1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 436 437 438 439 440 441 445 446 447 448 449 450

Wed Jan 24 2018: Motorcycle Freedom

Aaaaand we're heading back to Cape Town.

Just kidding. Kind of. We've reviewed our proposed route with Jacques and he told us that if we liked the roads that we did a couple of days ago, there were a lot more like that, however they were back in the direction that we came from. Turns out we missed a whole bunch of dual-sport (KTM) roads!

Serves us right for trying to DIY South Africa using web sites. Local knowledge FTW!


Saying goodbye to our wonderful host, Jacques

Of course it's raining when we depart. Of course...

You'd never guess that the Eastern Cape is also suffering from a drought, albeit not as severe as Cape Town's.

We don't get very far. We stop at the McDonald's right by Jacques house...


... where we're meeting up with my cousin, Caroline (in the centre) and her family

They left from their home in East London (which is a couple of hours away) early this morning and are passing through PE on their way west through the country. They're driving their son Tyler to Stellenbosch, where he's starting university. Hey, we were just there a couple of weeks ago! But they're planning on making the whole drive in a single day!

We go slow.

I haven't seen Caroline in a few years, it was great to briefly catch up with her and her family over a McBreakfast. They couldn't stay for too long since they had a long drive ahead of them. But they told us they'd be back next week after a few days stopover in Cape Town. So we made plans to spend more time with them at their place when they return.

By the time we leave the parking lot, my cousin is probably half-way to Cape Town. We go slow.

At least the sun is shining again!


This is the place where they make the running shoes

When we told Jacques how disappointing the Garden Route was, he recommended that we take Route 62 which runs parallel to the coastal road, but further inland. We're trading in the 4-lane highway for a smaller, more intimate route back towards the Western Cape.


Aaaand it starts raining again. I'm staring to believe those conspiracy theorists who say the drought is a hoax! :)

Did I mention how much Neda hates putting on her rain gear?


The showers turn on and off as we wind our way westwards, skirting the northern edge of the Tsitsikamma Mountains

Having so much more fun on the way back now that we're off the highways!

Just north of Knysna (NICE-NAH!), we turn of Route 62 and head north to Uniondale where we stop for lunch.


Found this great place where they served boboti! Some Cape Malay food that we first tried in Cape Town. It was delicious!

I love that we've been here so long that whenever we go to a restaurant, we know what all the menu items are without having to ask. And that we also have favorites!


Back on the road, north of Uniondale

We're on no timeline, no schedule, so if we see an interesting path, we just turn off and explore a little bit.


My bike needs some attention too. We will be heading west towards DeRust

We save the best for the end of the day: Meiringspoort Pass - a great canyon road

Some short videos of the roads we did today

We are camping at Prince Albert for the evening, a small town just to the north of the Langeberg Mountain range, which we've been darting in and out & up and over all day.


Neda is happy to be cooking with our new setup. And some furry visitors are drawn in by Neda's delicious-smelling concoctions

Neda is okay with the cats as long as they stay away from her motorcycle seat! But cats are right bastards. They don't come when you call out to them, but the minute you avoid them (like I do, because of my severe allergies), they immediately start hunting you down and following you.

Why?!?!


Settling in for the evening. We've got a pretty comfortable setup now!

I love being on the road.

I love being on the road on motorcycles. I love not being stuck on a track, avoiding big cities, having the ability to step off the beaten path and go exploring down all the interesting nooks and crannies. And I love not having to rush, staying as long as we want, backtracking if we need to.

I think it's the ultimate expression of freedom!

Sign our Guestbook or send us E-mail: ride_dot@yahoo.ca