336Km
Boxing Day!
When we arrived at Port St Johns River Lodge we attracted the usual ‘crowd’ as we unpacked and we were bombarded with the UDF questions, not complaining because this is how you meet new and awesome (sometimes not so awesome) people. When we explained our route we were told that there is a much better road. I’m a bit surprised since I spent quite a bit of time planning the route but I’ve been known to miss a few beats. So late afternoon yesterday we were enjoying sundowners on our porch when I decided to ask the ‘locals’ about this better road. As it turns out different people have different definitions of ‘better’ roads. In this instance, the definitions mean better, smoother and faster tarmac i.e. hi-way and for us to get onto this better road meant backtracking 100km but then it is smooth sailing. Sure if you are travelling at 140km/h and your goal is the destination but if like us, you are travelling no faster than 80km/h and the road is part of the journey then that is not a better road.
So obviously we stuck with our route of the less preferred road. This will take us to our overnight stop in Amanzimtoti on the South Coast via Lusikisiki and Flagstaff. Neither of these little towns is really known for anything.
We decided on a 5am start which turned into 5:30 am because of me.
It is an awesome day for riding, the sun is out, the air is clear and crisp and the roads are fairly quiet. It’s a beautiful road that meanders through the rolling hills of (what is still just) Eastern Cape and then later Kwazulu Natal.
Our plan is to clear the little town of Lusikisiki and Flagstaff before they get going and then stop in Port Edward for breakfast and a visit to one of Izabel’s friends. Lisikisiki, this means rustling reeds, is a breeze and we zip past without any issues. One thing we know and expect from the ride up the South Coast is that the backroads are littered with speedbumps and potholes. The people here do not live in clusters, they are spread out with their little huts and houses dotting the landscape as far as you can see. This means that there is human activity all the way from one village to the next. And this means children which means schools. There is a school every few kilometres with the mandatory speedbumps, very aggressive with up to 6 in a row sometimes. But in between, you find huge potholes, sometimes combined with a speedbump, and numerous livestock roaming the roads. So plenty to keep you awake on top of your game.
But Flagstaff has to take the cake when it comes to ‘how not to do it’. It is a textbook example of how taxpayers money meant to better the lives of people were stolen by means of allocating huge multimillion Rand projects to companies who take the money upfront, start the project and then just abandon it. Clearly there was a project to improve the road infrastructure but it was left incomplete. The existing main road was ripped up and left like that so you drive through the town on something that is worse than a gravel road. So sad for the local inhabitant because nobody in their right mind will stop and spend money there.
We make good time thanks to our early start and just after 9 am we stop in Port Edward to have breakfast.
This is a part of the country we have toured before and The Cow Shed is a place where we have been. Great food. Their Bacon, Brie and Fig sandwich are just awesome but since this is our first meal of the day we go for carrot cake and savoury muffin as well. You never know when you will have your next meal, well actually I do but I just cannot resist.
We did a quick stop-over at Tanya in Leisure Bay before moving on.
The wind has picked up again as we rode next to the coast but I will take this any day of the week over the rain. Our overnight stay at The Sand Castle is nice and we have a sea view to relax the inner self a bit.
Day 16 and 4755Km done.
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