Our 2019 Ride; Somewhere New and Somewhere Old.

[ButtSlider]

Waiting for what's to come.  :sip: :ricky:

 

[woody1]

:ricky:

 

[ALLEN I]

Great stuff!!  :thumleft:
I was waiting for the "Al is doing some repairs" ...  :biggrin:

He watch it.  ;D :imaposer: Bought a new speedo drive and walla behold the bloody cable pushed in too deep. managed to sort it out. otherwise the old AT went like a dream  :ricky: :ricky: ;D

 

[XRRX]

:imaposer: :imaposer: :amazon:

 

[Ian in Great Brak River]

Day 5; our destination is Klein Pella ... or so we thought ...

It starts off well on the R383 towards Putsonderwater, so much has been said about this little place lately ... nice roads in and quite stoney roads out.





This was clearly a small quiet community, there's a workshop, a general shop and some large homes ... all abandoned now except one that has signs of renovation for possible habitation soon. I hope so.



... yeah, and it's 290k's to De Aar for that matter ...











The "Pit" seems like a touristic afterthought ... it was never a well and has little but rubbish in it.

















My bike is going so well I decide to check things ... always a bad idea! The front is down to 1.2 bar, not the 1.6 it was when we left this morning plus it's 35 degrees outside so should be about 1.8 at least. I see no nails, no smileys, no thorns ... no nothing ... ? Yesterday I had a hint of this but thought little of it, now I realize it must be a consequence of the real rocky roads to Prieska that we did a little too fast at times. We decide to head for Upington to check it out at a bike shop.



We dodge rain clouds for the next 130k's.

 

[ALLEN I]

Dam "Sommer" missing" the ride again. "Gooi nog" old chap  ;D :ricky: :ricky:

 

[XRRX]

Great pics Ian!! :thumleft:
Here are a few of our short participation from George to Uniondale on Day 1 ...

 

[Ian in Great Brak River]

Nice photos XRRX, thanks!

:thumleft:

 

[Ian in Great Brak River]

Day 6: Yes, the front tubeless tyre ... on the new AT, not the old AT which has always got something or other "going on" with it.

Symptoms: slow leak of about 0.8 bar from sun up to sunset and at night too.

Investigation: no nails, no thorns, no smileys, no cracks, no valve leaks ... no ... fuggin' ... nada ... niks nie.

Upington: we stop in at Upington Yamaha/Honda (where they are desperate to get ride of an Adventure Sport at R190k), said wheel is removed and bath tested and ... fuggin' ... nada ... niks nie. In frustration, I "Wynns Tyre Fix" it with a can.

Conclusion is a question: can one "pull" a spoke? As in klap a rock at speed and the opposite spoke is pulled down as the rim moves up with a slight leak then each time the wheel turns ... ? Anyway, the Wynn's did the trick two days later.

... but it cost us a night as we had a booking at Piet Karsten's Klein Pella Lodge. They kindly agreed to postpone to the following night and we head for Kakamas.

 

[Ian in Great Brak River]

Klein Pella is quite a story, a SA success story.

About 40 years ago a local farmer decided to plant Dates, tried all he could to convince the powers that be at that stage that the best Date Palms are from Israel but was constantly refused permission to import seedlings. He was told to use SA Date trees or to import them from the US. So he went to Israel and returned with seeds in his pocket, planted then in batches and they thrived. 25 years later he sold to Piet Karsten who is a well known local farmer and he has built the business up into what it is today. 19 000 acres and 18 500 Palms, 95% of the produce is exported to the Middle East. The secret is the dry air, the soil composition and ... free water. At one stage they also exported a type of rock (Sylamanite) that does not conduct heat but no longer do so. For that matter the record heat index recorded here is 56'C! The Lodge is very much a secondary project for him and there are no plans to extend or renovate the place. 





There are two campsites with nice green grass.

 

[Ian in Great Brak River]

The main plantation is about 8km away and one is encouraged to ride out to view the Palms. They are also surrounded by electrified fencing to keep the Baboons out as they pull the sapling up to eat the roots ... after a night of fun some time back that cost them R50k that was what was required. They still try to get over the fencing, even dragging tree branches up to try to climb over.

















There's also a lekker camp spot on the river too.











Day 6 video.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Rb3rUQ3sGEw&t=296s

 

[Ian in Great Brak River]

Day 7: we head for Ai Ais via the R358 to Onseepkans/Velloorsdrift ... but 12k's from the border the old AT comes limping in. The following sequence of activity takes place at the Police Station 50m from SA Customs and Immigration, they are all hanging out the door having a look as they heard us arrive ... and then we left again. Luckily for us the Police have covered parking as it was 39'C. It took exactly 65 minutes.















Formalities are quick 'n easy, not one question from either side ... and just like that: Back in Nam! It's palpable this land is.

 

[Kobus Myburgh]

Enjoying this ride along very much Ian.  Your videos give some nice perspective.

So .... you two nuts went to a date farm despite your obvious dislike for (pea)cocks?  :lol8:

 

[Ian in Great Brak River]

Enjoying this ride along very much Ian.  Your videos give some nice perspective.

So .... you two nuts went to a date farm despite your obvious dislike for (pea)cocks?  :lol8:

Ha, ja, I like that, and I am no fan of Dates ... those that hang on trees that is.

I have spent 12 years living next to a lunatic neighbour with 7 Peacocks. In matting season the males screech every 30 seconds ... that will drive anyone nuts!

 

[XRRX]

Awesome ride & pics - albeit the "models" are rather old...  > :thumleft:

 

[Ian in Great Brak River]

Awesome ride & pics - albeit the "models" are rather old...  > :thumleft:

Ja, I've known Uncle Allen since first day at school in Grade 1, in January 1969... he was old then and no model either. Still my best mate though.  :biggrin:

 

[Ian in Great Brak River]

I stopped off in Ai Ais two years ago for lunch ... and left after about two hours. The indifference to tourists was quite a surprise considering how welcoming they are at all other lodges. But we have booked two rooms and intend to make the best of it. The rain we saw yesterday in Klein Pella is still around and we get 5 minutes of it.















Day 8: Yes, it certainly is 65'C! A little underwhelming if this is the actual spring ... and the pool was dirty with a sediment ... enough staff around but no one doing much.

 

[Ian in Great Brak River]

We fill up and head out, it's 65k's away to Canyon Village.



The C37 is a gravel highway and this Chevy is a must stop.













In Canyon Village Al gets the local pro to repair the front tube. One aspect of CV is the lack of covered parking for the bikes, you literally leave them at the lodge reception front door and may not park them behind the chalets. So we leave them right here for the night.

 

[Ian in Great Brak River]

We also do a front mudguard fix that we have been talking about for 5 years now ... one can't rush these things, they need discussion!





The pool here is a welcome place to chill out in.

























By night the yellow walkway lights are a nice touch.

 

[Ian in Great Brak River]

Day 9: for the last few days I have known that I will need to head to CT thus we will not do the North side of the Orange to Oranjemund and then over the bridge to Alex Bay. This will have to wait for next time. I turn South for the 852k's to CT and Al goes East to Klerksdorp 1200k's away.



















It has been another good trip and all too soon it is over, we appreciate the time we have on our bikes more and more in this our 8th trip to Namibia.

The last of my videos can be seen here.

Thanks for riding along.

8)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-H5dkWS8R_Q&feature=youtu.be