hondsekierie
Race Dog
It was Saturday afternoon at the Tiffendel / New England / Barkley East intersection - the general idea was to head in the direction of Hogsback, a magical little place I discovered many years ago.
Although I did download some route prior to leaving I found myself increasingly deviating from it and just couldn’t be bothered where I’ll sleep for the night – it was only the absence of my tent and the fact that I was in the middle of Easter weekend that kept me from loosing my direction completely.
On the Diepspruit River / Tierkrans road I saw this beautiful bridge in the distance.
Next to it was an impressive looking railway bridge, not going anywhere anymore…… It never fails to amaze me how much effort went into the building of railway tracks across the country, in the most remote areas you can think of, and almost zilch are used anymore. All replaced by road transport – a national scandal IMO
In Barkley East it was time for a chow – saw a large number of GS’s (with GP plates) parked outside this little pub. Judged by the luggage it appeared like they were heading for Cairo. My dusty devil with minimal luggage did not mingle with the squeaky clean uncles and after collecting my greasy burger with slap tits I was out of town.
After taking the R396 gravel road I came to a split in the road – Otto du Plessis Pass to the left it will be. Just liked the name for some strange reason.
It was just after this stop that I first saw the reserve fuel light coming – stupid dewis. In my haste to get out of town I completely forgot to fill up again.
On top I just pondered the views – nie n aap se saak nie – it was just all so beautiful…
Travelling along this beautiful stretch of road I started looking for farm houses, making mental notes of how far I’d have to walk incase I run out of juice when I suddenly saw a bunch of people partying at a farmhouse next to the road.
Pulling in they offered me anything from beers to boerewors, but no juice – only diesel. It’s only after I learned that Indwe was only some thirty kays away that my spirits picked up again. For some reason my GPS kept telling me it was still seventy odd kays away. (Say to yourself – change route settings poepol)
Although very nice peeps I did not want to stay there – I wanted to be alone with my bike, nothing more, nothing less
Due to my fuel saving exercise it was dark when I got to Indwe – I was told by the farmer to rather avoid Indwe and to go straight for Dordrecht – I took his advice. Where to sleep, shit, I’ve got no tent – not even the bivvy I originally wanted to take with.
That night I dossed in a guest house in the shadow of some big church. First night with no beer – next morning will therefore be an early start.
My lack of planning was catching up with me – with no map to see the bigger picture I had to settle down for tar to Queenstown until I struck this little gem of a road just outside town – Hilton Conservancy leading towards Sada.
For the next thirty odd kays I never saw any vehicles, just beautiful landscapes……..
From Sada it was tar all the way to the Hogsback turnoff – man, they’re right, if you have dentures rather remove them.
For the first time on this trip I chucked the idea of self preservation out of the window and was gunning it down that road. Some of those motorists must have gotten the skrik of their lives as some of them just pulled off the road as I came flying up to them. Is there an explanation for this kind of behaviour???
Arriving at Hogsback was almost like going back in time. Having first visited this place in the mid eighties and then in 1997, I always wanted to return – maybe I wanted to pick up on some of the wonderful memories I had of the place – being in love and all that kind of shit…… Focus boy.
Riding down the main road to the Hogsback Inn brought back such unbelievable memories, just a pity that the character of the little hotel is disappearing at the rate of knots with all the add-ons. The garden remains the same and the main road has since been tarred.
It was time to leave for Seymour / Katberg / Alice. I must have looked like a lost soul as I just crisscrossed the farm roads, sometimes with dead ends but most of them in the general direction of Alice.
It was just outside Alice when I hit this eighty odd kay dirt highway towards Grahamstown – the wind was picking up big time and clouds were rolling in over the mountains. Not acquainted with the weather patterns in this neck of the woods I really started to push when at 160km/h odd some ‘bokkie’ missed my front fender by cm’s.
I really got shaken, not so much by the ‘bokkie’ but rather my brain dead actions. Just prior to me leaving Gauteng Matthys Roets had a serious fall – it was in the back of my mind throughout the trip to ride sensibly – after all, I did not even give any details of my route to anyone.
Late that afternoon I pulled into Grahamstown, cold and full of dust, looking for Edgy’s guest house. Not taking down the name of his guest house before leaving I started searching for waypoints Bakkie had given me earlier – I found it but alas, no name for the guest house and therefore no phone number. Taking a ride to his spot I eventually found it – nobody home however – phone call later he referred me to a mate of his in town. I was not gonna come right, he was also out of town. This happens when you don’t have a tent and a don’t care attitude – will visit you soon Edgy.
That night I met up with a young couple who travelled down the West coast of Africa for 6 months – www.overafrica.org They will tackle the East Coast for another six months, lucky buggers. Needless to say we partied in that truck till the wee hours of the morning.
Six o’ clock the next morning I headed for Riebeek East / Addo / PE. Cool riding and will definitely be back for a more relaxed ride through this section – at this stage some sand got stuck in my camera and the lens refused to open.
Only when arriving at Out of Africa pub did I manage to clean it. Amazing what sense a cold beer can bring.
I called Bakkie who gave me this waypoint earlier and told him where I was, also my sad story about the tent that got trashed – true biker buddy that he is, he immediately opted to bring me a tent which he wasn’t using anymore – “a good excuse to come have a beer with a fellow dog”. He rocked up a couple of minutes later – what can I say, you’re a cool dude. That rim will give you an indication of the man’s abilities as a rider…..
Soon after introducing himself I saw this dude and small ‘laaitie’ arriving on plastics. The small ‘laaitie’ later turned out to be Tyger – nice meeting you and 214?
With Bakkie sinking the one cold one after the other I realized I had to hit the road as I was never going to reach Patensie before nightfall. That Elands River Road was a great ride till I overshot the one corner and ended up between some rocks – luckily nothing hurt, only the realization that booze makes you more confident than what you should be.
I had a bite at some ‘laanie’ place in Patensie when I met up with the owner of Hankey Hotel – that was a mistake, no, maybe just the beginning of a healthy relationship with small town hotel bars. I know some okes on this forum does not like the idea of booze - unfortunately you wont be able to relate to this past time – the little hotels with little bars attract interesting locals – take the time, I did it for the remainder of my trip….
To be continued
Although I did download some route prior to leaving I found myself increasingly deviating from it and just couldn’t be bothered where I’ll sleep for the night – it was only the absence of my tent and the fact that I was in the middle of Easter weekend that kept me from loosing my direction completely.
On the Diepspruit River / Tierkrans road I saw this beautiful bridge in the distance.
Next to it was an impressive looking railway bridge, not going anywhere anymore…… It never fails to amaze me how much effort went into the building of railway tracks across the country, in the most remote areas you can think of, and almost zilch are used anymore. All replaced by road transport – a national scandal IMO
In Barkley East it was time for a chow – saw a large number of GS’s (with GP plates) parked outside this little pub. Judged by the luggage it appeared like they were heading for Cairo. My dusty devil with minimal luggage did not mingle with the squeaky clean uncles and after collecting my greasy burger with slap tits I was out of town.
After taking the R396 gravel road I came to a split in the road – Otto du Plessis Pass to the left it will be. Just liked the name for some strange reason.
It was just after this stop that I first saw the reserve fuel light coming – stupid dewis. In my haste to get out of town I completely forgot to fill up again.
On top I just pondered the views – nie n aap se saak nie – it was just all so beautiful…
Travelling along this beautiful stretch of road I started looking for farm houses, making mental notes of how far I’d have to walk incase I run out of juice when I suddenly saw a bunch of people partying at a farmhouse next to the road.
Pulling in they offered me anything from beers to boerewors, but no juice – only diesel. It’s only after I learned that Indwe was only some thirty kays away that my spirits picked up again. For some reason my GPS kept telling me it was still seventy odd kays away. (Say to yourself – change route settings poepol)
Although very nice peeps I did not want to stay there – I wanted to be alone with my bike, nothing more, nothing less
Due to my fuel saving exercise it was dark when I got to Indwe – I was told by the farmer to rather avoid Indwe and to go straight for Dordrecht – I took his advice. Where to sleep, shit, I’ve got no tent – not even the bivvy I originally wanted to take with.
That night I dossed in a guest house in the shadow of some big church. First night with no beer – next morning will therefore be an early start.
My lack of planning was catching up with me – with no map to see the bigger picture I had to settle down for tar to Queenstown until I struck this little gem of a road just outside town – Hilton Conservancy leading towards Sada.
For the next thirty odd kays I never saw any vehicles, just beautiful landscapes……..
From Sada it was tar all the way to the Hogsback turnoff – man, they’re right, if you have dentures rather remove them.
For the first time on this trip I chucked the idea of self preservation out of the window and was gunning it down that road. Some of those motorists must have gotten the skrik of their lives as some of them just pulled off the road as I came flying up to them. Is there an explanation for this kind of behaviour???
Arriving at Hogsback was almost like going back in time. Having first visited this place in the mid eighties and then in 1997, I always wanted to return – maybe I wanted to pick up on some of the wonderful memories I had of the place – being in love and all that kind of shit…… Focus boy.
Riding down the main road to the Hogsback Inn brought back such unbelievable memories, just a pity that the character of the little hotel is disappearing at the rate of knots with all the add-ons. The garden remains the same and the main road has since been tarred.
It was time to leave for Seymour / Katberg / Alice. I must have looked like a lost soul as I just crisscrossed the farm roads, sometimes with dead ends but most of them in the general direction of Alice.
It was just outside Alice when I hit this eighty odd kay dirt highway towards Grahamstown – the wind was picking up big time and clouds were rolling in over the mountains. Not acquainted with the weather patterns in this neck of the woods I really started to push when at 160km/h odd some ‘bokkie’ missed my front fender by cm’s.
I really got shaken, not so much by the ‘bokkie’ but rather my brain dead actions. Just prior to me leaving Gauteng Matthys Roets had a serious fall – it was in the back of my mind throughout the trip to ride sensibly – after all, I did not even give any details of my route to anyone.
Late that afternoon I pulled into Grahamstown, cold and full of dust, looking for Edgy’s guest house. Not taking down the name of his guest house before leaving I started searching for waypoints Bakkie had given me earlier – I found it but alas, no name for the guest house and therefore no phone number. Taking a ride to his spot I eventually found it – nobody home however – phone call later he referred me to a mate of his in town. I was not gonna come right, he was also out of town. This happens when you don’t have a tent and a don’t care attitude – will visit you soon Edgy.
That night I met up with a young couple who travelled down the West coast of Africa for 6 months – www.overafrica.org They will tackle the East Coast for another six months, lucky buggers. Needless to say we partied in that truck till the wee hours of the morning.
Six o’ clock the next morning I headed for Riebeek East / Addo / PE. Cool riding and will definitely be back for a more relaxed ride through this section – at this stage some sand got stuck in my camera and the lens refused to open.
Only when arriving at Out of Africa pub did I manage to clean it. Amazing what sense a cold beer can bring.
I called Bakkie who gave me this waypoint earlier and told him where I was, also my sad story about the tent that got trashed – true biker buddy that he is, he immediately opted to bring me a tent which he wasn’t using anymore – “a good excuse to come have a beer with a fellow dog”. He rocked up a couple of minutes later – what can I say, you’re a cool dude. That rim will give you an indication of the man’s abilities as a rider…..
Soon after introducing himself I saw this dude and small ‘laaitie’ arriving on plastics. The small ‘laaitie’ later turned out to be Tyger – nice meeting you and 214?
With Bakkie sinking the one cold one after the other I realized I had to hit the road as I was never going to reach Patensie before nightfall. That Elands River Road was a great ride till I overshot the one corner and ended up between some rocks – luckily nothing hurt, only the realization that booze makes you more confident than what you should be.
I had a bite at some ‘laanie’ place in Patensie when I met up with the owner of Hankey Hotel – that was a mistake, no, maybe just the beginning of a healthy relationship with small town hotel bars. I know some okes on this forum does not like the idea of booze - unfortunately you wont be able to relate to this past time – the little hotels with little bars attract interesting locals – take the time, I did it for the remainder of my trip….
To be continued
???
