but it's always a sad story if it's the last day!!!  The original plan was to go from Matatiele to Rhodes, Barkly East, Clifford, Rossouw, Dordrecht and straight home, but that leaves the gap for another day  :mwink:

We were planning to leave at sunset, but we were sleeping very late.  It was close to 7 when I wake up and we were starting to pack our stuff.  Left Aliwal just after 8 heading towards Lady Grey with a strong (read - very strong) wind coming from the front, right, left - ag - all over!!

Lady Grey's windmill.  At last I have my own kiekie of it  ;D

Main Road in Lady Grey

Lady Grey.  I haven't done a down Jouberts Pass this side before, so it is a 1st for me from this side.

David "trying" to open some of the locks  :biggrin:

Going down

 

[JACOVV]

Looked awesome, thanks for sharing  :thumleft:

Thanks FM

 

[JACOVV]

Down in the Valley we found a place or two for nice photo's.  I felt like a model after all these kiekies  ;D

And so the beautiful scenery ended  :

 

[JACOVV]

But the day is not over yet!!

Looking down from the plato we are on.  Did I mention that there was a strong wind??

Mellow Yello

David told me that he wants to eat, but the wind is so strong!!  I told him that according to the GPS there is a river ahead and why don't we stop close to the river and have lunch?  We couldn't asked for a better place as we went right next to the river, no wind, grass where we could sit on and a river next to us!!

Nou gaan ons eet  :mwink:

After lunch David is having his Sunday afternoon nap and I sneek away . . . .  to shade under a tree.

After about half an hour reality kicks in and we have to go again, but first we are having our own skills challenge  :ricky:

We met this guy on the road (in fact he was the only person we saw during the whole day!!) and gave him the leftovers of the braaivleis.

In Rossouw we decided that we had enough of the wind and we went straight to Dordrecht, Queenstown and home.

As we entered Cathcart we met Ellio and Patti again and the 3 bikes were riding together.

Milage done:       1 846 km
Moving Average:  85 km/h
Moving Time:       21:48

Would I do it again with the same group? Yes
Would I do an ECO again?  Yes

Thanks to all the people I met on the road, thanks to Coetzee & Dawid de Bruyn for their effort with the ECO.  Much appreciated.  Many thanks to David who was on my side for 5 days, Ellio and his wife Patti for riding with us and taught me what the meaning is of "You know your limits, but you don't know your abilities . . . . . . . "
Thanks for reading and for all the responces and lastly to Ou Bees (Milly my wife).  I just ask if I can go and then I have to go.  

Be good!!

Until next time - God Bless - Jaco