PE Wilddogs take on the Elands river valley - the abridged version

This site may earn a commission from merchant affiliate links, including eBay, Amazon, and others.
While we are still on the subject of our ride, I should like to add a few pictures of my lone ride home. What happened wasâ?¦. I said I would accompany Slow and Mamba to Baviaans. But I had to blow out my fuel line and filter due to whatever  - some stront in the petcock or summing. Anyway, I sent the two of â??em off and of course the rest of the pack were halfway to Loerie alreadyâ?¦

So, with a quick reference to the trusty GPSIII+ of 1999 vintage (the same as my white Stallion) I dipped down over the rail tracks and wound my way past the orchards, until the Gamtoos River came into view. This view caught me by surprise so I slid to a stop. It was actually better 50m back, but I was too lazy to go back up the hill.
P2090028.jpg


Heckâ?¦. I really like this noble steed..
P2090030.jpg


Getting into Hankey, I was help up by some Parade� there was a band of sorts and a few Police Jammies � but I was soon on the route that Watty highlighted with the Google picture. That brought me to the Cocopan Roadside Café. Decided that a piece of biltong all to myself and a coke was a good reason to go say hullo. Helgard v d Watt is a most chatty fellow and we spoke of the quarry and the cocopan cableway that took the rocks to Loerie for transport to the cement factory down near Malabar. That quarry and cableway was decommissioned in 2000 as the process was no longer economical.
P2090031.jpg


This would be a great pitstop for a ride. We spoke of braai drums and beer and that sort of thingâ?¦!

Well, onwardsâ?¦ but not on the tarâ?¦? Heck, my knobbies are taking a beating, and Lesotho is 12 days away. Ahhâ?¦ Helgard said, go up the road, turn left, take the next left forkâ?¦ Great.
P2090036.jpg

P2090033.jpg


And finally emerging onto this bit of tar which took me into Loerie, past the station and the NG Kerk.
P2090038.jpg


Decided to take a peek at the Damâ?¦
P2090040.jpg


This dear old lady and her helper were out for a stroll. She was really slow and I think in quite a bit of pain. Itâ??s a tough life in the village.
P2090042.jpg


From Loerie, I picked up the road along the Gamtoos.
P2090046.jpg


I love roads with a tree to stop underâ?¦
P2090048.jpg


Was trying to catch some views while riding, so was just point-and-pressingâ?¦.
P2090058.jpg
P2090056.jpg


At the single lane bridge, you get some more dirt along the river.
P2090060.jpg

P2090063.jpg


This is the bridge that brings most of PEâ??s water from the Kouga Dam. The Baviaans campsites of Doodsklip and Rooihoek are at the top end of this Dam.
P2090062.jpg


The road took me to Gamtoos Mouth Village. Lots of sand and estuary. If you like rivers and pumping prawns and sand and salty airâ?¦. This is a nice place.
P2090064.jpg


This chappy invited a picture, having called out to me, saying that it would be a better photosubject than my Iron Steedâ?¦. (huh! What does he know..?)
P2090066.jpg


Road closedâ?¦. ! I donâ??t think soâ?¦ reconstruction proceeds at tempo de Afrique .. How long has the Van Stadens Pass been â??closedâ? now?
P2090069.jpg


Still amazed at these engineering feats â?? a somber sight, when one thinks of the tragedies of this bridge and the folk who had to jumpâ?¦
P2090070.jpg


And no, the Palomino Stallion doe NOT have a leak.
P2090071.jpg


From here, it was up to the gale swept N2 and some side roads homeâ?¦

Good ride, Captain, and the others. Thanks for the fun.
 
Very good reports. I came across this site about a week before your trip however had already arranged an overnight through Baviaans that weekend. Decided to go through Elands river valley on route, after reading your planned trip. We must have been about 2 hours behind you guys (650 Dakar and two Landies). Awesome ride, definately want to do it again sometime.

I think we passed two of you guys on the way into Baviaans. Had a really good ride through to the other side of the Wilderness area, I had a few long stops waiting for the 4x4's to catch up. We overnighted at Bosvlakter, which is a selfcatering cottage (sleeps 6). Wanted to stay at Bakkrans cave however we had a couple of friends in the group who were not really camping types, so we had to opt for something a bit more organised.

Road trough the Wilderness area is not too good in places and can get fairly technical, water crossings about 3/4 of the way through are also fairly deep with rocky and loose bottoms.  There was a lot of game on the road (kudu and baboons) and I believe that there are buffalo and a few black rhino in the area. On the way out the next morning the group in the 4X4's saw a buffalo, which I must have passed without seeing.

This must be one of the best adventure trips in the world and believe that it could be closed off to bikes in the near future. If you have not done it yet, plan the trip soon.

I am now a regular to this site and look forward to meeting and riding with you guys soon. 

     
 
BTW, Captain, I think your turnaround point was the top of Combrinc's Pass. (Bergplaas is at the top, some way along the ridge, with no valley on the right.)
14.jpg


Peeweebreak October 2007
019.jpg


We shall just have to check it out in March sometime, nê
 
"Second weekend in march"

Also saw Captian Slow and Mamba on thier way down the mountain. We were on our way up to bergplaas in a Mazda Drifter 4x4 to overnight. Hell, I missed my KLE500. Probably wont have my 800GS yet for your next trip. Did an overnight trip not to long ago - entering Baviaans from Steytlerville & sleeping over at Uitspan. Recomended - The people at uitspan had everything set out for us. From Braai packs & wood to cold beer at a nominal fee.
 
Righto, Uncle Captain... as of now, this Planning Of Your Next Trip must move and continue in the Planning a Ride section. Lets do it. I am bok for the 2nd weekend, because the 1st weekend will see me in Lesotho Mountains, overlooking KZN from 3000 m ASL.
 
Wotcha mean??? there are more pics on these pages than flies on an old mossy horn...! ;D
 
Carnivore i'm rather going to cancel my plans for the Baviaan in March... i need to focus on my studies and get it over with. :(
 
Nothing wrong with that decision, Son. Jy het breins om so te kan dink. Go for it - Baviaans will not secure your future, but your studies will help.

But if you feel like a break, a little "training run"... give me a shout. We can always scoot up some of the Parsons Vlei trails to hone the rock monster skills.

In fact, I need to recce the dirt route to Uitenhage and work out how long it will take me on a bad morning. I am SICK of driving 100 km every day in someone else's cage, and being held to ransom by errant time-keeping. So a regular dirt adventure twice a day could be a bonus.
 
Lekker manne! Julle doen saam n goeie report. Dankie ook vir die mooi foto's.
 
Carnivore said:
Nothing wrong with that decision, Son. Jy het breins om so te kan dink. Go for it - Baviaans will not secure your future, but your studies will help.

But if you feel like a break, a little "training run"... give me a shout. We can always scoot up some of the Parsons Vlei trails to hone the rock monster skills.

In fact, I need to recce the dirt route to Uitenhage and work out how long it will take me on a bad morning. I am SICK of driving 100 km every day in someone else's cage, and being held to ransom by errant time-keeping. So a regular dirt adventure twice a day could be a bonus.

I wanna go ride the gravel near Alexandria too sometime...
 
That is lekker. Here are a few random Photos of that area, from New Years Day, when I went to East London
 

Attachments

  • P9190012.JPG
    P9190012.JPG
    133.3 KB
  • P9190033.JPG
    P9190033.JPG
    148.6 KB
  • P9190043.JPG
    P9190043.JPG
    131.7 KB
  • P9190054.JPG
    P9190054.JPG
    126.8 KB
Top