Archive of BMW Motorrad Club Cape (2006 - 2019)

This was to be an EXTREME adventure trip – we were well-warned at our pre-trip get-together. In retrospect, it was extreme in every way – extreme riding, extreme hilarity, extreme exertion, extreme exhaustion, extreme jokes and banter… In short, if your nerves, muscles and bones weren’t screaming, then you were screaming with laughter. The perfect recipe for extreme de-stress and 'uithak'. 17 Riders + Backup Vehicle: Geoff Russell - 1200GSA – our trip leader and organizer Kevin Layden - 1200GSA Olaf Gaertner - 1200GSA Hennie Botha - 1200GSA Marius du Preez - 1200GSA (from KZN) – aka Doctor Love Andy Connell - 1150GSA – aka – the Rooster Wynand Haywood - 1200GSA – aka Lang Wynand Tian van Heerden - 800GS Peter Mann - 800GS – aka Rooms Glen Thompson - 800GS – aka Zimbabwe or Robert Gabriel Mugabe Wynand Jonker - 800GS – aka Councilor or Kort Wynand Nigel McDonald - 650XChallenge with long-range tanks aka Coolhand Luke Nils Fjastad - 650GS Dakar Chris Grinton - 650GS Dakar – aka Gint Terrance Landwehr - 650GS Dakar (from JHB) Anne Connell - F650GS Justin Clohessy - KTM640Adv – aka Rooms Abie Fourie - Toyota Landcruiser – backup vehicle ===Day 1 – 30 July, Thursday=== ===Cape Town to Port Elizabeth - ± 700kms=== Our meeting place for the start was the False Bay Engen 1 Stop on the N2 just outside Somerset West at around 6.45am. We all refueled and nervously breakfasted at the Wimpy. Our group was complete, except for Terrance, Glen, Marius and Olaf. Surprise, surprise, Hilton and Heather from Knysna joined us for breakfast – they were on last year’s trip and really sorry not to be able to go along with us… After a pre-trip briefing from Geoff, we set off at around 7.30am and wound our way through the morning traffic and roadworks, collecting Olaf at the bottom of Sir Lowry’s Pass and finally regrouping into staggered formation on the pass. After Houw Hoek Pass, we whipped our pace up to about 130kph, the 650’s tucked in behind Geoff. Before Riversdale, we noticed great black and yellow clouds billowing out of Geoff’s Adventure every time he touched the accelerator. Riviersonderend: Geoff is concerned by his bike's performance We stopped in Riversdale to refuel and examine Geoff’s bike. At this point, Nils noticed the his chain tensioner, thingymabob goeter was missing – not good. Kort Wynand: The miles fly by We set off again at normal speed, Geoff having phoned Shane at BMW Auto Atlantic, and Shane having organized something in George to sort Geoff out. We arrived in George close to mid-day and pulled into the BMW garage there. We all mulled around, drinking BMW coffee, Abie dishing out all his lovely droêwors and biltong. The problem was quickly sorted out (or so we believed) and we were now an hour behind schedule, according to Geoff. Nils, our youngest on the trip: He doesn't need Red Bull to keep going! In Knysna we met up with Glen and Marius very briefly and then all proceeded to Plettenberg Bay (now going 140kph) where we refueled (except for Andy, who believed he had 500km range on his tank – NOT at 140kph Andy!) and had a Wimpy lunch. This enabled us to get to know Glen and Marius a little bit. We burped our way onto our bikes (bit of a rush you see) and whipped up to our new cruising speed. Passing through Nature's Valley: Livestock slowed us down Making up time on Bloukrans pass: by scraping the pegs a bit Rain clouds were chasing us in the near distance. We’d driven past Storms River, when Nils developed a puncture. Abie, who was running ahead of us, was summonsed and Nils’ bike was put onto the trailer. Nils jumped onto Tian’s (his dad) 800 and we all left, picking up even more speed. The rain caught up with us near Humansdorp, about 150kms before PE. We stopped to don rain gear, getting soaked in the process. It was now around 4pm and the light was starting to fade a bit. We made slower pace and finally arrived in PE in the dark. We were tightly bunched together, but it was difficult in the peak traffic. Marius’ bike developed an electrical problem and had to be loaded onto the trailer. Andy disappeared because he’d run out of fuel (strafdoppe). Tian towed him to a fuel station just close by. FINALLY we all arrived at the Roadside Lodge, but had to wait awhile for the backup vehicle while it was loading bikes etc. Justin’s KTM had a new back tyre, which had started to lose it’s knobblys. So, 3 problems to be sorted before departure next day. We had a wonderful supper, with Andy buying the 1st round of Jagermeisters, Pete warning us of his birthday the next day, Olaf being taken to task for splitting the group…Much hilarity later, we popped off to bed. I realized that this hilarity was going to be the theme of our 2 weeks together…. Good, just what I needed to counteract my nerves. ===Day 2 – 31 July, Friday=== ===Port Elizabeth via East London and Kei Mouth to Trenneries - ± 500kms=== Tian and Nils, Pete (52 today and aging as we speak) and Justin and Marius set off to go and sort all their bike problems out very early. Meanwhile, the rest of us gathered and packed our things and helped Abie load the Landcruiser (no mean feat). We strolled off to breakfast at the Wimpy, and a while later, the other group, who fortunately sorted their bikes out, joined us. Pete had had his 1st sidestand incident in peak traffic when he saw a lovely girl on a Kawasaki. Justin almost dropped his own bike from laughing so much. Ouch, birthday boy – way to go! The vegetarians (weedeaters) heaved a sigh of relief on exiting the Wimpy, as they believed it would be the last Wimpy for awhile. For some reason, we were behind schedule again. It had stopped raining, the sun was shining, rainclouds in the distance. Reports from Cape Town were that it was pouring down there and heading our way. We were smartly whipped up to 140kph plus by Geoff, and near Alexandria the rain forced us to stop and put on raingear – an assortment of colours added to our already colourful group. The rain didn’t last very long. Lots of vervit monkeys were foraging at the side of the road. Unfortunately one of them decided to cross the road in front of me and I was forced to ride over it. My bike was remarkably stable in the process. At that speed, any swerving or braking would have been the end of me and maybe several others. I left the ex-monkey behind me. In East London at our refuel stop, I nervously checked for telltale monkey signs on my bike – phew there was nothing. We made good time (having somehow caught up time) to Kei Mouth, where we met up with Terrance at the Bush Pub. Terrance welcomes us: Glen aka "Zimbabwe" looks on At this point Lang Wynand realized that we all seemed to have snacks stashed in our bags and that he had missed this tiny point in our pre-trip briefing. So he ordered a large lunch while the rest of us had a few beers and ciders. Lang Wynand is starving We deflated tyres and stripped our gear down to off-road mode and waited for the ferry/pont to come back to us. Abie had gone on ahead of us. We somehow all fitted onto the ferry and there was much activity and excitement off-loading all the bikes again. Geoff piloting us onto the ferry And then we were off in a cloud of dust, Hennie taking his first fall on the first uphill corner (he’d been trying to warn us of an approaching car). Hennie's first spill Geoff took us on a surprise detour through ex-pineapple plantations and we arrived near Trenneries, huffing and puffing, but excited. Unfortunately Geoff’s bike problem was back again and he spent much time phoning BMW and trying to sort it out with all sorts of remedies from Shane. I think he spent much of his night worrying… We celebrated Pete’s birthday with several rounds and scoffed the Friday special Happy Hour Oysters, prawns and calamari. We stuffed ourselves with a grand dinner and carried on at the pub, singing more happy birthday songs and laughing ourselves silly. What would tomorrow bring? Rain? Oh yes, a hiking book club was due to overnight tomorrow. Would the hikers like the bikers? ===Day 3 – 1 August, Saturday=== ===Trenneries outride to Jacaranda shipwreck - ?70kms=== We started the day with gusto, a large breakfast and a birthday song. We were assured that we would regurgitate the breakfast on the first technical section. But, I must confess, we just couldn’t help it. Then rain started gently falling, changing Geoff’s plans slightly (did they really change?). In the rain under a tree, he started his pre-trip briefing, but was interrupted by a rude nail in Terrance’s back tyre. Unfortunately this had to be repaired, and so several mechanics managed to sort it out within about half an hour. Back to the pre-trip – I was relieved to hear that the 1st technical bit would be too slippery to attempt. He didn’t elaborate much on the rest, except to watch out for the slippery stuff etc. Olaf was the designated sweeper as punishment for breaking up the groups on the 1st day. We’d travelled a few kms in the rain on not-too-slippery stuff, when Tian’s front tyre developed a puncture. We pumped mousse into it, but the tyre went flat again a few kms later. So his bike was loaded onto the trailer, and Tian bravely smilingly got onto the back of Geoff’s bike – Geoff with an evil grin! Would Tian still be smiling so much later on? Geoff decided to go back to the original course, (more evil grins) and we encountered sand, thick sand, thicker sand, ruts, deep ruts, oh and a very steep hill. After that, I think Tian opted to ride in the backup vehicle. Just about everyone had a fall. We were sweating profusely, despite the rain. Then Olaf lost the backup vehicle and he was sent in search of it (we could see Abie wandering all over the opposite hills). Then Olaf got lost and Geoff went in search of both. Nils waits with us for the lost party: rearing to go Finally, we got to the Jacaranda shipwreck via sandy paths. In the distance we could see the hiking book club having their lunch. Olaf arrived, spraying heaps of sand all over us. The book club hikers took a rapid hiking departure from their spot…. The Jacaranda More sand later and more rain later we were faced with a steep wet grass hill – everyone fortunately made it up – even me. The trailer developed a puncture and 10 guys lifted the it while Andy changed the tyre. The sand claimed many more victims, but we finally got back onto the “main” road, then turned off onto another windy-windy road. Oops, it was very slippery and I had my 1st fall. We were then faced with a red rutted slippery uphill. Some made it up, others got stuck. I found another route around, while Geoff took my bike up, and some of the bikes and the Landcruiser took this route up. Eventually we got back onto the main road and headed back to Trenneries in the pouring rain, where we found a huge buffet lunch awaiting us. Andy had two plates, even though he knew there was another huge seafood extravaganza later on… A few of us managed to power nap before the rugby game, which needed lots of help from us. Geoff’s spare part had arrived from BWM East London, so he was able to relax a bit. Andy helped Tian repair his puncture. We again cheered Peter on his 53rd birthday. The hotel got wind of this, so they also sang to him in Zulu. The seafood was to die for and we spent another few hours laughing around the bar afterwards. Hoping in the background that the rain would stop. In our rooms, hairdryers were busy drying our boots, helmets and gear. Rain rain go away…. even though the Transkei desperately needs rain… The book club finally warmed up to Peter and Chris when they were presented with offerings of Marula and good company… ===Day 4 – 2 August, Sunday=== ===Trenneries to Mezeppa Bay - ?150kms=== Hard to believe this was our 4th day already. Fortunately we awoke to cool clear weather and hopefully not-so-slippery trails. We packed, loaded the Landcruiser and had breakfast. Geoff announced that we would stick to the original planned route, which might or might not be sticky. Olaf would be sweeper again! We arrived green in the face after the 1st technical section, and then Geoff got a bee in his helmet and decided to redo some of yesterday’s route (just to show Tian). I made it up that steep steep hill on my own and conquered some of my own demons. Then somewhere along the way, Kort Wynand didn’t wait for someone at a turnoff and a group of us spent about 25 mins meandering through the sand before we met up with the 1st group. He was sentenced to strafdoppe rounds for the evening, while Geoff gave us a serious blasting. We “wandered” along the hills and valleys towards Mezeppa Bay, encountering the Mother of all Hills – I could see it while negotiating the way down to the river. No Geoff, it’s a day too early!!!! I hid myself in the bushes at the bottom, wishing it away. Eventually Nils was brave enough to take my bike up, “tripping” up at the top due to a lower undercarriage. Thanks Nils. Someone took Terrence’s bike up. Via radio comms, everyone got up safely or unsafely. A few stayed behind to help the trailer around some nasty bended dongas at the bottom. Terrence and I climbed onto the trailer and were hauled up by the Landcruiser, where we found Andy losing direction and aiming for trees and people… We enjoyed a nice cold beer at the top. We followed Geoff to a tricky river crossing – dry but tricky. This had us all sweating again. Around the corner, another river crossing awaited and then a long steep grassy uphill, which claimed several victims. Fortunately I made it up in one piece. I think Chris’s clutch lever had to be replaced at this point. After this we had some lovely rocky steps to climb, but again, we all made it in one piece! We saw lots of lovely scenery in between all the sweating. There were a few more technical sections and then finally we arrived at Mezzepa Bay Hotel – exhausted to say the least. Some headed for the beach and went for a swim, while others just power napped and licked their wounds. We gathered in the bar for snacks and drinks and Peter’s 54th birthday song. We celebrated with champagne at the dinner table. Much laughing later, we retired to bed. ===Day 5 – 3 August, Monday=== ===Mezeppa Bay to Kob Inn – ?90kms=== We awoke to another glorious sunshine day. The stoeps were lined with stinking boots, banished by the inhabitants. By now, most of us had separate eco-systems developing/growing inside our boots and helmets! Unfortunately the hairdryers just sealed the previous day’s eco-system, allowing a new one to form on top of that… Geoff pointed out Kob Inn – about 5kms away as the crows fly. But we would get there via a long detour. Terrance discovered that his shock had given in, so the bike was loaded onto the trailer. We were first shown the beautiful rolling hills of Mezeppa Bay. Yep, if you didn’t look where you were going, you would surely roll! Meandering Justin, our KTM Adventurer We “meandered” all over, bouncing from mole hill to mole hill. We meandered to a deep water crossing where both Olaf and Lang Wynand drowned their bikes. Peter makes it through: the 650s and 800s had no problem Andy gave a demonstrative lecture on how to resuscitate drowned 1200’s. I ran out of revs on the next hill and took a tumble. Justin and Marius helped me up. Thanks guys. We saw lots of stunning views that day – bays, beaches, hills and whales. We could see many liners and tankers passing in the ocean. Amazing scenery Hennie takes a roll: Glen & Geoff help him up Geoff takes Hennie's bike up the uphill: Problem is if someone else takes your bike up, then you've got to walk up! We wound our way to the lookout point of all lookout points, Geoff stopping us just before a sharp cliff. There we lay/sat, looking at the river mouth and sea, exchanging, nuts, jelly tots and other goodies. It was diagnosed that Lang Wynand’s bike still had sick milky oil, meaning that he would have to be towed 40kms to Kob Inn. I could see that he was nervous about this. We left him on top of the cliff with his bike while we took a look at another river mouth. Then we met up with him again and hitched him onto Andy’s bike. The road to Kob Inn was dusty and an easy relaxing ride. Andy re-enacts last year's spill at the culvert BMW OnCall were waiting to collect Terrance’s bike. At Kob Inn we refueled (Daan had stashed 180L for us especially). Everyone was looking forward to Long Island Ice Teas… Kort Wynand’s punishment. And when the tea came – it contained double helpings of all the alcohol (the bar lady got it wrong), which “ironed” out all the aches and pains. All sense became hilarious nonsense. Peter’s 55th birthday also had to be celebrated. Chef Dean somehow got wind of this. We enjoyed more bar snacks and a lovely supper. Then the pool games and dart games started, and suddenly Marius became Doctor Love – we could see he was having a jol. No further details available… he was last seen playing a side-winding game of darts… ===Day 6 – 4 August, Tuesday=== ===Kob Inn – outride ± 60kms/ rest day=== A relaxing sunny day with a brilliant sunrise (those that managed to catch it) allowed us to catch up with laundry and unwind a bit. A 10 o’clock outride was on the cards for those that involuntarily (reflex action) wanted to go on it. A “short” 60kms just to look-see at what the next day’s riding would bring. Maybe 2 hours, maybe 3 hours. I chilled a bit, and mulled over the “maybe” part and then decided a complete unwind was in order. Go for it boys! A relaxing day in the ruts Kevin returned early, and 1 or 2 others. Just a short relaxing easy outride... Lang Wynand and Terrance remained as they had to sort their bikes out. Terrance made many calls to find a new shock. The shock was found, but shockingly the chain of service and comms was poor. He eventually drove through to EL with Abie to supervise it himself and also to collect more oil for Lang Wynand and some spare parts. However, the courier company did not collect the shock at the airport and he had to return empty-handed. The whole trip took them over 6 hours and lots of extra fuel… I elected to read my book in the sun also took a long walk on the beaches. A sweating crowd arrived from a 3+ hour ride. Some dived straight into the enticing swimming pool, and jumped straight out again – the water was quite brisk. The lunch gong went and we enjoyed spaghetti bolognaise and salad. The banter started up again. By sunset we were all having drinks again – some more Long Island teas. Chef Dean started up a lovely braai. Some serious pool and dart playing was going on. We ate supper and toasted Peter’s 56th birthday, once again singing a loud happy birthday. But the hotel staff topped it up by singing their own version of the birthday song, and presenting Peter with a large cake. More festivities and hilarity, and ANOTHER birthday speech! More darts and pool. Doctor Love was having the time of his life…. ===Day 7 – 5 August, Wednesday=== ===Kob Inn to Coffee Bay – 250kms – The Longest Day=== I forgot to say that the rooster crowed us all awake every morning at whatever time it decided to wake up. Unfortunately for us, the rooster was able to ride an 1150GSA and was also quite handy a fixing things and patching people up. So, although, people felt like slitting the rooster’s throat, they had to put up with him. I discouraged the rooster that morning from crowing at 5.30am and managed to keep him busy until 6.30. We softened our boots and gloves (now caked into funny shapes by hairdryers) and slowly packed our bags. We had a nervously leisurely breakfast, wondering how much our stomachs would tolerate later. Terrance’s bike was still not back. Lang Wynand’s bike got it’s new oil and he was sorted. We were briefed by Geoff at 8am. The day would be 200kms (during the trip he somehow added on another 50kms – you bugger) and we had to keep moving. He wasn’t sure whether we would be allowed to ride through the Dwesa and Ceba Nature Reserves due to new management. Less than 3kms into the ride, we hit sand downhills, a sand river crossing, followed by a rocky exit. Immediately we were sweating. River crossing: One of the many This was followed by some more bushwacking, molehill hopping, another river crossing or two and then a steep loose uphill, which claimed a few victims, including myself. We stopped for a rest in one of the river crossings. A bit of a tricky descent into the river mouth: along a goat track Olaf was “counting down” the kms, giving us an estimate of how many kms we had left. However, we did manage to travel/negotiate our way through the beautiful Dwesa reserve, and Geoff secretly added on another 50kms. So Olaf’s calculations were thrown right out of the window! Dwesa Nature Reserve We had a few more “technical” sections. Geoff’s “easy” is not the same as my “easy”! We visited Xhora Mouth and the backup vehicle was sent on to Coffee Bay. I must mention here that several kids were throwing stones, and we had to stop a few times to scare them off. Also sheep and “mad” people winding their way in the road. Quite a few of us had to emergency brake or swerve to avoid them. We got onto some easy dirt and I was coming around a corner to the left and was suddenly faced with a very sharp loose downhill. Well, I went down almost immediately, trapping my right foot under the bike. At this point, I realized that this was the hill last year that Glen came off on and knocked himself out. Lang Wynand and Andy helped me up, but I managed to drop the bike again, trapping my toes this time. They again helped me up and soon I was on my way. Sometimes you just have to sit and admire the view: Olaf stops to help, but puts his own bike down in the process But I knew what was waiting – another very loose technical hill. The shadows were lengthening and I was running out of steam fast. Finally I got to The Hill, where I heard lots of shouting and revving. Andy thankfully took my bike up. Geoff took some of the other bikes up. The hill claimed many victims. That Hill We came out onto a main road, riding another 50kms or so into Coffee Bay. A large rain cloud loomed over Coffee Bay, and drained itself as we entered the general area. Thick dust layers were now caked and we battled to see in the fading light. We arrived at Ocean View Hotel with green mud on our faces. Surprise – Terrance’s bike was standing there looking brand spanking new! Again, our rooms were designated and snorers and non-snorers were paired off. The only happy couple seemed to be Justin and Peter, calling each “Rooms”. Nigel spent a few nights outside, sleeping on a mattress under the stars because someone’s snoring got to him… Glen booked himself into another room because Abie’s snoring got to him on the first night. We quickly showered and came back to the bar to find no bar snacks – we were really hungry. However, the food was good, and we celebrated Peter’s 57th birthday with much hilarity. After that we hung around chatting and one by one slunk off to bed. ===Day 8 – 6 August, Thursday=== ===Coffee Bay outride - ?150kms – The Most Difficult Day=== We’d given up silencing the rooster. We’d given up trying to limit ourselves on the breakfast – what the hell- we had to eat and it was paid for! We refueled our bikes – a long process with 2 pumps. Briefing at 9.15 – not one of us elected to stay behind. We were warned of slippery grass and stunning views. Geoff was keen to tackle Terrance’s river and The Hill after that, but Terrance said it wasn’t necessary. Phew!! Oh what the heck, let’s get on with it and silence the butterflies rumbling in my gut. Jeepers, was the ride tough and technical. I managed all of it but for half of one hill. I have a great fear of heights, and while going down a steep grassy hill standing up, hit the brakes slightly and cartwheeled down – more like a fishflop, ending with a sideways roll down (just like when I was a kid). Abie, our trusty backup driver Oi vei, more bruises, more stuff. But I shakily enjoyed 2 Grapetisers and some biltong, after which I felt better. My bike was doing a stripshow on it’s own… Then we were off again, tackling some more technical bits, finally ending up on the road to Coffee Bay. Fearless Cool Hand Luke More stunning views More grassy uphills Chris, singing "Some Enchanted Evening..." waiting at the top of another hill Peter stops to check his line: What line? Again, we wound our way along the dusty road towards Coffee Bay, turning just before into a little Bush Pub, campsite etc place called White Clay, where we celebrated The Most Difficult Day. It was a great party (I don’t think Geoff had intended it to be) and everyone was ready for it. Glen and Chris showed us a few party tricks. I’ve never laughed so hard in my life. At some point we realized it was dark and we should leave. As we exited the rain came down again. Geoff isn’t sure how he got his bike to where it was parked. A quick shower and the hilarity and party continued. Hennie entertained us with his long version of his Lang Storie of the Nagwadrywer – probably a good 45mins. Chris kept himself busy, bringing all sorts of ornaments to the party. Eish, I’m not sure how to explain it, but the ornaments followed us to the dinner table, then back to the bar again. We told the hotel it was Peter’s 58th birthday – hence all the celebrations. Doctor Love disappeared with a warthog, having depleted his red wine …. Good night everyone! ===Day 9 – 7 August, Friday=== ===Coffee Bay to Anchorage – ?150kms=== The Rooster crowed us awake. People scuttled around looking for Cataflam, which was in short supply – an anti-inflammatory which apparently helps with aches and pains and bruises. We enjoyed another breakfast and listened to Geoff’s briefing. We were to revisit some of the areas he hadn’t shown us the day before. There were some areas he’d never taken a bike before, but everything was relatively “easy” according to him. I knew what this meant – technical stuff, difficult stuff. The views were once again spectacular and the route to the bottom of the Hole in the Wall was steep and difficult with river crossings and grassy descents. The steep grassy downhill again claimed me due to my fear of heights and I travelled the rest of the way without a front brake. Thanks Andy and Marius for helping me out. The view from that angle of the Hole in the Wall was spectacular, but I didn’t have much time to admire it. We crossed another slightly difficult river, and another and another. I watched Geoff longingly studying some steep ruts up a hill – then fortunately for me he decided against it. We made our way without incident to the top of the hill looking down on The Hole in the Wall. There Andy replaced my brake lever. He’d already McGuivered a new clutch lever for Nils with cable ties. After a few drinks and a rest, we wound our way back to Coffee Bay to refuel at the 2 pumps. No rest for the wicked: Geoff took us straight up a rocky hill just behind the Ocean View Hotel, and up and over the grassy plains. A rut claimed Andy and he took a bad spill, hurting his hip. He was quite shaken. The wind had whipped up quite a bit and it was decided not to show us some of the sights because it would be too dangerous. We could see Anchorage in the distance, but Geoff kept meandering around it. At one point, Kevin’s tyre gave problems and we had to stop and sort it out, while Chris ran around trying to catch a cute little black pig, singing “some enchanted evening” all the while. You just had to laugh. We stopped at a very rustic little harbour and eventually we were dragged up a rutted hill and into Anchorage. The establishment there is very rustic. The drought has caused a serious shortage of water, their water pump packed up, as did their washing machine. Our clothes were really smelling “fresh” – Andy even sprayed air freshener inside his! I showered, had a salad and took a long walk along the beach, admiring the black seasand. Some tinkered with their bikes, but most were just too tired and just hung around or played pool. We celebrated Peter’s 59th birthday with some gusto, but it was wearing a little thin. We enjoyed a lekker seafood soup, followed by crayfish and oysters to die for. Some diehards carried on at the bar and others played more pool. Most of us headed for an early night. ===Day 10 – 8 August, Saturday=== ===Anchorage to Port St Johns - ?200kms=== The rooster was limping and still managed to crow. We steered clear of all our stinking gear and packed our other stuff. There was no coffee until 8am. Our washing had not dried and we had to pack it wet – Extremely Wild Coast style. Cataflam and arnica oil was again in high demand. Finally the breakfast doors opened and we dashed in for a scrambled egg breakfast with coffee. Eager to get on with the day, we were ready quite early. A photographer decided to take a group photo. We sang to Peter in Zulu on his 60th birthday. Geoff briefed us, warning of animals, stone-throwing, vehicles, people etc. The roads would be relatively “easy”, but we had to be on the alert. Everything was going well, but about 35kms later, I was coming around a left-hand downhill corner, when I was suddenly faced with a large white truck which filled the road. I feathered the front brakes, but the front wheel slipped out from under and I crashed head-first into the grassy embankment, the bike pinning me down. Fortunately I’d avoided collision with the truck. While Justin, Chris, Kort Wynand and Peter helped me out, the truck rode off. I sat around in a dazed state, studying my helmet, which was full of grass and mud – on the inside. My head and neck hurt. Abie and company loaded my bike onto the trailer and me into the Landcruiser. Geoff ordered me to take 3 swigs only of his special Irish Mist medicine. We arrived at the other group waiting for us at a lovely river mouth. I changed into non-bike gear and settled into the Landcruiser, helping with the radio comms etc. We followed the bikes up to another stunning viewpoint (quite a popular fishing spot) overlooking the ocean. We sat and had lunch, watching the fishermen. The rest of the ride passed more-or-less uneventfully, so to speak. The 650s and 800s were challenged to a steep loose uphill. I think only Glen made it up the hill – Zimbabwe, you rock! There was great excitement when Geoff took us to the old airstrip at the top of Port St Johns. A bit of drag-racing, and we wound our way down to the city. Airstrip View from the end of the runway Hooting, cars, litter, noise etc. From here we headed on to Poenskop, a coastal point around 10kms from the city. This was to be the official end of the dirt. Geoff diverted the bikes over some grassy hills (just for some final excitement) while I got onto my bike on the trailer. We enjoyed some Marula, shaking hands and hugging to celebrate the end of the dirt. Quite some moment. But we couldn’t linger too long – the Bokke were about to play the Aussies and we needed to cheer them on. Half time saw us singing happy birthday to Peter on his 61st birthday along with the rest of the pub. Fortunately the Bokke won and we were all in high spirits, ready for a scrumptious buffet meal of oxtail, roast beef and lamb and all sorts of other nice food. Just before the meal, we had a side-splitting ending ceremony. Thanks Geoff for entertaining us. 2/3 of the crowd disappeared after the meal, while Doctor Love forced the rest of us onto the dance floor (didn’t know there was one). The alcohol numbed all my bruises and aches and I had a good time! Off to bed, time to face the tar and the road home…. ===Day 11 – 9 August, Sunday=== ===Port St Johns to Plettenberg bay – 1014kms – THE Longest Bloody Day!=== Our start was going to be early – breakfast at 6.30am. We woke up to no power and packed our gear with headlamps on. Eventually the power came back on in time for breakfast. Some people weren’t too hungry. We knew this was going to be a long haul and we weren’t looking forward to it. We bade Terrance and Marius good-bye – we were really sorry to see them go. The route back took us via some new beautiful forest roads (not yet on the GPS) and passes. Gradually the Transkei faded in the distance. It got progressively colder and every time we stopped, people scratched around in the Landcruiser to find more layers and gloves. A long day in the saddle We refueled every 250 to 300kms – the speeds we were doing didn’t give us much distance. The guys started drinking Red Bulls. I could see the strain wearing into their faces. Just before Storm’s River, Nil’s bike started leaking water – his water pump had packed up (again). The Landcruiser was summonsed back through all the roadstops and the bike was loaded onto the trailer. It was getting dark. Then Chris’s bike suddenly died on him and he was towed into Storm’s River by Kort Wynand. Geoff checked the bike and it dutifully started and gave no further problems. ?? We passed as quickly as possible through the Tsitsikamma toll gates and sped on to Keurbooms, where Noelene took Geoff by complete surprise! She’d even hidden her car away. Well done Noelene! Again, the sleeping arrangements were a little chaotic, but Geoff made the best of it. The Singing Kettle is a really topclass self-catering establishment. We had a roaring supper with more hilarity and one last 62nd birthday song for Peter. Some folks though us a bit odd… Noelene and Geoff made a fast exit. We dumped photos onto Lang Wynand’s laptop (am waiting for these) and headed for bed. ===Day 12 – 10 August, Monday=== ===Plettenberg Bay to Cape Town - ± 550kms=== We started the day with a somewhat chaotic breakfast. A chilly breeze blew our food cold in a few seconds. Peter toasted the tour with a sip of Poncraz champagne. No one felt the need to cheer his birthday. The trip was basically finished and we were eager to get started, but sorry that it was over. In Knysna we said good bye to Glen, the mad Zimbabwean, who somehow managed to lose his wallet inside his waist pocket. Hilton met us there as well and continued with the group to Gouwritsmond. I didn’t see him again. And now the schlep of returning holiday traffic. Overtaking, moving over etc. Cars in a huge hurry with short tempers. We met up with the bikes at Buffelsjachtsrivier garage for one last refuel. There the group split in 2 as all had various directions to go in. Lots of good byes, spirit still running high, but everyone was eager to get home. Kind of an anticlimax to a brilliant trip. At home, I felt again as if I could just do my laundry, pack my bags and go back again. Who needs to work? I think a lot of us felt the same. This trip tested us to the limits, we couldn’t find our boundaries because they kept shifting (Geoff knows how to do this). We had a great team spirit and I was really sorry to see everyone go. I suppose life will get back to normal and the Wild Coast vacuum will get smaller and disappear…until next year. A huge thanks to Geoff who made it all possible!