The Karoo is not flat, hot or dry!

[stcomza]

Old timer tetris  :biggrin:

 

[stcomza]

The next two posts tell the story of how we would have not been able to pass through when the water flowed. Turn around or wild camp?

 

[stcomza]

Notice how high the grass/reeds flowed over the bridge....

 

[stcomza]

Had a great afternoon and evening in Sutherland.

Up early on our way back home via Matjiesfontein.

 

[stcomza]

Enjoying the view...

Notice the rain overcoats? It was chilly.

 

[stcomza]

Wonder if Marty McFly would approve?

Funny story...do not blindly trust and depend on Google Maps. Apparently (allegedly I will add), there is a "gravel" road that follows the N1 toward Touwsriver that you can take if you are not that keen to battle with trucks and taxi's. If you have an enduro bike, go for it. Just a pitty that you have to turn back because there is a locked gate...

The N1 was interesting - very impressed that we could keep up and pass (with lots of hand waving and hooter tooting) the trucks. Saw an indicated 115km/h on one stretch. Bat out of hell!!!!   

 

[stcomza]

We just had to stop at Klondyke again.
The best cherries in the world! So what if the bike is already overloaded - another 2kg is not going to make any difference  :biggrin:
Last stop for juice in Ceres.
Safely back home.
Welcome back - here is the Karoo warmth you were looking for...

And so the journey and adventure comes to an end... :'(

 

[stcomza]

Thank you all for the interest, comments and questions - much appreciated.

I will try and attempt to reply and answer question where possible.

Thank you kindly!

 

[Wolzac]

Well done thanks, check this out.

 

[2StrokeDan]

Well done thanks, check this out.

:imaposer: :imaposer: :imaposer:

 

[Vaufi]

Eish! Two up on a 200cc bike! Just goes to show that u don't need a 1250 ADV to do awesome trips  :lol8:
But years ago friends of mine circumnavigated OZ two up on a 200cc bike. They enjoyed the trip so much that they decided to settle there. They do successful farming north-east of Sydney now.

Great pics - as it looks like, the Karoo will look like lush Europe in a few years time. Whereas Europe will turn dryer by the time and look like the Sahara.....  ???

 

[Karoo Rider]

Excellent RR and actually the way one should travel. It indeed isn't about the bike. Or the tires. Or the engine capacity, "looking the part" or whatever-excuse-we-can-think of.  You paid attention to all things big and small along the way and appreciated it. You guys nailed the essence of adventure biking Sir. I salute you.

 

[Sheepman]

Excellent report  :thumleft: Just shows, one ( or two ) doesn't need a big capacity, big ticket bike to have fun  8)

 

[Bokveld]

  What a RR !!!! How it should be done.Thanks for taking me along.

 

[stcomza]

This made me sit up and take notice.......

2-Up on a 200, and far to go too!!

Despite the buff and pink knife, you two have my respect.

What was you average speed, say on tar, and on dirt?  What was your consumption, fuelwise?

OK, I also use a buff, to compensate for my worn-out old Airoh S4, and my shrinking 62-year old head. :biggrin:

Thank you very much!

Neither of us took detailed notes, but on the boring tar stretches, I kept the speed between 80 and 90km/h. At times I actually slowed down as we approached a ton. On gravel it was between 60 and 80km/h depending on the condition of the road. However, just past Putsonderwater there was piece of gravel as smooth as a hammers head - I looked down and the indicated 105km/h made me giggle just a little bit.

My wife did some calcualtions - we used a total of 49.54l of premium at a cost of R1009.83. This gave us a total average of 38.4km/l. 

 

[2StrokeDan]

This made me sit up and take notice.......

2-Up on a 200, and far to go too!!

Despite the buff and pink knife, you two have my respect.

What was you average speed, say on tar, and on dirt?  What was your consumption, fuelwise?

OK, I also use a buff, to compensate for my worn-out old Airoh S4, and my shrinking 62-year old head. :biggrin:

Thank you very much!

Neither of us took detailed notes, but on the boring tar stretches, I kept the speed between 80 and 90km/h. At times I actually slowed down as we approached a ton. On gravel it was between 60 and 80km/h depending on the condition of the road. However, just past Putsonderwater there was piece of gravel as smooth as a hammers head - I looked down and the indicated 105km/h made me giggle just a little bit.

My wife did some calcualtions - we used a total of 49.54l of premium at a cost of R1009.83. This gave us a total average of 38.4km/l.

Thank you, once again, the essence of a motorcycle trip.

 

[stcomza]

Did you stay over at Tjol-se-gat?

Tjol and Jackie are old friends of mine.

We just rode by, but it looks inviting, maybe next time  :thumleft:

 

[stcomza]

:sip:  Meneer, ek wil dit net duidelik stel, dat jy kan bly wees dat jy daai passasier gehad het wat weet hoe om fotos te neem wat ek graag wil sien. Knap gedaan Mevrou. En dan jy het glad nie te sleg gedoen met jou verslag nie. Wat dit meer indrukwekkend maak is die fiets wat julle gebruik het.  :3some:
Ek was so n tyd terug ook op Middelpos, ek kon saam ry.

Baie dankie, word waardeer  :thumleft:

 

[EssBee]

"38 km/l " !!!!  :ricky: You're def. on Greta's Xmas card list.

Thanks again. Best RR I've read in a while....but it goes beyond the read, it's what you guys actually achieved as others have pointed out. Just brilliant!

 

[stcomza]

We heard strange voices, time to make like a tree...

.............. and that would be?

Thanks, lovely RR. Love the photos.  :ricky:

Good to see people still stop to "smell the roses".  :thumleft:

Respect to that Sym  :ricky:

Hmmm, ok, so the place isn't entirely lifeless. Besides the house used by the railroad agency (not sure which one) there were also other inhabitants. We saw one gentleman going in and out of one of the houses, but did not take too much notice of what he was doing. A small bakkie then turned up and stop at the back of the premises. As we were leaving, the one gentleman shouted something and waved us over to him. His advances were explicitly denied and we carried on...

Yes, I think that too many "adventurers" are just focused on getting from A to B (in the shortest fastest possible way) and miss out on a lot.

Yea, we are very proud of our little boy, Thomas!