Buzzlightyear
Grey Hound
At the end of a busy year I had some cobwebs to blow out, and Xerys also wanted a ride. I have not ridden in the Baardskeerdersbos/Elim area before, so a plan was hatched. My dad was also avaible, funny that pensioners should have so much time to ride.
The date was decided to be boxing day, aka the 26th of December. Xerys and myself had an early start, leaving home at just after 07:00 to get to Hermanus, where rooipoot and a hearty breakfast awaited us.
Due to the strong wind, we opted for the scenic route via Rooi-Els.
From Hermanus the road took us to Stanford, where we took the R326 towards the Caledon-Napier road. After about 5 km we took the gravel to the right towards Baardskeerdersbos/Elim. Two more right turns saw us following the Uilkraalsrivier all the way to the Gansbaai-Elim road, past the Kraaibos dam.
We ventured into the Hamlet of Baardskeerdersbos, and rooipoot shared a story of the old Nat/Sap days when PW botha was thrown out of a local hall for trying to break up a Sap meeting, and also how another Sap got slapped by a resident, just because. Baarskeerdersbos apparently was often included in different voting districts from one election to the next, depending on where the Nats needed more votes.
From Baardskeerdersbos we went to Elim, where we stopped at the local shop for some colddrinks and idle chat.
After some photos and refreshments we followed the gravel through Wolvengat to the farm Rietfontein, where SanParks are rebuilding the thatched roof buildings which burnt down a couple of years ago. I would really like to camp here for a night in the future, it is remote but close to the sea.
We backtracked a little bit and took the gravel towards Die Dam, where we stopped at the farm Ratelriver, and also looked at the restoration work SanParks are doing there. It must have been beautifull to see the werf in original condition, with horses, etc.
This is also the end of our gravel for the day, we headed back towards Hermanus through Gansbaai, where Xerys filled up and we pumped the tires. In Hermanus we filled up, said our goodbyes to rooipoot and headed back the scenic way towards Cape Town, trying to duck from the wind all the way.
We arrived home at 19:45, just about 12 1/2h after we left, and about 475km later.
Thanks Xerys and rooipoot, looking forward to the next one!
The date was decided to be boxing day, aka the 26th of December. Xerys and myself had an early start, leaving home at just after 07:00 to get to Hermanus, where rooipoot and a hearty breakfast awaited us.
Due to the strong wind, we opted for the scenic route via Rooi-Els.
From Hermanus the road took us to Stanford, where we took the R326 towards the Caledon-Napier road. After about 5 km we took the gravel to the right towards Baardskeerdersbos/Elim. Two more right turns saw us following the Uilkraalsrivier all the way to the Gansbaai-Elim road, past the Kraaibos dam.
We ventured into the Hamlet of Baardskeerdersbos, and rooipoot shared a story of the old Nat/Sap days when PW botha was thrown out of a local hall for trying to break up a Sap meeting, and also how another Sap got slapped by a resident, just because. Baarskeerdersbos apparently was often included in different voting districts from one election to the next, depending on where the Nats needed more votes.
From Baardskeerdersbos we went to Elim, where we stopped at the local shop for some colddrinks and idle chat.
After some photos and refreshments we followed the gravel through Wolvengat to the farm Rietfontein, where SanParks are rebuilding the thatched roof buildings which burnt down a couple of years ago. I would really like to camp here for a night in the future, it is remote but close to the sea.
We backtracked a little bit and took the gravel towards Die Dam, where we stopped at the farm Ratelriver, and also looked at the restoration work SanParks are doing there. It must have been beautifull to see the werf in original condition, with horses, etc.
This is also the end of our gravel for the day, we headed back towards Hermanus through Gansbaai, where Xerys filled up and we pumped the tires. In Hermanus we filled up, said our goodbyes to rooipoot and headed back the scenic way towards Cape Town, trying to duck from the wind all the way.
We arrived home at 19:45, just about 12 1/2h after we left, and about 475km later.
Thanks Xerys and rooipoot, looking forward to the next one!
