- Joined
- Jan 24, 2006
- Messages
- 5,166
- Reaction score
- 352
- Location
- Brakpan, South Africa
- Bike
- BMW R1200GS HP2
I have been toying with the idea to plan a WD event on Patman's farm for quite some time, so with me not being able to attend the WD Bash, we decided this weekend was as good a time as ever, especially with Patman driving me for quite some time to get my â??Gat in Ratâ?.
Saturday morning as the first Mossie was about to let rip its first fart of the day we hit the road our nostrils filled with fresh morning air, OK not that fresh while we passed Gauteng. Our route took us south on the R59 towards Deneysville, past Oranjeville and finally Frankfort. A fairly gutsy south western wind ensured that any dust was blown away quite rapidly, so with a refreshed feeling brought on by lotsa fresh air we rolled into town and onto the Feathers Pub. This damn fine establishment is run by Roelof and friend ( I hope my memory serves me right) who were preparing breakfast especially for us. On a regular day this establishment is a pub, filled with thousands of Army memorabilia, enough to make any hardened ex-soldier like myself feel right at home. All that old army stuff you have at home, take it along next time you visit town, and give it a worthy place in this military museum. :-[ Definitely gets my vote as best pub visited in 2007.
After the mother of all breakfasts that included steak, bacon eggs, etc all for R40, we headed off towards the farm on a dirt highway. Patmanâ??s farm is on the banks of the Wilger River, in a spot where the river makes a 180 degree turn. Our plan for the WD event is to set up camp right at this spot. Right in the middle of nowhere with stars as bright as Penzil headlamps, and the silence to deafen your ears. Here attending WDâ??s can go mal, make lotsa noise, swim in da river and just have a good time, all while being chowed by lotsa mozzies. This weekend we were going to stay in the farm house, built in the Klein Hartbeeshuis style.
The bend has been fenced in, so the river forms a natural border almost in the shape of a match head. The biggest section has been turned into a game farm, so really a spot of heaven! As mentioned this is private land, so opening and closing gates was the order of the day!
They had quite a bit of rain recently and the veld is busy changing to a luscious green oasis which was very pleasant to ride through. Eventually we arrived at the farmhouse, offloaded our stuff, had a quick drink to calm the nerves after the dirt highway, and soon we were out on track.
This section next to the river was used during the Boer war as a hiding spot for men and women. Some of these old hide outs are still standing and makes for interesting viewing.
Patman had liaised with all the farmers in the area, so we could have access to all the land in the area. Patman and his sweetheart
As mentioned the biggest portion of the land was turned into a game farm, so soon we were viewing game from the comfy of our bikes. We had promised that we would ride absolutely slowly, and managed to get quite close to some of the species.
This Rooi Hartebees however was not easily convinced.
Some of the other species was a bit more relaxed
Blesbok
Patman and some Zebra
Yourâ??s truly and more Zebra
Gemsbok
Blesbok, Swart Wildebeeste, Springbok and Rooibok â?? all in there somewhere
After the excitement of the game viewing we headed down towards the marsh area for some fun in the mud. Patman showed the way
Honey tasting some mud, with Patman and Vinnige Fanie trying to get the 1150 out the mud
Bikemice putting the Dakar through its passes
Transporter going nowhere slowly�� front wheel barely turning and rear wheel spinning at 100km/h
OK all out and ready to continue
Wonder how this one came to its last momentâ?¦
Lotsa rain = lotsa water, so I guess the odd river crossing was going to be inevitable
Patman taking on the water..
Transporter braving the obstacle
Bikermice looking good on the nifty and nimble Dakar
Patmanâ??s view from the top
From hear we headed all along a river along some pretty scenic spots
Quite hilarious, the cattle thought our sweeper bakkie was bringing them food, so they followed us as we rode along
Off the one farm and on to the next along some dirt highway sections
Jean was my pillion and thoroughly enjoyed the trip, at least so he said
Another marsh area and Transporter loosing the track and trying to ride up a pretty steep bank, almost got high sided
Vinnige Fanie coming to his rescue / assistance
Patman taking it slowly, sitting down as relaxed bikers do
The next farm belonged to Patmanâ??s sister, and here we stumbled upon my favorite dog species. Bullterrierâ??s are a wonderful breed, and if treated right will reward you with lotsa love and protection, whilst having a keen nose for rats. This one was quite young and I easily convinced her to come to play
Another farm, another water crossing, this one quite easy with cement underneath
We started our route at 1 pm and all too soon the sun was heading home for the night and we had to make a rapid return to get home before dark. The farm is very basic, no large farm estate, power, cell phone reception and all the modern facilities, just peace and quiet. As we all hate to prepare for the night in darkness, we were all eager to get home with some light to spare, which we easily achieved.
Another heavenly day spent under the African Sky on a wonderful bike that performed faultlessly, despite all the recent rants about software and all sortsa kark. This one, she is my baby, and is by far the best bike I ever owned. Honey is heading for the late thirties and this December will seeing SA we will probably hit the naughty forties.
As the sun went to rest we did what any regular South African would do. Man Life is great on the African continent
My G/F was flying back from a Greece Island on Sunday morning, so by 5 am I was up and on my way while the rest snorted a bit more, farted even more and generally just had a more relaxed start to the day.
By the time they were getting up I was pulling into Pretoria with Cat Stevensâ?? Morning has Broken ringing in my ears.
Now all that remains is to plan this weekend, find some WD's that would like to attend, and as the Nike Ad says â??Just Do Itâ??
Watch the â??Planning a Tripâ? section for detail, early in the new year.
Thanks to all who joined, Transporter was nice riding with you for the first time, and David thanks for riding the sweeper bakkie. David is not a biker, but he heard so many biker stories this weekend, I wouldnâ??t be surprised if he gets some 2 Wheels soon. Excalibur, drink jou pille want jyâ??s flippen lui geraak!
Last thanks to God for bringing us all back safely. 8)
Saturday morning as the first Mossie was about to let rip its first fart of the day we hit the road our nostrils filled with fresh morning air, OK not that fresh while we passed Gauteng. Our route took us south on the R59 towards Deneysville, past Oranjeville and finally Frankfort. A fairly gutsy south western wind ensured that any dust was blown away quite rapidly, so with a refreshed feeling brought on by lotsa fresh air we rolled into town and onto the Feathers Pub. This damn fine establishment is run by Roelof and friend ( I hope my memory serves me right) who were preparing breakfast especially for us. On a regular day this establishment is a pub, filled with thousands of Army memorabilia, enough to make any hardened ex-soldier like myself feel right at home. All that old army stuff you have at home, take it along next time you visit town, and give it a worthy place in this military museum. :-[ Definitely gets my vote as best pub visited in 2007.
After the mother of all breakfasts that included steak, bacon eggs, etc all for R40, we headed off towards the farm on a dirt highway. Patmanâ??s farm is on the banks of the Wilger River, in a spot where the river makes a 180 degree turn. Our plan for the WD event is to set up camp right at this spot. Right in the middle of nowhere with stars as bright as Penzil headlamps, and the silence to deafen your ears. Here attending WDâ??s can go mal, make lotsa noise, swim in da river and just have a good time, all while being chowed by lotsa mozzies. This weekend we were going to stay in the farm house, built in the Klein Hartbeeshuis style.
The bend has been fenced in, so the river forms a natural border almost in the shape of a match head. The biggest section has been turned into a game farm, so really a spot of heaven! As mentioned this is private land, so opening and closing gates was the order of the day!
They had quite a bit of rain recently and the veld is busy changing to a luscious green oasis which was very pleasant to ride through. Eventually we arrived at the farmhouse, offloaded our stuff, had a quick drink to calm the nerves after the dirt highway, and soon we were out on track.
This section next to the river was used during the Boer war as a hiding spot for men and women. Some of these old hide outs are still standing and makes for interesting viewing.
Patman had liaised with all the farmers in the area, so we could have access to all the land in the area. Patman and his sweetheart
As mentioned the biggest portion of the land was turned into a game farm, so soon we were viewing game from the comfy of our bikes. We had promised that we would ride absolutely slowly, and managed to get quite close to some of the species.
This Rooi Hartebees however was not easily convinced.
Some of the other species was a bit more relaxed
Blesbok
Patman and some Zebra
Yourâ??s truly and more Zebra
Gemsbok
Blesbok, Swart Wildebeeste, Springbok and Rooibok â?? all in there somewhere
After the excitement of the game viewing we headed down towards the marsh area for some fun in the mud. Patman showed the way
Honey tasting some mud, with Patman and Vinnige Fanie trying to get the 1150 out the mud
Bikemice putting the Dakar through its passes
Transporter going nowhere slowly�� front wheel barely turning and rear wheel spinning at 100km/h
OK all out and ready to continue
Wonder how this one came to its last momentâ?¦
Lotsa rain = lotsa water, so I guess the odd river crossing was going to be inevitable
Patman taking on the water..
Transporter braving the obstacle
Bikermice looking good on the nifty and nimble Dakar
Patmanâ??s view from the top
From hear we headed all along a river along some pretty scenic spots
Quite hilarious, the cattle thought our sweeper bakkie was bringing them food, so they followed us as we rode along
Off the one farm and on to the next along some dirt highway sections
Jean was my pillion and thoroughly enjoyed the trip, at least so he said
Another marsh area and Transporter loosing the track and trying to ride up a pretty steep bank, almost got high sided
Vinnige Fanie coming to his rescue / assistance
Patman taking it slowly, sitting down as relaxed bikers do
The next farm belonged to Patmanâ??s sister, and here we stumbled upon my favorite dog species. Bullterrierâ??s are a wonderful breed, and if treated right will reward you with lotsa love and protection, whilst having a keen nose for rats. This one was quite young and I easily convinced her to come to play
Another farm, another water crossing, this one quite easy with cement underneath
We started our route at 1 pm and all too soon the sun was heading home for the night and we had to make a rapid return to get home before dark. The farm is very basic, no large farm estate, power, cell phone reception and all the modern facilities, just peace and quiet. As we all hate to prepare for the night in darkness, we were all eager to get home with some light to spare, which we easily achieved.
Another heavenly day spent under the African Sky on a wonderful bike that performed faultlessly, despite all the recent rants about software and all sortsa kark. This one, she is my baby, and is by far the best bike I ever owned. Honey is heading for the late thirties and this December will seeing SA we will probably hit the naughty forties.
As the sun went to rest we did what any regular South African would do. Man Life is great on the African continent
My G/F was flying back from a Greece Island on Sunday morning, so by 5 am I was up and on my way while the rest snorted a bit more, farted even more and generally just had a more relaxed start to the day.
By the time they were getting up I was pulling into Pretoria with Cat Stevensâ?? Morning has Broken ringing in my ears.
Now all that remains is to plan this weekend, find some WD's that would like to attend, and as the Nike Ad says â??Just Do Itâ??
Watch the â??Planning a Tripâ? section for detail, early in the new year.
Thanks to all who joined, Transporter was nice riding with you for the first time, and David thanks for riding the sweeper bakkie. David is not a biker, but he heard so many biker stories this weekend, I wouldnâ??t be surprised if he gets some 2 Wheels soon. Excalibur, drink jou pille want jyâ??s flippen lui geraak!
Last thanks to God for bringing us all back safely. 8)
