Flower power: Nieuwoudtville, Loeries, Calvinia, Williston

[growweblaar]

Never in the history of biking has one man had so many regrets for not fixing his heated grips before setting off!

Had a thing going in Williston, so made a week of it in the Northern Cape with the family and the flowers :thumleft:
Wifey and Mini-Me left in the Jazz for Nieuwoudtville, while I had to "work" and followed the next day, on the bike, of course :ricky:

Stayed over at Gannabos in Nieuwoudtville (ja, Merwe!) - the farm that has the quiver tree forest (kokerboomwoud). Very lekker! :thumleft:

 

[weskusklong]

En waar is die res van die RR en blommetjies eepwall:

 

[Hinksding]

:toothy4:

 

[growweblaar]

Got away early from Stellies and cut through the fog to Ceres via N1, Du Toit's Kloof pass, Slanghoek (I'm sooo tired of the Wellington route!).

Then skirted the 'Berg and did Citrusdal, Clanwilliam hugging the Olifants river (nice rally route that Citrusdal->Clanwilliam one nex to the river, quiet, no fruit trucks this time of year. Weeee!).

 

[Piston Pete]

Sub.

 

[growweblaar]

R364 was in nice condition.

Then I hit the dreaded "shortcut" to Nieuwoudtville: Moedverloor. Ja, raai hoekom is dit die Moedverloor pad? Dalk iets met die hekke te doen??

And the middle section is not quite a road, more like a track. Fortunately, on the Nieuwoudtville side they've heard of "karhekke" :hello2:

 

[growweblaar]

Nieuwoudtville. The centre of the universe. If you're a sheep.

 

[growweblaar]

The Quiver Tree Forest on the farm Gannabos (where we stayed) is well worth seeing.

Not bad pics for a cell phone, eh? :happy11: Samsung Galaxy S3 Mini  (just don't use the zoom. I knew that, but still did... don't use the zoom)

 

[weskusklong]

Ai maar dis mooi,sal ook nie maklik ingels op daai borde raaklees nie.

 

[growweblaar]

Around N'ville there's the spectacular waterfall, and the Papkuilsfontein plaasstal (back on the R364) has a great restaurant, flower drive and the start of the Oorlogskloof canyon (complete with yet another spectacular waterfall!). The Jazz performed admirably in the section marked: Only vehicles with high ground clearance. The underside of the car has never been that clean!

And in Loeries, of course, there's one of two windpump museums on the entire planet. But you knew that.

 

[growweblaar]

Windpompmuseum.

 

[growweblaar]

The long (cold) road to Williston, via Calvinia. 185km of straight tar, interspersed with bouts of regret for not fixing those heated grips.

Calvinia claims the world's biggest post box:

The postbox was an old water tank which had been on the Dutch Reformed Church's grounds. The local doctor, Erwin Coetzee, said the area around the water tank was looking messy. His wife, Alta, said that the tank looked like a postbox, and so the local business chamber and residents decided to convert the water tank into a postbox in 1994. The Post Office supplied the paint. Every letter that is posted from the postbox now gets a hand-stamp with a flower as an emblem. Today the giant postbox is the most photographed place in Calvinia.

But you knew that.

Did I mention the cold?

 

[growweblaar]

Things to do in Williston:

1. Visit "Die Ark" (aka Williston Mall)
2. Stay warm
3. Visit "Die Ark" (have another round of tea & scones, get to know the other dogs and cats)
4. Stay warm
5. Sleep
6. Visit "Die Ark"(bar opens at 10am, more cats you didn't meet yesterday)
7. Stay warm
8. Visit "Die Ark"...

PS: Kyk as daar nou een ding is wat ons boere-mense kan goed doen, dan's dit f****n koud kry. Dis minus friggin something en daar's een klein 2-bar heater en 'n oranje bal wat se fan nie meer werk nie. Verduiwels, Oom, jy't 'n Fortuner, 'n groot skaapplaas EN 'n dorpshuis, kan jy nie CENTRAL HEATING bekostig nie!? :biggrin:

 

[growweblaar]

Oh, sorry, I forgot Williston Cheapstop! ;D

(Yes, 4 year olds eat lollies when it's barely above freezing!)

 

[growweblaar]

Alle goeie dinge kom tot 'n einde. The road back: Calvinia, R355 to Ceres and back to Stb.

Look, I've got thick gloves (ski gloves, tried and tested in snow). But nothing stops zero degrees C at 130 km/h!  :confused2: Every now and then, when the pain got too much, I would slide my left hand down to touch a radiator hose or clutch cover, taking care not to make a prang. Warm fingers for 30 seconds.

Lunch at Tankwa padstal was good. Very busy! My son enjoyed the smoking gnu ;D

Fluit-fluit, my storie is uit. Bliksem, maar so 'n report vat lank! Nou gaan ek slaap.

 

[growweblaar]

 

[Hinksding]

Mooi pics. Dis nie net die Windpompe wat op Loeries bly nie! Ekt baie hulpmiddels vir die sogenaamde koue hoor...  ;D

 

[hando]

Is net oor jy so maar gat is lat jy so koud kry.

Die boere mense voel nie eers daai koue nie.

baie Nice RR. Dankie vir die moeite.

 

[Rynet]

Lekker RR Growweblaar , and some very nice pics  :thumleft: :thumleft:

I also rode Moedverloor solo and that's a lot of gates to open, must be about 13! Thanks for the stories and info , very nice. Even if places are familiar, its always new and different when you see it through someone else's eyes. :sip:

Oh , the pic of you and blaartjie is classic, love how he puts his foot up and "owns" the bike.  :biggrin::biggrin:

 

[mtr89]

Thanks for sharing.you were right,there is some really beautiful photos and from a cell phone!