Leisurely Trip Around Lesotho

The trip planned for Sept 2008 and postponed due to our son managing to impregnate our daughter-in-law and granny-to-be needing to visit and talk babies (baby Ryan was born yesterday 20 Apr), eventually came to fruition on 9 March this year. Pity one cannot plan the weather since a large part of the trip was unfortunately spoilt by it. It was a beautiful windless morning with an unusual sunrise. Sunrise Our partners in crime on the second bike are from Sedgefield and since they had not experienced Tradouw or the Country Pumpkin, we met up at Buffeljags BP filling station Buddies Arive After a cuppa came the ever awesome Tradouw Pass and no picture can really reflect its natural beauty Tradouw1 Tradouw2 The “mik en druk” played up so many photos taken with it did not “photogise” (that’s me own word). A lot of time was spent enjoying the pass and lunch at the CP resulting in us running a bit late and knowing that the pillions would want to spend a lot of time “shopping” in De Rust we had only a few bum-breaks. Fortunately the bikes do not have any spare capacity and the girls regretted packing more than they needed. Because of all that I missed out on a Port tasting in Calitzdorp. Dammit, wait for next time. Route 62 really has some super sections for biking. The Huisrivier Pass remains tops although we were held up by a number of heavy vehicles with cars in tow and all wanting to overtake. Huisrivier Pass Calitzdorp Oudtshoorn came and went and so did De Rust. Fortunately the only shopping done in De Rust was, you guessed it, beer, red wine, biltong and I think some food for supper. Not sure about that part. Next came the “flattest” pass in SA – the ever impressive Meiringspoort. It never seizes to amaze with something unnoticed on previous visits. The position of the sun and shadows cause an ever changing kaleidoscope of colours and shapes Meiringspoort1 Meiringspoort2 We spent the first night in the metropolis of Klaarstroom where the first wool washery in South Africa was opened in 1874 by a Canadian, PJ Allport. The B&B was comfortable, but not what we expected at the price, however, after a very hot and sweaty ride it was nice to have a dip in the pool with an ice cold brew. Next morning after a very good breakfast we hit the lonely stretch of tar to Beaufort West. It was again a snorter of a day with the temp hitting 30 at 10:00. Spent a bit of time cooling off at the new mall and then headed for Aberdeen. I could not make out why our partners in crime, who were leading at the time, were travelling at such a modest speed. We eventually overtook them and sped off to Aberdeen. Only afterwards did I learn that he thought the solar powered warning beacons along the road were speed cameras!! Aberdeen district is renowned for its wool and mohair, being the largest mohair producing area in South Africa. The town was declared an architectural conservation town and a veritable repository of styles including Victorian, Georgian, Karoo, German, Gothic Revival, Russian, Art Nouveau and Flemish Revival. Excellent examples of the ostrich baron dwellings can be seen. Strolling through this historic town one is able to discover its rich heritage. Here the “mik en druk” foiled us. Next stop was Graaff-Reinet that boasts an even more impressive past of which its four changes of supreme government (including the proclamation of the so-called "Republic of Graaff-Reinet") stands out. At times it has been the focal point of insurgence, political tension and border wars along its eastern frontier. (History lesson no 2) Graaff Reinet Next we bypassed Middelburg and Steynsburg for the second night stop in Aliwal North. Pat badly wanted to spend time exploring some of her childhood haunts since her family spent many vacations at the mineral springs. The town has unfortunately gone real third world as we experienced in many of the towns and cities we travelled through. The result was that we saddled up early and left before breakfast since the B&B was again not up to expectations. Internet bookings are easy, but photos can be deceiving and often taken many years earlier. The plan was to head for Clarens via Zastron, Wepener, Hobhouse and Ladybrand, but I realised that my back tyre was not going to make it to Bethlehem where I originally booked a service for the bike the following day. However, we did a few runs at home to push up the mileage and had the bike serviced before we left. We thus headed for breakfast and a tyre in Bloemfontein. Although I still visit Bloemfontein regularly to see my boet, I could not remember where the Motorrad dealership was and headed straight for Honda Wing. The service received was absolutely first class although we were on 2 BMW’s and I can recommend them if you need a non-BMW item. It looked like rain so our buddies bought some good quality 2-piece rain suits including over-boots from them at R380 which I thought was a bargain. A storm was brewing and we hit the road to Clarens where we were to spend the next two days. A few drops pelted us every now and we pushed on and only stopped at the Constantia Kersie Padstal for tea and Ficksburg for fuel. We lived in Ficksburg during the seventies/eighties and wanted to do a tour of the town, but with the rain about we headed for Fouriesburg and Clarens. The road from Ladybrand to Fouriesburg has many potholes but it still remains a very scenic ride. Kersie Padstal Sandstone Clarens is a magic little town and if you have the opportunity spend a day or two there you will not regret it unless you go by car and allow the wife to fill the boot. For the first time the B&B was everything as advertised on the net. The rooms were super, the breakfasts top class and even the laundry service was spot on. History lesson no 3 for the uninformed (I’m one): The year 1912 is significant in the history of Clarens when the town was proclaimed and the “unsinkable” Titanic launched. Tragically, the Titanic did sink and as the news flashed around the stunned world, people in Clarens could talk of nothing else. An unknown resident looked toward the “nek”, saw the prominent jutting rock and said, “It looks like the Titanic”, and that’s what the rock formation has been called ever since. The Titanic stands like a sentry to welcome all who visit the village and invites them to come and experience the warm-hearted hospitality of the inhabitants. The girls really enjoyed the break and visited every shop and stall. Us men took it easy and sorted a few ales out at our leisure. GS or what B&B View from B&B Room Happiness Is Day 5 was the start of the meander. We had planned to take our time doing Golden Gate, and Natal Midlands since we had not booked any accommodation from here on and there was no fixed agenda. Golden gate as usual was majestic and once we delivered the parcel from our neighbours to their daughter who is the Manager of the park we set off to enjoy the beauty. The road in the park is still reasonable but potholes are increasingly spoiling this lovely drive. The roads in our country are getting to a state where one can no longer accept that all is well around the next corner. For all the good that Trevor Manual did, our deteriorating roads will remain his legacy. Lichen’s Pass was still fine, but once out of the park the roads were really bad. Oliviershoek Pass at the Sterkfontein Dam was a nightmare with cars and trucks in both directions dodging the potholes. Golden Gate Our next stop was for a tea at the Cavern Berg Resort. A lovely place if you want to get away from it all for a week or so. Mountains are always nice and probably one of the main reasons why we love the Cape so much. The weather was not on our side and we hardly saw the son after leaving the Cavern. Heading for Giant’s Castle we could no longer see the mountains but I managed one photo where part of it is visible. We spent the night at a B&B just short of Monk’s Cowl and had dinner at the Champagne Sport Resort. The owner of the B&B lent us her car to go to dinner since rain was imminent. I must say that we had some marvellous B&B hosts that really went out of their way to make our stay a pleasant experience. Later that night the heavens opened up and it was quite a job getting the RT’s back to the tar road the next morning. The road tyres have absolutely no grip in the wet – first a stretch of lawn and then mud. We made it without mishap but it reminded me of the song with the words “slip sliding away” and the first time that I wished the RT was a GS. Surprisingly the minor tar roads in this area are still in a reasonable condition, but for how long is anybody’s guess since they are starting to break up too. Hidden in the Clouds We headed for Monk’s Cowl since we were told how beautiful it was, but we were foiled by the clouds again and returned “empty handed” so to speak and did not even try to get to the end of the road. Near Monk's Cowl Next on the map were Mooirivier, Rosetta and Nottingham Road and specifically Nottingham Road for a visit to the brewery by us men. Fortunately the entrance to the brewery was tarred and we could get to it. The beer was not the best, but at the time tasted fine. I like the small sample glasses that allows one to taste a few brews and still have only one beer in total since I very seldom have a drink when on the bike. The girls really lost out since all the access roads to the different home industries, potteries etc were dirt and we were not going to challenge the mud unless we had no choice. This time I was glad the RT was not a GS! The end result was a light lunch with some having massive slices of cake to fight off depression and withdrawal symptoms for not being able to bend some plastic!! I must confess that I was appalled by the state of affairs in most of the towns. They were disgusting with rubbish all over, robots not working and just an overall third world look of dilapidation. It reminded me so much of the years I spent working in some of the countries to the North. We are really Africanising fast. To get back to the trip – with the rain, inability to see all the interesting things and places, we headed for Howick to find a bed for the night. Before the trip I drew up lists of B&B’s for all the towns we were planning to visit which worked well since once we decided where to overnight it took one or two phone calls and voila we had a place to stay. The experiences of the first two nights were never repeated since we could say “no thank you” if we did not like the look of the place on arrival. We had dinner at a restaurant that belongs to the brewery in Nottingham Road and could watch some Super 14 matches in the pub. Needless to say the locals were rather peeved off by the Shark’s loss that weekend. We could have spent another day in Howick, but for some unknown reason we hit the road after a visit to the falls the next morning - probably the depressing effect of the overall condition of the towns. The river below the falls was covered in plastic bags and other “gemors” that I did not want to take a picture of! Howick1 Reason for the mess? We had coffee in Bulwer which reminded me of Jane’s nightmare in the fog and dark on her trip last year. I definitely don’t want to experience that. From here we headed for Underberg that must be heaven for fly-fishermen. The Underberg Trout Fishing Club has holding rights to more than 160km of rivers, as well as 60 dams covering 400Ha. So if this is your game, remember the tackle box and rod if you go that way. We had lunch at the Wimpy in Kokstad and were just so glad to get out of the place. It appears to be thriving but I would not like to live there. The Kokstad of old is gone which I guess we have no option but to accept. Next night stop was Matatiele at a B&B where the hostess could not do enough for us. We were treated to fresh juice / tea /coffee and homemade biscuits on arrival and insisted on doing our laundry for free when the girls asked if they could rinse a few things. The next morning she served the biggest and best breakfast that we had the whole trip. Lighthouse B&B Next we passed through Mt Fletcher, Maclear, Elliot and Dordrecht for a nightstop in Queenstown which was again a big disappointment in respect of the conditions in the town. The B&B was very good and the service matched. The next morning we headed for Fort Beaufort and Grahamstown where we planned to spend two nights. We had been looking forward to the Nico Malan and Ecca passes and today was the day. However, the closer we got to Nico Malan, the worse the gusting wind got with the result that we had to stick to a moderate speed since there was either a blast of air or no wind when going past a cutting or around a corner. It was not our day since the same was true for the Ecca pass. Nico Malan The B&B in Grahamstown was again tops with the owner parking his car in the yard so we could park the bikes in the garage. He offered and took the 4 of us on a very informative 2 hour tour of the town. Being my first visit to Grahamstown I was impressed by the place. It was much cleaner than any of the other towns that we visited with not having any real industries a contributing factor. For those who don’t know Grahamstown it is a major educational centre with the University and a number of the best schools in the country. If you can afford about R100K per annum it is the place to send your kids for schooling. The preservation of historic buildings makes Grahamstown rich in architectural diversity of which the Cathedral, schools, churches and town hall stand out. A must see is the Observatory Museum where the whole of Grahamstown can be viewed through the clever use of a sphere and mirrors Cathedral1 Cathedral2 Observatory Shops Town Hall From Grahamstown we headed past Port Elizabeth to Stormsriver Mouth where we had brunch. This place is absolutely fantastic and next time we will stay over and explore the river gorge. Storms1 Storms2 We arrived at Sedgefield in time to sink a few cold ones settled for some cold meats and salad for dinner since none of us felt like another meal in a restaurant and the girls were not in the mood to make dinner. We stayed for 3 days and then headed home Nearly Home Kleinriviervlei Hermanus I will have to start planning the next one - maybe the four outposts of SA.