Melkbosstrand to Melkbosstrand

[RedRo]

Our first trip longer than a weekend, from Melkbosstrand to the Eastern Freestate, stay there for Christmas, then on to the Northern Cape and back home again.

Day 1, at last...

06:00 two bikes leave Melkbos on a long awaited holiday.

A quick stop in Blouberg for a customary start-of-trip photo with Table Mountain in the background

First stop on Du Toits Kloof, Cape Town now behind us, things are feeling real now   ;D

From here we hit tar, not fast but with a purpose.
The idea behind day one is to not spend too much time in places we go to often, or on roads we ride most weekends, so we slab it, destination for the day, Koedoeskloof.

In Ashton we at last find a mode of transport (land based) bigger than a GSA.
We have not been here before, Platform 62, and promptly get pulled into a brandy tasting with an awesome chat about the making of brandy, well worth it (even before 10:00)

From here it is through to Montagu for the first refreshment of the day after the Wimpy breakfast in Worcester - around 28 degrees outside by now.

After this, more tar, quite boring but still heading away from work, a quick stop at two well known places, the first of which have changed owners (and lost its character in the process in our opinion), the second one still just the same.

And from there we ride through to Koedoeskloof, our destination for the day.

We promptly move in the Dwars Bar at Koedoeskloof for some much needed refreshment.

All settled in at Koedoeskloof   :thumleft:

Also present three other riders, new friendships are made as the evening progresses...

Snacks and drinks, a little bit of route planning for Day 2, a last photo of the stunning view, a really great Kudu burger, and then the camera gets put away for the day...

 

[RedRo]

Day 2...

A lazy start to the second day, did not get up too early, then had a great breakfast at Koedoeskloof, still trying to decide where to go to next.

Said goodbye to our hosts and other adventure riders, it looked like a small unplanned GS bash in the parking area.

From Koedoeskloof we headed back into Ladismith, where we decided to ride through Seweweeks Poort and go have a look at Gamkaskloof Dam.

Wow!  The only way to describe Seweweeks Poort, and the ride down to the dam and back up was also awesome, faintly technical in places but nothing we could not handle.

We came across two other riders also on the way to the dam, we joined them for the ride down, they were going somewhere else after that so we left them at the dam and rode back by ourselves.

Initially we wanted to go down Gamkaskloof to spend the night there, once back through Seweweeks Poort we decided Gamkas should be a family trip for later, after a quick stop for sandwidches and beer in Calitzdorp (I have to mention Huisrivier Pass on the way there, a tar pass, probably one of the most fun ones I have ever ridden  :biggrin: ) we decided to head towards Oudtshoorn for the night and make it a short day.

Coming into Oudtshoorn we headed on through to De Rust, looking for a place to overnight.

The first place we stopped at was fully booked, they referred us to another place and after about 25km more along another stunning dirt road we arrived there only to find them closed for the night.

From here on (it also started raining) we just tried to find a place to sleep. 

The next place we stopped at, a boutique Olive farm, had rates which still bring tears to my eyes, so we left them to continue the search.

On the way back to Oudtshoorn, fully soaked, we passed the Protea Hotel, stopped, they had a rondawel for us for the night at reasonable rates, a restaurant and cold beer – SOLD.

Sitting down for dinner my eyes and mouth started itching and swelling, allergic reaction to something.

We left dinner on the table, with shorts, slops and t-shirts in the rain a ride into town (screw the ATGATT Police) to find the pharmacy, get Celestamine, back to the hotel for dinner, and then another cold drink or two and bed.

 

[Chrisl]

This one will keep us drooling for a while :thumleft: :drif:

 

[RedRo]

Day 3...

After coffee at the hotel we checked out and went for breakfast in Oudtshoorn, made repairs to second hand riding boots, then headed out towards De Rust, stopping along the way to take a few photos of interesting rock formations and an abandoned (occupied by squatters but no longer in intended use) station.

De Rust, a very pretty little town, but very commercial, a bit like Clarens/Dullstroom, we decide to move on, backtracking a bit to a winding dirt road spotted on the map, loosely going in the direction we wish to go.

Zoom in to see the “kaalgat koedoe”…

From De Rust we took a gravel road over Koutjie, Daskop and Buffelsdrif towards Uniondale.
A really scenic ride with a traffic jam and a bit of unplanned mountain road (our navigator and his "shortcuts"  : ) along the way.

Then it was into Uniondale for something cold…

First stop “sorry sir they have broken in and stolen all our booze, still waiting for the police we cannot touch anything”

Second stop “jammer meneer ons yskaste was af en alles is nog bietjie warm”

Then out of town to the third stop, and old mill which the owner has, rather than restoring, turned into a gallery and restaurant, playing the most horrid French music – at least he had cold beer – we did not like Uniondale much, can understand no-one sees their ghost anymore, she has probably also lost interest.

We decided to call it a day and carried on to Willowmore where we found a spot in the town campsite, the most helpful old guy working there, he went out of his way to make sure we are settled in and happy, well done for someone who probably gets paid a pittance.

Here we set up camp, making road food for a late lunch (onion, curry, corned beef, salt and pepper on Salticrax)  :thumleft:

We still had a braai later on as well; I did not bother with photos of this momentous occasion…  :biggrin:

 

[Hitman]

Some great riding there!!
Great report and great photos, thanks for sharing!!

Never seen that type of tent - please give some info about it 

 

[RedRo]

Some great riding there!!
Great report and great photos, thanks for sharing!!

Never seen that type of tent - please give some info about it 

Still a few days to go  :biggrin:

Stealth Tent:

https://wilddog.net.za/forum/index.php?topic=78528.0

https://wilddog.net.za/forum/index.php?topic=70909.0

 

[Oom Foe-rie]

Very good report and nice photos .............  :thumleft:

 

[RedRo]

Day 4...

The day started with low cloud, quite chilly, but had a good night’s sleep on our first camping night of the trip.

Decent coffee thanks to ATG, and then we started packing up.

Our “host”, we just called him Oupa, came to check if we were happy and rested, pink Crocs and all (related to ETS maybe?  :biggrin

For an old man who walks with difficulty, he will work many a younger guy to a standstill, he just goes on and on and on, and is always there to make sure the campers are happy.

Stopped at one of the old buildings in Willowmore for breakfast, chicken livers and scrambled eggs on homemade toast, so far the breakfast of the trip.

We also checked out alternate transport options but decided to stick with the two GS’s for now

After breakfast we headed out to Steytlerville, one of the strangest roads we have been on, concrete single lane with gravel each side to yield for oncoming traffic, leads to interesting moments going from the one surface to the other and back at speed.

A long and boring ride later we enter Steytlerville, not the most inspiring town we have ever seen, bar the flags bearing the coat of arms of all the family names in town, and a history of the countries flags just outside town, we decided to move on, next stop Jansenville…

Outside Steytlerville we started riding on one of the best little gravel roads of the trip so far, changing from fairly fast and open to tweespoor with a nice middelmannetjie in places, with great scenery along the way.

Angora killed and eaten here…

When big cats get hungry, they feast…

Jansenville turned out to be the perfect stop for a cold drink, great biltong and droewors, and some time in an air-conditioned pub to decide our stop for the night will be Middelburg.

From here on a fairly boring ride to Graaff-Reinet, then on to Middelburg.

Of course we stop at this padstal when Kobus spots the perfect trailer, just big enough to take all our gear – sadly it was not for sale…

And local wildlife eyeing our roadside snacks.

Outside Middelburg we stop to take this photo, have not seen these next to a road in years.

Then on to Middelburg, overnight stop, some food and wine, and then see where we might want to ride to tomorrow.

 

[alwyn_gs]

:sip:

Nog nog...

Mooi foties!!!

 

[RedRo]

Day 5…

A day of extremes…

So on day 4, after dinner I ask “so if we are not going to stay on the farm till the 2nd but leave on the 28th, can’t we go through a bit sooner?”

Of course this meant a change of plan, or rather, since there was not much of a plan to begin with, a change in direction, from East, to North East.

At this stage maybe time to outline the purpose of the trip - the plan was to spend Christmas on the farm outside Reitz with family, the choice had to be made between driving up, flying, or making a bike trip of it - and there we had a clear winner. 
No route was really planned, just that we had to be on the farm for Christmas, and back home again in to start work in January again, which allowed us a bit of flexibility in between. 
Our daughter would fly up and Kobus and I would do the first part of the trip, we would meet up on the farm and the would pillion back with Kobus for the second part. 
Since we had only booked accommodation for the first night in advance, we had to be prepared to camp if need be.


Extremes, why?

Extreme boredom on the first half, extreme scenery on the second half, extreme distance compared to the other days on the trip so far, and extremely wet after riding in a mother of a thunderstorm for the last two and half hours.

From Middelburg we hit tar to Steynsburg, Burgersdorp, Aliwal North – extreme boredom, we did not even bother looking for dirt roads, they would have been equally void of scenery – having said that, we were on our bikes on holiday, happy to ride anywhere.

A few photos taken on that part of the trip…

Bike storage at our overnight accommodation

Breakfast stop

Road food – fresh rolls, cheese, chips, biltong and Coke

And welcome to the Freestate

Since we had about 660km to go for the day in total, and also have been this area before, not too many stops, not too many photos

Your bike and a “windpomp” and a “windpomp”

In Zastron we stopped for a beer at Mountain View B&B, they also have campsites – really friendly people and a very neat place with awesome views

Then a stop outside Clocolan at this very creative padstal

After this we only stopped for fuel, and to stretch legs

Last photo taken just outside Fouriesburg, after which the camera was put away with the coming rain, and we were treated first to a dust storm second to none, after which we then rode through a really heavy but fun thunderstorm all the way to Reitz, stopping at my mother's place just after 18:00

So why on earth was Kobus quite happy to change direction and ride so far on one day?

- Well I missed my family, do not get to see them all that often, so maybe I was becoming a bit "pushy" to get there  :biggrin:
- And after a rest day in Reitz tomorrow Kobus get to hit the roads of the Eastern Freestate and Lesotho for a few more days, solo  :ricky:

End of Day 5 - soaked, a bit tired but totally happy  :thumbsup:

 

[RedRo]

Day 6...

Day 6 was a rest day in Reitz, cleaning up all the gear and drying the wet gear from day 5, and Kobus packing his bike for his little solo through the Freestate and Lesotho.

It wasn’t that dirty after all  :biggrin:

 

[Veldbrand]

Lekker Suster, lekker!
Mooi gedoen en goed om julle te kon ontmoet.
Gooi!

 

[RedRo]

Day 7...

Day's 7 to 9 as experienced by Kobus while we were just relaxing and catching up with the family.

Eastern Freestate, solo, then sleep over somewhere close to Lesotho border.

The day started by working a bit, one of those things these days, especially in IT, your work follows you wherever you go.

After that I headed out towards Kestell, the plan was to ride to Kestell, then on a dirt road into Golden Gate National Park on towards Clarens, have a bite to eat in Clarens and then from there on explore between Clarens and Ficksburg, stay over in Ficksburg to go to Lesotho the following day.

From Reitz I followed the religious road towards Kestell.

Then I became sidetracked by this sign, pointing the way to Groenkop, a battlefield site…

(becoming sidetracked happens to me, apparently I am an ADHD perfectionist, everything has to be PERFECT, but fortunately not for long)

The road towards Groenkop, and another spectacular view.

The signage then takes one onto a farm, where the friendly dad of the farmer pointed out the “road” to the actual monument.

The view of the farm Groenkop from the battlefield site Groenkop

And the monument itself…

Next to the monument on the ground was this, with text in Braille

Battle of Groenkop

In the Battle of Groenkop (Battle of Tweefontein) on 25 December 1901, Head Commandant Christiaan de Wet's Boer commando surprised and defeated a force of Imperial Yeomanry under the command of Major Williams.

By late 1901, de Wet's guerilla force based itself near the settlements of Lindley, Bethlehem and Reitz in the northeast part of the Orange Free State. On 28 November, de Wet called a krijgsraad (war council) of the still-active Boer leaders near Reitz. They determined to strike back at their British tormentors, who numbered 20,000 men.

As part of Lord Kitchener's strategy, the British constructed lines of blockhouses and barbed wire across the veld. The blockhouse lines were designed to restrict the movements of the Boer guerillas so they could be trapped by British mobile columns. One line of blockhouses reached fromHarrismith to the Tradoux farm, 25 miles (40 km) east of Bethlehem. To protect the construction, Major General Sir Leslie Rundle deployed four dispersed forces. Rundle with 330 men and one gun guarded the wagon road; the end of the blockhouse line was held by 150 infantry; a 400-man regiment of the Imperial Light Horse lay 13 miles (21 km) to the east at Elands River Bridge; Major Williams with 550 men, mostly of the 11th Battalion, Imperial Yeomanry, a 15-pounder gun and a pom-pom held the 200-foot (61 m) high Groenkop.

De Wet carefully scouted the Groenkop position for three days. He noted that the British posted their sentries atop the sheer west side of the kop, instead of at the bottom where they could give timely warning of an attack. The Boer leader determined to scale the west side using the trace of a gully.

At 2:00 am on Christmas morning, de Wet's commando clambered up the steep slope in single file with their boots removed so as to minimise any noise. The surprise was nearly total. Challenged by a single sentry when they were over halfway to the top with a few scattered shots, the Boers, who were ordered into battle by de Wet shouting "Stormt Burgers" swarmed up and over the crest. They began firing downhill into the British tents, inflicting a "massacre."
Savage fighting lasted about 40 minutes before the British gave up.

The next morning, one of the 206 British prisoners of the Boers noted that his foes were so short of clothing that some wore women's attire. The 250 unwounded British prisoners of war were stripped literally naked before they were turned loose the next day.[3] Kitchener wrote, "It is very sad and depressing that the boers are able to strike such blows, but I fear ... we shall always be liable to something of the sort from the unchecked rush of desperate men at night."

By 5 February 1902, Kitchener's blockhouse lines were completed and he sent 9,000 men on a massive sweep through the countryside. In this first operation, 285 Boers were captured but de Wet and President Marthinus Steyn and their men escaped the trap. The second drive lasted from 16 February to 28. Again, de Wet got away, but this time he had to abandon most of his cattle. On 27 February, Colonel Henry Rawlinson's column encircled and captured a 650-man Boer commando at Lang Reit, a few miles from Tweefontein. This brought the British "bag" in the successful sweep to 778 surrendered Boers. The third drive by Major Elliott's division, from 4 March to 11 March, was a failure, with only about 100 Boers captured. Worse, de Wet escaped to join Fighting General Koos de la Rey in the Western Transvaal.

From there I continued on the dirt road from the farm, which of course then resulted in me becoming lost, eventually ending up here…

From where I then rode into Clarens for breakfast.

Of course this meant unfinished business and I ended up riding into Golden Gate National Park following a circular route back to Clarens, where work ambushed me once again…

Do I go up here, or…

…do I go straight?

Up the gravel road of course.

And then tar back to Clarens

Where this awaits…at least there was beer…

From Clarens then onto Fouriesburg, where I first stop at another battlefield site, Surrender Hill

Surrender Hill is an Anglo-Boer War battlefield about 10 kilometres from the town of Clarens. The heritage site, proclaimed in 1986, marks the place where Free State Boer commandos surrendered to British troops on July 31 1900, following a series of fierce battles fought between Fouriesberg and Golden Gate. The site is a must-visit for its Anglo-Boer War history as well as the spectacular views the hill affords.
The defeat at Surrender Hill was one of the most serious setbacks suffered by the Boers during the conflict, which lasted until 1902. The British destroyed numerous Boer commando weapons, including six million rounds of ammunition, and captured three field guns, 2 800 head of cattle and 4 314 men.

Stopped for water at another padstal after being waived through a SAPS and SANDF roadblock

And then decided to go look for Fort Campbell between Clarens and Ficksburg

Spot the Fort…

Try again…

And there it is…

Fort Campbell is about 10Km south of town on the R27. Towards the end of the Anglo-Boer War, the only town still in possession of the Boers was Fouriesburg. There are seven mountain passes leading to the town, and British forces guarded all of them. General Campbell's force was 16th Brigade, Royal Wiltshire Yeomanry (Prince of Wales' Own). They fought on the northern side of Fouriesburg, in the Bethlehem area. It is not clear why this fort is called Fort Campbell.

From here an awesome gravel road with spectacular views towards Ficksburg, the overnight stop for the day.

 

[RedRo]

Day 8…

Ficksburg to Mohale…

Day's 7 to 9 as experienced by Kobus while we were just relaxing and catching up with the family.


After another great breakfast in Ficksburg I located the Caltex to fill up, where I met four couples, all on GS/A’s, heading towards Katse Dam.
I left them there and headed to a hectic border post where it took about forty minutes to cross into Lesotho.
The four couples passed me in the traffic after the border post since they did not have panniers and their bikes therefore a bit narrower (they would be riding to Katse and then back to Ficksburg again on the day).

Getting out of the hectic border traffic I then had a very peaceful solo ride till about halfway to Katse where I came across the four bikes again.  We then rode together for a while, after the last stop before Katse I left them to ride the last bit alone.

Majestic mountains on the road to Katse

Temporary riding buddies

Waiting for the group to pass

Panoramic view over Katse

Last photo of the group before Katse (this was also the first time on the trip someone begged – a little girl, maybe 8 or so, asked for money until her mother chased her away)

Katse from the top, always impressive

Just after Katse Dam was built, Gretha and I did a 4x4 trip through Lesotho coming in from Sani, we camped up up this little road in the kloof.

At the time there was a painted rock next to the road “Truck Stop” and to my surprise all these years later the painted rock is still there.

And then of course, the customary…

Can life get better than this?

(My “riding buddies” also arrived and after a quick beer they headed back to Ficksburg while I headed towards Thaba-Tseka)

A few more Katse views

And the start of the road to Thaba-Tseka, solo again

Thaba-Tseka road panoramic view

The river below Katse

And then…

From here a bit more gravel becoming a bit more washed out and technical, and then tar towards Mohale Dam.

The winding road down towards the Mohale inlet…

Mohale Dam wall

Mohale feeder panoramic view

Some of the equipment used in the tunnel build (feeder tunnel from Katse…)

Mohale view

And the feeder tunnel from Katse

Showing the scale of the tunnel (I believe about 5m in diameter)

And a bit of road food before heading to the overnight stop at Mohale Lodge

Finally sunset over Mohale, just in time for a nice, relaxed dinner and JD’s at the lodge…

 

[Man from Nam]

Nice RR and photos
We also visited many of the places during our trip.
I just loved the culture in those small towns. Thanks for sharing

 

[Kuifie]

Baie lekker gelees.  :thumleft: :thumleft:

Baie mooi

 

[gwild]

Nice RR thx tor sharing  :thumleft: one day when i'm big i also want to do a trip like this :laughing4:  Awesome  :thumleft:

 

[RedRo]

Still a few days to go...  :ricky:

Day 9…

Mohale to Reitz…

The day started with a loose “plan” – go look at rock paintings in SW Lesotho, exit somewhere there back into SA, then either sleep over, or not…

From Mohale I headed towards Maseru, with the idea to fill up there and then head south.

An awesome, winding tar road with passes which climb over the mountains then suddenly drop into the valleys – great fun to ride the biggest challenge being the taxis who all take the racing line through corners, and increasing population both human and animal getting closer to Maseru.

I filled up at Koro-Koro and then headed south towards Mafeteng on the A2, all according to plan.

About halfway to Mafeteng boredom set in, I noticed a turn-off to Matelile to the left and took it – turned out to be the fun option.

The road wound through the foothills, up and down, U-bend after U-bend, just what I needed.

This was riding at its best, not much else to say, the photos can speak for themselves.
(during this stretch I had one incident where a little girl of around 5/6 picked up a stone, I hit the brakes and stopped in a cloud of dust and she decided to rather drop it and run).

For km’s on end it seems as if the road surface was “swept” in some way…

And before long the fun was over and I entered Mohales Hoek, where I stopped for a last Maluti before leaving Lesotho.

Leaving Lesotho at Makhaleng Bridge where I was the only person to cross the border at the time.

I never made it to the rock paintings since they were along the earlier tar road.

Does it really matter?

No!  I had an awesome ride over the last two days.



From Makhaleng Bridge a last 40km of loose gravel to Zastron

After which I hit tar and a bit of spirited riding to Clocolan where I stopped for lunch.

Real lifesaving stuff

A last stop at Sandstone Estates outside Ficksburg.

Last time I was here this pile of bricks was a house and family lived here, a bit sad to see

And a last photo of machinery from the same design era together before hitting the road to get back to the family in Reitz

End of Day 9, happy as can be and in love with my GSA all over again…

 

[RedRo]

Days 10-15…

Reitz – Clarens – Reitz (Christmas with the family)

To thank usfor allowing him the solo time in Lesotho, Kobus offered to buy us lunch in Clarens, of course he will be travelling by bike, our daughter riding with him).

First stop at the Ash River outfall (from Katse Dam) since our daughter has not seen this before.

After which we had a great lunch in Clarens

And a monument for the Highlands Water Scheme

After lunch the two cage bound ladies returned to the farm while Kobus took our daughter through Golden Gate, the two of them just riding on the edge of a number of thunderstorms all the way to the farm.

They also stopped at the Van Reenen family burial site in the park, thinking it is a historical site.

Sadly there was a very fresh grave of a young man who was killed in Durban on the 7th of December whilst assisting a robbery victim – such a waste.

They then rode on to the farm where the next few days over Christmas would be spent, this being our home for the time there

With this view…

The next few days were spent fishing in the river, playing around in the mud on the farm with the farm off-roads, eating and drinking too much, and just generally being lazy.

But soon enough it was back to town for a last night in town at my mother's place, getting ready to leave for the second part of the trip the next day…

End of Days 10 – 15, tomorrow the second part of the trip starts…  :thumleft:

 

[RedRo]

Day 16… heading towards home, sort of...

Reitz – Jagersfontein

During the last evening in Reitz, over a number of cold beers a sort of a plan for the trip back was formed, first overnight stop would be Jagersfontein.

We left Reitz in very cloudy and cool weather, stopped in Bethlehem for a milkshake and a bit of banking, then headed west.

On the way outside Winburg we wanted to have a look at another monument, sadly it was closed (and also seemed run down – I hope I am wrong).

Winburg acted as a settlement and religious centre for Voortrekkers.
Winburg was originally selected as the site for the main Voortrekker Monument, but Pretoria won favour and a five-tiered secondary Voortrekker monument was built on the outskirts of Winburg instead in the 1950s. It carries the names of the Voortrekker leaders: Piet Uys, Andries Hendrik Potgieter, Andries Pretorius, Piet Retief and Gerrit Maritz.
The lengths of the five tiers are proportional to the distances travelled by the respective settler groups. On 16 December, the day on which the descendants of the Boersettlers celebrate the Battle of Blood River, the sun passes directly over the monument and a plaque with a Christian religious message at the base is illuminated. The monument is built near the site of the birth-house of Martinus Theunis Steyn, who was president of the Boer Republic of the Orange Free State.

We then headed to Bloemfontein and my daughter suggested a visit to the National Women’s Monument.  None of us have been there before, and it certainly was a worthwhile stop!

The Women's Monument or Vrouemonument in Bloemfontein, South Africa, is a monument commemorating the suffering of some 27,000 Boer women and children who died in British concentration camps during the Boer War. The Monument is a Provincial Heritage Site in the Free State.

The monument was designed by a Pretoria architect, Frans Soff, and the sculpting by Anton van Wouw. It consists of an obelisk about 35m in height and low, semi-circular walls on two sides. A central bronze group, sketched by Emily Hobhouse and depicting her own experience of 15 May 1901, is of two sorrowing women and a dying child in theSpringfontein camp.

The monument was unveiled on 16 December 1913, attended by about 20,000 South Africans. Thirteen years later, Emily Hobhouse's ashes were ensconced at the foot of the monument. Also beside the monument are the graves ofChristiaan de Wet, Rev. J.D. Kestell, President of the Orange Free State Martinus Steyn, and his wife.

Cameras are not allowed inside the museumt, but I can certainly recommend this as a stop for anyone interested in history if you are in the area – but make sure you have a few hours to spare, it is a waste rushing through this…

Photos taken of the monument and grounds…

British troop carrier…

A blockhouse protecting the railway bridges…

More than one type of blockhouse was built, the large square ones a lot of us have seen (examples outside Wellington as well as on the road to Vereeniging from JHB.

The “agterryer”

The agterryers were blacks who served on the Boer side of the South African War. As servants of the Boers, they did menial tasks such as cooking food and tending horses. But quite often, they also performed combat duties and fought side by side with their masters. Many San men served their masters as agterryers out of loyalty, particularly in the former eastern Transvaal. But many others were provided for the burghers, commandeered by the governments of both Boer republics.

And a few of the guns on the grounds

Leaving the monument and museum with lumps in our throats because of yet another totally unnecessary war where the civilians suffered the most in the end, we headed for Jagersfontein.

Cameras were put away as the road was boring (or so we thought) until we hit the worst rain, hail and wind storm we have ever ridden in 20km before Jagersfontein.

At last we saw this, and headed for our accommodation for the night…

Our overnight stop had dinner, but no drinks, so Kobus headed to a tavern in town for supplies.

Before dinner we sneaked into the grounds of the old Jagersfontein mine, unfortunately also not maintained and closed, which also meant we felt less guilty for climbing the fence…

Jagersfontein Mine /ˌjeɪɡərzˈfɒnteɪn/ is an abandoned open-pit mine in South Africa located close to the town of Jagersfontein and approximately 68 miles (109 km) south-west ofBloemfontein.
Since it was first established in 1888, two of the ten biggest diamondsever discovered, the Excelsior and the Reitz (now called the Jubilee), were mined from Jagersfontein.
The term "Jagers" has since been coined to denote the distinctive faint bluish tint of the gems from this mine.
Among geologists, Jagersfontein is known as akimberlite pipe, and a prime locality for mantle xenoliths, some of which are believed to have come from depths of 300–500 kilometres (190–310 mi).
Approximately 9.6 million carats (1,900 kg) of jewel-quality diamonds were extracted during the mine's century of operation, interrupted only by the two World Wars and the Great Depression.
After three decades of open-pit mining, underground mining began in 1913, and continued until its eventual closure on May 28, 1971, less than a year after the centenary of the first diamond discovery in the area.
Since then, an Open Mine Museum and the Jagers Mining Village have opened as tourist attractions at the site.
Research by historian Steve Lunderstedt in 2005 confirmed that the mine was the biggest hand-excavated hole in the world, slightly larger than the Big Hole in Kimberley, South Africawhich had claimed the title up to then. It is probably not the deepest, though, since the final depth of the Big Hole reached 720 ft or more. Jagersfontein was dug by hand to a depth of 660 feet (201 m) by 1911.