The beautiful Cape (and Eastern Cape).

[LanceSA]

So when we heard that Ted Simon was going to do a slide presentation and talk in Cape Town this gave us the perfect excuse for a gravel road trip, not that we needed much of an excuse.  So Mike (Bolivia on the forum) and I set off on Sunday 28th of November.

Tar to Bokness then around the Woody Cape. What a great road. We ended up at Colchester where we had a coke and noticed that Mike’s exhaust had shed some bolts. Quick fix.

Then we saw 2 bikes pull into the petrol station with Wilddog stickers. Turned out to be Marnus and Knopkop  on their Eastern Cape trip: https://wilddog.net.za/forum/index.php?topic=60929.0   They were also on their way to Uitenhage and Elandsrivier Rd. So we joined up for a bit.

The ever-smiling Knopkop.

Marnus

I have always wanted to cross the Sundays River on the old steel bridge.

The new wind generator. You can’t believe how big this thing is.

Lunch in Uitenhage and then the Elandsrivier Rd. By now the intermittent drizzle had turned to steady rain. The good gravel road was sodden and quite slippery. Knopkop has better photos of this section. Just before the split to Patensie, Mike got stuck in a really snotty rut and had a mlt. No major damage except to the screen and a bent gear lever.  

We went on to Patensie and Knopkop and Marnus went right to Steytlerville. We stopped at the shop for petrol and a cool drink and asked around for accommodation. One of the patrons in the shop told us his boss had a cottage on his farm that he rented out. What a setting! This is the view from our room the next morning.

 

[LanceSA]

And then the beautiful Baviaans.

Mike’s other exhaust was now loose and had to be fixed but the damage was a bit more than the previous day. Turns out the exhaust mounting bolts under the engine had come loose and they were probably causing the problem.

We encountered very little water in Baviaans itself but outside of the wilderness area there was quite a lot. Turns out that the western side of the Baviaans had had 50mm in 30 minutes the week before we got there and the roads had taken quite a hammering.
We stopped for breakfast at the same farm stall that we had breakfast at in April. Took some clothes off and tried to dry them out a bit.

Fantastic farm breakfast.

On to Uniondale and then we decided to gap it on the tar to George to have Mike’s exhaust looked at. The Outeniqua Pass is really beautiful.
In George we found the Yamaha dealership and they were outstanding. Big ups to them. They found us a backpackers and delivered us there and then set about welding up Mike's exhaust and sorting out a couple of other things.
Tuesday George Yamaha finished off the repairs and we got away at 12:00, a little bit behind schedule. We had plotted a road off Garmap that took us on gravel roads all along the coast. We took the back route to Mossel Bay and then turned off to Gouritsmond. The map showed a road all along the coast. And what a road it was but unfortunately it ended at a locked gate and some very big house apparently owned by the government.
So we had to backtrack.

We then found the gravel highway to Stillbaai and then got directions from ChrisL to get to Malgas and on to Algulhas.

Petrol at Witsands

Pont at Malgas

 

[Skipskop]

Nice ride guys,we are sooo lucky to live here !!

 

[KnopKop]

Nice Lance!!

Looking forward to the rest!

:drif:

 

[letsgofishing]

Nice one Lance!

 

[Andy660]

So where is the rest  ???

 

[The Badger]

Nice trip...............thanks for the lekker pics

 

[LanceSA]

So where is the rest  ???

Be patient! I'm battling to get your photos of my phone, onto the computer and then Photobucket. It's not easy when you're digitaly challenged.

 

[letsgofishing]

So where is the rest  ???

Be patient! I'm battling to get your photos of my phone, onto the computer and then Photobucket. It's not easy when you're digitaly challenged.

You've had 30mins already - what's the hold up?  :biggrin:

 

[TornadoF5]

Nice Lance keep it coming!

 

[LanceSA]

ok I can't seem to get the battery photos off my phone so here's the rest.
Oh, and I had to do some work as well even though we are supposed to be closed.

 

[LanceSA]

And then on to Agulhas, the southernmost point of Africa and the point where the Indian Ocean meets the Atlantic.
We’re not sure if they allow people to ride their bikes up to the marker, but we looked for a sign that said we couldn’t and there wasn’t one.

Slept in another fantastic Backpackers. Neat and clean with friendly staff and great facilities.

Early start and a fantastic breakfast down the road in Hermanus.

There is a road that hugs the coast from Hermanus to Gordon’s Bay that is the equal of anything I have ever seen anywhere in the world.  Unfortunately no pics as we were too busy enjoying the ride.

Then my problems started. I had set the gps to ‘scooter’ for fun as I preferred the little scooter graphic. Up until this stage we were riding routes put into the gps but when we got into Cape Town we were heading for a waypoint. I could not understand why the gps wanted to take us off the highway at every off ramp and navigation in the traffic was becoming a nightmare. Turns out that’s what the scooter setting does.  Then I took an off ramp that Mike missed and we were split up in a strange town and still lost. On top of this all the highways seem to be undergoing upgrades and everything is blocked off and changing.
I stopped to make some calls and get my bearings and then my bike only just started. We were staying with Rynet and had arranged to meet her at the Goodhope Shopping Center so I made my way towards there when, lo and behold, Mike found me. We met Rynet and had to follow her to her home. Everyone pulled off except me. Suddenly my bike would not start. I tried to bump start it down the hill but no go. So I was back on the cell phone.

Turns out my regulator/rectifier had malfunctioned and was overcharging the battery which had swollen up like a balloon. Lucky, lucky, lucky. We jump started the bike and got it home. This is what the battery looked like.


Now on the Forum there are a number of stories of members thanking other members for their assistance at the moment but Rynet, Andy 660 and AntonW should really take a bow. These guys were outstanding and really went far out of their way to get me going again. Andy took time out of running his business to find me a new battery and test the regulator, and then I had to face the ignominy of being towed by a Yamaha to Krogs, the auto electricians, who rebuilt my regulator in a morning. Fortunately there are no photos.

Ted Simon was interesting. He has lived the life most of us were not able to/brave enough to. Convention, social norms, girlfriends that become wives and then kids come along, we all know how it goes. Ted readily admits that he has not held down a job since 1964 and that he knows that he is different, a loner who doesn’t need people around him like the rest of us seem to. The things he has done and the places he has traveled to are amazing and if I can only accomplish that vicariously by ready his books that is also ok.

View from the convention center.

View from our flat.

 

[LanceSA]

We had booked a Great White Cage dive in Mossel Bay on Friday. Phoning to confirm we were told that, due to predicted wind, the boat would have to leave the harbour by 8 am and there would only be one trip on the day. So we had no choice – we had to get to Mossel Bay that evening. We left Cape Town at 16:50 into the peak hour traffic. My goodness, I think CT is worse than Jhb! We had bumper to bumper all the way to Somerset West. It was ridiculous.

We had said at the start that we would not eat at McDonalds, Wimpy or Spur, we would travel as many back roads as possible and we would avoid riding after dark. Well, we were on the N2, huge wind and I mean HUGE wind over Sir Lowry’s Pass, rain-drizzle-rain and then driving rain the whole way, trucks, cars, buses and then the sun went down. Neither of our bikes have great lights so we rode next to each other, one bike on brights and one on dim. I have a tinted visor that is great in daylight but combined with the miggies on the screen and the rain it became tough to see. So I had a great idea and put on the mx goggles that I had brought for dust riding. Vision much better but with the visor up that rain hurts!
So that was the tough part of the ride over. Now on to the Shark dive. What an experience. The sea was rough and almost all fed the fish but we had 4 Great Whites around the boat and it was a bucket list experience. I can’t tell you how good the staff from White Shark Africa were.  Thanks Christo and crew! Go check them out at www.whitesharkafrica.com

The photos are worth looking at.

After the dive we gapped it up to George, fitted the new sprocket and chain to Mike’s bike that we had ordered on the way down  and made a booking for the night at Angie’s G Spot. So we headed off up the Montegu Pass and then down the Prince Alfred pass to Angie’s.  We had heard so much about this place and were determined to spend a night there.  Was it worth it? Check out the photos and decide for yourself.

When last did you fall asleep to the gentle sounds of a babbling brook?

Angie is a chef and we had by far the best meal of our trip this evening. Bush pig potjie. Outstanding. And remember there is no electricity in her kitchen.

Angie

Harold, an old East Londoner and a great guy.

If you are ever anywhere near you owe it to yourself to pop in even just for a beer.  

Next day we left and came out of the gravel at Plett. Then we took the old Bloukraans Pass which is currently under construction and we had to bully our way through the boom. But again a great ride. We again did the Woody Cape route just after Colchester and ended the day in Port Alfred.
In Port Alfred I met up with my family. From there it was just a short hop to my home in East London.

 

[Andy660]

And then there was Lances Battery !

 

[edgy]

Nice one guys! :thumleft:

 

[LanceSA]

Some comments on the ride
Mike on the Xt 660 used R 1020 worth of fuel over the 2 800 km we traveled and I used R 1 440 on the Ktm 950 Se.

This was my first trip with my new Giant Loop Great Basin saddle bag. I give it a big double thumbs up! This bag is absolutely fantastic. It kinda sits where your pillion would and straps down to the pillion pegs. Thus the weight is not perched high up and right at the back of the subframe as a topbox would. The size is ok, but only just, but the quality and durability are outstanding. It came quite close to the exhaust on the right (I have a 2 into 1 exhaust system and extra fuel tank where the second exhaust normally is) and I was a bit concerned about the heat, but this was never a problem. We rode through huge amounts of rain and the bag always stayed dry. Easy to mount and take off the bike and you hardly feel the weight. Thank you Dustdevil for an awesome product. I would recommend it to all.

We found the back packers to be great places to stay. All were neat and clean with great facilities and friendly service. We also were able to negotiate the prices a bit at 2 of them. Round about R 300 for a room with 2 separate beds.

All in all food cost us much more than the accommodation did. We didn’t skimp on the food but we also didn’t go crazy. We tried to meet the locals and eat where they ate and avoided franchise food outlets at all costs.

The cost for my battery and the rebuild of the regulator was about R 2 000 that I had not budgeted on but I have a contingency fund stuck away especially for these type of events (don’t tell my wife). I remember reading on one of the advice threads that the most important piece of kit on a trip is your credit card. I agree.

And finally, as I’ve already commented, the Wilddog fraternity is really something special. Ktm CT could only have got me a regulator by the Monday and I would have been in big trouble had it not been for Andy 660 and AntonW who organized things for me at Krogs. And Rynet, without knowing anything about us other than that we come from East London and therefore must be good guys (ja right), put us up and then had to drive me around. This was all done with a smile! Thank you guys! Please allow me to return the favour sometime.

 

[LanceSA]

Thanks Andy for the battery pics. I'm not sure if batteries do really explode but this one sits right under the family jewels......

 

[TornadoF5]

Nice one Lance and so nice to see the camaraderie on the go in the WD camp!

 

[Crossed-up]

Nice report, LanceSA, and good to meet you guys.

 

[LanceSA]

It was really good to meet so many Wilddogs at the Ted Simon show. We had a great ride.