Over the Hills and Far Away (Complete)

[HennieF]

Over the hills and far away,
she prays he will return one day.
As sure as the rivers reach the seas,
back in his arms he swears she'll be.

[as performed by Nightwish]

Prologue

To start this ride report I will have to start somewhere and that would have to be right in the beginning. No not on the day I first lay eyes on this world in June 1980. But first I must also ask you to show a blind eye to my abuse of the English written language.

I will start in January 1997. This is the year that Model C schools cease to exist and the flood gates opened up. Overnight our little school turned from 200 learners to 2000. My parents thought it best to transfer me to a school in the city as my sister and brother was at university anyway. It’s here that I first came into contact with the BMW motorcycle. First time I saw a 650GS was in an Auto Trader and from then on I would regularly walk past Speed Bike Bloemfontein to do some window shopping. One day I promised myself I would own one.

Jaun and I met while attending Technikon together in Bloemfontein. I probably should have spent more time behind my books and less exploring the areas in and around Bloemfontein. Thus Jaun finished before me and I had to stay behind a little longer to tie up a few loose ends.

This is me mister exploration himself.

And  meet Jaun the social one and loved by all.

In 2005 our paths crossed again and while working together on a construction project in Zambia. I introduced him to my idea of exploring more of our country and surrounding areas by means of motor bike. He was immediately hooked. Unfortunaly with a very busy work schedule our dreams became only a reality in late 2008. A gap opened up in Jaun’s busy social life and I was busy in JHB on another project.

By now the F800GS was around for a year but still hard to find. Dealerships had 6 months long waiting lists. I phoned the different BMW dealerships and my name was put on a couple of lists. The closest chance I had to become an owner of a F800GS was in Bloemfontein where I was no. 6 in the queue. As fate would have it two weeks later the machine that I was saving for stood in my garage bought from the same dealership that I have done window shopping from years ago. Unfortunately the gap in Jaun social life closed sooner than anticipated but when it opened up again late in 2009 he did not let grass grow under his feet again. He bought a second hand F800GS and our first trip together was set in motion.

This all happed before my introduction to the Wilddog forum and various training courses to which I was only introduced to during 2010. So with limited knowledge but with great expectation we set off on our December 2009 trip. I always wanted to explore the West coast from top to bottom. However our planned 7 day trip quickly turned from 7 to 5 days. A lot of lessons learned were taken away from our experience in the West coast sand.

Lesson 1: Someone will have to show us how to ride sand.

Lesson 2: It does not help to travel 1000km on tar. Do the whole route in 1day. Then have to travel the same 1000km on tar all the way back again. The trip supposed to     start at home.

Lesson 3: Do not pack any food. Travel as light as possible. You can buy food on route.

Lesson 4: There is no need to carry extra fuel while traveling inside South Africa. It is just more unnecessary weight that needs to be carried along.

Lesson 5: To do a long trip like this you need more time. 900km a day for 5 days is way too much. A trip is not supposed to be race. Keep your daily scheduled routes down to 400km and stop more often. Enjoy the small things.

In July of 2010 we finally attended our first riding course in Bloemfontein. I guess now would be a good time to mention to you that myself, Jaun and SGB had worked together at the same company in the past. This was mainly the reason for travelling all the way out to Bloemfontein to attend our first Country tracks course. I thought I would be more comfortable to learn the tricks of the trade from a familiar face. Jaun had no say in the matter he just had to come along.

Pic by Nelus Bandjes

Pic by Nelus Bandjes

On this day I had a slight off and the word doctor was mentioned a couple of times. I am not a big fan of doctors and believe that injuries will heal themselves over time. About two months later I could finally put weight on my shoulder again and four months after the incident I could move my left hand again without any discomfort.

Lessons learned from our 2009 trip and trough all our experiences during 2010 would help to make what our December 2010 trip came to be.

 

[ahlbebuck]

Cool - also nice to see another Nightwish fan!

 

[letsgofishing]

Definitely subscribed!  :thumleft:
And there's nothing at all wrong with your English!

 

[Sandban(g)k]

Klink of dit gaan goed wees!!! Ek het saam met jou die kursus gedoen, so ek glo die trippie het beter gegaan :biggrin:

 

[Oom Foe-rie]

Over the Hills and Far Away I see a good Ride Report coming towards us .................. :thumleft:

 

[HennieF]

If you only walk in the sun you will never reach your destination - Chinese saying

The Plan

It took me quite a while to make up my mind of where to go this time around. As said before in 2009 we did the West coast so for 2010 I wanted to do more of an Eastern route. We both have our annual leave in December since the construction industry usually close down from the 16th up until the 3rd of each year. That would give us a window of about 19 days in which we could plan our trip.

A couple of days had to be met due to family responsibilities and we tried to incorporate these dates into out route planning as well. We decided that I would leave Rustenburg early on the 16th for Jaun place in Pretoria. The afternoon would be spent packing and reshuffling our kit that would be needed for this trip. We would then try to depart from Jaun’s place early on the 17th.

Since joining the Wilddog forum I managed to do a lot of research trough other member’s experiences on rides that they have been on. Places that caught my interest were Lesotho the Eastern Cape and the Southern Cape. In April last year I did a solo trip around Lesotho trough Rhodes up Sani pass and came out the other side at Caledons poort. I was so impressed by what I have seen that I just had to go back and show Jaun.

We both had family or friends on holiday in the Southern Cape so Christmas and New Year could at least be best with them. This would mean that we had to plan our route in such a way that we arrive in that area on the 24th and stay there until New Year day. I had to start working again on the 4th so that would give me 3 days to get back to Rustenburg again.

I came up with the following route schedule. There was not much room for error.

While scouting trough the forum I made a couple of notes of places that I wanted to see and planned the route accordingly. Places that came to mind were Memel, Normandiens pass and Nottingham road. In Lesotho there were places like Sani pass, Katse dam and the A4 south eastern route from Thaba Tseka passed Qachas Neck to the Tele bridge border post.

In the Eastern Cape we would ride trough place like Rhodes and a couple of old Frontier towns like Adelaide, Bedford and Balfour. Tracks that I wanted to do was the Bastervoetpad, Otto du Plessis pass and Katberg pass. I also wanted to go through the Baviaans kloof up to Uniondale.

In the Southern Cape we would be traveling over the Prins Alfred pass into Knysna. Jaun wanted to see Knysna badly after hearing of what a beautiful place it is. I have got family in a small place named Hoekwil near Wilderness so part of the route will pass them as well. A rest period of 4 days was planned into our trip as well to be able to spend some time with the family.

We only had 3 days after New Year to be able to be on time to start working again. I had no interest in spending the last 3 days of my leave riding on tar so a suitable route on gravel was planned up until Kroonstad where we would visit Jaun’s parents on the last day.

The last three days we would ride trough places like Montague pass, Swart berg pass, Prins Albert and Oukloof pass. Karoo dirt highways from Frazerburg trough Loxton and Vosburg up to the Vanderkloof dam. From here we would ride as much Free State dirt roads as possible to Kroonstad. This would mean that on the last 3 days we had to average 600km a day if we want to keep to the plan.

If we only knew then that the last 3 days of our trip would test ourselves our friendship and our machines to its maximum.

 

[Crossed-up]

Look forward to more.  Good Stuff!

 

[HennieF]

On your marks. Get set. GO.

For those of you reading this ride report you can always go back to the table attached in the planning phase to see how close we stuck to the planned route and why we had to divert from it to get back on schedule again.

Thursday the 16th
Day 1.  Only 120km.

I was supposed to be leaving Rustenburg already on the 15th but with a couple of last minute thing to do at work I decided that I will rather leave early on the 16th. This will still give us enough time when I reach Pretoria to sort out the kit that each of us wanted to take along for the next 19 days.

When I stepped outside on the morning of the 16th it was raining cats and dogs. I am a farm boytjie so I will never wish away rain. I packed my bike in the garage and then had to maneuver some of the vehicles around to make sure they all fit in and that they would still be there when I come back in January. After all this commotion I was completely drenched. A quick hot shower to keep away the flue and into my riding gear I went with my rain gear on top of that.

Riding to Pretoria that morning in that rain storm was hair rising to say the least. Visibility was poor and I had to get used to my new helmet’s anti-fog visor that seemed to be not working so lekker. In high humidity its anti fog capabilities seemed to be zero. Passing cars and trucks in spray took a quick prayer and a lot of wrist.

Passing over the already overflowing Hartebeespoort dam wall the weather seemed to be clearing up but I did not stop for any pictures. I did not want to risk damage to the camera on the first day of our trip. Finally arrived at Jaun place around 10h00.

Since day one was such a short hop and nothing interested happened anyway I will make use of this opportunity to give you some of an idea of what kit we were planning to carry with us over that next 19 days.

Due to the public holiday on the 16th we had to do all our shopping the weekend before. We both invested in new front tires. I chose and E-07 and Jaun an Anakee. I felt that the E-07 will give me enough traction trough any gnarly bits and could perform on tar as well. Jaun was extremely happy with the kilometers he got out of his old Anakee and could not foresee any traction problems as he had none with the previous one. Jaun’s Back tire was still brand new but mine was about 50% gone. I had serious doubts that it would finish the trip. If I do run into tire problems it would have to be sorted out somewhere on route.

Jaun all so invested in a decent bash plate and we both bought an ATG stretcher. We found out the hard way on the 2009 trip that the body does not react well to sleeping on the ground after a hard days riding. We also thought it better to carry water in a rucksack and not on the back of the bikes. For this purpose we thought it best to acquire a decent Camelback rucksack with enough space for loose items.

We both took the leap and broke our piggy banks and got ourselves decent helmets at last as an early Christmas present for 2010, 2011 and 2012 and maybe 2013.
One of the best pieces of kit that I got myself a couple of years ago are a MSR multi fuel stove and a K-Way Annapurna expedition tent. These two items would prove itself over and over again in coming few days.

Tools were kept down to the bare minimum. This includes a Torx set. L-key set. Set of Spanners 8, 10 to 17. A BMW Toolkit that I thought of as a white elephant but at the end of the day it saved our asses in Lesotho. Three tire levers with a tire repair kit and small hand pump. I also took with me 4 CO2 bombs with an applicator and a spare front tube and 2 cans of tire weld.

I also carry with me a small medical kit with a couple of pain and diarrhea pills. Rather be safe than sorry.

That afternoon we fitted Jaun’s bash plate and packed and repacked out kit as best as possible. We were now as ready as we would ever be.

 

[HennieF]

Friday the 17th.
Day 2.
Planned route: Pretoria to Memel 330km
Actual route: Pretoria to Ladysmith KZN via Memel and Normandien pass 470km.

This is a nice fish. It’s got huge farking eyes though but it is still a nice fish. (Martin Lawrence Bad Boys 2)

After a restless night during which I watched both Bad Boys 1 and 2 back to back the morning of the 17th finally arrived. We were only supposed to leave between 9 and 10 but at 6 we were both packed and ready to leave. We left Pretoria heading east towards Bapsfontein and then onto Delmas.

At Delmas we made the decision to full up both motor bikes so we can have the same fuel stops on the trip. So if one bike is empty the other one would be as well and our stops at fuel stations would be limited. Riding into Delmas Jaun took this opportunity to stand up a little as a good BMW rider should from time to time to stretch his legs. A traffic officer in an unmarked car saw him and followed us to the garage. Shit not ever 80km from the start and already mixing with the law. As Jaun was busy filling up his motor bike he walked over to reprimand him for standing while riding. After a lot of “Ja oom, sorry oom sal nie weer nie oom” het changed his tone and started showing interest in our bikes and asked about our trip. He turned out to be quite a nice fellow.

I felt the need for breakfast and the nearby Wimpy filled the spot quite nicely. During the trip we found that been on the bike for most of the day you tend not to eat as much as usual. Two meals a day with some light snacks in between proved to be enough for a day.

Leaving Delmas we were heading for Devon where we would leave the tar behind. It rained a lot in this region the week before and there were still a lot of water around. The roads were semi dried out with a few interesting wet patches here and there. We could however manage a steady pace and only had to slow down for a couple of deep wash outs.

We quickly came to Greylingstad and had to stop for a pic with the church in the back ground. From far it seemed like a beautiful old building. Sad to say we did not go any closer. Later on we would again meet up with an old church and this time I would go inside and be taken for a tour in a language that I did not understand.

Leaving Greylingstad we were now heading for Vrede . On route we crossed one of the tributaries of the Vaal and we had to stop for a couple of pictures. If we had been here a couple of days earlier we would definitely not been able to cross this bridge.

We crossed into the Free State at Roberts drift and by now I was laughing hard into my helmet. As we stopped for another break Jaun wanted to know what was going on with me. All I could say was:  This is a nice fish. Jaun put 2 and 2 together and added the rest.  It’s got huge farking eyes though but it is still a nice fish. That Martin Lawrence he just cracks me up. From this point on Jaun was also hooked. This phrase would become our moral booster. Every time things looked down one of us would say it to the other and bring at least half a smile to our faces. Strange with what stupid shit you can keep your mind busy while riding.

It is also here that we found our first tied up animal. Only difference was that they would all be tied down with rope not a thick chain round the neck tied to a metal pole in the ground. Stock theft must be a real problem here or maybe it is just one mad old child biting cow. In Lesotho we saw a lot on animals tied together with rope to the ground to restrict their movements. Hel I even saw a goat on a leash that walks with its owner like a dog.

Maybe I should have gotten a better angle of the beast.

Heading east towards Vrede we found ourselves on a deserted dirt road. It seemed that this specific road had not seen any traffic since the rain. No worries it is still early if the road is not passable we will turn back and find an alternative way to Vrede. In the next little valley we came onto this.

Yes you are right this is a nice fish.


Now just to find a way past this little obstacle right in the middle of our somewhat of a road. The operator said that he would be free in a short while but after wasting half an hour of our time we had to make another plan. Let weigh up our options.

On the right no chance. There is enough space but the bank is a little too high.

The left seemed the better option just a little bit of water with a lot of soft clay underneath. Hitting this clay and the heavy bike would go down immediately. Next to the grader there is just enough space to pass but if you make a mistake you can end up in the muddy ditch on the left. The TLB has dropped a lot of soft sand at the back but at least it is dry. A little bridge was made to cross the softer clay using the road sign lying in the font and with enough momentum we could ride up to the top of the bank. Now just to paddle trough the soft sand and we were home free.

On the other side of Vrede the country side started to change. We were now leaving the flat country side and moving into more of a mountainous terrain. Jaun said he felt that Heidi could live here. We even found lonesome house build against a hill with a few trees in the back that looked exactly the part. Even the farms were neatly maintained. I could see myself living in this area. Just have to move away in winter time though. Seems that if that place can get very could.

Arriving in Memel we headed for the now famous hotel to celebrate our first completed route of the trip. It was still early and the sun was still high so we had a chat with the local tour operator operating from the hotel premises about the condition of the passes in the area. Seemed almost sad to ride through the area and only ride one pass. Will have to come back one day and ride them all.

Since it was still early we decide to break our 15h00 stoppage rule and continue on and find accommodation at the bottom of the pass. Riding towards Normandien pass you regularly pass through lush green valleys.

Allso rode my passed my first snake of the trip. Little green one with a purple/black head.
Asked Jaun: Het jy die slang gesien?
Answer: Wat se fokken slang.
Ai Jaun. That was a nice fish.

It would happen regularly on our trip that the person riding behind would become so target fixated on the rider in front that he does not see what is going on around him.

Finally arriving at the top of Normandien a few pics were taken just to show that we arrived at our first official pass of the trip. Going down was surprisingly easy. I was expecting a lot more from this pass but the views was breath taking beautiful. It was a clear day with no clouds in the sky and you could see for many miles. From the dried out vehicle tracks you could see that that whomever travel this route a few days before us had some serious fun.

Arriving at the bottom of the pass the search for accommodation for our first night begins. We decided that the best place to start looking for a suitable place was at the Normandien general dealer. This turned out more to be a spaza shop run by an Indian girl that was almost afraid to talk to us. She was of no help at all. Only things she had for sale that could become diner was chili pilchards or packets of biscuits. I’m not a big fan of pilchard’s especially hot ones and less a fan of dried out Made in China cookies.

We had about two hours of sun left and we pushed on for Ladysmith. By now we regretted our decision of traveling trough Memel This decision would however proved to be a blessing in disguise. We final reached Ladysmith traveling some interesting country dirt roads but by now we were much too tired to stop and take pictures.
We ended the first day in a game lodge on the outskirts of Ladysmith with nicest soft beds but with the worst shower imaginable.

So far so good or so we thought.

 

[jnrbull]

Befok ! (jammer vir my taal)  :thumleft: :thumleft: :thumleft: :thumleft:

 

[KALLY]

very good so far, keep it coming

 

[Gert_GS_650]

Iemand wat bikes like en Nightwish en in ons mooi land bly !!!. And I thought I was alone
Sacrement of Wilderness en Moondance is tops

 

[letsgofishing]

Great stuff HennieF  :thumleft:
Looking forward to the rest.

 

[RobCrouch]

Great RR. :thumleft:

 

[HennieF]

Each night within his prison cell,
he looks out through the bars.
He reads the letters that she wrote.
One day he'll know the taste of freedom.

[as performed by Nightwish]

Saturday the 18th.
Day 3.
Planned route: Memel via Nottingham road to Underberg 330km
Actual route: Ladysmith KZN to Sterkfontein dam (Harrismith) 100km.

WTF???

We wanted to get an early start to be able to stop as much on the road as possible thus enjoying it more. Hel every morning we wanted to start off as early as possible but it seldom happened. Thinking about it now I don’t think it happened once.

I was up at 6h00 at least I thought it was 6h00. Jaun was still lost somewhere in a forest. I could not see him but I could hear him hacking his way through the thick bush. I made some coffee and went outside to wait for him to awake from his slumber. As I opened the door I found this.

Good morning to you too young man. Wonder who is the lucky lady?

It seemed the whole place was still asleep except me and old pronky over there that was trying his best to impress some cherrie up in a tree. However the cherrie was also a late sleeper and would have none of this early morning funny business. Jaun eventually woke up and came to sit outside round about 8h00. Asking why I was up so early I told him that I was up at six. No he said I was up at five and showed me his watch that was now showing only 7h00. That meant my watch and cell somehow is now early by one hour and I was sitting outside waiting for him since 5h00. WTF??

We start packing the bikes and do a pre inspection of the bikes as we would do every morning. To our disbelief Jaun found on his bike what could now mean a trip ender or a serious delay. The triple clamp holding the forks and handle bars together has cracked right trough. WTF??

Before you start with the BMW bashing let me just give you a short history of this bike. It was a private buy of some one that seemed honest at the time. The bike came with a brand new aftermarket front rim. We thought nothing of it as we all know the original rims are very soft. As he got to know the bike a little better more unusual things started to appear. Aftermarket brackets on the indicators. It seemed almost home made. There was also a BMW badge stuck on the triple clamp bracket that came of a BMW pannier. We now assumed that this bike could have been in an accident before Jaun took ownership of it. After the first service at a BMW dealership we were informed that the bike never went for any of its recalls. It’s a 2008 model and there was quite a few recalls as we all now know too well.

He first notices that there was something wrong with the triple clamp after our 2009 trip. A small chip as appear on the top of the clamp. He kept an eye on it during the whole of 2010 but it did not change. Early in the second half of the year he got worried and went for an expert opinion at BMW Bavarian. They informed him that they never saw something like this before and for safety sake it would be better to get the clamp replaced. Of course they would say that it’s a farking expensive part and they could make a little money. He placed an order for a new part and as we all know parts from overseas brought in trough dealerships takes their time to arrive. In fact it took such a long time that we eventually gave up and started off on this trip. It took only two days for our worst fear to come true. Four days for the next one and nineteen for the last one.

Now what? Who do you call on a Saturday morning in the December holiday and ask for help. Before a trip I always make a list of BMW dealerships on our routes and take their contact details down. We start calling around but no dealership could help us. A broken triple clamp is unheard off. No one keep stock of this part. Our only option now is to get this part welded back together again.

By now another guest at the lodge has noticed the predicament that we were in. He is from Pongola but grew up in the area and still has a few contacts around but because of the December holiday everyone that he called was closed already. Jaun took a chance and phoned BMW Bavarian to acquire about the part that he ordered a couple of months ago. They informed him that the part is in fact there and has arrived a long time ago. Why did they never call him to tell him it’s there? We are looking for this part everywhere and the only place we could find it is back at our starting point.

Now to get this part paid for and couriered to us in Ladysmith. No courier company is willing or able to overnight this parcel to us over the weekend and they would only be able to pick it up from the dealership on Monday and we could maybe have it on Tuesday if we are lucky. This was not on and our budget will be totally blown if we had to stay in Ladysmith for another 4 days and the trip ruined. Another plan had to be made. Time to call on some friends.

Our mate JP was still in Centurion and as always up for a challenge and a couple of promised beers even if the beers will be 350km away in Harrismith. This would mean that we had to get the bike in Harrismith somehow. The only option was to ride it there. Pratley steel was now our only option left.

To apply the Pratley steel we wanted to create a suitable bonding surface since the face of the clamp is just too smooth so we started chipping some groves into the clamp. On the first hit the outside bit of the clamp just splintered in to pieces. We now uncovered the reason why this crack was not found earlier. Someone has done a superb job in hiding the crack with body putty. Farkers. The same stuff panel beaters use to smooth out dents.

You can still see a little bit of yellow sticking out on the side of the clean area. That is what remained of the body putty after we cleaned the surface around the crack. We now applied a generous amount of Pratley steel and wait a while for it to set. I must add that the owner of the lodge helped us quite bid with tools to speed up the cleaning process. 

For the people at the Trenchgula Guest lodge I want to say thank you for helping us that morning.
Ps. Please fix the shower.

We finally managed to leave Ladysmith at 11h00 heading to Harrismith were we would meet up with JP and replace the broken triple clamp. We ride slow not to put too much stress on our patch job. JP will only be in Harrismith by 15h00 so we got some time. Eventually reaching Harrismith we opted for lunch at the Spur and of course beer. It has been an eventful day after all.

JP arrived just after 15h00 and more beers get consumed. We did not expected to see him so soon again as we only left him the day before in Pretoria so we have reason to celebrate. We chose Sterkfontein dam as our base of operation and left for the Spar for some supplies. On route to the dam we stopped for some luxuries. A box of litchis and grapes. We now have back up vehicle so there is space available.

Arriving at the camp site Jaun and JP get to work replacing the broken triple clamp with the new one and for the first time my white elephant BMW toolkit score some points on the most could not leave home without it tools on the trip scale. The only tool that we manage to miss is a 10mm L-key. After a few hopeless attempts to see who gets crowned the best MacGyver amongst us we admit defeat and start looking for help and tools once more.

In the meantime I’m busy pitching camp and over the Lesotho Mountains a storm is approaching. This will be the first night of camping on the trip. A fire is started and we get going on the red wine. Tonight it will be barbequed spare ribs, mealies on the cob and garlic rolls. Hey we are roughing it after all.

The best way I found to look for tools in a camp ground is to see who drives the oldest vehicle with the oldest boat or caravan/tent setup. In no time a 10mm L-key is located and the broken part is pulled off. Only now we see that someone has done a weak attempt in welding the broken clamp once before. Thus the reason for the body putty to hide the shit welding job and broken clamp.

It takes a team effort to fit the new clamp over the shocks. Two must try to open the clamp up just enough so it can slide into place. Another must push down. Not so dam easy with the tools we got. Finally we manage and the handlebar gets bolted back on.

We are just in time as the heavens open up. Whatever is on the braai gets chucked into a Spar plastic bag and we race for the shelter of our tent. While a storm is raging outside we ate like kings and had a few laughs. It is not every day that you have opportunity to eat from a plastic bag and gets to drink wine straight from the bottle. Roughing it.

We fell asleep more relaxed as the wheel has turned in our favor again and the trip could be saved but when it eventually did turn the other way we would be totally be on our own this time.

 

[Fiellie]

Nice  :thumleft: :thumleft:

 

[JonW]

Great Report so far on a very ambitious trip  :thumleft:

Looking forward to the rest of it.

And btw, nothing at all wrong with your English writing skills, your writing puts a lot of us soutpiele to shame  :biggrin:

 

[Kamanya]

Great story.

I hope that there is another ride report coming after this that documents the visit to the seller of Jauns bike?

My blood would be boiling.

 

[HennieF]

Day 4.
Planned route: Himeville to Katse dam 210km
Actual route: Sterkfontein dam (Harrismith) via Nottingham road to Himeville 250km.
Schedule: Behind 1 day.
Enter the rain.

I gasp for air as I wake up this morning. It seemed a large pack of lions as shared this little tent with us last night. The stench of digested meat is so thick in the air if I open my mouth I swear I could still taste it. If the tent was not yellow I would probably be able to see it as well. I crawled from under the tent into fresh air with JP following close behind me. Juan is still intoxicated from the fumes and out cold. I could have mistaken his for been dead if he wasn’t snoring.

The storm from last night has caused havoc amongst the tents in the camp ground. A couple of unfortunate campers had abandon their tents and spent the night in their vehicles. A few gazebos have been blown into the veldt and are now mangled pieces of scrap metal wreaked beyond repair. Some of the most unfortunate storm victims got completely washed out and are now busy drying their belongings. If you have traveled through the area before you will know from experience how strong the wind can get coming over this dam.

While waiting for Jaun to emerge from the tent as well myself and JP set off to explore the place on foot a bit. The place is pretty drenched. If the route is also going to be wet like this then we will probably slip and slide all the way to Himeville. All the out buildings in the reserve are slowly falling into a state of disrepair. It’s sad to see such a beautiful place with great potential go slowly down the drain like this. There was a wedding in the small hall the previous night and the place is a mess. A lot of broken liquor bottles and broken chairs are lying around. The reserve must have been really beautiful once. Hope they privatize the place soon.

On arrival back in camp Jaun was up and already busy packing. We follow his example and finished in a relatively short time. Breakfast is leftovers from last night braai with some litchis and grapes. We bid our farewell to JP and part ways at the gate. He heads west back to Pretoria and we turn east towards Oliviershoek pass. Thanks again mate you saved this trip for us.

Late in 2008 while traveling this same road I had the slight misfortune of crashing out going down Oliviers nek pass. This would be the first time since then that I pass the accident seen again. We did not stop but kept on going and near Bergville the heavens opened up. Changed into rain clothes and filled up the bikes in Bergville. It was now pouring with rain. Just outside of town we turn off the main towards Loskop. We encountered a little bit of gravel road up until the Giants castle turn off. This gravel road tested our skills a little special on the down hills. Someone has repaired all the uphill and downhill bits with a fine red type of clay. It’s slippery as ice and we took extra care not to slide of the road. Jaun misjudged one particular downhill with a bend at the bottom a little but nothing serious.

At Draycott station we turned right again and were now heading back towards the mountain. Here we encounter an elderly couple towing a muddy caravan. They were a little lost looking for Dragon Peaks or someplace but they were still in good spirits. They warned us of all the mud on the road that we were about to take. We also did not know the area well so I directed them to the Giants Castle turn off were I saw an information centre.

We were now getting in front of the rain and took our rain jackets off but left the pants on. The roads were wet and we wanted to keep our legs dry as water splashed up from underneath the bikes. I suffer the most since the water splashes up against the panniers and then back onto my back side. I did not want to take any chances with the camera getting wet so I did not take any pictures of the route up to here.

Leaving the rain behind us.

Almost clear skies.

The riding becomes interesting with a couple of wash outs that needs to be crossed but nothing serious. This road gets used a lot by the locals so you just follow the tracks trough on the bad spots. There is a lot of water standing on the road but the surface is still hard so riding is easy. We stop for lunch at the Spotted Horse PUB and Grill just before the Lower Loteni turn off. Friendly people good food and off course cold beer just what the doctor ordered.

And yes they actually have a spotted horse.

While waiting for our food to arrive we had a slight challenge on our hands. Who can call the horse over the quickest? The sounds that were used to get this horse attention were something from Tjo Tjo Tjo, Hee haa Hee haa to kietsie kietsie. But nothing this horse was just too smart for us. Days later in Rhodes we met a couple that breed horses. Their first words after seeing the picture was what a beautiful Appaloosa. So it’s an Appaloosa not a horse that is why it did not react. We tried to communicate to it in Horse and it only understands Appaloosion.

We ate in a hurry as the rain was catching up again and rode the last bid of tar for the day up until the Lower Loteni turn off.

From here the road started winding through the valleys and trough the villages of the Zulu communities that was living in this area. We passed a lot of streams and rivers that was coming down in flood. It was still raining heavily up in the mountains and we were passing right on the edge.

We found the most amazing waterfall and had to stop for a couple of pictures. I can’t remember the place name but it was something like Wishing water or Rushing water or water that makes strange sound place.

Just before Lower Loteni the rain caught up with us and we had to put the rain jackets back on again.

About 20km in front of Himeville we reach a fork in the road. Because it is raining I removed the GPs from the handle bars. I was told it is water proof but can’t afford another one if it is not so, so I kept it out of the rain in my jacket pocket. Some kids points us in the right direction and we paid a small fee for their help. One sweet each.

It was still raining when we arrived in Himeville. I love old places and the Himeville arms seemed like such a place. We booked ourselves into their backpackers and spread the kit out on the beds and chairs to get them dry. When you visit this region you have to eat trout and so we did. The food was excellent and so was their service.

Tomorrow we will be heading into Lesotho. More adventure awaits.

 

[Ian in Great Brak River]

Mooi man, Mooi

8)