Friday:
Distance = 440km
We woke to a beautiful winter’s morning. At the rendezvous point cups of coffee and radios on the motorbikes were sorted out before departing on our August 2009
The party was made up as follows:
Danie & Kobie on their BMW 1200GSA
Gerhard & Inge on their BMW 1150GSA
Gerhard on his BMW 1200GSA & Deirdre on her Yamaha XT600.
Our route took us through
The ride along the dam was truly scenic and some crazy fools were even out knee-boarding on the mirror still icy-cold dam. A lunch stop at Clanwilliam was most welcome. Of the 3 of us who ordered soup, only 1 of us managed to finish the huge serving.
An old favourite of ours, the Moedverloor road, once again didn’t disappoint. Riding here really makes you feel like you’re away from the mad rat-race and out in nature where you belong.
The countryside was beautifully green. A change from the normal dull, dry brown in this part of the world.
A mud puddle in the road provided a “nice” surprise for Gerhard - Some “considerate” oncoming bakkie driver splashed him full of mud and provided him with a good adrenaline rush as he struggled with a totally mud-covered visor for a few moments.
The Niewoudtville waterfall was beautiful. Dodging a swarm of bees we made it to the look out point and took tons of pictures.
Skilpadjies, pofaddertjies, skuinskoek and pancakes. Some of the traditional delicacies on offer by the local farmers pedalling their wares at the falls.
From here it was a quick hop to Loeriesfontein – our destination for the day. As we rode in with the late afternoon sun behind us, the little town was a splash of colour. Wild flowers formed carpets of pinks, oranges and mauves.
Loeriesfontein is also home to the Windmill museum.
The sunsets in Loeriesfontein make the trip worthwhile even to the most devout haters of dust.
Good small town hospitality was the order of the day at the Bushmanland Pub and our hostess Umara ensured that we were well fed and comfortable.
After a good braai (indoors) it was time to hit the sack.
Saturday - Loeriesfontein to Verneukpan
Distance = 225km
Another beautiful day and a spectacular sunrise. The flowers were everywhere.
The ride to Verneukpan was reasonably short, but the plan was to “loose the luggage” and then play on the pan.
To our joy what we thought was going to be a tar road turned out to be a gravel road. Unfortunately the road was rather badly corrugated. This meant that tyres which had just been inflated were rapidly deflated again.
A quick stop in Brandvlei to refuel and stockup for the evening on the pan.
The ride to the pan was a gravel road which provided some interesting airborne moments and some near airborne moments.
At the farmhouse we were warned that at the first sign of rain on the pan we “must pack up and get out of there”! Sounded like getting stuck there in even a small cloud burst could lead to a day or two of isolation.
Louis showed us the engine and the car used by Johan Jacobs who tried breaking the land speed record. His attempt ended in tragedy, but rumour has it that the GPS in his car recorded a speed of 521 km p/h.
The ride from the farmhouse to the pan showed signs of previous rain and we had to be careful of deep, dried out muddy ruts and sandy patches.
Luggage off-loaded we headed out onto the pan and……………played.
Riding out on the wide open expanses is an amazing experience. It feels like you’re going to ride off the edge of the world.
The pillions also decided to play. Danie and Kobie swopped seats. Inge and Gerhard did likewise and……. the fun began. Deirdre and Gerhard swapped seats, no, I mean bikes, and had some fun of their own.
Practicing power slides, emergency braking and all those other fancy tricks is ideal on the pan - thirsty work.
Braaing in the middle of a pan under bright stars and a clear milkyway takes some beating.
Sunday - Verneukpan to Williston
Distance = 222km
David Copperfield might be able to make things disappear, but what Gerhard and Inge made appear out of their 1150’s panniers is nobody’s business.
Crumpets (with fresh eggs and milk) cooked on a portable gas stove were on the breakfast menu – all out of the 1150’s panniers of course.
There’s a story to the eggs though. A pannier fell off a bike the previous day. Yes, the one that carried the eggs. Guess what? The eggs all survived – even the one which Gerhard cracked at home while packing them.
After some minor mechanics back at the farmhouse - tightening Deirdre's XT's chain which had come off a few kilometres further back - we were back on track and heading towards Williston.
We stopped for a quick break against the backdrop of these interesting patterns of loose black rocks on the side of a hill.
The trip was once again a shortish one and once in Williston, Gerhard and Deirdre headed off to find Shirley (our accommodation organising lady) while the rest of the party went to scout for a lunch spot.
Shirley turned out to be a dear little lady who welcomed us warmly to her neck of the woods. We felt really bad though when she handed us our supplies for the evening's braai and we had to unpackage her beautiful arrangement (bow, pretty paper, sprig of lavender) and put it into a plastic packet - panniers don't allow for pretty packaging.
Lunch was at the Williston Mall.
What an interesting place. If you ever go to Williston, you have to stop there. They even have accommodation. Unfortunately (or maybe fortunately) they didn't have any "moerse hamburger" rolls and we could only see the photographs of these legendary giants.
16 Kilometres outside of Williston, Ernest Langer was waiting to welcome us to his farm. We had a brief tour of the house/accommodation and then he showed us some of his show horses.
These magnificent creatures are groomed and exercised every morning - one at a time.
Ernest gave us permission to ride our bikes on his farm and pointed us in the right direction. A late afternoon trip took us past springbok, up rocky inclines, along sandy paths and over
Riding back home into the setting sun visible through the dust, was a sight to remember.
Monday - Williston to
Distance = 440km
The ride home was going to be a longish one and we were all a little sad that our trip was nearly over. First it was back to Williston to refuel and then off to Middelpos.
We took a chance by going through an unlocked gate with a sign which threatened to shoot trespassers.
Nowhere was there any sign of human habitation until we bumped into the farmer himself. Fortunately for us he was very friendly and more than happy that we ride across his land.
The track was really pretty and provided a few muddy spots as well as a few soft sandy spots.
At Middelpos, Koos was his normal quietly hospitable self and offered to open the Middelpos Hotel’s bar so that we could buy colddrinks and snacks. Middelpos even has unleaded fuel available now.
So many beautiful passes to choose from and only one choice to be made. We opted for the Ganaga Pas. The views were spectacular and we could see for miles.
From here to Ceres the ride was pretty uneventful and even though the roads were gravel the condition was such that they could easily have been mistaken for tar.
As Murphy would have it, the rain caught us just after Ceres. This made for a rather miserable ride home, but it was not enough to dampen our spirits after a really enjoyable weekend.
