Archive of BMW Motorrad Club Cape (2006 - 2019)

On the 17th and 18th of May we took a trip to Nona Rosa in the Southern Cape.  Like every other trip it starts with waking up early, something I'm not good with, add the cold weather and it's a lot harder. Once at Plattekloof we were divided into 2 groups, lead by Warren and Mike. This was going to be Mike’s first time leading and I was hoping for the best. We gave Warren’s group a 15 min head start before we set off. The morning was toasty warm until we got to the start of Franschhoek Pas, suddenly it was like entering a freezer. We (for those who don’t know, I pillion with Mike) were riding along and we came in a bit to fast on a corner, Mike was on slippery paint as he braked and the next thing I knew the back wheel was gliding all over the place. Immediately I grabbed on to Mike’s shoulders and what does he do? He starts laughing at me, literally shaking! Bloody bastard! 

 Such a pretty view

A few turns were missed but we did not get lost, we just took a detour. The first wrong turn happened because the GPS showed to go straight but the road was a t-junction, Mike just wasn’t paying attention when we missed the second turn-off.  That second turn-off lead through a beautifully wooded road, but a few mean branches did hit me in the face. At Malgas we not only got the bikes on the ferry but the back-up as well, even though the trailer might or might not have been hanging off the end a little. A few jokes were also made about a very bright light that we later discovered came from Markus’ head.

 boarding the ferry

Mikey

The ferry's engine

When we got to the campsite it was beautiful, but already getting cold. The night went like any other with a big fire, someone braaing the meat, Trevor going to bed early and struggling to sleep in the freezing cold. The first thing you notice in the morning light is all the spider webs, almost the whole area was surrounded.

The campsite

Smile

morning sun

And just to let you know it was Golden Orb-Weaver spiders and their poison isn’t lethal, it only causes blisters and redness ( I Googled it). If you look closely you can even see the golden web that it spins. But it was amazing to see all the dew on the webs.

Golden Orb-weaver

another one

Everyone were ready to go when Trevor realised that he packed his key in with his tent, luckily he rides around with his spare. We had three river crossings on our way out where Glendon wanted to see how high he can make the water splash.

faster is cleaner

We went trough Tradouw Pas towards Barrydale for a lovely breakfast before heading out through the same pas. It was on that pas that I think Mike wanted to see how low he can go around those bends because the sidestand scraped a few times nearly giving me a heart attack each time! Then it was smooth sailing on our way home. The senary on this trip was beautiful and the animals plentiful. Obviously there were cows, for who we had to stop, there were also horses, sheep and a lot of little lambs. Then I saw a squirrel, a meerkat, some zebra and gemsbok, a field full of baboons and I hope I’m not the only one that saw the 2 llamas. All in all it was a fun weekend and I’m happy that there was no part that required me to stand for more than a few seconds, because the 800 makes it very uncomfortable.

spider sunrise

Sunrise

Hanging gems

Thorny web

That's a lot of spiders

a cold campsite