Over the Bastervoetslaanpad to the Hole-In-The-Wall with Tulie

[Big H]

DAY 1:

Route: Centurion > Johannesburg > Kroonstad > Bloemfontein > Reddersburg > Smithfield > Rouxville > Zastron

Distance: 650 km


The rest of the group left from Bethlehem at 10:00 on Thursday, but since I still had a lot of work to do I left my house in Midstream at 13:30 to catch up with them in Zastron later the evening.

I knew I had to make good time so I stayed on the N1 to Bloemfontein and then took the N6 to Rouxville, hoping to get to Zastron before the sun set.  This didn’t work out (if I knew about the roadworks between Reddersburg and Smithfield I would have taken another route!) and I had to ride the last hour in total darkness. All the potholes between Rouxville and Zastron didn’t help either...

Anyway, I found the Aasvoelberg Buitelug Sentrum in the dark, just as the others were putting the meat on the fire, and after a couple of drinks all the hassles of the day were soon forgotten.

Apparently Hentie (Hentie bm), Errol (Hermit), Tulie (Tulie), Theunis and Tiekie had a great ride that day, taking all the dirt roads along the Lesotho border from Bethlehem to Zastron, and I hope they post some pics of that too.

 

[Big H]

DAY 2:

Route: Zastron > Telle Bridge > Lundin’s Nek > Moshesh’s Ford > Ugie > Mthatha > Coffee Bay

Distance: 417 km


We tried to leave Zastron at 07:00 the Friday morning but only managed to get on the road at 08:00. This proved to bite us in the *** later... Anyway, it rained overnight and the roads were wet, and we wondered what lay ahead of us as we turned off the tar towards Lundin’s Nek.

Initially the wet weather wasn’t a problem, and the despite the fact that it started raining again it only spoiled the views we were supposed to enjoy and didn’t influence the riding at all.

After going over Lundin’s Nek Tulie wanted us to ride the Bastervoetslaanpad, but gave us the option to take the easier route to Barkley Pass because the rain was getting heavier and by that time we were running late already. We bravely shot down that idea and decided that the Bastervoetslaanpad was the way to go!

The Bastervoetslaanpad was an amazing experience. The fact that we rode it in the rain just made it more interesting, and despite a couple of falls (Hentie got high-sided by a defective oil cooler, initially blaming it on a wayward front shock) nobody was sorry that we decided to go that way.

We had lunch in Ugie, and since it was getting very late we decided to take the shortest route to Mthata after speaking to some of the locals. We arrived in Mthata at around 17:00, and with only a short distance to Coffee Bay from there things were looking great...... but not for long.....

It was dark soon, and raining quite hard, and then the mist became so thick that we could hardly see the road in front of us. The fact that this is easily the worst piece of tarred road in South Africa made things much worse, and after a while I stopped counting the amount of deep potholes I desperately tried to miss but couldn’t.

We were very relieved to reach Coffee Bay after what felt like an eternity, but then we spent at least another half an hour in the rain to get all the bikes up a very steep and muddy hill on the way to the Hole-In-The-Wall. We arrived at the hotel at 21:30, knackered and cold, but after unpacking and taking a hot shower we hit the bar and, as usual, all the troubles were soon forgotten.

Had no trouble falling asleep that night. This must have been one of the best days I’ve ever had on my bike.


Early morning in Zastron. Tulie checking out the route for the day.

Lundin’s Nek.

Somewhere between Rhodes and Barkley East.

Stopping to put on our raincoats.

Doing the Bastervoetslaanpad in the rain.

Stopping to fix loose mirrors and broken oil coolers.

Amazing scenery in the Bastervoetslaanpad.

Stopping for lunch in Ugie. Best mixed grill I’ve had in a very long time.

No photos for the rest of the day. Too much rain to take the Nikon out of the tank bag.

 

[Big H]

DAY 3:

Route: Rest day in Coffee Bay.

Distance: 0 km


The Saturday was spent relaxing at the hotel, on the beach, and in the bar. What an amazing place!


Our spot in the Hole-In-The-Wall hotel.

Coffee Bay.

Walking to the Hole-In-The-Wall.

Only in Africa. Cows on the beach and a big rock with a hole in it in the ocean. Stunning!

Seeing this made the entire trip worthwhile.

Tiekie showing Tulie how to handle a bull without getting gaffed.

Lazy day at the hotel. What a life.

Seekat for dinner... we ended up getting pizza’s at the hotel instead.

Hole-In-The-Wall at sunset.

 

[Big H]

DAY 4:

Route: Coffee Bay > Mthatha > Mount Frere > Kokstad > Underberg > Bulwer > Howick > Harrismith > Heidelberg > Johannesburg > Centurion

Distance: 1003 km


I woke up very early the Sunday morning and walked to the Hole-In-The-Wall in the dark to get some pics at sunrise. The clouds spoilt the sunset a little bit, but I still got some good shots and left there happy.

We knew we had a long way to go so we actually managed to leave Coffee Bay at 07:00, a new record for us. Hermit rode with us to Mthata, but he had another week to ride around in the area so he greeted us after breakfast and went solo from there. We were very envious of him!

The rest of the day was a combination of stunning scenery and hard riding in another beautiful part of our country. We got onto to N3 with thousands of men who were returning from the MMC conference, which made the trip on the highway slower than what it normally would have been.

I rode with the group to Harrismith, where they turned off towards Bethlehem and I continued on my own towards Jo’burg. After some more hard riding and more rainstorms I reached my house at 18:30 that evening, tired but very happy............


Hole-In-The-Wall, very early the Sunday morning.

Hentie waving at the cows.

 

[jenn]

:happy1:

 

[Chrisl]

As always stunning pics. :thumleft:

 

[flipper]

Thanks for making the decision for my next trip.Great stuff! loved it.

 

[Big H]

Thanks for making the decision for my next trip.Great stuff! loved it.

Yes, you gotto do it! The Bastervoetslaanpad is pure biking heaven, and there are many other routes we could have ridden if we had more time.

:thumleft:

 

[Excalibur]

To Notch Big H :thumleft:

 

[wooly bugger]

nice pic's!
:thumleft:

 

[DRAZIL]

awesome photos,great rideing area. :thumleft:

 

[bradleys]

Nice one,lekker pics :thumleft:

 

[Big H]

Actually it was a very difficult weekend for getting decent pics.

The clouds, mist and rain made it very easy to get washed-out white skies and "flat" pictures without color or contrast if you weren't careful. I had to play with exposure a lot.

 

[wooly bugger]

Actually it was a very difficult weekend for getting decent pics.

The clouds, mist and rain made it very easy to get washed-out white skies and "flat" pictures without color or contrast if you weren't careful. I had to play with exposure a lot.

plus you had "models" like Hentie! Never good for a decent pic................ :biggrin:

 

[mikedabike]

Sounds like you had a great Ride Big H....awesome riding in that part of the country...
Please pm me the foto's cos I cant see them here...(keep file size around 3MB

 

[nreyneke]

Lekker manne!!!!  :thumleft:  :thumleft:  :thumleft:

 

[Gee eS]

Nice RR!.

 

[antondp]

Very, very, very nice.

 

[LOTTA]

Nice fotos. Ai manne manne, lekker was nog nooit sleg nie.

 

[Paulsky]

Cool ride, post your gps route please