Chrissiesmeer Overnighter Recce

Today we did a trip to Chrissiesmeer on a recce to see which routes we can take, where we can stay etc.

We are working on a great trip to Chrissiesmeer, breakfast at Witbank and then a round trip to Badplaas on Saturday with a great lunch on Sunday at Blacksteer in Witbank.

Here are the roads we traveled:


Code
5 = Red = Dangerous
4 = Yellow = Unpleasant
3 = Blue = OK
2 = Green = Great
1 = Cyan = I have to do this again!

There are rumours that the traffic department is going to replace speeding fines with Advanced Driver certificates for people caught speeding on South African roads.

Example of a Category 4 road (Unpleasant - Yellow)


Example of a Category 5 road (Dangerous - Red)


and a little closer look reveals:


O by the way, the GS people can travel any of the yellow roads and they will feel completely at ease. These roads are neglected especially for people with 4x4's and GS's who like to tavel on gravel roads but would also like to see a little bit of tar now and again.

We arrived in Witbank at the Highfeld Mall and had some breakfast. As we were about to leave, a very friendly young man asked us to pass by the Black Steer again as they were preparing some ribs for testing. As we were chatting, Marietjie joined us. When she heard that we were scouting for places to eat, she invited us for coffee and some ribs . She and her husband were non-active bikers and she was doing everything she could to make our visit with the club as effortless as possible - including trying to arrange with the management of the mall for some parking space for our bikes ! We exchanged business cards and we left. This could definately be a breakfast stop on the way there.



Places to stay are:
BUFF's COUNTRY LODGE (Carolina)
They are willing to do all the coordination for us - we just call them and they will arrange a place to stay at Carolina and arrange dinner for us on Saturday evening. They can also arrange a breakfast on Sunday morning just before we return home.





Single - Bed = R220
- B&B = R260
Double - Bed = R400
- B&B = R440
Telephone: 017-843-1199

LAKE CHRISSIE LODGE (Chrissiesmeer) - REMOVED DUE TO A WEDDING THERE
Here we could not speak to the owner as the food was burning, the people at the bar were demanding and the real person we needed to speak to was not available.


Single - Bed = R180
- B&B = R???
Double - Bed = R???
- B&B = R???
Telephone: 017-847-0025

We will update this information as soon as we are able to contact the owners.

Yikes! Probably better to leave a road untarred than to let it deteriorate to such a condition.

Just for info - you cannot do 120 on those roads on a GS either But we have found that you can drive a lot easier on the shoulder of the road when it looks like that.

Johan nice report on your recce. It really looks like quite a ride.

If I may comment on your road classifications, it is a very good idea to give the members an idea what they are in for on a long trip.

We have been using the following system in the club for the past years:
1= good, easy riding
5= Very diffcult hard conditions

This is the opposite of your system.

Maybe reconsider your classification system as a few members might expect a 1 road (which is deemed easy) only too find the opposite.

This is a suggestion from my side and I would like to hear comments from other members.

The colours on the roadmap is also a nice touch.

The GS guys did the red part outside Middelburg en route to the YEF and I can promise you that we would rather ride a sandy track, than those errr.. potholes (I think they should be renamed, as they are way out of the league of potholes)

+1 on standardizing the rating system 1 = great tar road, 5 = lots of rocks / sand / mud and very steep uphill/downhill.

Mud Pooh-bah wrote:Johan nice report on your recce. It really looks like quite a ride.

We have been using the following system in the club for the past years:
1= good, easy riding
5= Very diffcult hard conditions

A good idea to standardize . I have changed the rating.

I tried to use exactly the same wording as the GS but unfortunately the requirements for the S and GS differs a little bit. However I understand that the 1 and 5 should at least have the same idea.

Thanks for your input!

I have been threatening for quite a number of years to go to Chrissies Meer - but just never get around to doing so - this might be a good idee - although the roads seen look horendous - suppose government has to cater for the Sandton 4x4 crowd as well.

Fortunately there are other roads to Chrissiesmeer as well. We will update the road map as we recce.