Thursday, May 31, 2007
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All ready.... Let's GO!!!
The Trek begins. Here I am setting from Cape Town, on the first leg of the Groot Trek to Pretoria. All kitted out with many kilometers to go.
Last look back towards the beautiful Cape Town area
This is the first Pass of many to come. One last smoke as I look back on my past.
Sir Lowry' Pass... a bit of history
Tradouw Pass
Just past Swellendam on the N2, and a bit off the beaten track, is Tradouws Pass. It links one side of the mountains to the other, taking you from the coastal side to the Klein Karoo. It was my second time through this pass, and it has to rate as one of the most beautiful in the country. A perfect two lane road takes you up and over. This pass was my first turn inland, the first of my many zigs as I zig-zagged my way up to Pretoria
The view. Looking back from where I came.
Tradouw Pass is absolutely stunning. A bit off the beaten track and the road is in perfect condition. A stream runs down the bottom and the scenery is spectacular. I took this one nice and slow, savouring the feel of Western Cape nature. A bit further east begins the Wilderness Nature Reserve.
Just looking the other way... to the road ahead.
This pic is looking up, or to the road ahead.
Coffee in Barrydale
As a smoker and addict to coffee, this place was one of my many stops. The trip itself was meant to be very leisurly, and I wasn't in a rush to get anywhere. I gave myself about 8 hours per day to get where I needed to go, and with an average of about 400k to do, this allowed me plenty of time to stop and appreciate my surroundings. Barrydale is one of those little communities that you are now finding in the Western Cape with a bunch of oddballs and artists who have fled the city. This place in particular had great coffee and lots of other "home made" stuff to snak on.
The R62
Barrydale was also where I hooked up with the famous R63, heading in a North-Easterly direction. This route is a must see, and I would highly recommend it to anyone travelling this way. I followed it all the way to Oudtshoorn, and the road was in great condition all the way. The scenery is nothing short of spectacular. This shot was one of the many I would take of the open road in front of me. I spent endless hours travelling in a straight line, with little traffic, just cruising along, leaving the past behind me, and tunning in to the serenity of nothing and everything (yes, the open road on a bike is nothing short of a spiritual experience!)
Ronnies Sex Shop
Then there is the mandatory stop, of course, the famous Ronnies Sex Shop. As the story goes, this was lonely trading store out in the middle of nowhere with not too much business. Then someone came along and added "sex" to the name, and, lo and behold, business started to pick up! It is now a bar, and the walls are covered with scrawls from visitors ranging from rugby stars and Norweigien backpackers. A cup a coffee and I was on my way, but he does offer accomodation to those who want to stay over, or, after hanging out for a while, are unable to go any further.
Road work... did a few of these as well.
The good news is that they ARE doing road work, and the stop provided an opportunity to have a look around and have a smoke. And, of course, having a bike is a free ticket to the front of the line!
More road...
Again, the scenery was awesome. Pictures can't do it justice. The open space and being alone on my trusty bike was fantastic. Even though I was alone, there was not a moment along the whole trip that I felt as if I was on my own. I spent endless hours just looking at the world around me.
Calitzdorp
Here is the B&B in Calitzdorp where I spent my first night. Can't remember what is was called, but it was nice and cheap. I found all of my over-night stops using the Rough Guide for South Africa.
On the road
Had more straight road between Calitzdorp and Oudtshoorn. On many occasions the question was more about when to stop and take a picture. It was too tempting to take a picture every 500 metres, but that really wasn't feasible. Sometimes you just had to stop though.
Coming up to the next pass
Originally, I had thought to go through Oudtshoorn and go down to the coast through Outeniqua Pass. However, I would have needed to turn around and back-track to get to my next over-night spot. So, as I approached Oudtshoorn I saw a sign for Robinson Pass, looked it up on the map and said, "what the hey, looks good to me."
Robinson Pass
I had made a wise choice. Because Outenuqia is so close by, I would guess that this one recieves less attention. It is a back road Pass which is very worth while doing.
Goodness... look at those mountains!
As you can see, I think it was a good choice. On the other side, now heading down towards the coast, the mountain scenery was just too cool.
Leaving the coast... again.
This was my second zig, as I zigged up Tradouw Pass and zagged down Robinson Pass. Having come over the mountains to the coast using Robinson Pass, I now had to leave the coast to get back up towards Graff-Reinet. Here is the coast as I work my way up the famous Outeniqua Pass.
Outeniqua Pass
More history...
More Outeniqua
Although this Pass certainly was beautiful, another theme for my trip was to "travel the road less travelled", and this certainly was not one of them. With three lanes, this road connects the coastal town of George and the interior, and hence gets a lot of traffic, not to mention tourists. Indeed, I just heard they are gonna build a cable car to the top of one of these mountains.
Potjiesbergpas
Nothing spectacular. I am now heading East on the N9, about to make my turn North-East along the long hot road of the N9.
The N9
Now, some people may not like this kind of scenery. It certainly takes some getting used to. Once you get into it however, it is brain numbing in a nice way. The N9 between Uniondale and Graff-Reinet, was just one long stretch of hot, open road. This was the longest day of my trip, with the most kilometres to do between overnight spots. The road condition was fantastic, and with scenery like this, on such a grand scale, it doesn't matter whether you are going at 120 or 180kph... I'll leave you to guess my average speed. That all said, it was on this stretch, as I was approaching Graff-Reinet, that I had my only scary moment. A car heading in the opposite direction about 500 metres in front of me started drifting into my lane. At some point the driver woke up and realised what was happening. He hit the brakes and came to a screetching halt. To avoid a head on collision I went into the right lane, and had a quick glance at this guys face as I rode past him. Sheer panic... shame... the guy had a rude wake up from his nap.
My second stop
About 40k past Graff-Reinet I made my second over-night stop. A nice farm on the side of the N9, the owners of which have been there for several generations. In the morning I climbed a little rise behind the homestead and took this picture looking back the way I had come on the N9. It was a stunning morning, and I had another day on the road to look forward to.
Naudesberg Pass
Travelling up the N9 a bit further, I turned right at R61, and headed towards Craddock. At Craddock, I took the N10 down to a game reserve close to the coast. However, on the R61 I found what was perhaps one of the lovliest Passes I was to see. It was early morning, with crisp, cool morning air, and just empty landscape for miles and miles. Not sure if this is part of the Karoo, or Klien Karoo, as it is a bit to the South, but this was a great way to start the day.
Wow...
Coming down the other side...
Normally, if one were running low on petrol, for example, this shot would be a tad worrying. When your tank is full, however, and you are getting into the swing of this open road business, this scene was just right. My heart just sang and I was filled with gratitude, this was life at its best.
Yip... more open road...
Third Night
The least favourite of all my stops was a night at a Game Reserve. I decided I didn't want to go to Addo Elephant Park, and chose one next to it instead. Unfortunately, it was one of those canned tourist experiences. That said, I saw lions, Springbok, Giraffe, and other four-legged furry things whose names I don't know. I still think Giraffes are funny looking in a graceful, cartoonish kind of way.
The Nico Malan Pass
On the third morning I made my way along the N2 and stopped for breakfast in Grahamstown. This is where the fun began. Against the advice of some bikers I met who were out on a morning run, I took the R67 from Grahamstown towards Fort Beaufort. Although the road between Grahamstown and Fort Beaufort wasn't fantastic, I wasn't in a hurry anyway so I just took it slowly. However, after Fort Beaufort, the R67 was a thing of beauty, and maybe the only time I would have like to have some company to share this with. I just could not believe that the strecth between Fort Beaufort and Queenstown was not a mandatory route on the motorcycle fraternity agenda. The road gradually took us upward, and once past the Nico Malan Pass it was on a platuea of sorts.
Up to Nico Malan Pass
Looking back over the road I had just travelled. I was very happy to have some cloud cover for a change, as I had spent most of the trip thus far travelling in 30+ heat.
The Waterdown Dam
About half way between Fort Beaufort and Queenstown, I arrived at this dam. It was on the down-slope of the pass and kinda took me by surprise. I mean, where does this water go to? There ain't a town around for miles?
Coming down to the flat lands again
Approaching Lady Grey
After hitting Queenstown, where I had lunch, I headed up the N6. At Aliwal North I turned on to the R58, heading towards Lady Grey, my fourth over-night spot. Of all the scenes I saw and photos I took, this one may be my favourite. Lady Grey is nuzzled up against the mountains in the distance, tucked into a little valley. The mountains themselves form part of the boundary between South Africa and the Mountain Kingdom of Lesotho.
Lady Grey
Now, this place is just surreal. Out in the middle of nowhere, there is this thriving little community of alcholic degenerates, of the nicest variety, of course. As I was looking for the B&B, I saw this guy, looking slightly hung over, on the grass and he kind of waved at me. I had arrived.
The Bar
Although I don't drink, I spent most of the evening in the bar being entertained by the local folk: a strange mix of local Afrikaans people, independent consultants in hiding, and gay boys. The gentleman in the photo, as I sat down, asked me if I ever read Getaway magazine, to which I responded "sometimes..." He was kind enough to inform me that they had written articles about him because, "I eat snakes". Maybe one too many my friend, but he had some good stories to tell.
The Orange River
After leaving Lady Grey, I began my journey skirting the border of Lesotho, always keeping it and the mountains on my right hand side. The R726, which I followed all the way to Wepener, does not have much to offer. The event of greatest interest was traversing the Orange River. Having spent a long time working as a River Guide on the Orange River, where it forms the border between Namibia and South Africa, it was cool to run into the same river not far away from its source. This is probably about 1000k upstream from where I knew it.
Basalt?
This was even more interesting, and I wish I would have had someone to ask. The rock bordering the Orange looks like the basalt (ancient lava) that you find up where I used to work. I thus wondered if this far upstream you had the same phenomenon? As an interesting aside, I once had a client on the Orange that was an expert in the study of rocks and stuff (a geologist), and he made the claim that the Orange River could possibly be one of the oldest rivers in the world!
The rock formation
At Wepener, I turned on to the R26, which I followed all the way to Clarens. Most of this land I had actually seen on my flights into Maseru, Lesotho, so it was very interesting to see it all from this perspective.
The Mountain Kingdom of Lesotho (in the background)
Clarens (the last night)
Clarens is an interesting little town next to Golden Gate park. Interestingly, I had now reached the little towns that serve as the getaways for the Johanesburg crowd. This town was obviously of that variety, with lots of restaurants and B&Bs everywhere. The place I stayed was a bit out of the way, and very nice. The couple who owned the place were very friendly, and the husband was into bikes as well. We spent a good while talking about bikes and looking over his Dakar 650 to which he had done some interesting modifications. I became convinced that I needed one just like it for my dream of doing and over-land trip into northern Mozambique... one day!
Early Morning
Unfortunately, the night before I had been called by my bosses in Pretoria and they asked me if I could make it in for an 11:00 AM meeting. Being the dork that I am, I said of course. Hence, I left the B&B at 6:00 AM, as I was determined to take my time as I went through the Golden Gate Park, which was supposed to be one of the highlights of the trip. Here is the sunrise as I approach the Park.
Heading into the park
Lichens Pass
Although since then I have done this pass again, I can understand why it is so dangerous. Most of the time your head is on a swivle trying to take in the scenery.
Out of the Park
This is the last picture of the trip. After this I quickly got myself to the N3 and made haste to Pretoria. A pity really, if I had had all day I probably would have found a nice spot for a picnic. I have however, had the pleasure of returning to this part of the world on a very long "picnic run", that took all day.
Arrival in Pretoria
Older, wiser, dirtier (with a bug on my gear from all the Provinces), I finally arrive at my new home. Of course, the last thing I wanted to do was stop. By now I had really gotten into the rythm of being on the road, travelling with what I needed tucked into my saddle bags. I would have gladly hit the road for another tour, but work beckoned. But, it was an amazing experience that I will never forget. Touring on a bike is a unique experience that most "cage" drivers will never experience. Instead of seeing the environment, as they say, you are part of it. There is not a doubt in my mind that I will do this again, the sooner the better. Until then, stay safe and see you on the road.