Advertisement
Published: April 26th 2015
Mark Twain once said ““Eat a live frog first thing in the morning and nothing worse will happen to you the rest of the day.”
With most quotes by famous people there is a lot more to understand than just the words. As is the case with this blog-story, procrastination is that uneaten frog which I have been stepping over for too long now and I have to do something before the frog becomes inedible.
Our December holidays or festive season celebrations were to be held early for some of the normal reasons which families face. Do we spend the time with your or my side of the family? This gave the opportunity to have a Christmas twice, which I think is a great idea and will be seriously be considered in the future.
Shortly before Christmas I saddled up and headed for Kakamas with my target set on Verneuk Pan. A Long outstanding “bucket list” type of thing for me has been to camp in the middle of the pan. It is supposedly the most quite place in the world and the stars are very special on a dark moon night.
Because I got away late I
New bike "mods"
Extra "sissy" screen fitted. Works well with wind from the front. Side wind problem will only be overcome when life is digital.
Fairing now also covered with duct tape to hold it together.had to push and stuck to tar for most of the day. The wind was very strong through the Karoo and the bikes normal 400 Km’s on a tank went down to 260 km’s when I filled up in Britstown. The next town was Vosburg and after that Vanwyksvlei. It was a Saturday afternoon and in order to get to Verneuk Pan I would have to fill up ideally in Vanwyksvlei.
Neither of these towns have fuel stations nowadays. You have to fill up at the co-op and they are closed on Saturday afternoons. In Vanwyksvlei the filling station is still there, but you can now fill-up with beer or Paarl Perle’.
The choice I had to make was to either knock on each door in the Vanwyksvlei until I found someone who would sell me petrol or skip my Verneuk Pan idea and drive slowly to Kenhard. The police were already aware of my presence and predicament and were watching my every move. The locals looked like they knew how I could get petrol, but they were very vague about the details. I decided to push on slowly and decide on the next steps as I go.
Cradock car gaurd
"Meneer, meneer se bike is dan stukkend and meneer wiet dit nie iens nie" he said to me after noticing the badly dented fuel tank. The final decision was to camp next to the road, not far from Verneuk Pan.
As the sun disappeared on the horizon I stopped to take pictures and found a spot behind a big bush, set up my tent, took out supper and had a fantastic evening while watching the earth go to rest, listening to the sounds changing and watching an unmatched display of splendid creation as the stars started to unfold above me. These are the things which give perspective in our rushed materialistic lives. This is when you feel very small, almost insignificant, but very important. Important enough that you are being entertained by God’s creation, just for you, just there, just then. Blissss……zzzzz
Being alone in this part of our beautiful country brings feelings which I cannot describe in words, but what I can say is that they are “good” feelings.
When last did you think about how much water you use? This all changes when you are in a hot, arid dry place with two litres of water and you think if you should wash your faceJ
After a good night’s sleep, coffee and instant oats (both requires water) I
Karoo
The difference between shade and sun is so humongous that my cheap vodaphone camera cannot come to grips with it. broke up camp, packed the bike and headed off to Kenhard. 20 Km’s before Kenhard I had to switch to reserve.
The last part between Kenhard and Kakamas was fun to ride and I had enough time to stop and take pictures. This is luxury which bikers very seldom have. We normally are on some adventure which mostly means that we are on a road not travelled before, going to a place not been before, requiring many stops to take pictures never taken before. I would love to hear what quote Mark Twain would have made up for this.
The second part of the trip was the return from Kakamas to East London via Loeriesfontein, through the Boesmanland, passing the Hantam Berge on the way to Wuppertahl. I did not mention these names in any specific order, but if you are Afrikaans, they will ring like music in your ears. There is either a poem or a song which originated from the beautiful sounds of the words. This side of the country is different again. Different in nature, names, culture, and much more. The diversity we have is unbelievable.
Some time ago I spoke to Australian bikers
At Last some gravel
Just after Vosburg, on the way to Vanwyksvlei and they assured me that we are very spoiled as adventure bikers. If there is one thing which I would miss about our country it would be the fantastic biking opportunities we have. Please do not start taxing this now as well Mr. PresidentJ
What can I say about the road from Kakamas to Wupperthal?
The first 100 km’s or so, my brother in-law accompanied me with his XR 650 to visit an old farmer friend of his. Typical of the Boesmanland people, we were welcomed with spontaneous friendliness, cool drink and good conversation. I had to tear myself away from there.
Once on my own, I realised how my perception of the countryside changed. It looked harsher than when Hennus was riding with me. Riding alone is very different than riding with others. If you do not feel comfortable riding on your own, don’t do it. If you like riding on your own, don’t do a stupid thing. Do it fully understanding the consequences. Finally, the “feeling” or experience of riding solo gives a different perspective which some enjoy and others hate. Do what you enjoy.
I had one fuel stop for the day in
Vanwyksvlei police station
Looking for help from the police to get petrol. What was I thinking? Going dilly with age? I probably forgot for a moment that I was not in Germany. Loeriesfontein. From previous travels on the western side of the Cedar Mountains I assumed that it would not be that much different on the eastern side. After driving past the first camping place with the idea of finding a place closer to Wuppertal it soon became clear that this was not the “developed side” as I knew it on the Clainwilliam side of the mountain. Stopping to ask some locals if there were any more camping sites further on I got a fairly certain “no”, but “Jy kan sommer enige plek jou tent opslaat. Niemand gaat vir jou pla nie”. After driving through the Boesmanland on a December day and in serious need of a shower I turned back to the first and only campsite on the east side of the Cedar Mountains.
Camping was good with clean ablutions and a self-service honesty fridge with cool drinks, wine and beer.
The owner of the campsite told me of a road to the Tankwa Karoo National park, but for the second time on this trip I did not have enough fuel to go where I would have liked to. Grrrrrnothappy
East Cedar Mountains is one of those many
Verneuk Pan Area
Once you are faced by the nature of this country instead of its bureaucrats it all makes sense again. FLAT IS FLAT AND NICE IS NICE. So simple. places where you promise to come back to but probably never will. I think there are many attractions in this part of the world which I have not yet explored, and it would not take a lot of planning to do a trip in this region.
The next day I took off to George via as many gravel roads as possible in the time I had to get to George and find accommodation. The idea was to fill up in Wuppertal. Hahaha, they do not have petrol. Vasbyt and slow riding was the only resolution.
After Wuppertal the first petrol was at Prince Alfred Hamlet. The road climbed steep from Wuppertal with beautiful views and flattening out in a “fynbos” Plato with different rock formations and scenes as unique as the Sosusvlei dunes in Namibia. The Cedar Mountains are special and beautiful and worth many more visits.
When I stopped at the four-way stop across from the fuel station in Prince Alfred Hamlet, the bike “died”. Shoe, that was close.
After filling up and grabbing some snack and a cool drink, I headed for George. The countryside was beautiful, but strangely enough, writing the story 4
Five Star Camping grounds
No noise
Clean air
Clear starry skies
months later I realise that it did not make as deep an impression on my memory as the Boesmanland and Cedar Mountains.
At George I paid more for camping than ever before. I should rather have taken more gravel adventures on the way to East London than sneaking in at the Garden Route during peak season. Poor planning.
Opening myself up for criticism, the following from my experience.
Planning is important and has two parts to it, but can kill an adventure.
Part 1: Planning effort should go into establishing risks and the countermeasures to overcome these. Once you realise that your panniers / luggage system will not be able to carry everything you require for your risk countermeasures you know you should not be an adventure biker. What you could also consider is to get rid of the fire extinguisher, snake bite antivenom, 2pairs of shoes etc.
Part2: Planning the route and where to stay. What the heck……Do something to determine a direction and maybe your destination if you have to meet someone there. The main aim is to stay open for changes as you go along. This flexibility is often required if a
Camping not at, but close to Verneuk Pan.
Next time it will be in the middle of the pan! road you planned to ride is not accessible or if you notice an unknown road along the way which looks interesting. With route planning, once again focus on the risks and options out. Always think fuel range, especially when taking a detour from your original plan.
Back to the trip. The rest was not exciting at all with a bit of fun driving from Knysna to the R62 through the Knysna forest on the R339.
The closer you get to home, the less adventurous it becomes. Does this mean that adventure requires the unknown?
We go through life discovering all the time. The only time we reach full knowledge is between 13 and 21 years of age, only to realise that we knew nothing at the time. Damn!
Advertisement
Tot: 0.111s; Tpl: 0.014s; cc: 9; qc: 45; dbt: 0.0442s; 1; m:domysql w:travelblog (10.17.0.13); sld: 1;
; mem: 1.2mb
