KZN - Durban to Sani Trip - 11/12th January 2014

[Mr G (David)]

Sorry this ride report took so long but with going back to the grind stone and playing catch-up is has put me in a different frame of mind as to when I was riding to, and from Sani two weeks ago. :spitcoffee:

Needless to say  Saturday morning we met at the Shell garage in Pinetown and were all good to leave at 8 am sharp. We did have two cancelations, one being maintenance related and the other family related. ???

On the ride was Bushcat 690KTM, Calvin GS800, Brett and brother Jason on KLR’s, Ian and myself on XR’s and TrevorWB 990 KTM who rode with us almost Bulwer where he headed home with a 6:30 pm evening appointment.

The weather was forecasted to be raining and what a perfect riding day it turned out to be….overcast and mild but no rain.
The two KLR’s were taking it easy as both motors had recently been rebuilt and were still being run in. Our first stop was at the Richmond Country Club for breakfast. :biggrin:

 

[CoolBreeze]

Nice one chaps :thumleft: I would love to have done this trip. Next time i'm in!

Is that 800gs from the Umhlanga/Prestondale area? I'm sure i've seen it around?

 

[Mr G (David)]

You right Cool breeze...Umhlanga bike...this damn loading reports is problamatic...loads, then does not load :eek7: :xxbah:

 

[Mr G (David)]

I will load more another time...seems to be hanging ???

 

[COLES]

good to see friends out on a ride nice pic,s

 

[Mr G (David)]

We then headed towards Bulwer where along the way I pick up a long nail punctureﾅ.can you believe it on my new rear tyre9 Thank goodness I had the spares kit, tubes etc as most of the non WD riders/ newbies were also counting on me to supply the extras if needed. I think it took about 20 minutes to replace the tubeﾅ.not badﾅgetting it down to a fine art. :3some:

After leaving Trevor at the R617 intersection to Bulwer, we headed for Bulwer, where we refueled for those that needed and took a breather. :snorting:

Back tracking out of Bulwer we turned left and headed out on the d roads to Himeville.

We had arrived in around 1 pm and secured our rooms and off loaded the unnecessary luggage and headed for the Pass. A few of the riders had never done the pass and there was a definite anxiety to get to the top.
In fact when we reached the SA border post the question was asked is that it??? LOL. The best was yet to come is it was showing signs of a misty climb. :biggrin:

 

[Mr G (David)]

Have no idea whats happening to the picture uploads..... ???

 

[Mr G (David)]

Look like one at a time

 

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[Mr G (David)]

Passports sorted and we headed off. The streams were running high which also made for rocky river crossings with all the erosion that had taken place. :thumleft:

A lot of the views were lost going up, because of the mist however that was maybe a good thing so that we remained focused on the road and obstacles I front of us. ;D

We were soon at the Highest Pub in Africa enjoying a glass of  Gluwyn (or two) and a Maluti beer. Here we also had a small lunch, in which time the mist had partly clear at the top of the pass, but it still covered the road down.

There were no offs on the way down…well that I heard of and we headed back to the Back Packers for a shower, supper and a good night’s sleep.

 

[Mr G (David)]

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