Moto S.A. DAY 25. Calitzdorp to Moorreesburg.

24 February 2010

This is the Sunshine Cottage (CLICK HERE) at Calitzdorp that had been my refuge for the night! The motorcycle is just visible, parked behind the cottage. It is dawn.

I was kind of reluctant to leave this comfortable cottage and interesting town. But I had to press on as always.

However, before starting up the motor, I had a last little look around in the quiet of the dawn. This is the view from the cottage doorway ........

........ and so is this ..........

...... and this ........

This view is from the main house stoep.

Here is the bike at its overnight parking ...... and packed up ready to take me wherever I want!

My few belongings were secured with my cargo net. Although my kit had been hanging up in the shower all night, some of it was not quite dry. It will dry on the way. Boots, no socks, again!!

About 50 metres from the cottage I stopped to take this picture. Then I refuelled (Trip: 6,551) in Calitzdorp and set off on the R62.

Is this orographic cloud caused by an anabatic wind I wonder?

There are two towns in South Africa named after Lady Juliana Smith, the beautiful wife of Sir Harry (One Town) Smith. The Ladysmith in KwaZulu Natal has a 'y'. This Ladismith has an 'i' - in fact almost two!

Ladysmith was under siege for 120 days from 2nd November 1899 to 28th February 1900 in the Anglo-Boer War

The R62 took me across the Touw River between Ladismith and Lemoenshoek (Lemon Corner).

Actually, I think it the TouwS River not the Touw River. "Hello ............!" (I have just seen a comment from Andre & Mags - It IS Touw River. The town is called Touws River.)

The bridge is about 43 km from Barrydale - where I hope to get breakfast!

The weather cleared up. Here we have: the open road, no traffic, beautiful scenery, mountains ahead and blue skies .... any questions?

Yep ...... no traffic - confirmed!!

Barrydale will be the first stop this morning - after that stop at the bougainvilla bush and the garage for fuel that is!

I stopped here! It was not yet 9 am. There was no sign of life. Maybe everyone was still in bed!!!

Actually, I had heard about 'Ronnie's Sex Shop'. As 'Ronnie's Shop' business had been slow for years. He changed the name. Business has been booming. But only BEFORE 9 am obviously!!!

15 minutes later I reached this beautiful little town. My immediate aim was to find some breakfast. As you know, I do B+zero, and stop for breakfast on the road!

From the town sign, one descends into a lovely valley. Barrydale is nestled between beautiful mountains on the south side of the Little Karoo.

At the bottom of the valley I followed signs to a little cafe .........

....... called (yes, you guessed it) The Blue Cow.

I sat on the deck stoep veranda. This was the outlook! Breakfast was first class and served by Doree de Villiers. She was charming!

ThinkBikeSA (CLICK HERE) had been very helpful to me and I wanted to meet Jinx a ThinkBikeSA-er. Jinx lives in Montagu. I phoned ahead.

"Hi Jinx, I'm thingy. Blah blah blah ........... meet for coffee?"

"Of course we can! When will you get here?"

"Ummmm.... in about an hour!"

"Okay. See you then at the Wimpy!"

Then I just had time to ride around the town for a looksee before heading off for coffee at Montagu. Is this a beautiful church or what?

Back on the R62 to Montagu it was impossible to resist stopping and photographing these flowers. Are they Cannas?

Well ARE they??

That is Montagu at the bottom of the hill. This is a beautiful fruit-growing area. There are also ostriches here and, BELIEVE IT OR NOT, some EMUs.

Montagu was easy to find - it's on the R62! It's a lovely little town.

The rendezvous was the Wimpy. I rode right past it in spite of the clue on the huge sign: WIMPY. Jinx talked me down luckily! Here we are.

So, I met Jinx (Emu farmer and tool hire specialist), her husband Andries and her mom Wendy. They are lovely people and it was a pleasure to meet them. Thanks for all your help ThinkBikeSA.

This is a farm stall place on the R62.

It is open, but I was only interested in the garden, the driveway and the flowers ........

.......... as you can see .........

Actually, these two pictures are the last taken today!

Soon after this I reached Ashton, home of Koo and All Gold brands, famous in South Africa.

Robertson was the next town on the R62. From there the pretty little town of McGregor, 22 km away in the mountains, beckoned.

It was a good ride to McGregor, where I stopped at a shady place and bought some lunch. A young man called Clinton Meyer took an interest in the bike and the gear. We chatted for a while, then it was time to go back to Robertson (the only way out as far as I knew).

The heavens opened up and I just made it to the shelter of a petrol station before the downburst! It was at least 45 minutes before I was able to continue, but the sun did shine again and I headed for Paarl via Du Toit's Kloof Pass.

Paarl is a great town, but I didn't stop there this time because I had been through Paarl on Day 2 with my son. My aim was to ride, via Malmesbury, to my friend's place at Moorreesburg.

Tomorrow evening I have to be at Cape Town Airport for the flight home.