Into heaven and back

[Succi]

I’m now so excited, as I last were when my high school girlfriend (super sexy I must add)
asked me to go visit her folks in East Londen for the weekend.  

Why was I so excited you may ask?  

Well, it turned out that when we got there, her folks were actually in Johannesburg for the weekend !  >
Well here I sit with that same excitement;
What is going to , and what is not going to,  happen over the next couple of days. . .

 

[Succi]

Funny how this works!  A week or so before, one of the EC dogs phoned me. 

Now I won’t mention names  >, but he nagged me to go on a trip to the Wildcoast! 
This got the juices flowing and I started planning a route immediately! 

Soon to realize that this should be at least a 5-6 day trip to really appreciate the area. 
Anyway so MikeH (aka K-Dog) and I got together and its all systems go,
the only thing remaining where to organize some time off from work. . .

Jah - you guessed correctly! 
K-dog phones me the next day, chit-chatting about this and that, 
warra warra, habba-habba, oh by the way I won’t be able to get off from work for the trip!  :-\

DAMN!!!!!!  atch:

What to do ?  What to Do?  ??? 

There and then I made the decision that a solo trip is in order. . .

 

[Succi]

Ok – I am crazy, but to go solo into the Wildcoast is not on the cards!
And so the planning started from scratch.  Immediately the Barley East 8 passes challenge came to mind !

The 8 passes consisting of Naude's  Nek (Highest dirt road mountain pass in SA),  
Joubert's Pass (3rd highest dirt road pass),  
Volunteershoek (Tiffendell),  Carlislehoek (Rhodes) ,  Lundean’s Nek (Lesotho Border – Telebridge),  
Bastervoetpad (Technical) ,  Barkley Pass (Gods Artwork) and Otto du Plesssis (wild and un-spoilt).  

I for one – really enjoy planning a trip.  Looking at the highlights of an area, learning about the history,
finding out interesting places to see – it is half the fun and provide you different alternatives if need be!   :thumleft:

And there is no better place to look for highlights of a particular area as at the geo-caching fraternity.  
Normally these hidden “treasures” are placed in all the scenic locations. ( www.goecaching.com )  
So this was going to be a trip where I can enjoy the trip and as a bonus find a couple of geo-caches.

The original Wild coast plan was over 6 days. . .
I still had the time, so the plan remained for 6 days.

Do as many gravel roads as possible and camp at night,
but now the road will lead me to the Northern part of the Eastern Cape close to Lesotho and the Orange River.

   

For a solo trip of 6 days like this, I put a little extra thought into the packing of gear
and if the bike looks like a pack donkey in the pictures, it’s because it was!   :biggrin:

One thing that I found peculiar is. . . how many people tried before the trip,
to persuade me of a million reasons not to go!  That just made me more determined to go!

So, on the Friday I joined the EC Wilddogs in PE for a “loop dop” and some dutch courage before setting off early Saturday morning. . .

 

[Succi]

Day1  (Saturday) – “Ground Hog Day”

I was far too excited to sleep late , and eventually left 30min earlier than planned.  

The road up to the town Addo was very misty – a sure sign of a very hot day to come. . .

On the gravel road between Addo and Paterson   I saw my first “hog” (vlakvark) of the day.

Shortly after another hog decided to run with me on this stretch of road:

After Alicedale I entered into Burchell Game Reserve on the way to Riebeek East

---

By now it was extremely hot (34degC) and that is when I discovered that my tent is missing!
My mind started to race and the thought of the-trip-is-over-before-it-even-started crossed my mind!

So I turned back  . . .

 

[Succi]

But it seemed like the gods were smiling down at me, as a couple of km back on the road I discovered this . . .

So all was good, and I now made sure that everything is strapped on tight!

Back up the beautiful gravel pass:

At one of the gates I discovered that some other dogs have been here and marked their spot.  :biggrin: 

 

[Succi]

Just on the other side of Hellspoort Pass on the way to Fort Beauford is this stunning straight road.

Close to here I almost connected the third hog of the day at 100km/h, but narrowly (luckily) missed it!

I made a quick stop in Fort Beauford to find some geocaches . . .

On the way to Katberg pass through Mpofu Game Reserve you have some nice views

I even tried the “hayleyscomet“  shot of the XT.   >        

 

[Succi]

By now the day was really cooking me inside the tour jacket,
but I was enjoying the ride so much it didn’t matter.  

Until Katberg pass where I had to work harder on the rough terrain.
Especially because the bike is top heavy with all the loaded gear.  

The views at Katberg pass made up for all the hard work!

The Katberg pass is really a special place to ride !    :thumleft:      

 

[Succi]

The going was slow, but once I got to the top, you can forgive me for thinking that I was somewhere in Lesotho .

Even with wild horses and all

I arrived in Queenstown completely bushed and dehydrated due to the heat of the day.

What an awesome first day of the trip!  
I made lots of stops along the way to enjoy the scenery and take photos
and I was on a high even though I traveled a hour longer than planned!

That night I could not sleep, allthough I was physically tired, my mind kept on racing!  
Millions of questions running through my head:
Have I checked this, that or the other?
Where are my maps? Now where did I place the master link in case I need it?
I even placed my XT key in my toilet bag, so I would not have to look for it.

Have I filled the camelback with water?  
Now there is the most valuable thing I took on the trip "the camel back" which hold 2 liter of water!   :thumleft:

Eventually I fell asleep . . .  content, wishing the day will repeat over and over . . . Like the movie Ground Hog Day   ;D

 

[Succi]

STATS & TRACK
Day1:
PE-Queenstown
via: Addo, Paterson, Olifantkop Pass, Alice, Riebeek East, Hellspoort Pass, Bedford, Adelaide, Ford Beauford, Mpofu, Balfour, Katberg Pass, Devils’s Bellow’s pass, Wittelsea.

Distance:                Planned - 486km                Actual – 502km
Travel Time:            Planned -10h                          Actual – 11h
Fuel Used: 30.13 Liters
Fuel Cost: R 246.65

 

[GlenInk (R.I.P)]

:happy1:

 

[Succi]

Day2  (Sunday) – “Stormberg – Land of the Donga”
     
I woke up 5:30am this morning!  :bueller:
I’m sure my mind never switched of as it was still racing!  It was the weirdest thing! 

So I started packing everything into the topbox and strapping the backpack, tent and sleeping bag top of everything . 
Making sure that all the straps are properly fastened.  :deal:

OK! Ready to hit the road !  Erhm . . . but where is my key ?!  ???

Yes - inside the toilet bag, where I put it last night,
which off course is inside the top box – underneath all strapped on tent and sleeping  bag!  Fark!!!  :eek7:  atch:  :xxbah:

But luckily for me I had another key in my inside pocket of my touring jacket!!
Wouldn’t want to unpack all of that!

So I set off early again and was on the road by 7am, to try and miss some of the heat.  :ricky:
This turned out to be a good thing as the day turned into a 37DegC scorcher! 
Summer (Feb) is definitively not the right time to do this! 

 

[Succi]

The road from Queenstown led me up to North to Dordrecht, Jamestown, Sterkstroom, Molteno area
or else known as the Stormberg area. 
It was true to its name as the wind was pumping!

The road vary from perfect tar, to potholes (with some tar), and lekka gravel roads.

It’s amazing to see the amount of donga’s in this part of the country.

The local houses have an interesting story to it.
Previously the houses always used to be round,
but with western building technique influence the locals started building modern square / rectangular shaped houses. 
However as the locals believe that the ancestors only live in the previous round houses
– you will always find a round house next to a modern square one, 
or at least one round house in a community.

 

[zetman]

Lyk na lekker trip wat jy gehad het kon jy eenige geopakkette opspoor

 

[Manic]

Tjom, volgende keer as jy vir 6 dae wil wegraak, pm my!!

Ek sou dit saam jou gedoen het.

Anyway, nice report.

Ek wag vir nog piccies  :ricky:  :thumleft:

 

[Succi]

Yip, het so 6 na 8 per dag gekry . . .   :biggrin:

 

[HVDM]

Fark broer, I know these roads so well. did them years ago. make me homesick. I know the exact places you took the pics

 

[Succi]

Allthough today was far hotter than the day before, the riding was easier.
Here is a photo from Bushmanshoek pass. (Spot my bike at the bottom)  

With some nice scenic gravel roads  

I was drinking water from the 2L camelback, but still had to stop frequently to get extra drinks on the way - due to the heat.  
If I can recall correctly I drank about 9-10 liters of fluids during this day’s trip!  
And I’m not counting the beer in Lady Grey !   :mwink:

I stopped off in Burgesdorp for some more geocaches.

 

[Succi]

Fark broer, I know these roads so well. did them years ago. make me homesick. I know the exact places you took the pics

Glad I could bring some memories back HVDM ! 
Last time I was in this area was when I was a little toddler!

 

[Succi]

Once I got to “Die Vlakte” East of Aliwal North - the Southern Drakensberg Mountains could be seen.

I was really starting to enjoy the reliable hum of the XT under me,
when I entered into Lady Grey for my next port of call.

 

[GlenInk (R.I.P)]

:happy1: