The route less travelled

[SADivemaster]

Start date : 30th May 2008
End date : 8th June 2008

Duration : 10 days (8 days riding, 2 veging)
Mileage : approx 4000km
Dirt : 30% - 40%

Basic description of the trip – The route less travelled to Cape Town, collect girlfriend and her new bike (she flew down) and take the maybe never travelled back to Joburg. No firm plans, no pre-booked accommodation. When I got tired I found a place to sleep. Just a date that I had to be in Cape Town.

Day 1 – Joburg to Bloemfontein

Bloem doesn’t really have all that much going for it from a tourism perspective, but I went to boarding school there, and haven’t been back for 5 or so years and decided it wad worth a stop-over. I planned to duck work around 12h00. Buy 11h45 I was on the road. Not a particularly exciting ride, but even the most boring of roads seems like bliss if it the first of many days on the bike. I popped into the school to have a look around. Generally in very good condition, but was disappointed that another section had been sold off. Found a guesthouse with locked parking and headed for Mystic Boer where I happened upon a few old school mates and had a beer or ten.

 

[SADivemaster]

Day 2 â?? Bloem to Oudtshoorn

I decided to head towards Kimberly, and turn left through the farmlands towards Colesburg. Damn did I miscalculate the time it would take to get from Petrisburg to Diamant! In the interest of progress I turned left towards Jagerfontein and tried to make up some time. I rejoined the N1 at Trompsburg and made my way down to Beaufort West, where took the N12 towards Oudtshoorn. By this stage I was frozen solid, and ended up stopping every 30-40 minutes for hot chocolate! The Meiringspoort Pass was next. For those that havenâ??t done the pass, it winds through the mid-western portion of the Groot Swartberg mountains. The pass itself makes use of multiple low level crossing, 25 in total if I remember correctly, each with its own name that conjours up images of life while the pass was being constructed. After the pass was Paradise Backpackers in Oudtshoorn for a good nights sleep. I have braved a few backpacker before, but this one was truly a few steps above the rest, super comfy beds, good facilities and a wicked little pub next to the fireplace. Highly recommended.

 

[SADivemaster]

Day 3 â?? Oudtshoorn to Swellendam

Up nice and early for my first day of real riding. First order of the day is the  Schoemanspoort Pass. A little too misty to get excited about, but very pleasant nonetheless. Past the Cango Caves and onto the infamous Swartberg Pass. Really took my time to get up to the top, stopping every now and again to appreciate the view and watch half a dozen or so Klipspringer jumping around the mountainside. Decided at the top that a trip into Hell was in order. â??Die Helâ? has a glow of mystery about it. One can only imagine what the poor souls endured while in that valley for 100 plus years. I believe there is still one surviving member of the true inhabitants, Annetjie Mostert, who is also the only person to own land in the Swartberg mountains. Really interesting stuff. While there, I found the leftovers on a lovely old car, photos attached. Subsequent research shows that the car I appreciated and photographed was in fact the very first car bought into the Hell in 1958, despite there not being a single road in the valley. Definitely worth more research. The road into the Hell is worthy of a ride report of itâ??s own. 42km took me 2 and a half hours. The varying surfaces, the watercrossings, the tight corner, the flora, the little beasties, everything was formidable, but most enjoyable!!!  The most exciting road I have ever ridden. By chance I met up with a few other DS riders at the bottom of the valley, and chose to ride out with them. Luckily for the KTM 950 in the group my 1150GSA has a larger then average tank, as he needed a good donation to make it home!!! Once down the Swartberg Pass I opted to head for Calitzdorp on the R62. Yet another fantastic road that defies what words can describe. Excellent cambers, flowing corners and some really cool mountain scenery. I stopped off at Ronnieâ??s Sex Shop for a quickie or 5. An oasis if ever there was one. Pushed on, through Tradouws Pass and onto Swellendam for the night. Also backpacker. Not quite up to Oudtshoorn, but good enough for the price. Absolutely, without question, the best days riding I have ever experienced.

 

[SADivemaster]

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[SADivemaster]

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[SADivemaster]

The old car first being "driven" into die hel. Numberplate matches.

 

[SADivemaster]

Day 4 â?? Swellendam to Somerset West

Out and about before the sun was up, I made my way to Somerset West as quickly as was possible. Met up with girlfriend, and accompanied her to collect her new bike. 2006 model KTM 950 Adventure.

Day 5 â?? Winefarms

Need I say more?

Day 6 â?? Somerset West to Lamberts Bay

The Cape presented it very best rain, mist and slow-ass drivers. Around Darling the skies cleared and the moods were elevated. We opted to ride through the West Coast National Park, which was spectacular. The SANDF have restricted access to the pinnacle, but we managed to get all the way up to Langebaan. There are some nice houseboats available for rent, which will definetly form part of my next trip to the Cape. We then headed for Port Owen and onto Elandsbaai. Just before Lamberts Bay we discovered an open air restaurant called Muisbosskerm. What an excellent idea â?? on the beach, in the middle of nowhere, no cutlery, not formal seating, just a few cable drums and a constant flow of fresh seafood. We ate until we could hardly walk, let alone ride our bikes. Fish biltong ,herrings, snoek, angelfish, tuna, steenbras, hake, mussels, paella, calamari, sardines, red snapper and crayfishâ?¦ and the mandatory supply of Tafel Lager. All finished off with steaming fresh bread, a selection of jams, koeksisters and moerkoffie. There are not enough superlatives in the Oxford dictionary to cover the experience.

 

[SADivemaster]

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[SADivemaster]

Day 7 â?? Lamberts Bay to Carnavon

Ruts beyond anything I have ever experience lay between Lamberts Bay and Vredendal. We then stopped for a breather half way up Vanrhyns Pass. While admiring the vista I heard a terrible crunching sound. Turned around and looked in horror as my helmet tumbled along the ground towards the edge of the viewpoint. As I ran to intercept my helmet another even stronger gust of wind blew my bike right overâ?¦!!!! An 1150GSA fully laden with panniers, topbox, tankbag, tent etc has the surface area of a squash court. Once the bike was upright I noticed that my gloves had been blown clear off the edge of the pass and were now lying 100m below. Slid down the edge of the mountain and got them back, but my word what a mission. Upon arriving in Carnavon we decided it was time to find a place to sleep. We scouted around and decided to try the Carnavon Hotel. The foyer was locked, but a hand scribbled note directed us to the bar entrance. The somewhat plain exterior of the hotel did not prepare us for the inside. Wood paneled walls and a truly fantastic little pub awaited. Upon enquiring about secure parking for the bike, we were told to park our bike in the foyer. Yes, in the foyer!!! They opened the doors, we rode up the pavement and stairs into the foyer, and through into the hall. Now that is service!!!! As a little bonus, the pub had itâ??s resident meerkat, which loved attention as much as people loved giving it!

 

[SADivemaster]

Day 8 â?? Carnavon to Mokola National Park

Some high speed dirt roads led us through Hopetown into a wonderful part of the country I have never really experienced. Some really fun dirt, between fences separating game farms took us all the way to the Park. We were allowed into the park, but in condition that we did not use the bikes once in the park. Fine by us. Stayed in a lovely chalet overlooking the Orange River.

Day 9 â?? Mokola National Park

Hiked, read and braaied.

Day 10 â?? Mokola to Joburg

The 505km between Mokola and home took forever. A combination of roadworks (Those blasted stop/go 25 things) and bad headwinds lead to a less than pleasant ride home. But nonetheless a challenge, and isnâ??t that what these holidays are about?

Conclusion

A terrific trip. I am going to make a habit of spending a few days purely on my own. Really good time to just be. (If that makes sense?) Also really good to get Yvette back into riding gravel, after her 2 year superbike break. 

 

[lonerider]

AWESOME!!

And may the two of you cover many, many more such happy miles...

 

[CARLOS]

Looks Awesome :drif:

 

[Plothond]

She's got good taste too  ;D

 

[SADivemaster]

She's got good taste too

Are you refering to me or the bike???? :imaposer:

Didn't know you felt that way.

 

[bmad]

Well done, nice trip :thumleft:

You should actually get her a BM, she is standing (i mean posing) in all the action shots  ot:

:imaposer: :imaposer:

 

[SADivemaster]

Ooooh - let's  ot:

One couple - One GSA, One Katoom...

 

[letsgofishing]

Looks like the 2 of you had a fantastic time! Great to read about another couple biking together!

 

[LeonDude]

Fantastic trip and photies. Although getting yours and Plotties is one week is a bit much for me. Maybe I should park my bike on the lawn tonight and pitch the tent just to get the feeling a bit?  ;D

Thanks for sharing!

 

[wino]

very cool trip, trust there will be more :thumleft:

 

[bradleys]

Cool new bike,great trip report and pics,hope you guys have lots of good trips together ;D ;D