Karen9 April Over the border to SA – Goegap Nature Reserve
We got up very early and hit the gravel back to Grunau –this time with improved confidence levels, and much less trepidation! Tiennie and his Annakee wild tyre now being a supreme team and totally the boss of the gravel roads and the loaded bike! He now convinced me that I should really try and look ahead at the dreaded road hazards, if only to get a feel of what sort of terrain can be conquered by the bike, rather than hiding from it. For this I am very grateful, as I think I have definitely moved on a lot from my irrational fears regarding biking on gravel roads!
Back on the tarred roads, the route through to the Gariep (Orange) River, is always special, just so empty and wild. On this particular road I had so many airborne objects bouncing off my left knee, at high speeds, that I really wished for my too-small Kevlar jeans left at home!!
Our border crossing to SA was fine, despite a few delays, so ended up people-watching, including a fascinating fight between a trucker and the customs officials, and of course chatting to random strangers – the bike tends to do that! Our Blue Bulls sticker on the back of the bike caused some strong feelings from the general public in these parts, naturally none of whom were Bulls supporters, strongly followed by amazement that we had come all the way from Kasane, Botswana, on this bike!
Once through to SA, the highway to Springbok is a continuation of the Namibian landscape, empty and beautiful, with rolling brown hills stretching as far as the eye can see. One day we will have to come during the wildflower season, as it must be truly glorious!!
Our destination, Goegap Nature Reserve is one of our favourite places on earth to camp! It, however, has absolutely no fancy facilities at the campsite, other than an ablution block and braai grids, plus it has a very strict park gate closing time of 1600, so we had an unholy rush to find a supermarket or any place that was open in Springbok on a Sunday afternoon as our luggage constraints dictated shopping on the fly for self-catering purposes! We eventually managed to find a friendly OK store, and flung ourselves round it in haste, to gather food and still make it to the gate on time! We managed to leap onto the bike, with the most incredible array of shopping bags and a bag of charcoal propped up between us! In the undignified rush, one of our Bluetooth headsets managed to disconnect itself while our helmets were being driven round at speed inside a shopping trolley! So in companionable silence, hanging onto our groceries for dear life, we made it to Goegap gate with just a few minutes to spare!
It was of course totally worth the effort, as we had a beautiful evening there. The campsite being nestled in between hills, there is always a bizarre early sunset in the actual camp, while all around it is still enjoying late afternoon sunlight. Dassies and baboons sit up on the rocks enjoying the last moments of the sun, while Gemsbok float past quietly and melt away into the shadows, quite spectacular!
10 April – Goegap to Rondeberg
A quick breakfast at our favourite Nandos in Springbok, then off to the local Midas to buy supplies to fix the broken Bluetooth unit! The Blue Bulls sticker valiantly progressing deeper into hostile territory, and attracting attention from a very large, 4×4 driving Cheetahs-supporter in the car park who loved everything about the bike “behalwe DAAI sticker!!” We had an uneventful, and chatty drive through a lonely road, mountain passes and again rolling brown hills that make one dream of the flower season! At Rondeberg, a charming campsite on the banks of the Bulshoek Dam we had to have a hunter/gatherer session for our dinner in the tiny little campsite shop, so feasted that night on pasta, boerewors, a tin of veggies and of course the only beverage we could find – our now familiar Rooi Kooldrank!
11 April Rondeberg to Langebaan
There are the most amazing mountainous passes on this route, which we managed to double experience, as at some point on the way I suddenly realized that I did not have my gloves on my hands?!! I have no idea how I could have missed this part of the bike gear ritual. We stopped for breakfast at “Kardoesie” our favourite Padstal right on the N7 – it has the most incredible views over the Piekenierskloof Pass. The altitude here of the summit is +/- 520 m above sea level, very low compared to what we are used to, around 900m.
I phoned the previous night’s accommodation, and as soon as they realized it was the biker-chick on the line, they just said “we have your gloves”!! So now – the dilemma of what to do regarding the gloves. Not so easy to find another pair as good as those, as not only are they good quality but alas also sourced from a kiddies’ motocross biker department due to having ridiculously small sized hands! I had also started to feel very strange and vulnerable missing this section of my usual armour, so Tiennie very graciously offered to turn back and basically add 160km on to the day’s trip!! So we enjoyed the mountain passes all over again, back to the gloves, u-turn, backtracking to the Piekenierskloof pass, then finally back on track to Langebaan as we descended into the lower lying areas of Citrusdal etc.
After getting lost as usual in the Piketberg/Morressburg/Malmesbury intersection/roundabout due to endless roadworks, we finally found ourselves on the correct road to Velddrif – and to our surprise, straight into the very same Stop/Go waiting pattern as we had encountered on that road one year before! Once we crossed the Bergrivier, with flamingoes on one side, salt factory on the other and the beautiful turquoise water, the GPS registered zero altitude, and we got excited about being at the coast!!
Sadly we had forgotten the Farmers’ house number so our arrival at the Langebaan Country Golf Estate was a bit undignified, as we had to park to one side, being watched curiously by the gate security while I had to jump off, get rid of gloves and helmet, phone Ingrid to find out the house number, then gear up again, get on, then we could start the bike and approach the gate as legitimate visitors who had a clue where they were going! What a wonderful welcome from our dear friends, and it was good to be back in our second home once again. Ingrid and I immediately started to chat, while the boys escaped to go and get the traditional fish n chips from the Laguna Mall. We looked forward to a day or three of chilling in Langebaan before Shadowfax’s proposed sailing date to Durban for the delivery voyage.
12 to 21 April – Sailing, and Langebaan-ing
Over fish, chips and a few glasses of wine, the ongoing monitoring of deteriorating weather conditions started to indicate that the sailing date was going to have to be sooner rather than later! Quick canvassing of the rest of the delivery crew revealed that Jacqui was available to drop everything, whereas JP was unable to make it at such short notice. It was agreed that they would need to leave asap the following day in order to beat a very dangerous and scary front that would make any later day non-viable. It was now or never stuff, to depart immediately in marginal weather, in order to have a chance at getting to Durbs at all. So a mad scramble the next day, and eventually we girls waved goodbye to Bernie, Tiennie and Jax at Royal Cape Yacht club.
The next few days Ingrid and I enjoyed a peaceful Easter weekend around Langebaan! One of my highlights of the stay was volunteering at the local soup kitchen with Ingrid and the amazing team of ladies. I was, as anybody who knows me, in my element – dishing up food, washing hundreds of dishes, running around after squalling toddlers, meeting new people and listening to the hopes and views of some of today’s teenagers (fellow volunteers)! Apart from that, we managed to sample several cocktails, and enjoyed daily walks on the beach. I spent quite a few hours tied up on Skype handling work matters back home.. and of course I visited my favourite Langebaan jewellery shop to purchase, for the second year running, a replacement St Christopher!
| Meanwhile.. out at sea…. Wild and dangerous conditions – 5m to 6m swells, 40 to 45 knot winds between Agulhus and Mossel Bay, it was decided to anchor at Mossel Bay, to recover, repair, and eventually a wisely considered decision to turn back to home port due the state of the mainsail, and the weather conditions onwards to Durban. Sadly the Vasco da Gama race entry was sacrificed, but it was the wisest decision by the skipper – safety first! We were very happy to welcome our bruised and battered salty seadogs safely back to shore at the Royal Cape! |  |
After that, we still enjoyed a few more days of West Coast leisure, as well as even attending a business meeting in the West Coast National Park !
Here is the bike at the Atlantic viewpoint in the West Coast park – soon to turn back north, and hit the road for the long journey home!
