Archive of BMW Motorrad Club Cape (2006 - 2019)

This trip was organised by Andy - see his comments on the forum. He organised it a week before. Anyhow, even though there were no other riders besides myself and Andy plus our nephew, we still had a fantastic time with fantastic weather. The roads were quite muddy at various stages, and you had to look out for ruts. We used exactly the same route as the previous time (see trip report). This is a relatively easy off-road trip with mostly good dirt. There is also quite a bit of tar in between. The scenery was alive with canola fields and blossoming orchards. It was not too cold and we had sunshine most of the way. We have decided that, even though our nephew didn't get bored and didn't find the trip too long, we should shorten it and only do tar to include road bikes. See comments on the forum. Here are "some" lovely pics we took along the way. Turnoff from Viljoenshoop Road onto Highlands Road: A sad sign of the times - a disused and deserted police office, trashed. Miss Padlangs, still shiny and clean before the start of the trip: My nephew was still a bit nervous. We were still on tar up to that point and he didn't know what to expect. Deflating ceremony: As soon as we hit the dirt, we stopped and deflated to about 1½ bar. Andy explained how to use the tyre pressure gauge. Tyre deflating lesson: Not sure whether my nephew (12) understood why, but he now knows how! Me on the Highlands Road: You'll be glad to know that my speed is increasing.... But Andy is still much faster.: I don't mind - Miss Padlangs and me are getting to know each other and we're feeling a lot more comfortable. Apple and Pear country: This looks like a relatively new orchard The tree shadows: Although very beautiful, the shadows are misleading - they hide ruts and other stuff. Ah well, the faster you go, the less you worry. Botriver valley below: As you head down the pass towards the Kleinmond road. Tesslarsdal road: We turned back onto the N2 and headed for Caledon, turned right and through the town. After the brewery, we turned right towards Hermanus (Hermanus is apparently 37kms from here). Once you go down a steep little winding pass, you take a left turn in a bend towards Tesslarsdal. Here you hit dirt again. We hit mist for a short while: My visor had lots of mud and miggie-juice and pieces on it, so the mist made it quite hard to see. Opening it up - you end up with the miggies and mud in your face. Solution - stop and clean your visor... Misty mountains Finally we're in the mist: And suddenly you know where you haven't covered your neck and arms sufficiently Stop for a break and some winegums: Andy also transferred the intercom from my helmet into my nephew's helmet. After that they could chat about speeds etc We passed through fields and fields... And lots of canola fields: By the time we stopped again, my nephew knew all about canola. Greyton lunch stop: We had lunch at The Pepper Tree. This is owned and run by a Serbian who has relocated to South Africa. He owns a real 1925 Indian motorcycle. Wow! See panniers aren't a new concept - check out the 1925-style panniers The "panniers" of yesteryear! The old and the new: The Serbian owner left the restaurant for a short while. He would have had a heart failure if he'd seen one of the diners letting his 1½ old child sit on the Indian motorcycle and allowing her to dribble all over it and bump it with her shoes. Some people have no respect for other people's things... Finally we get our drinks: The restaurant was slow with its drinks, but super fast with its food. Not sure how that works? Andy checking on his GPS again: To make sure we were at the right place possibly? Villiersdorp: In Villiersdorp we stopped to shop for supper and to decode the Geocache clue. Leaving Villiersdorp: We headed towards Worcester. My nephew riding pillion: By now he was really enjoying himself. Near Worcester, we turned left towards Rawsonville: We passed through Rawsonville, turned left again and headed for Slanghoek and the geocache waiting somewhere in the decoded clue and GPS point. There was lots of snow on the mountains: But we had bergwind conditions and were actually very hot! Success! The Geocache has been found: Unfortunately the previous visitors did not leave exciting things behind. The Geocache: We left something really nice behind. Finally we're at the hut in Bainskloof: My nephew started a fire, but we discovered that we needed to chop the wood, which was slightly wet. My nephew chopped wood: My sister, having chopped several crates of wood a few weekends back, had fortunately shown him how to chop wood! We played a chess game: which turned into a bit of a blood bath - we were left with 5 pieces on the board, and nowhere to run to! We had a lovely braai, ending off with marshmallows on sticks. One or two marshmallows were lost in the fire, but we discovered one the next morning! The lost marshmallow Goodbye to the hut the next morning: After a nice warm night with a fire inside, a light breakfast the next morning, we left at about 10am and headed for home again. I must say, I could do this trip 100 times and still not get bored!