Solo To Sutherland, 916km Circular Route

The foundational inspiration behind these type of trips:

• Spirituality - Special Time with God
• Adventure of course
• Travel - there's so much to see in this beautiful country
• Budget - how far can i get  with the basics

Now with that in mind, you're welcome to skip all this reading and just enjoy the pictures as they should speak a couple of words by themselves i hope. But why do i write? Well, i simply write due to the fact that memories fade, but the gentle application of words restore the colour! I constantly feel, think, see & experience life as i leave a trail of dust behind...and my mind writes as the wheels turn!

You cannot deny a man his experience...and this was mine!

Oh, i don't like using the capital I as i write, that's just my style...by and by the way.

Saturday 18 September 2011.
I'm on my way to Sutherland for a quick 2 day get-away and i'm planning to sleep at the base of the Rammelkop pass, just outside Merweville.

Saying my goodbyes

The adventure begins as i go down the Homtini pass plus 5 others excluding Phantom pass, but they are collectively referred to as The 7 Passes, en route to George. From George i went to Herold over the Montagu pass and from Herold to Dysselsdorp, just outside Oudshoorn.

My first bit of action for the day



 I turned right at this T-junction to SA's town of the year, De Rust. After a quick stop for fuel & oil i continued through the beautiful Meiringspoort en route to Prince Albert.

I just stopped for the name...

Solo becomes really Solo in the Karoo

I stopped at the Bergwater cellar about 20km outside Prince Albert to pick up a bottle or two of my favourite wine. A 2004 Cabernet Sauvignon Reserve and a Rendezvous Red (Merlot). Then after carefully finding a safe spot for my two companions, i continued to the arty Karoo town where i got my last bit of supplies, as Prince Albert is the last place i'll be able to buy stuff before i set up camp. Basically, i just got two lekke lamb chops and a Bar-One for dessert...because i'm a Bar-One man!

 i turned left off the N1 on this road that leads to Merweville. On a previous trip with a group of friends to Verneukpan, i noticed that this road is full of these concrete blocks and i also saw a number of little graveyards...i wrote a little poem in Afrikaans and i hope it will give you a simple, but clear picture.

Merweville

Dis net begrafplase

en beton blokke

en stof wat in my motorfiets

se spieeltjie verdwyn.

Die lig is blou maar die reen

het die wolke alweer gekul

en iewers agter hierdie grondpad

tussen niks en nêrens,

lê Merweville.

 lunch...

 ...where i'm going

...where i come from

Jesus is not coming back for buildings

 As i entered the little town, i took the 'scenic' back road hoping to find a way up the mountain in order to take a birds-eye photo of the town. As i drove along this road i saw a man walking...the only one outside his house it seems...anyway, i stopped to ask if there's a way up the hill and it turns out that it's the same dude we met the last time we came through here...he was quite drunk and was swearing a lot...and nothing changed!
He greeted me loudly and praised the Springboks for their victory over Fiji in his usual blasphemous way. Kobus Visagie, Merweville's local dronkie! That seems to be his permanent status quo! He must be lonely, seeing that he's been divorced for over 25years and i reckon he's still not really over it seeing that it's the first real conversational topic that comes out of his mouth, just after the swear words. 
And it's a sad and long story, but he'll tell me the whole story one day when i come and stay over at his house, which is just "skuins oorkant" the police station. I take that it was an invitation - just like the last time we saw him. So, if anyone of you're heading that way, please pull in at his spot, he'll be thrilled to have some company...i think that's the real sad story!

 Kobus Visagie

When he introduced himself, i couldn't help but to think of the David Kramer song "Kobus Le Grange Marais"

 Landmark revisited. The last time i was here a couple got married and had some photographs taken here and we all happened to be here at that time, so we instantly became part of the shoot.

This photo was taken with the camera placed in a tiny hole in the wall as you'll see in the photo below, just in case you were wondering!

 Our previous visit. F.L.T.R. Anton, myself, Hein, Jaco & Chris and obviously the newly weds!

Classic memories

 Here i am identifying that i'm close to the place where i'll be sleeping the night.

What a nice combo

Ready for action

I pitched my tent at the same spot we camped the last time. It's a beautiful piece of river bed at the foot of the beautiful Rammelkop pass, with a flat rock interface which we used as our kitchen where Anton braaid some boerewors for us. This time around, it's a bit wet. The water comes from underneath the ground and i reckon it's safe to camp here even though one should always bare in mind that a flash flood could cause you to have a bewildered awakening when you least expect it!

It's not a designated camping spot, but situated on a privately owned farm - so i treat it with the utmost respect seeing that i'm here "illegally". The last time we were here, it was dry and almost seemed more desolate. This time the river bed is wet with visible signs of human & animal activity, so  i parked my bike as far into the bed as possible, only about 25m in, but it's out of sight. Once i unpacked and got myself organized, i just lay there appreciating the beauty of the Karoo's silence.

Now i'ts time for a "glass" of red as i begin to prepare my supper. I know it's not really the way to drink this beautifully blended, full-bodied, with characters of mulbery, bitter chocolate and cassis. A wine with gentle and soft tannins. But i have to rendezvous with Bergwater and figured that due to the nature of this trip, i'll do it for the expression of freedom, and hey, there's no one around! Cheers!

 My 6year old favourite jean pant got yet another scar

Glad to have some Karoo meat to go with the wine...how can one be in the Karoo without enjoying what it offers...how can one crave fish & chips?

Nothing like a good cup!

Good night South Africa!

Good morning South Africa!

Sentrale Karoo Boundary Grens...as the sign reads

Strange but true

The owner of the petrol station and his wife, oh, and their dog, (but he turned back), off to a building where they gather on Sundays.

If you want petrol on a Sunday in Sutherland, you have to wait until 11:30am

 i paid a visit to the Sutherland Observatory

What a legend road

Verlatekloofpas

This road blew me away! Meandering through the heart of the Karoo, it reveals many little secrets as its beauty unfolds in front of you. Lovely to ride with lots of sharp little bends and turns which caught me off-gaurd a number of times and each time my back brake locks (as i've disabled the ABS) and my wheel slides to the side and i nearly go straight instead of left or right, i remind myself to watch out for the next one, until i hit the next one!! It's so scenic that it's almost impossible to concentrate on the road...

It's just after 1pm and i've been checking out for a "special" spot where i could stop for lunch. I've been crossing a couple of low water bridges with lots of sand, but it felt quite solid, so i thought, how about driving up onto the river bed to chill in the shade...

As my front wheel touched the sand, i instantly realised that it only felt solid due to the sement slab underneath it, and my wheel started to sink in, so i made a U-turn right away, but my back wheel obviously had all the weight of my luggage and it sank in so deep, it was barely sticking out...i had jumped off with the bike in 1st gear and ran next to it pushing quite hard to get it out!

The perfect circle

A bit further down the road i found a place with dry sand and flat rock and obviously also my special lunch spot!

 When in doubt, just add Tabasco & Tomato sauce!

beautiful

 dessert!

From Laingsburg to Seweweekspoort...awesome road!

"Civicks poort" as one local referred to it.

This was the last bit of real gravel, as i've decided to go on tar from Calitzdorp. As much as i love dirt roads, the wind was pumping and looked like rain was on the way, and i know all those dirt roads from Oudshoorn to Knysna all too well, so that's why i went with the black stuff. I stopped at the Outeniqua pass just to round the trip off. From there i went to Wilderness via the Saasveld road. From Wilderness to Sedgefield was on dirt again and the final stretch mainstream tar on the N2.

I got home just after 18:00pm and minutes after arrival, the raindrops came down!

It was an awesome trip for me!