13 September 2014

It is Saturday morning with lots of sun and 21ºC, perfect for riding our motorbikes. Christoff and I decide to do a bike trip as we have not had a chance to ride our bikes in a while. We had a great start to the day with an Americano and Cappuccino from Tamboers Winkel to kick start our shopping at the Oranjezicht City Farm.  We just wanted to ride and see where the road would take us. We decided to invite Johanna & Alina along as pillion riders. Both are relatively new in Cape Town, and for them a road trip on the bikes anywhere would be an experience.

We fetched Johanna & Alina in Sea Point and then started along the Atlantic Seaboard in the direction of Hout Bay. We decided to stop at the Hout Bay Harbour market which has a great vibe and good food to choose from. As with the Biscuit Mill neighbour-goods market, one tends to find the same food vendors, but there are tasting experiences like the craft beers.

As we were there after 14:00 on a Saturday afternoon, it was no longer that packed with people, which makes for a more relaxing experience as one can stroll around and find a spot to sit and relax and do some people watching.

We continued our trip over Chapmans Peak drive, which is one of the most beautiful roads in the world. Snaking 9 km between Hout Bay and Noordhoek, it clings to the rocky coastline from 593m at the highest point, to sheer cliff drops down at the sea below. The winding road makes it an excellent experience for a biker… Riding with a motorbike on this road gives you an entirely different experience, with the sun on your face, the smell of the ocean, you hear the waves crash against the rocks, wind in your face.

Neither Johanna nor Alina have done Chappies before, so we cruised up to the top viewing point at a leisurely pace, giving them the opportunity to take in the views. The views from the top are always spectacular and it is great to watch the reaction of friends when they experience it for the first time. It is times like this that I realise that I live in the most beautiful city in the world.

Again we spotted no whales in the bay or off shore. We did encounter three guys on two motorbikes whom have travelled from Wales across Africa to South Africa. When I see that I get the urge to take the motorbike and travel, and then we start talking about possible adventures in future.

There is only one thing that makes a dream impossible to achieve: the fear of failure.
― Paulo Coelho, The Alchemist

Taking an easy drive towards Noordhoek, one comes round the corner and Long Beach stretches ahead with what looks like an endless white beach. Lots of people on the beach as well as horse riders. We decided not to stop in Noordhoek, but head on to Kalk Bay for a coffee.

Kalk Bay is an old fishing village on the False Bay coast between Fish Hoek and Muizenberg. It still has a working fishing harbour where one can buy fresh fish, but has evolved to become an artistic village. Lots of art and antique shops with great coffee shops and restaurants as well. One of the most well known spots has to be the Brass Bell which is located on the other side of the railroad tracks, but built right on the rocks with the waves constantly breaking against the walls. There are two tidal pools which has seen quite a few people end up in the water in the summer months. We found a table right against the break wall with views all the way across False Bay to the Helderberg Mountains.

We had the best seats in the house this afternoon, as the next moment we had a whale breach about a 100m off shore. It just kept putting on a show for us and we soon realised there were two of them close to shore. We just had to wait patiently as it kept on breaching every couple of minutes to great applause of the all the patrons. I am always amazed at how these massive mammals are able to “graciously” lift themselves out of the water. I wonder if they were mating as tails were lifted out of the water, then a big fin and then breaching. It was just as entertaining watching my friends poised with their cellphones and camera trying to capture the moment for social media. Eventually the whales swam further away and the show was ended with another applause.

Christoff and I decided that we would head towards Constantia Nek, through Hout Bay and catch the sunset somewhere along the road back to Cape Town. We took Boyes drive towards Constantia and followed the Constantia wine route past Groot Constantia towards Constantia neck before heading into Hout Bay. From there we took the coastal road towards Camps Bay. As we came across Suikerbekkie, the sun was just about to set and we turned off towards Llundudno. We arrived on the beach just in time to catch the last glimpse of the sunset.

A great afternoon with friends on the motorbikes was ended with a braai on the “stoep” with some great red wine from Groote Post. An awesome road trip of total 111km.