The best way to experience the open road is on a motorbike.  You feel and see the details of nature. This past weekend was all about bikes, gravel roads, flowers and friends. Our friend Suné suggested that we go to Darling on Saturday as they have the flower show. The flower show was not our highest priority, but we didn’t need much convincing to take the bikes and ride. We took the N7 North and then the R27. At the sign to the Groote Post wine estate, we took the dirt road to the farm. It’s 10 km’s on this well maintained gravel road before one reaches the farm. I currently have a knobbly on the front wheel of my BMW, but the standard issue back wheel. The back wheel will get a knobbly in the next two weeks which I’m really looking forward to. The back wheel has no grip and as a result I took it relatively easy. Stoof on the other hand has knobblies and clings to the road and Christoff always has fun off-road.

It was on this piece of road that we saw the first wild flowers. Groote Post is a great wine estate and their Old Man’s Blend red wine is definitely a favourite. We took some time out to walk around the farm and took some photo’s but decided not to stay for a wine tasting. Where the gravel road joins the R307, we turned towards Darling. On the distant mountains, the peaks were covered with snow from the cold front which hit the Western Cape during the previous week. We were able to turn off into a conservation area with loads of wild flowers. This really brought out the photographers amongst us. Christoff could be seen in his familiar photographers pose, close to the ground searching for the best flower pictures. The challenge is that in every square meter the variety of flowers is so great, that one is sometimes not sure where to point the lens. Suné bought a macro lens from instaLens which connects to the back of any smart phone. It was amazing to see the details on the flowers she was able to capture with her phone.

When we had enough and the hay fever set in, we took the road into Darling. This small town in the farming community of the West Coast was put on the map by the South African satirist Pieter-Dirk Uys who performs most of his shows as Evita Bezuidenhout at Evita se Perron. We stopped to have a look at Evita se Perron but by then breakfast was long forgotten and a late lunch was at the order of the day. Darling is also known for the Darling Slow Brew beers. We picked the first place we saw, which turned out to have Darling Slow Brew beers, but the food menu left a lot to be desired, which is a pity. The town makes its money from tourism and there are not a lot of places to choose from, so one would expect better quality. We should have driven slightly further along the main road to where the Darling Slow Brew tasting room is situated with a buzzing restaurant next door.  Add that to the bucket list for a next visit.

We were not yet in the mood to return to Cape Town and were searching for another gravel road. We took the R307 out-of-town and just where the town ends with the graveyard on the left, there is a gravel road to the right. We had no idea where the road would take us, but it was not the destination that mattered, but the ability to be on the back roads with no other traffic. It turned out to be a great decision as the landscape was varied with wetlands in the area with wild waterblommetjies, which is an edible flower and a delicacy in the Western Cape, to flamingoes, sheep and cattle. The gravel road was not technical at all with some short sandy sections which made the BMW slide a bit, and me chewing the seat, and we even had to cross a little river, but just being out there and alive puts smiles on our faces.

When we stopped to take pictures of the flamingoes we were immediately “attacked” by small little flying insects. Although they did not sting they gathered in a cloud round your face and got into every opening. I had to make a pit stop and both Christoff and Suné laughed at my antics trying to keep the insects at bay whilst going about my business. They were so annoying that we quickly moved on but not before Christoff got this amazing picture of the flamingoes.

It turned out that this road eventually joins the R45 after about 30km’s where we turned right towards Malmesbury and the N7 back to Cape Town. What we did discover is that there are quite a few gravel roads in that area to explore in future.

 

 

 

 

On Sunday we took Daniel and Johanna to Blaauwklippen market situated on the R44 towards Stellenbosch. On Sundays they have a family market and our friend Saskia was there on Sunday manning the Flamkuchen stall.

A lovely day under the trees, sharing a Flamkuch and beers from CBC & Jack Black. But no amount of food and beer could overcome the disappointment on Christoff’s face after finding out that the pony was on an extended tea break….

We then headed into Stellenbosch which is the second oldest European settlement in the Western Cape after Cape Town and known for its wine region, as well as being the home to Stellenbosch University. We tend to go to one of the restaurants on Church Street and this Sunday was no exception where we sat outside on the terrace of Java Café. Affordable prices as the Café is frequented by students, and the food is good. It was great Spring weather sitting under the old oak trees and watching Stellenbosch life go by.

We had the same feeling on Sunday after lunch as on Saturday, we did not feel like heading directly back to Cape Town. We took Helshoogte Pass towards the small town of Pniel (the name always creates a chuckle with Afrikaans speaking people) and then the R45 which either heads to Franschhoek, or towards Paarl. We turned towards Paarl and took the first gravel road but it quickly ended in a dead-end at Bien Donne wine farm. We then headed in the direction of Babylonstoren in the search of more gravel roads as our pillion riders got a small taste of gravel riding and wanted to experience some more. A short gravel road between Babylonstoren and the R45 just wet their appetites even more and we decided to go to Paarl rock and the Afrikaanse Taalmonument (a monument to celebrate the birth of the Afrikaans language and the continued existence of the language). We got there just before 17:00 and the monument was closed already. Christoff remembered the gravel road leading into the Paarl mountain reserve which we immediately sought out and took. There were quite a few mountain bikers and normal cars on the sometimes very narrow road.

Coming round one corner where the road was quite narrow, Daniel and I had an encounter with a 4×4 which was on my side of the road as the driver had swung out for pedestrians. I had to break hard and squeeze past the cliff face to miss him and with my sleek back tyre, the bike slid left to right, but we pulled through without an incident. Moments like these the adrenaline is pumping and you feel very much alive. All credit goes to my pillion rider Daniel who was on his first gravel road bike riding experience and he stayed calm and trusted me all the time.

We took the road until the top gate and just admired the view of Paarl rock on the one side and through the valley with Paarl lying below and the Du Toitskloof mountains in the distance. With the sun setting we headed West on the N1 back to Cape Town where we were just in time to enjoy sunset from the Sea Point Promenade.  Never a view to get bored with, what an amazing sunset after an awesome day.

To end off the day we rode to Camps Bay and sat on the terrace of the Grand Café with a glass of wine. Days like these shows us a glimpse of what accepting a life of less could mean. Stepping off the treadmill and just following your passion.