A hidden Gem - The "Other" Baviaans

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There are very few gravel roads around the greater Southern Cape that I have not been on yet. Discovering new places has become all but impossible. I find it a great pity, because the excitement and anticipation of exploring a new route forms a big part of the attraction and experience that is DS biking.

There were two roads though, just gravel loops in fact, that still needed exploring. The first loops from Uniondale Poort Pass to the Langkloof, a stretch of only 40km, but virgin road non the less.

The second loops out of the R62 "Langkloof road" and eventually returns to it, but this road meanders through the magnificent Kouga mountains and includes several passes. It hugs the Southern hangs of the mountain range that forms the Southern border of Baviaanskloof. It's all gravel and it runs through breathtaking scenery.


(Click on Map to enlarge)

To be honest I have ridden this loop once before. On our way back from our Moordenaarskloof trip LGF, Rooipoot, ChrisL and I took this detour but we had way too little time and rushed the ride. Back then I vowed to come back. This time round I'll be taking my time.

The plan was to take a leisurely ride from George/Knysna through the Knysna forest, over Prince Alfreds Pass and almost to Uniondale where we'd turn East on the first gravel route that will loop us back to the Langkloof road. After a short 20 minute stint to Joubertina we'd get supplies and ride the start of the Kouga route to the Kouga Wilderness Holiday Farm:


(Map from the website)

Kouga Wilderness is an Adventure Farm in the Kouga mountains. They have a camping site with a lapa and some chalets and they also have this Bush Camp:


(Photo from their website)

Look at this!!! With a pic like that, how can you even consider staying anywhere else?

The bush camp is removed from the other sites, situated at the dead end of a ravine, next to a river with a natural swimming pool. It has a gas shower, flush toilet and a tap with drinking water. That's it. That's enough! No power, just the starry Karoo skies. And when you book this site it's yours, exclusively.

The plan was set! And this was not just another trip to somewhere I've been before, no, this trip had me excited again. My bike was packed and ready 2 days before the actual trip and we were chomping at the bit to go!!!

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Eclectic

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e·clec·tic  (ɛkˈlɛk.tɪk/, /ɪˈklɛk.tɪk/)

adjective:

1. Selecting or employing individual elements from a variety of sources, systems, or styles.
2. Made up of or combining elements from a variety of sources.


I could not think of a better name for this report, as it is a collection of photos and rides of 3 different bikes, 2 different groups and various places, yet it forms one report of how I spent the first 3 weeks of summer.  

With long sunny days and fantastic evenings I thought it a good idea to test some bikes for a change, so I organised three Harley-Davidsons for the first three weeks of the summer holiday.

It started on a humorous note. I picked up the new 10 Year Anniversary model of the Harley-Davidson Night Rod from Harley-Davidson Cape Town, but before I could head back to George I had to drive and photograph the new Bentley Supersport (what a car!).



Upon my return I found a gentleman admiring the bike. As it turns out he was the owner of the Aston Martin parked next to it.



It was a hot day in Cape Town, about 30 degrees Celsius, and as we talked three young girls in summer dresses walked past. They were admiring the vehicles and taking pics with their cell phones while we were all smiles with the attention.

They walked right past us and one girl said: “Nice Bike!”

Yup. It's a chick magnet!

So I promptly headed home to show my chick our bike for the week.

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Why aren't you posting???

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During the last half of 2011 I have neglected my blog somewhat. It was not done on purpose, I am just literally to busy. This is just a short post to show regular readers of my blog why the updates have been few and far between lately.

As you know (link) my life has taken a whole new direction since I became a motor journalist. I seem to be on the road all the time and when I'm not on the road I photograph vehicles and write articles. I have two new vehicles each week and do smaller articles in between as well. Some weeks I submit as much as 8 stories.

The press vehicles I have to fetch from and return to Cape Town, which means I drive to Cape Town and back twice a week, a round trip of about 900km each time. I travel 2000km+ per week, probably close to 10 000km a month. Any bike trips I do would be in addition to this.

A typical work week looks like this:

Monday mornings start early, usually with first light, which in summer is around 5am. Mondays I switch press cars so I drive whatever I had that week to Cape Town, switch it for the new vehicle of the week and drive straight back to George. I like to get away really early because there's less traffic and that way I get back home during the afternoon. I try not to drive in the dark and getting back early means I can get enough rest to be fresh the next day. Driving almost a 1000km non-stop can be tiresome!



Tuesday to Thursday are work days with the weather determining what happens on which day. The best day is used for photos.

Lots of time and thought goes into the photos these days as we can not take all the photos at the same location.



The “best day” is not always sunny, but we make do.





Some vehicles are photographed at the coast and some at local landmarks (readers of the local paper like to see that the cars were tested locally).

The Mother Church in George:



Other vehicles are photographed in their “natural setting”.







“Mom's taxi” was photographed next to the school complete with a set of ready “models” who wanted to be in the paper!





This was easy at first, but soon you start running out of ideas... There are only so many places before you start repeating... Luckily my wife is quite creative and comes up with great ideas regularly.

The Range Rover Vogue we photographed next to a castle.

Fit for a King!





With the new Jaguar XJ we stuck to the big cat theme doing a photo shoot with three lions!

I admit I was nervous. Both for myself and the car. Firefly thought they were just friendly cats.







A photo shoot (and car!) to remember.

The other two days is spent doing research and writing. Some cars' articles write themselves, while I battle with others. Go figure.

Fridays are a repeat of Mondays with an early start and a round trip to Cape Town and back. Weekends I fine tune the pieces I wrote and mail them in as the paper starts to work on them Monday morning first thing.

With Mondays and Fridays being almost 1000km travel days you can imagine how difficult it is to fit in a weekend bike trip. I'd have to travel the whole day Friday, get on the packed bike Saturday and travel another day, set up camp, break down camp on Sunday, ride back and drive another 1000km on Monday! Phew!

So now we try to incorporate the Cape Town trips into weekend trips. When I picked up a Nissan Navara V9X I took the whole family with and we did a trip to the Cederberg.



With the Range Rover Sport Firefly and I had a went on Safari to Aquila Private Game Farm.



Driving two brand new vehicles each week is the highlight of my job. Of course you get all kinds of cars - “normal” / 4x4 / luxury / hot hatches etc.

That Golf R seriously impressed.







Driving this was an absolute hoot!!!



Some are quirky, but we ended up liking this Juke very much:



The real exotic cars are a special treat, although you don't get to keep them for a week. These I test in Cape Town and sometimes sleep over if I finish too late.













These sports cars are surprisingly comfortable considering my size, but I barely fitted in this Lotus. Strapped in I felt like I was wearing a backpack! The Lotus Evora:



This is a seriously fast car – the Bentley Supersport:



0-100km/h < 4 sec

So there you have it. I am being kept extremely busy and I'm loving it! Blog-wise all is not lost. We have done trips and I am busy writing them up, so please be patient and check back regularly, the blog has not become inactive, the blogger just fell behind with his posts!

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