258km

Melkbosstrand is hot and wind still this morning. While we are not in a big hurry we are up early and begin packing so that we are ready to go after breakfast, which we said we will have at 8. But at 7 we are already sitting like little meerkats waiting to be fed. Thinking we have one up on time things slowly started to unravel. First, we sat chatting for ages with another couple staying in the guest house, and just after 8h30, I said we needed to get going. And of we went, or not. Outside we were just about to put our helmets on when Johan rode up on his bicycle and struck up a conversation. The curse of UDF has started. UDF for those not in the know is Ural Delay Factor, a phenomenon where people want to talk about your weird mode of transport with no regard for time. So total travel time must always be calculated as time to travel from A to B + UDF.

Johan showing great interest in Putin.

We eventually got going after 9 which was a great relief because it was cooking by now and a bit of airflow was desperately needed. Just a few kilometers down the road we stopped at a garage to fill up and UDF struck again. This time Norman, who lives in Cape Town showed some interest. Luckily this time the conversation was a bit shorter and we had some shade.

Norman is also a biker out for a morning ride and his Harley was spotless.

Our riding today will take us through some of the most scenic roads in the fairest Cape, mostly Winelands, and three beautiful passes on the way to our overnight stop with Paul and Jenna in Durbanville.

The scenery starts out a bit dull.

One of the informal settlements that dot the countryside.

One of the many, many vineyards along the road. Keep in mind that this is home to some of the finest wines in the world.

The small town of Malmesbury, actually it is the largest of the towns in a region called Swartland (black land) which gets its name from an indigenous plant, the Renosterbos that turns black during their hot dry summers.

The local church in Malmesbury. Most smaller towns in South Africa are centered around the church which you can always see from miles away as you approach the town.

We stop for something cold at the top of  Bothmanskloof Pass at the Eight Feet Village Café where Surkov is up to his usual tricks. Many have tried to resist his smile, few have succeeded. The ‘eight feet’ btw refers to the four brothers who own the place and it is safe to assume that they all still have both their legs.

He is clearly sulking about something, again. Well, his day ain’t gonna get any better.

 

Words from a wise man, or a lady signwriter? 

We were meant to take a nice gravel road through some of the wine farms but clearly, my map and the landowners did not agree on this plan. We will just have to go around then.

As we approach Gouda the silhouette of a wind farm can be seen in the distance and as we approach it becomes apparent why they built it here, the wind becomes much stronger and it feels like you are entering a wind tunnel. The next town is Ceres on the other side of Mitchells Pass.

Ceres is a major exporter of fruit juices which is produced from the deciduous fruit the region is well known for.

The poor little guy just wondering around the petrol station in Ceres.

The next destination, Wellington is just on the other side of the Bainskloof Pass. This scenic pass is the handy work of Andrew Bain, is 18km long (according to the stats but it seems like not everybody agrees), and is also a national monument.

We zipped down the other side of Bainskloof pass while Izabel is recording a time-lapse video (will still edit those) to our next and final stop at Muratie Wine Estate before we reach our overnight stop. We pass through Wellington and Paarl in quick succession, well as quickly as you can navigate what felt like 1000 robots and it is a huge relief to be on the other side on open roads again. The reason we are stopping at this particular wine estate, there are many to choose from, is because our friend Ryno Greeff has an exhibition of his artwork here. His work, the stone folk, can be seen all over the Karoo.

We leave Muratie and almost forget that Surkov is still in the arms of one of the stone folk, Joy. Luckily we are called back by the friendly lady at the art gallery. I see a custody battle coming.

We get stopped for another quick ‘chat’ in a police roadblock, our last UDF for the day. At least this time my drivers’ license gets checked.

We were treated to a braai by Paul and Jenna.

Tomorrow is another rest day and we will be visiting family if time permits because I need to do some maintenance work on Putin and see if I can track down a spare tire.