Exploring the Eastern Cape Passes

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That Zamalek, ice cold went down the throat like silk!

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This was the sunset from the backpackers in Lady grey (btw, we know why it's called "Lady grey" )


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The young ones made the fire for a change.


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This was a long and hard day. As Trailrider mentioned this was the day that we felt the
cameraderie between us, the scenery and experiences were almost too much for the human
brain to absorb in such a short time.

We retired to a deep and peacefull sleep ( nobody mentions the snoring )  :pot:

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I use the face in the last photo for contraception ;D
 
Trailrider said:
I use the face in the last photo for contraception ;D

failing which I guess you resort to the Black Label in pic 1  :biggrin:
 
Day 5

We wake early and refreshed to a beautiful day! With the bikes refueled the previous evening already and no tents to pack we also get an early start after a quick breakfast (2 bananas
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).

We have to reach at least Graaf Reinet today, but will travel further if we can. That said we're still on holiday and don't just want to hit tar home. There is still some scenery to be seen along the way.
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And so with the fresh air in our faces we hit the gravel Karoo roads
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Lovely roads these - gravel highways that's an absolute pleasure to ride.

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Smidty crossing a single lane bridge.

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And the view from the bridge:

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This is the Kraai river - the same river we spent time at yesterday in the Maloti!

We are on our way to the Penhoek Pass via Jamestown. All these little towns have beautiful churches.

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The group is still in very high spirits and we joke and laugh where-ever we stop. The sons ate a lot of peanuts and three bean salad on this trip which in itself was a source of lots of laughter
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so when I saw this we just had to take a picture.
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To Afrikaans people the joke will be self explanatory.
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Penhoek Pass. The name dates from the days of the ox wagon. The original road followed a kloof or narrow glen in the mountain, the top part crossing a broad rocky face several metres below the last ridge. The rock was so slippery and the gradient so steep that the oxen were unable to pull the wagon up. A peg was therefore fixed in the rock ledge, and as soon as the oxen in front reached it, the whole team was outspanned and a long chain was fastened to the wagon shaft. The chain was twisted once around the peg and then hooked again to the team, which was now facing downhill. In this way the oxen found it easy to pull the wagon uphill while they were straining downhill. And once this steepest and most difficult section was passed, the last stage was easily covered. When the present road was built in 1952, the rock face was unfortunately blasted away and the peck disappeared.

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At the bottom of Penhoek pass we opt for a gravel shortcut towards Boesmanshoek Pass.

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But first a quick stop in Sterkstroom:

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Boesmanshoek Pass. This is one of the highest tar passes in the country and it regularly gets closed in the winter due to snow. At this altitude we could feel that the bikes had a little less grunt.

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Molteno:

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Our next point of interest was the Battlefield of Stormberg. The battle of Stormberg was one of three British defeats early in the Boer War that together became known as "Black Week".

Black Week saw the British in South Africa suffer three serious defeats in six days. The first came at Stormberg (10 December 1899), where an army under Sir William Gatacre suffered a defeat after a badly handled night march. Next came Magersfontein (11 December 1899). This saw the defeat of an expedition under Lord Methuen that had been attempting to relieve Kimberley. Finally, on 15 December 1899 the commander in chief in South Africa, Sir Redvers Buller, led his army to defeat at Colenso, ending his first attempt to relieve the siege of Ladysmith.

This was the worst run of defeats suffered by the British army since the Napoleonic wars. I was at the Magersfontein site on my Love & War trip, so I had special interest in this site. Hopefully I'll be able to visit the battlefield at Colenso also in a future trip.

The GPS guided us to the battlefield, or so we thought. We soon realized we were riding on private land and ended up at a farmstead.
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As it turns out there is no museum, no monument, nothing at this site. But this is where it happened:

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As dawn broke, the British (after a long night march) at last came in sight of the Kissieberg. A small Boer picket with one 75mm Krupp gun opened fire. Although Gatacre's force had merely to march around the hill to force the Boers to retreat, about half the infantry rushed forward without orders to storm it. They found that the hill was a typical kopje, ringed by a vertical rock face, which they were unable to climb. The British guns came into action, but shelled the British infantry already downrange.

The other half of Gatacre's force began to fall back in disorder. Gatacre gave the order to retreat to Molteno. Mounted Boer reinforcements appeared and attacked from both sides. The retreat of the exhausted British infantry was covered by the mounted infantry and the artillery, although two 15-pdr. guns were lost. Not until they reached Molteno did Gatacre realise that over 600 men had been left behind on the Kissieberg. Hopelessly cut off, they were forced to surrender.

In the three humiliating defeats the British Army suffered by the Boer Republics at the battles of Stormberg, Magersfontein and Colenso they had 2,776 men killed, wounded and captured. The Boers suffered during the same period some 286 killed, wounded and captured.

The day was heating up, so we stopped for some refreshment.

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Lovely spot under the trees next to a dam.
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I saw another entry for "Stormberg" on the GPS and Asterix and I decided to go investigate. This is what we found:

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Apparently the British had already retreated from this fort before the battle of Stormberg happened.

Time was not on our side and we had to hit the road. Steynburg:

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This town has several beautiful churches.

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Two more passes between Middelburg and Graaf Reinet:

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And Graaf Reinet probably has the most beautiful church of all!

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It was only three in the afternoon and we were here already, so we decided to push through to Willowmore (I have family there). That way we'd only have a short hop to George on the last day.
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On our ride today Smidty suggested that we stop every half hour to stretch our legs and it worked a charm! We just did not get as tired as the previous days. At one of the stops Smidty Jnr asks: "What's that blue stuff all over your engine?"  What??
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Seems like my radiator is leaking
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Now what? I phoned Honda George (on a Saturday afternoon) and they had me check this and that. There was no leakage where the bike stood and it only seemed to seep a little when I was riding, but it looked worse because the wind sprayed it everywhere. The radiator reservoir even still had water in. I was told to ride it home, constantly checking the reservoir for an indication of how fast it leaks.

I filled the reservoir and we set off. I stopped often to check it but the water level only dropped very very slowly. At least I now had photographic evidence that that Honda's indeed does have blue blood
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Also, at least now I too have a story to tell! Around camp fires I have heard owners of other brands tell stories about blown engines, popped shocks, snapping axles and such, all the while accusing me of having a "boring" bike because nothing ever breaks. But now I too have a story
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The Beervlei Dam near Willowmore: Not a drop of water!

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Arriving in Willowmore the radiator reservoir had not even dropped to the half way mark.

And just look at our lodgings tonight.
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Asterix and Smidty Jnr in the splash pool while we braai:

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This was another good day. We enjoyed the ride and the company and the regular stops worked a treat! We rode 622km today without getting as tired as previous days.

After dinner we took a walk to the Royal Hotel and celebrated the great trip we just had!


Sources: Romance of the Cape Mountain Passes; Wikipedia; History of War
 
Day 6

Last day. No rush this morning.

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A quick check of the radiator reservoir shows no change since we got here and it's still almost full. 

We take it easy today. We don't have a lot of distance to do and it's a nice cool day. Our first cool day of the trip.

Uniondale:

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And the pass over into the Lankloof:

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We stop on the Langkloof road to check the radiator reservoir again. All is still fine and the bike is running at normal temperature. Luckily the Transalp does not have an old needle temperature gauge, but a digital gauge that gives you a reading in degrees Celsius, so if there is a spike in engine temperature you'll notice it immediately.

The last pass of the trip:

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One last stop at the viewpoint on Outeniqua pass and this also is where we say goodbye. This was a special trip. It was not just the scenery. The people, the friendship, the camaraderie made it special.

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Thanks Smidty and Smidty Jnr. It was a privilege for Asterix and I to have you on this trip
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We travelled just over 2000km and crossed 22 passes, most of which I have not seen before. But we all know that we have only but scratched the surface. We have seen magnificent places, but many more trips will be needed to unlock the true splendor that is the Eastern Cape, not to mention the Mountain Kingdom of Lesotho!



Tying up loose ends:

I got well and truly beat by the GPS. I reset it each morning to have an accurate reading of each days stats, only to find that I deleted each day's track along with it!
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The route I loaded also did not work out well so obviously I need to study the use of a GPS a bit (a lot!) more. It was useful in finding fuel, shops and points of interest though. So we learn.

As far as the bike is concerned I took it in to the local Honda dealer (Honda Wing George) on the Tuesday after we got back. As it turns out the radiator did not break, but got hit by a stone and only had a small leak. I put in an insurance claim which was approved the next morning and a new radiator was ordered. Honda SA had one in stock and it was promptly sent off. Great service by my broker, Honda SA and Honda George.
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Excellent and well done Trailrider !  :thumleft:  It was a treat having you and Smidty and the young guys over ! Looking forward to seeing you all again ! Thanks again !  :D
 
Lekker RR,TR and friends.
Stunning country we live in!!
Thanks for taking the time and sharing.
 
To Trailrider and Asterix  You guys ROCK  Thanks for an amazing trip and laughs throughout!

Hope we can do a lot more in future.
 
GlenInk said:
Excellent and well done Trailrider !  :thumleft:  It was a treat having you and Smidty and the young guys over ! Looking forward to seeing you all again ! Thanks again !  :D



You will definately see me again! You really have the most amazing scenery there, and I have to do Bastervoetpad ( just need front tyre )
KTSSST!
 
Smidty said:
GlenInk said:
Excellent and well done Trailrider !  :thumleft:  It was a treat having you and Smidty and the young guys over ! Looking forward to seeing you all again ! Thanks again !  :D



You will definately see me again! You really have the most amazing scenery there, and I have to do Bastervoetpad ( just need front tyre )
KTSSST!

And rear tyre cos we`ve had plenty rain the last few days and I`m sure its pretty washed out now !  ::)
 
Glen it was a treat to meet you. You have an official invite to SC to meet the dogs and ride the trails! ;D

Ksssst!
 
Compliments on a great report gents. Forgive me if I ask TR but were you as "muscular" when you did all your long trips on your CTX? Did you change anything on its pipes to maybe give a bit more throttle response?
 
vellies said:
Compliments on a great report gents. Forgive me if I ask TR but were you as "muscular" when you did all your long trips on your CTX? Did you change anything on its pipes to maybe give a bit more throttle response?


Very diplomatic! :biggrin:
 
Sorry but I want to go back to day 4 with some photies. After we left GlenINk in Elliot we entered into the most spectacular riding country I have ever seen.

This is just outside Elliot

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About another 2k's


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2minutes ride later

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After another minute or so

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And having a break on the gravel to Lundeans nek.

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Sheeessh! I love my bike  :ricky:
 
Trailrider said:
The Van Stadens Bridge is a concrete arch bridge over the Van Stadens River. It was opened on November 11, 1971. Just 12 days later, a Uitenhage man jumped to his death, and its reputation as the Bridge of Death grew from there. The death toll from suicides off the bridge is currently at 72.

A R1-million video-camera surveillance system, paid for by private donors, was installed in August 2005. Gauteng journalist Franz Kemp raised the funds after his daughter Inge had jumped off the bridge in 2003. The local police and pedestrians have rescued some twenty people from jumping off since that time.

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The latest suicide happened on the 8th of August 2009 when a 20 year old man jumped to his death while onlookers from Cape Town and a family from PE stood admiring the bridge. Standing here I could imagine that it must have been a terrible sight as you are quite close to the bridge.

Apparently the bridge had another suicide this morning :-\
 
Congratulations Trailrider with your successful trip and thanks for sharing it with us!! Beautiful pics and reporting!! :thumleft:
 
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