Coast To Karoo Trip - 1-4 MAy

Stevet's picture
What a trip! We all met up at the N2 one stop on Thursday morning from 07.45 for a planned 8.30 departure. We were all pleased to see that Neels and Anne Marie had been roped in at the last minute to keep Adri company in the backup vehicle that was again generously sponsored by Jaques Lewis from CML RV Centre . Some of us had breakfast and after a quick chat hit the road. As it was the start of the looong weekend, and the roads where expected to be very busy, it was decide that we would have a more detailed chat at the Peregrine Farm-stall in Grabouw . We made off, and road over Sir Lowrys pass in staggered formation. I stand open to correction but I think we accounted for 18 Bikes - 4 1200 Adventures, 6 std 1200 GS’s, 1 1150 GS, 1 1100 GS ,1 new 800 GS, 1 new 650 GS (ridden by Karen the only lady rider on the trip)1 650 Dakar, 1 GS 650 (two up) and one 650 Cross Country. We all arrived at Peregrine and proceeded to reduce tyre pressures in preparation for getting onto the dirt. Geoff briefed all of us about the day ahead and reminded everybody about the major disciplines that would need to be applied in order to keep what was a large group of bikes together over the long distances that would we would be travelling. Most important of these was the thumbs up system at every change of direction, that involved the riders actively waving a thumb in the air at the rider behind and receiving a thumb up in return indicating that the change had been communicated properly. This did break down once or twice but fortunately cell phone comms where available and the needed adjustments could be made. We again got going and made our way down through The Valley and onto Dirt for the first time on the trip and headed out towards Bot River. We then headed towards Villiersdorp and Greyton. We stopped in Greyton for a much needed break and enjoyed a drink outside one of the many roadside cafe/B&B places on the main Greyton drag. Public Holiday right ...... not for the Honey sucker truck who picked that moment to have a drink at the very same place – go figure! We left Greyton again on dirt heading for Riviersonderend. Geoff had planned some amazing roads through farms and all was going fine, until we got the news that Hennie and Mieckie Botha had gone down. Apparently a farm bakkie had turned across Hennie without any indication and they hit the side of the vehicle. As Hennie was sweeping, the first to arrive at the scene was the backup vehicle. Neels jumped out and sprang into action, calling the police and the ambulance service. It seemed that Mieckie had managed to get completely under the vehicle but was, thankfully, largely unhurt. Hennie unfortunately was not so lucky. He broke his left arm just below the elbow, fractured his wrist and cracked three ribs. He was operated on, and a plate was placed over the break and a screw through the fractured wrist. He is now at home and is apparently in high spirits. There is a thread that deals with this incident on the forum so I will leave it here – but just before that – Hennie and Mieckie – Get well soon. His bike was loaded onto the club trailer and taken through to Caledon where it was transferred back to Cape Town on one of the club member’s bakkies. As a result of the time that was lost around this incident we needed to cut some of the planned routes out, and we made directly for Riviersonderend where we stopped for lunch – Steers and assorted snack things filled that role. From there we made our way via Bredasdorp to Arniston where we spent our first night at the Herberg Hotel. After a shower and a few drinks we all enjoyed a fantastic buffet dinner that was laid on at the hotel and I defy anybody to say that they did not have enough to eat. After the mandatory shot of Jagermeister – sponsored by a n unknown member of the group – believe he may have something to do with 4 x 4 vehicles, we all hit the sack. Accommodation was very comfortable and I believe that most slept very well. We met up for breakfast at 7.30 and after that got together for the rider briefing where we where informed that we had a birthday girl with us – Liezel Rossouw. She requested that we not sing happy birthday. This was of course ignored and the Arniston morning was shattered by a stirring rendition of the traditional birthday song. We got on the road – direction Bredasdorp to pick up the next set of dirt roads. Again we drove through some amazing places. Farms etc proved no obstacle – however some of the farm animals had conspired to make it interesting and I for one think I saw the biggest cow pat I have ever seen in my life – in the middle of the road. I am led to believe that one of our members was so distracted that he drove straight through it. We proceeded, nervously keeping an eye out for the lesser known elephant cow – that fortunately stayed out of the way on this occasion. Into Malgas – where we loaded our bikes onto the Pont and where pulled across the Breede river – a new experience for me and great fun. Most of the bikes where up and loaded on the first crossing and we duly unloaded and waited on the other side of the river. We were expecting quite a long wait here as the backup vehicle was a few cars back in the queue to cross, But it seems that fortune smiled on us and the bakkie was moved up through the queue to join us on the very next crossing . We made our way towards Stilbaai where we drove along a magnificent dirt road - parallel to the river through a number of farms and small holdings – these eventually became houses. It was great to see many people using the river – fishing , power-boating etc – I am sure I was not the only tempted to have a dice with the speedboat that went cruising past below – resisted temptation when I realized that he was travelling in pretty much a straight line, whereas we where winding through one hairpin after another. After a short break at the waters edge in Stilbaai, we moved onto Albertinia where we topped up the bikes and had lunch. We where now starting on the .......to Karoo leg of our journey. We left Albertinia headed towards Herbertsdale . Our intention was to go from Herbertsdale to Calitsdorp via the Van Wyk’s pass but sadly we were pushed for time and had to pass it by - we have been promised that a repeat trip will be made to go through this pass – believe it is very beautiful. After a long stretch of fast dirt road (the roads throughout the trip where in great condition and it was easy to travel at over 100kms per hour and sometimes a tad faster as well. We arrived in Ladismith and due to the time the group split up a bit to make our own way into Oudtshoorn along the R62 via Calitsdorp and the Huisrivier pass – and what a pass. Sadly we were interrupted from our little dash by roadworks in the middle that cost us about 15 minutes of delay. A good run though found us in Oudtshoorn at our accommodation for night 2 – Klein Plaas. A super venue with nice clean rooms. We were all moved to walk into town for dinner at the Dolce Vita restaurant – where our wine for the evening had been generously sponsored by one of the local wine producers. The food was very good and very well priced as well – the most expensive Pasta on the menu was R35.00 and if memory serves our bill on a table for four worked out at around R75.00 per head - can’t remember seeing prices like that in Cape Town for a while. Oh yes – there was a mandatory Jagermeister thrown in somewhere along the line as well. After an even better nights sleep than before – lack of bike fitness starting to tell I think we again met for a great breakfast before our scheduled departure of 8.30. By now the thumbs up system was working really well. We rode out of Oudsthoorn towards the Cango caves – did everybody see those camels?? And so onto the Swartberg pass where sadly we had another side stand incident that led to both Jean and Rene (aka cheesy) having to pull out of the balance of the trip. According to Rene – he lost a bit of concentration and looked at some bicycles attached to the back of a vehicle coming from the opposite direction – as we have learnt the bike goes where we look. Unfortunately it seems that Jean has possibly fractured her pelvis – she spent the night in hospital and Rene has assured us all on the forum that she is at home and on the mend – he needs volunteers for dish washing I am led to believe. We wish Jean a speedy recovery. Apart from this incident though – Swartberg pass is magnificent and I will definitely be going back to have a better look – it truly is an amazing piece of engineering. I first went over it in the early 70’s in a car and had not been back since then – I vividly remember a sign at the start of the pass that said “NO CARAVANS” and was overjoyed to see that memory had not failed me – there were a number of signs saying the above as well as no trucks etc etc. Unfortunately by the time we had got into Prins Albert at the base of the pass we caught up with the bad weather. We pulled into a petrol station and all started pulling on rain gear. We met up with a young guy on a KLR650 – Kawasaki (yes I know it’s not a BMW) who was riding on his own and invited him to join us on the balance of the ride. We said cheers to Rene and Jean and rode on towards Leeuw Gamka and the N1 for a quick lunch break. After Lunch we made our way to Merweville.(Just an aside if I may. Before I joined the club I had never even heard of Merweville and thought the karoo was the most boring place in the world that was to be navigated at high speed on the N1. Now I have been there twice in the last few months and I think the Karoo is one of the most beautiful place to ride a bike in the country – aside over). From Merweville we travelled towards Sutherland along a fine piece of road with a rather challenging little pass in the middle of it (http://bmwmotorcycleclubcape.co.za/daantjie-s-karoo-overnight-trip-merwe...) Having had fore-knowledge of the road I was able to warn everybody of the patches of sand on the road - you would think that having negotiated it all successfully previously it would be a walk in the park – HA HA the biking gods say -no major damage done though and at least I was not the only one. On into Sutherland - due to the size of the group we were all over the place and from the comments I heard, the accommodation was great. We met up in the pub at the Galaxy in time for the Stormer’s game and where all greatly chuffed to watch them win and climb towards the top of the log. Dinner was also had at the Galaxy and did I mention the Jagermeister yet again – a very good digestive after a few peanuts had been had!! After dinner – and a few more shooters of indeterminate origin we made our way to our respective beds. At this point I must once again digress and put paid to any rumors that may or may not surround the fact that Neil and Mr. Kawasaki shared a bedroom - I have it on good authority that NOTHING HAPPENED . and said parties are sticking to that story. Sadly we woke on Sunday morning to wet weather and it was decided by the group to head home on tar. After breakfast we re-inflated tyres and made our way home via Matjiesfontein and down the N1 direction Cape Town – we stopped for one final time in Touwsriver for a hot chocolate and farewells and rode home in small groups – this largely because of the expected busy roads and the difficulties associated with dodging through traffic as a large group. The weather stayed lousy pretty much all the way into Town with heavy mist making conditions dodgy when going over Du Toits Kloof pass I would like to say a big thank you on behalf of the group to Geoff and Nolene for guiding us safely over around 1400 kms if not more – to Chris for sweeping all most all of the way after Hennie had his incident and to Anne Marie, Adri and Neels who valiantly followed us in the back up vehicle. To all on the trip thanks for being such great company – we met as strangers on Thursday morning and left as friends on Sunday afternoon. To those that took them, please post Photographs below. Thanks very much. Steve Thomas

Comments

Steph (not verified)
Great Report Steve, it was great reading the report of your trip. Very complete, I did the trip with Johan Rossouw this weekend and after having read your report, I felt like I have done two trips (Bike Trips that is) It will be interesting to see the photos as well. Good Luck! Steph
William (not verified)
The river you enquired about is the Breede River, it starts otherside the R303 from Wellington to Wolseley, then runs under the N1 near Worcester and past Robertson, WIDE is it not? ferryferry
Nicolaas's picture
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Joined: 2007/09/10
Thanks for the report Steve. Yes, it was an amazing trip that Edna and myself enjoyed very much. As alsway I have this problem afterwards where I want to kick myself for not taking more pictures, but here's the best of the few that we took. Relaxing a bit at BarnardsRelaxing a bit at Barnards Regroup just before we heard of Hennie's accidentRegroup just before we heard of Hennie's accident Sunrise at Die Herberg - ArnistonSunrise at Die Herberg - Arniston Busy packing for the day - ArnistonBusy packing for the day - Arniston Regroup just before MalgasRegroup just before Malgas Who'll be arriving next?Who'll be arriving next? Op die pontOp die pont We might have fit one more bicycle...We might have fit one more bicycle... View back to die Malgas HotelView back to die Malgas Hotel Regroup just before Herbertsdale after crossing the Gouritz riverRegroup just before Herbertsdale after crossing the Gouritz river ditto...ditto... About to leave OudtsoornAbout to leave Oudtsoorn Dale with his orange headlight in the Swartberg passDale with his orange headlight in the Swartberg pass More of the Swartberg passMore of the Swartberg pass Between Merweville and SutherlandBetween Merweville and Sutherland On top of the world, with our heads in the clouds (almost)On top of the world, with our heads in the clouds (almost)
Neil Terry's picture
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Joined: 2007/07/01
Thanks Steve the Shiraz inspired me to push ahead with my veiw.Nicolaas very nice photos, I just mik & druk.