Montagu Pass in flood.

[Trailrider]

The Southern Cape is flooded! My dad is stuck on the farm and Spook is stuck in George and he cannot return to PE. We decided to take the bikes out and see if we can reach the farm.

This is quite embarrassing but we could not even get off the tar. The bridge next to Fancourt is washed away and we could not even get out of Blanco. Luckily I know of a backroadâ?¦ NOT!

Weâ??re not even going to get out of town this way. What now? Montagu Pass? Yeah! ;D

Iâ??ve been over Montagu Pass in a storm before. Itâ??s spectacular! Waterfalls everywhere.

The little river in the Kloof:

We all know Spookâ?¦ By now he was thirsty. No shooters just yetâ?¦ ;D

This is normal:

This is today:

Water everywhere!

The view from Amandaâ??s grave:

The view today:

Montagu Pass is closedâ?¦ but we did it!!!

The way down:

The Keurtjie River:

What a ride! Spook and I arenâ??t just fair-weather riders. ;D

 

[Zeff Cowboy]

Baie mooi

 

[Geoff]

Spoooooook it's beer time when you get back ,I thought you said you where working hard ,love the Atgatt 

 

[Kev]

Did you manage to reach the farm?

 

[Trailrider]

No. There is no way. We will try again tomorrow.

 

[Kev]

Damn. Pics when you do? And some of the cows... and the milk... and... ag alles on the plaas. We like our pics! :thumleft:

 

[LeonDude]

Looks like one ride you guys aren't going to forget soon. Good luck on getting to the farm.

 

[letsgofishing]

Must have looked stunning, TR well done!

 

[Trailrider]

Today we try to reach the farm again. The rain has stopped and everywhere repairs are underway. I must say that the authorities are very efficient in repairing the infrastructure. :thumleft:

Flood damage is evident everywhere but we get through easily almost everywhere. Itâ??s almost an anti-climax. The roads are a little slippery. Not too bad though (the guys that rode here on the Attakwas trip might beg to differ ;D)

This is the one damaged bit near the farm where the dairy trucks could not get through. It did not seem too bad.

We were in high spirits. Light bikes are such fun in these conditions.

While here my dad showed up in die Land Cruiser. Turns out they fixed this part of the road themselves this morning to enable the dairy truck to get through. In the end no milk was lost.

The river on the far side of the farm really caused some road damage.

This is what it usually looks like:

This is today:

We stopped on the farm for a quick drink (or two ). Apart from some moderate road damage there are no problems at all. All our dams held.

We decided to ride into the mountains to see what it looks like there. The farm dams are filled to the brim!

Not far into the mountain we encountered this mudslide. The road stops here (for now).

Blue skies

Some more farm roads. They certainly are fun in the wet!

The river between the farm and George.

The road we could not cross yesterdayâ?¦

â?¦ and some property damage on the way home.

The bikes excel in these conditions. We had no off's or near-off's even. There will be lots of fun in the Southern Cape for week to come! ;D

 

[JourneyMan]

Making the most of the "conditions" there I see. Lekker "exploring" . :mrgreen:

My folks stay in Klein Brak. Apart from being rained in, no damage. They are higher up the slope.

 

[Kev]

TR, nice to know the milk was saved, and the damage minimal. Thanks for the photies and update. :thumright:

 

[tok-tokkie]

I am pleased to read that no serious damage was suffered.

 

[LeonDude]

Good to see things are looking good on the plaas, that place is already green, and looks like things are going to grow like crazy now. Just hope there's no more floods.

 

[letsgofishing]

Glad to see that everything is more or less OK TR.

 

[YellowFever]

nice pics TR

 

[masehare]

Thanks, nice pics. Those then & now pics do well to illustrate the damage done.

 

[Jerrycan]

GREAT report, thanks, I can actually sense the excitement and adventure when looking at your pics and thanks for the effort in putting together the "before and after" pics, it's one of those "damn, wish I was there" reports.

 

[Camelman]

Nice ride Trailrider! Thanks for all the pics and report! Can you PRETTY PLEASE confirm where the Montagu Pass starts (Amanda's Grave)?

 

[Trailrider]

I guess, officially, the pass would be between the two toll houses. The 2nd doesn't exist anymore, but used to be just outside Herold. Amanda's grave is the top.