 |
facts |
photo album |
travel log
We leave Washington Dulles (USA) Thursday late in the afternoon for our first leg of this trip to Johannesburg - a 15 hour flight.
Due to the time difference, we arrive in Johannesburg late Friday afternoon and due to heavy thunderstorms
and flight delays, we arrive in Cape Town around midnight. We lost on piece of luggage in Johannesburg, and
by the time we arrive in Cape Town we have no luggage/bikes at all. We have to wait until the next flight
comes in to get our luggage - and it is about 3am Saturday morning when we arrive at the Blackheath
Lodge in Cape Town.
That was a long journey!
Guesthouse: Blackheath Lodge
We spend a day in Cape Town. We visit the waterfront and take the cable car up to the top of Table Mountain.
In the morning we are picked up by a shuttle bus, which brings us to Stellenbosch. From the 5 Seasons B&B
we booked already from home, we start a day ride through the Stellenbosch wine area. We leave town and climb over
the Helshoogte pass (R310), continue to the T-crossing, take a left on R45, and a left again at Simondium
towards Klapmuts. From here we follow the R44 back into Stellenbosch. Most roads were fairly busy, but it
was also a sunny Sunday afternoon, which might have brought a lot of people out. Half the time the roads
had good shoulders, the other half not at all.
Distance: 53km
Guesthouse: 5 Seasons
We take the R44 towards Somerset West. The road is busy, but has a good shoulder. When you reach Somerset West,
the R44 becomes a "car-traffic" only road, but you can leave the highway, and follow the signs through
town to Strand. The road follows the coastline, but stays busy until Gordon's Bay. We have lunch at a restaurant
on the beach, and from here the ride becomes simply fabulous. We have blue skies, no wind, a perfectly surfaced
road and fairly light traffic. The ocean views are magnificent all the way to Rooiels. From here, the R44 swings
inland and we finish our day in Betty's Bay.
Distance: 67km
Guesthouse: Bucaco Sud
Clouds are hanging dangerously low, but we keep it dry with a little sun now and then.
We continue to follow the R44, which is very quiet and has a wide shoulder. We turn right on R43 towards
Hermanus. The road into Hermanus is busy, but with a good shoulder.
Distance: 50km
Guesthouse: Pelagus House
The owner of the Bucaco Sud guesthouse convinced us that it was much more worthwhile to cycle the Klein Karoo
(from Swellendam to Oudtshoorn) then from Hermanus to Swellendam. Since we only have two weeks, we follow his
advice and rent a shuttle service who drops us off in Barrydale. It rains heavy all day, and we are not aware that a big bad storm is
heading towards us and the rain is going to last for 2 more days. Most of the Cape is caught by this storm,
people are evacuated from their homes, bridges wash away, roads flood etc. It has been 60 years since
they had a bad storm like this - and we are caught in the middle of it. Oh well, what can you do other than wait it out.
Our plan is to be dropped off in Swellendam, and then ride over the Tradouws Pass to Barrydale. But the rain
continues, and our shuttle brings us all the way to Barrydale. But the ride over the Tradouws Pass is beautiful
and in dry conditions would have been worth the effort to climb up the pass. We hope to be able to ride tomorrow - but realize that this might not come true.
Guesthouse: Barrydale Hotel
All night, heavy rains fall and strong winds blow. The weather is still horrible when we get up in the morning.
Riding is not an option, however, staying neither. The hotel is booked for the night. We need to leave.
We call with the tourist office in Oudtshoorn and they find someone who is willing to pick us up in Barrydale
(190km one-way!) through this terrible weather. We wait for a couple of hours, not knowing if someone is
really on his way. But early afternoon, a driver shows up and we load the bikes and luggage in his van.
It "just" fits. There is little to see along the way as the rain continues to fall.
Gueshouse: Oakdene
It still rains and the river that crosses through town has flooded all the bridges, except for the main bridge in
downtown. When it seems to dry up in the early afternoon, we take our bikes and ride towards the Swartberg Pass (R328).
We try to make a visit to an ostrich farm, but due to the bad weather the place is closed. We ride a little further,
but it starts to rain again. One the way back, we try to visit a wildlife farm, but this one is also closed.
But the weather forecast predicts a dry day for tomorrow.
Finally back on the bike. We follow the R62/N12 out of town. The road is fairly busy and has no shoulder.
When we reach the N9, we understand why traffic seems so buys. The N9 towards Uniondale is closed, so all
traffic needs to detour through Oudtshoorn. We take a right towards George and traffic becomes more quiet.
It is a scenic ride up the Outeniqua Pass (not too strenuous) and from the top we look all the way down to George
and the ocean. We have lunch in George. We like to take the backroad over the "7 Passes Road" to Wilderness,
but we cannot find where it is. We keep following the N2, which climbs over a crest and we end up with
fabulous views of the ocean. It is not far to Wilderness, that is located along the N2.
Distance: 80km
Guesthouse: Haus Wilderness
Finally a warm and sunny day again. Although there are "back road" options to skip the N2, we are hesitant to
try them after so much rain. We continue to follow the N2, which is a wide road with a good shoulder. Traffic is
OK on this Sunday. The N2 was closed for two days for traffic just before Sedgefield because of flooding, but
it reopened yesterday. The N2 that leads into Knysna is narrow and busy, but hugs the Knysna Lagoon.
We have lunch at the beautiful waterfront in Knysna. When we continue our ride, we pass through large townships
along both sides of the N2. There are lot of people along this busy road, so watch out.
The rest of the road to Plettenberg Bay is fairly flat and an easy ride.
Distance: 75km
Guesthouse: B&B Umtu
Although the day starts sunny, they do call for rain again. We ride to Kurland, where we want to take the
sideroad through Nature's Valley. This road drops down to the coast and has a steep climb back up to the
N2. However, the road is closed. At the same time it starts to rain again, so we decide to continue along the
N2 which turns into a toll-road. They let us pass along the back of the gate house so we do not have to pay.
The road is very quiet, but the rain is nasty. Although we are cold and wet, we do try to take the
old R102 via Bloukrans Bridge - but this road is also closed. Back to the toll-road, and with a strong tailwind
we "fly" to Storms River Village.
Distance: 70km
Guesthouse: At The Woods
Heavy rains all morning, so we stay put. In the afternoon the clouds disappear and we enjoy a sunny
ride to Storms River Mouth in Tsitsikamma National Park.
Our last day on the bike finally gets us off the N2. For most of the day, we can ride along the old R102 road,
which allows for very pleasant riding. It is a long day, and the head winds grow stronger by the hour.
The last stretch from Humansdorp to Jeffrey's Bay/Aston Bay is not very pleasant any more. The road is busy
and narrow and we are simply tired of the wind. We don't mind that we do not have to ride all the way to
PE - as the surroundings certainly are not as pretty any more.
Distance: 110km
Guesthouse: Aston Woods
The shuttle that we arranged via Woodall Country House picks us up around the afternoon.
We ride through Port Elizabeth (fairly big city) into the back country. We receive a warm welcome
on arrival at Woodall Country House. It is often hard to decide from a web site what the place is
really like, but Woodall did not disappoint on any level. We pack up the bikes and then enjoy
the rest of the afternoon near the pool.
Guesthouse: Woodall Country House
We booked a morning game drive through Woodall with their own vehicle/guide. We have a wonderful time
and enjoy seeing the wildlife. Although Addo Elephant Park does not have big herds of game as
you might see in other wildlife parks - it is certainly special for its elephants.
We did see several up close and a large herd from a distance. We try to spot a lioness, but there are
only a few in the park - so we are not lucky. Late afternoon, we are booked for a "sunset" game drive
through the National Park - which certainly is not as enjoyable as the morning game drive.
After we come back, we enjoy one more great dinner here in South Africa and one more night in the
beautiful Woodall suite.
A shuttle service arranged by Woodall returns us to Port Elizabeth, from where we fly back to
Johannesburg. We have plenty of time in Johannesburg to change planes for our final long
flight home (18 hours with a fuel stop in Dakar).
We land at Washington Dulles very early Sunday morning. We are back home again and have lots of
new stories to tell and pictures to show.
Send them to info@bronmans.com.
|
|
|
