KarenDARLING, WESTERN CAPE – TO KASANE (3421 km)
CONTINUED FROM EPISODE 2
3rd August – Humansdorp to Port Alfred
This time we hit the highway to Port Elizabeth and went directly to Port Alfred with no unplanned visits, or deviations, and made it in an uneventful manner. The usual stop at a farmstall to unfreeze with hot chocolate, and stock up on gifts for the next hostess… our friend Jan and her young visitor from France, Cordelia.
We had a wonderful evening there, catching up over a few glasses of wine once more, and showing Jan how many of the amazing minimalistic outdoor gadgets we inherited from her late husband Murray , had been absorbed perfectly into our biker camping lifestyle! There is something comforting about carrying the adventurous spirit of a lost special friend along on our travels in this way.
This time I was not taking any chances, and knowing we were heading into the Free State interior, I decided to up my number of layers to a never experienced before level. With difficulty, the” Michelin Woman” consisting of no less than NINE layers of clothing, managed to roll her way onto the bike!!The biker boy I have to say was not too far behind, having a grand total of seven.. with the option for both to remove layers en route if it seemed a tad too much!
Posing in Jan’s garden before the great trip north. The luggage was obviously much lighter at this point, as I was wearing most of it!
From Port Alfred we finally started to feel as if we were really going home!
Our destination this day was not fixed – all we wanted to do was to make sure we crossed the Orange River and get as far into the Free State as we could within reasonable riding range.
We finally turned towards the north, starting out at zero metres above sea level, heading up north into the interior again, the epic bike trip started so many months ago in April, coming towards its end at last! We enjoyed the lovely traffic free mountain passes after Grahamstown, but despite the nine layers, I was still slowly becoming way, way too cold for comfort!
By the time we got to the Daggaboer Padstal, I was more than ready for the usual Hot Chocolate frostbite unfreezing session. The wind chill factor on the bike is incredible, so about 3 layers had to be urgently ripped off as soon as becoming stationary!!
The rest of the trip was very scenic, and, need I mention, very freezing cold. Breathing techniques in place, I was able to enjoy the mountain passes, and the Karoo type towns en route. Loved seeing a flock of sheep mowing the local school’s rugby field in Cradock, and the most fascinating round, low anthills in the fields alongside the road, looking surprisingly like flocks of sheep. No resemblance whatsoever to our peaky towering versions up north!
After Cradock we climbed even higher, and reached the Noupoort mountain pass, and Carlton Heights, now 1822m above sea level. Around here and after the pass, we started to encounter some serious cross wind. In some places our maximum speed was only about 60km per hour due to the wind pushing us sideways and it felt as if we were in a leaning turn all the way, even on a perfectly straight road! I have to admit that I was extremely scared initially, until after a few very patient lectures through the bluetooth speaker, with the captain in reassuring flight deck mode, I obediently decided to trust in the forces of physics and the specific and intelligent engineering design of a motorcycle, even though it all just felt completely wrong! Letting go of the fear and trusting the whole bike situation is something I’m getting better at, and the more experiences outside the comfort zone, the better for facing and banishing silly fears!
Riding along behind a truck, as we pulled out to overtake, we found ourselves in its slipstream, and protected against the strong crosswind – therefore to our surprise the bike suddenly became a normal and upright bike once again as we travelled alongside it! Eventually it started to feel like an eternity and that we were doomed to ride alongside this truck forever, as we could not actually complete the overtake due to the turbulence that bounced off the front end of the truck, as well as the cross wind itself. A double dose of the wind forces!
Fortunately the driver of the truck eventually realized he had a bike permanently glued to his side, and slowed down sufficiently so we could put our wheel ahead of his nose and safely finally overtake him!
We crossed the Orange River, and decided to go a bit further, aiming for the little town of Trompsburg. As we arrived, we did a quick drive through and checked out all the possibilities in a few small intersecting streets. Wine shop – open, definitely important! Funky little food place, called The Purple Windmill… and then, popping out quickly at the other end of the town, we found our perfect accommodation, being the Fox’s Den B & B.
We checked into our warm and cosy space, with much needed electric blanket, and went off shopping in the afore discovered locations for all the makings of our 5 star dinner, consumed on the couch with doors sealed and hiding under many blankets!! The owner of the place was feeling so sorry for their sheep who had been unfortunately sheared just before this particular cold snap, and the rest of her family who had gone on a father/son camping trip that night and were contacting her bemoaning the arctic conditions out there!! We were just super grateful for that electric blanket….
6th August – Trompsburg to Pretoria
As we got up this morning it was a literally freezing, Free State (5 degrees below zero) start to the day on the bike! Compulsory frostbite thawing coffee session was had in Bloemfontein, and after that the journey slowly became a tamer and more familiar experience.. the temperatures became slightly less extreme, and suddenly we realized that road signs had become more functional, and stopped informing us about whales, warthogs, windy corners and mountain passes. We knew we had arrived back in Gauteng as we entered Johannesburg and were politely requested by road sign to watch out for airborne objects, presumably flying over the walls concealing the informal settlements?!
8th August – Pretoria to Kwanokeng, Botswana border
After a couple more bonus days spent with family in Pretoria, and offloading all the excess winter gear from the bike to collect sometime in future, as well as a spare fuel pump purchased, (just in case!) we finally hit the familiar trail back to Kasane..
As we reached Vaalwater, one of our best breakfast stops, I appreciated one of my favourite road signs on the route north. Definitely heading home to The Bush from here!
On the way to Lephalale(Ellisras) we were barreling along happily, about 2km away from the town, when to our horror, “Formula E mode” struck the bike again. We made a quick decision to glide into the driveway of a very conveniently located Lodge that appeared at just the right moment! The hotel owners must have been excited to see potential biker clients turning (silently) in.. Before arriving at their reception area, however, we sadly ran out of momentum, and got off the bike.
Tiennie decided to simulate John’s farm mechanic repair methods without dismantling anything, and delivered a resounding blow to the fuel tank in the vicinity of the fuel pump … he took a chance, turned the key and the bike roared into life!! Off we drove, really hoping the lodge people had not actually noticed us!
We crossed happily into Botswana and just a few metres from the border post, checked into our luxury safari tent at Kwanokeng Lodge, and spent the rest of the afternoon and evening on the deck overlooking the Limpopo river. Back to our familiar tropical African conditions, after the freezing wintry coast!
8th August – Kwanokeng to Eselbe Camp, Nata
Another uneventful trip, all the way through Botswana up to Nata, stopping at our friend Rupert’s newly established and quirky Eselbe Campsite on the Nata River.
After Nata, it was just a quick 300km trip home, greeting our first elephants en route, and final completion of the round trip started in April!
As usual, this bike journey was filled with new situations and experiences, and challenged our resourcefulness and minimalism skills! The adventure on these trips is all about the journey itself, and is a constant learning experience.
It has become quite an addictive way of travel, so there will certainly be more! if you have stuck around this far… do watch this space for the next episode one day in the future!!
Watch this space, more bike adventures to follow!
