O.K. ...so Im back from the Sutherland trip with my mate Pete on his Africa Twin.
For those who have'nt done it yet , this is an awesome trip with lots of long sand roads , twisty passes , technical bits, river crossings and Gordons Dry Gin.
We left from Somerset West at 0830 and headed out for Wellington. The South Easter was blowing like crazy. About halfway to Wellington my tank bag decided to abandon ship in spectacular fashion at about 140 km /hr .....I tell you what .....nearly scared the crap out of me. Fortunately there was nothing breakable inside so it was recovered and firmly tied on to the back seat.
On to Ceres were we did the grocery shoping and stocked up on the Gin. Now I'm not really a Gin fan but there was no Southern Comfort available (much to Pete's horror) and Pete dont drink whiskey (much to my horror) so we settled on the Gin. (Not enough space for copious amounts of beer which is actually my tipple of choice)
Anyways ...on we went and picked up the R356 (I think) and headed towards Sutherland. Did some amazing stretches of hard packed sand roads with Karoo scenery (it was as hot as hell , but at least the wind had died down a bit.
Reached the guest farm that we had booked into at about 16.00 and got settled in. Got the braai going and got stuck into a few Gin's and lemonade (thats cause Pete dont know the difference between Tonic and lemonade .....totally uncivilised git !!
Now I must tell you dudes (theres that word again ) about the guest farm. Its about 30 km outside Sutherland and covers over 18000 ha. Its totally biker friendly (In fact the owners organised us 40 lts of petrol so we woul'nt have to go into Sutherland to fill up) The accomodation is a little rustic but very comfortable and you are totaly on your own. Theres not an other human in sight for miles around ....just lots of sheep .....(I could see Pete was getting excited as the Gins took effect.) The rates where very reasonable at R150.00 per person per night which included braai wood and all the lamb you could catch.
Anyways ...we had a very pleasent braai under the stars with the conversation going from Astro Physics, to the possibilty of discovering a womens netball team lost out in the bush.......eish....what a bottle of Gordins Dry Gin can do to a mans head.
The next morning we set out to explore the farm, again the owners were more that helpful in pointing out the way to the various points of interest.
The riding was f...ing brilliant with every type of riding that an adventure rider could ever hope for. From river crossings to rock climbing ......to just through the bush ...some dirt tracks ...dry river beds .....technical stuff, ruff stuff ......sand ......you name it . All this and not another vehicle or human in sight.
There is lots of game around, Springbok , Wilderbees , Porcupine , cobra;s (yep we spotted a couple) and I would imagine plenty of animals that we didnt see.
There are waterfalls , escarpment , old historical farm houses and plenty of other stuff to discover .
This is truly adventure riding heaven .......the only thing missing ......a womens netball team lost in the bush......
For those who have'nt done it yet , this is an awesome trip with lots of long sand roads , twisty passes , technical bits, river crossings and Gordons Dry Gin.
We left from Somerset West at 0830 and headed out for Wellington. The South Easter was blowing like crazy. About halfway to Wellington my tank bag decided to abandon ship in spectacular fashion at about 140 km /hr .....I tell you what .....nearly scared the crap out of me. Fortunately there was nothing breakable inside so it was recovered and firmly tied on to the back seat.
On to Ceres were we did the grocery shoping and stocked up on the Gin. Now I'm not really a Gin fan but there was no Southern Comfort available (much to Pete's horror) and Pete dont drink whiskey (much to my horror) so we settled on the Gin. (Not enough space for copious amounts of beer which is actually my tipple of choice)
Anyways ...on we went and picked up the R356 (I think) and headed towards Sutherland. Did some amazing stretches of hard packed sand roads with Karoo scenery (it was as hot as hell , but at least the wind had died down a bit.
Reached the guest farm that we had booked into at about 16.00 and got settled in. Got the braai going and got stuck into a few Gin's and lemonade (thats cause Pete dont know the difference between Tonic and lemonade .....totally uncivilised git !!
Now I must tell you dudes (theres that word again ) about the guest farm. Its about 30 km outside Sutherland and covers over 18000 ha. Its totally biker friendly (In fact the owners organised us 40 lts of petrol so we woul'nt have to go into Sutherland to fill up) The accomodation is a little rustic but very comfortable and you are totaly on your own. Theres not an other human in sight for miles around ....just lots of sheep .....(I could see Pete was getting excited as the Gins took effect.) The rates where very reasonable at R150.00 per person per night which included braai wood and all the lamb you could catch.
Anyways ...we had a very pleasent braai under the stars with the conversation going from Astro Physics, to the possibilty of discovering a womens netball team lost out in the bush.......eish....what a bottle of Gordins Dry Gin can do to a mans head.
The next morning we set out to explore the farm, again the owners were more that helpful in pointing out the way to the various points of interest.
The riding was f...ing brilliant with every type of riding that an adventure rider could ever hope for. From river crossings to rock climbing ......to just through the bush ...some dirt tracks ...dry river beds .....technical stuff, ruff stuff ......sand ......you name it . All this and not another vehicle or human in sight.
There is lots of game around, Springbok , Wilderbees , Porcupine , cobra;s (yep we spotted a couple) and I would imagine plenty of animals that we didnt see.
There are waterfalls , escarpment , old historical farm houses and plenty of other stuff to discover .
This is truly adventure riding heaven .......the only thing missing ......a womens netball team lost in the bush......
