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So the plan was to take a ride on my own out to Richmond and on to the Hella Hella Pass to take a few pictures for the Passes of South Africa.
I left home at the fairly respectable time of 07h30 and told my wife I would be back by no later than 10h30......yeah right!
Had a nice quick ride on tar out to Richmond, took no more than about 30 minutes, and reached the bridge over the Umkomaas river. This is where Hella Hella pass allegedly starts, although there are no signs indicating the fact that you are on the pass.
The bridge at Hella Hella is the start of the Umkomaas Canoe Marathon, probably the roughest K1 and K2 canoe race in the world.
At this time of year the water is very low due to there being no rain for ages, but in the rainy season from December to March, the water rises dramatically and the river is pretty awesome.
The ride up the pass is pretty easy, nothing too challenging, but this could change in adverse weather conditions.
There are some stunning views down into the valley from the pass as you go up:
Once you get to the top of the pass the road flattens out and the scenery changes dramatically from natural bushveld to agriculture and plantations.
Anyway, the plan was to head towards Donnybrook and then Bulwer and be back home in time for a late breakfast, but as is often the case the road leading into the plantations in the direction of Ixopo looked far more interesting, so off I went. After about an hour of winding through the plantations on some fairly good dirt roads I had the good fortune of coming across this waterfall that I had never even heard of before - the Qunu Falls:
tucked away on a seldom used track through the plantations outside Ixopo. Couldn't get any good pictures as the spot where I was was right at the top of the falls.
From there I headed to Ixopo, a pretty little town that I think I visited quite a number of years ago as a student to sell RAG magazines, but it is all quite hazy now as I was extremely pissed at the time.
From Ixopo I headed towards Highflats and then got onto a fantastic dirt road that took me back down into the Umkomaas valley. This valley is fantastic, majestic mountains all around you, and really remote and cut off from civilization. The riding here is brilliant, some steep climbs and descents and some really tight corners to keep you on your toes. This was the best riding of the morning. After a couple of hours I came across groups of men with their hunting dogs. I stopped and asked this guy if he minded me taking his picture, and after a couple of minutes he reluctantly agreed
This group of men doing their laundry in the river had no problem at all with me taking their picture:
A couple of times along the road I came across groups of locals kitted out with skins and spears and shields and pangas, walking down the road. I was a bit nervous with the first few groups, but they paid me little attention, so I just got past them as unobtrusively as possible and headed off. I did not stop to ask any of them if I could take their photo, although I did consider it.
I then crossed the Umkomaas for the last time,
then headed up the mountain and out of the valley to Mid-Illovo and then on to Richmond and then home by 16h00, where my dear wife told me quite happilly that she did not think for a minute that I would be home by 10h30.......
I left home at the fairly respectable time of 07h30 and told my wife I would be back by no later than 10h30......yeah right!
Had a nice quick ride on tar out to Richmond, took no more than about 30 minutes, and reached the bridge over the Umkomaas river. This is where Hella Hella pass allegedly starts, although there are no signs indicating the fact that you are on the pass.
The bridge at Hella Hella is the start of the Umkomaas Canoe Marathon, probably the roughest K1 and K2 canoe race in the world.
At this time of year the water is very low due to there being no rain for ages, but in the rainy season from December to March, the water rises dramatically and the river is pretty awesome.
The ride up the pass is pretty easy, nothing too challenging, but this could change in adverse weather conditions.
There are some stunning views down into the valley from the pass as you go up:
Once you get to the top of the pass the road flattens out and the scenery changes dramatically from natural bushveld to agriculture and plantations.
Anyway, the plan was to head towards Donnybrook and then Bulwer and be back home in time for a late breakfast, but as is often the case the road leading into the plantations in the direction of Ixopo looked far more interesting, so off I went. After about an hour of winding through the plantations on some fairly good dirt roads I had the good fortune of coming across this waterfall that I had never even heard of before - the Qunu Falls:
tucked away on a seldom used track through the plantations outside Ixopo. Couldn't get any good pictures as the spot where I was was right at the top of the falls.
From there I headed to Ixopo, a pretty little town that I think I visited quite a number of years ago as a student to sell RAG magazines, but it is all quite hazy now as I was extremely pissed at the time.
From Ixopo I headed towards Highflats and then got onto a fantastic dirt road that took me back down into the Umkomaas valley. This valley is fantastic, majestic mountains all around you, and really remote and cut off from civilization. The riding here is brilliant, some steep climbs and descents and some really tight corners to keep you on your toes. This was the best riding of the morning. After a couple of hours I came across groups of men with their hunting dogs. I stopped and asked this guy if he minded me taking his picture, and after a couple of minutes he reluctantly agreed
This group of men doing their laundry in the river had no problem at all with me taking their picture:
A couple of times along the road I came across groups of locals kitted out with skins and spears and shields and pangas, walking down the road. I was a bit nervous with the first few groups, but they paid me little attention, so I just got past them as unobtrusively as possible and headed off. I did not stop to ask any of them if I could take their photo, although I did consider it.
I then crossed the Umkomaas for the last time,
then headed up the mountain and out of the valley to Mid-Illovo and then on to Richmond and then home by 16h00, where my dear wife told me quite happilly that she did not think for a minute that I would be home by 10h30.......
very nice and enjoyable.
