Alexander Bay / Cape Augulhas

Now let's see - where shall we begin? Maybe on that early Saturday morning when we arrived at the BP garage ready to ride with the weather predicting all types of warnings for the trip!

Bloemhof
Lunch at Bloemhof




Kuruman
Our first overnight stay



Upington
Coffee at Upington


On the road again...
Chris


Martin


Johan


Albert


Some camels ...


What happens on the trip stays on the trip




Augrabies Waterfalls
We had lunch here and a quick walk to the waterfall


Springbok
Ariving in Springbok expecting snow, wind and rain


Some coffee - again



GOAL 1: ALEXANDER BAY
Albert Ponelis


Martin Jacobs


Johan Maartens


Chris Meyer


Bitterfontein
We were pleasantly surprised at the generosity of the couple in Bitterfontein, they went out of their way to make things pleasant and comfortable for us - at R100 for the bed, R40 for a huge breakfast and R60 for an even bigger dinner!


And here is the team that spoilt us in Bitterfontein:


Citrusdal
In the background you can see very pretty snow


Stellenbosch
A quick stop at Stellenbosch BMW for a front tyre, fluid for a light switch and some rain gear at Somerset Wes. BMW has a kitchen where you can buy hot meals and drink - and our grand daughter (Kaylin) really enjoyed the 650!


GOAL 2: CAPE AUGULHAS
We arrived at Cape Augulhas just before dark and with the help of a friend found the furthest point. Unfortunetaly our bikes could not join us.


We took our picture


And just to make sure, we took pictures of the lighthouse in the back


Swellendam - The Blue Mountain Inn
After a slip and slide we were at our night's accommodation:

This is the sight that greeted us when we went for breakfast:


Our room


The breakfast


Uniondale
We saw the first signs of trouble at Uniondale:

and


Lootsbergpas
This pass is between Graaf Reinet and Middelburg. We passed a sign in our lane stating that the road was closed, but because the other side was open, we thought it was just that piece of road that was closed. As we got closer to the pass, the snow on the road began making its appearance, first a little bit and then more and more. Eventually we got to the top of the pass slipping and sliding over the black ice and snow.
When I asked thye policeman whether the road was closed, he said that if we made it to here, the rest would be easy. (We found out the next morning this pass has been closed for the last three days!)


Gariep
We arrived rather late after the snow and excitement! A nice relaxing afternoon watching Bafana Bafana but fell asleep before the match was halfway through. That night the power ran out and at 6am I phoned our guest to ask for a refill. He promptly supplied the meter with the necessary credits and we left the next morning after a great breakfast.

JohanGT wrote:Now let's see - where shall we begin? Maybe on that early Saturday morning when we arrived at the BP garage ready to ride with the weather predicting all types of warnings for the trip!

Am I the only one that only sees the above as the ride report ??? If so the suspense is killing me to hear more !!

Ok Wahl, if you insist...

We started with breakfast in Parys...

Then Lunch at the Choc and Chilli in Bloemhof.


We saw some camels in Upington.


The road to Pofadder.

Sokker in Pofadder.

Lunch in Port Nolloth

And the reason we went all the way....

Dry fruit in Kakemas.

Pancakes in Sannieshof.

It was a great trip thanks to Johan and Ina. Great ride, friends and chilling weather. I only went to Alexander Bay and then took it solo back home.

Looks like all you did was eat??

You know me so well...

Thanks Chris - great memories except for Bloemhof .... cant remeber that place Dave did not stop there

Wahl wrote:Thanks Chris - great memories except for Bloemhof .... cant remeber that place Dave did not stop there

Next time we will make a eating trip, just for you and me!

Wahl wrote:

JohanGT wrote:Now let's see - where shall we begin? Maybe on that early Saturday morning when we arrived at the BP garage ready to ride with the weather predicting all types of warnings for the trip!

Am I the only one that only sees the above as the ride report ??? If so the suspense is killing me to hear more !!

Sorry it is taking so long, we had a wonderful trip and great friends!

Chris wrote:

Wahl wrote:Thanks Chris - great memories except for Bloemhof .... cant remeber that place Dave did not stop there

Next time we will make a eating trip, just for you and me!

Now this sounds much better than doing the Dakar

Great stuff! Looks like you had 4 seasons in one trip!

Chris wrote:

Wahl wrote:Thanks Chris - great memories except for Bloemhof .... cant remeber that place Dave did not stop there

Next time we will make a eating and coffee trip, just for you and me!

Fixed!!

Dot, you want to join me and Wahl? (For the eating and coffee)

OPSOMMING van die Rit:
Alexander Baai / Kaap Agulhas: 12- 17 Junie 2010
Albert Ponelis 18.6.10

1.0 Afstande

Dag	Datum	Begin	Einde	Afstand	Kumulatief
1	12 Junie	Pretoria (tuis)	Kuruman	705	705
2	13 Junie	Kuruman	Springbok	723	1428
3	14 Junie	Springbok	Bitterfontein (via Alex)	657	2085
4	15 Junie	Bitterfontein	Swellendam (via Augulhas)	711	2796
5	16 Junie	Swellendam	Gariep	836	3632
6	17 Junie	Gariep	Pretoria (huis)	672	4303

Nota 1 = Pretoria (tuis) is omtrent 20km noord van die BP Centurion Hawe

2.0 R1100R brandstofverbruik, ens
Totale brandstof gebruik = 253 liter
Totale brandstofkoste = R2142
Gemiddelde brandstofverbruik = 17.0 km/liter
Brandstofkoste/km = R0.50/km

3.0 Benaderde ritkoste (loop)
Verblyf (B+B) = R1187
Brandstof = R2142
Wimpy’s = (+-) R400
TOTAAL = (+-) R3700

Welcome back you guys!!! And well done!



My butt hurts just reading those numbers

Thanks for the photos & report back
Looks like you had a great trip
Welcome back

Wahl wrote:Thanks Chris - great memories except for Bloemhof .... cant remeber that place Dave did not stop there

Bloemhof was the longest of our stops - not that you can't remember - you were just a bit 'board' for the time you were in Bloemhof!!