Sunday was an early rise as we met our friend Theo at Tamboers Winkel for a coffee . After that, the day lay ahead unplanned. The only thing was a hearty breakfast after which we decided to head North with the motorbikes and the one requisite was to do some mountain passes. The Western Cape has enough passes with a some of these close enough to Cape Town. A lot were built by father and son Bain so we decided to head towards Wellington on the N1 and then the R44. Leading from Wellington towards Ceres is the Bain’s Kloof Pass which was the first of three passes for the day.

Going up the first quarter of the pass is a gravel parking lot. Every time I’ve stopped there in the past I’ve noticed a gravel road going down into the valley. The last time Christoff and I stopped there was in 2013 when he bought his motorbike in Cape Town and came down to fetch it. We spent that weekend on the roads and stopped at the same place to take photo’s. When I mentioned the road his response was to start going down the road and shouting backwards to me, “Let’s go. What can they do to us, just tell us it’s private property?” Down we went, past vineyards and ending up in a small pine tree forest where a sign said “Wine tasting”. The gravel road was very slippery going down and my back wheel had no grip. We rode past some farmers cottages and all of a sudden ended up on the Doolhof Wine Estate. It turns out we took the 4×4 route and lesser known route to the farm, as the normal road leads through the valley from Wellington.

What an awesome discovery and beautiful wine estate. We have not heard of them before, so it was a great find. There were only two other people doing the wine tasting and at R20 for five wines, it is very cheap. If you buy wines, then the wine tasting is free. We sat on the terrace under the trees with the mountains towering above us and enjoyed five exceptional red wines. My personal favourite is definitely the Lady in Red which is a Bordeaux style wine. They even had a lucky barrel where according to our host Francois, they had wines which were cleared from stock and at R20 a bottle, it was definitely a bargain. We managed to find a Cabernet Sauvignon with a 2004 vintage. We stocked up on some wine and the box was strapped down to the seat of Stoof and the rest went into the top box. We decided to continue over Bain’s Kloof pass but not before exploring some of the gravel roads on the farm. We realised there are quite a few 4×4 routes on the farm and the area which will be explored in future.

Once across the summit of the Bain’s Kloof pass, we followed the narrow beautiful winding road towards Ceres. The Witte River cuts through this rugged cleft in the mountains with rapids, waterfalls and natural pools. The winding road makes for excellent riding at a leisurely pace to allow one to take in the views and spectacular rock formations. It’s roads like these that lead to peace of mind; where it’s you, the motorbike and nature. It’s a form of meditation, just one where you don’t sit still.

At the bottom of the pass is the Tweede Tol camp site. We decided the next time we head in that direction, the camping gear is going with and we are staying at this camp site next to the river to explore the area by hiking and biking. According to their brochure, there a few hiking trails in the area with a waterfall further into the mountains.

By now we were ready for lunch and headed towards the Tolhuis on the Mitchell’s Pass. This little Bistro on the pass has great views from the stoep through to the pass and mountains beyond and serves comfort food. Don’t expect anything Banting on the menu though….

After lunch we took the Mitchell’s Pass back towards Wolseley and Tulbach. The plan was to go over the Nuwekloof Pass and then turn off to Riebeeck Kasteel. What a bonus when the turn-off turned out to be a gravel road all the way to Riebeeck Kasteel. Riding past farms with sheep, vineyards and olive trees dotted around the landscape.

We nearly lost our precious cargo of wines on this piece of gravel road, and had to strap it down again. That would have been a tragic loss of good wines. It was a real Sunday afternoon feeling when we drove into Riebeeck Kasteel. It felt as if the little town was having an afternoon nap. We drove past the Royal Hotel with a quick stop to fill our bikes. The R46 to Malmesbury, although a tar road, is still beautiful to ride. However once you get onto the N7 towards Cape Town it is just a straight uninspiring national road. We pointed the bikes towards home after an awesome day out with a layer of dust on our clothes and bikes, but feeling completely refreshed.

It’s a good day to be out and about.