Graaf Reinet to Richmond via Nieu Bethesda

Kevin Charleston's picture

This was day 9 of a trip (02 Nov 2012) I recently made to Johannesburg via mostly tar – and probably the nicest piece of gravel road on the whole trip – from a surface and beauty perspective.  The only reason I’m posting this first is because Pepe was asking about roads in the area.  

I stayed over in Graaf Reinet at the Profcon Country Cottages, reasonably priced, neat and tidy, nothing exciting – unless you have kids.  They have a really fantastic playground at the property in the back – fortunately not being school holidays it suited me well. 

I took the R63 out of Graaf Reinet – heading North, and took the first turn-off for Nieu Bethesda (gravel).  The road surface was good – but obviously there had been rain and places where vehicles had really struggled. Not difficult stuff – a couple of bits of mud, but easily navigable. 

Graaf Reinet to Richmond via Nieu BethesdaGraaf Reinet to Richmond via Nieu Bethesda

I turned off for Nieu Bethesda, and dropped into the valley down a pretty road which my photography does no justice. 

Dropping down into Nieu BethesdaDropping down into Nieu Bethesda

The town is quaint, and might be an interesting place to stay.  There are several ways to get to the town – and the roads all look interesting. 

Nieu Bethesda ChurchNieu Bethesda Church

I’m not really into concrete statues – so didn’t spend any time at the owl house; but spotted a sign that said coffee roastery.  I crossed the river – running about 10cm deep, nothing too difficult. 

Across the river from the owl houseAcross the river from the owl house

Found the Brewery and Roastery and had one of the best Americanos ever. It made the trip really worthwhile – I was happily burping nutty, toasty, mocha-chocolate bubbles for hours afterwards.

The brewery (er Roastery)The brewery (er Roastery)

Back across the river, and out the way I came in – signposted for Richmond. 

I hadn’t intended to stay on the same road for long, but I was enjoying it so much, I’d switched of the GPS routing and missed the turn off.  I’m pleased I did – because the stretch north from the turn-off into the dorpie was a really, really lovely piece of road.  There was nothing too difficult, the odd little quirk to leave me smiling, a gentle pass.  The scenery was lovely – a few farms in this long valley with rounded and slightly greening hills.  The only parts that made my heart lurch were a couple of water ditches (slote) – a couple of these were very steep in and out – one was well hidden on a decent stretch of road and caught me quite by surprise - banged my crash-helmet on the windscreen.  But still smiling.  In retrospect, I should have noticed the shrubbery was a bit greener.

Heading North towards RichmondHeading North towards Richmond

The road reaches a T-junction with the R398, and I turned off towards Richmond.  Had I been heading for Hanover I might have carried on up past Kriegerspoort Dam. The R398 was quite boring in comparison. Good, wide, little traffic – but not very scenic or too interesting.

The rest of the day was a bit of a bust.  Tar to Loxton – which was dead.  Nothing was open on a Friday afternoon – thought I was in a ghost town.  Gravel from Loxton to Fraserburg.  Apart from a nice stop under a tree with some sheep and a windmill, this was also a pretty boring road – quite challenging though, lots of loose sand with my schizophrenic mind was going “don’t look at the sand” and “ooh that’s quite deep” all the time. 

There are sheep lurking under that treeThere are sheep lurking under that tree

Fraserburg to Sutherland was also gravel.  A solid road but mostly uninteresting; much less loose sand than the previous section – but by now the wind had really picked up and I was being blown all over the place.  I stayed over at the Sutherland campsite which was surprisingly ok. Well, it would be if it wasn’t for a damned rooster that I hope is now seeing KFC from a very different perspective. Someone should teach that little monster that dawn does not start at 03h00.  

Comments

Stephen Hall's picture
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Joined: 2008/08/25

Kevin, I agree - this is a great part of the country to ride, and Nieu Bethesda is one of my favourite towns in the Karoo - quirky, lively but as yet unspoilt.  I did the following variation on your route, last year:

Nieu Bethesda route 

 

Dirt road, clear mind

Pepe's picture
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Joined: 2007/12/01

Thanks Kevin, appreciated.

Work hard; play hard; never play when you work!

Mwendo's picture
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Joined: 2011/04/13

Nice report Kevin, thanks!
Celeste and I did that Graaff-Reinet to Nieu Bethesda loop earlier this year. The brewery serves a mean cheese platter, three good beers as well as the excellent coffee you mentioned. The village is well worth a visit.

A must-see while in Graaff-Reinet is the view of the town and surrounds from the Toposcope as well as the Valley Of Desolation situated in the Camdeboo National Park just 10 minutes outside of town. 

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The only problem with hindsight, is you don't see it coming!