I was just out of school when the unexpected happened. I was getting ready to go to university and become a chic business woman, when I woke up one day and my adventurous father decided to spoil me with an old Yamaha 250XT scrambler.

Gone were the days of working so hard to get rid of my sporty, tomboyish style and wearing my high-heels (which I never managed to master anyway) were put on hold. I was all to happy to follow in the footsteps of my forefathers. Exploration and traveling was in my blood, I was born that way. Needless to say, I jumped at the opportunity and nothing could stop me. I was going to ride around the world with the wind in my hair and not a care in the world.

Dad started out with lessons in safety and responsibility (doing his parental duties), but he already had the first trip planned. He was rather cautious in telling me all the stories of him and mom riding his Yamaha 500XT back in the day. I was a lady after all and should not behave like a biker-chick. I soon became aware of the plan to visit Gamkaskloof (better known as The Hell), a place that we have visited before my motorcycle days.

The training was soon completed in record time and I was deemed fit and skillful enough to make the trip. I was certain to pack and carry my own luggage and dad was all to thankful when I offered. He had to “carry” mom after all. At this stage I was still roughing it. Dad had earned his full (very fancy looking to me) gear after all the year’s of riding and fixing bikes. Mom was precious cargo, so she too had sufficient padding and protection in all the right places. Me, on the other hand, had to earn my gear first, so I borrowed a very sweaty, two sizes too big, pair of pants from a friend of my dad who, at the time, was a hardcore KTM Enduro rider. Protection wasn’t left behind as I managed to get some kneepads and chest-protector as well.

So there I was, all geared-up on my Yamaha 250XT and mom and dad on his BMW 1200GS. Until this day, I still think my dad wished he had the Yamaha that looked all tough and ready for the job (everyone loves a Yamaha). I swung my leg over the red seat, kick-started it to life and with a push off a button on the GS, dad led the way, determining the cruising speed for them and the top speed for me.

We were off and I could not stop smiling in my helmet. I was soon riding like an old Dakar competitor, at least that is how it felt, dreaming of a night under the stars, just me and my bike (and the parents). What was supposed to be a nerve-wrecking trip that, at times, scared some experienced riders, turned out to be one of the most exciting rides I have ever had to date. I was having the time of my life. The passion of adventure riding was ignited and nothing else mattered. A trip that usually requires careful planning, was turned into an impromptu family-gathering.

Dad was stopping at regular intervals to have a smoke. In hindsight, I’m still not sure if it really were smoke-breaks or if they were concerned breaks to check if I am still okay. Of course I was okay, I have adrenaline running through my veins and I have been trained like a soldier. Nothing was going to stop me.

That night around the fire, after all the adrenaline has subsided, I realized what I have accomplished. It is sometimes good to not know what you are doing at the moment. My dad always does thorough research, but I was glad that he did not tell me everything about Gamkaskloof and what the conditions were like to get there. I went with an open mind and turned The Hell into Heaven.

That night, I fell asleep with peace in my heart and great excitement. I could share another part of motorsport with my dear dad, but a new door opened. Another world to explore. I was happy to eat dust for a few hours, if it meant that I would feel like I am on top of the world.

Below is the route we took from George via Montagu Pass, Paarde Poort to Oudtshoorn and on to Swartberg Pass and turning of to Gamkaskloof.

Be safe and enjoy the ride!

oOo

Loving motorcycles?

Read more about the classic motorcycle collection in Knysna at Full Throttle

The post HELL ON TWO-WHEELS appeared first on TRAVELBUCKET.

Coordinates:                33°33’24.8″S      21°53’07.2″E

It was a nice and interesting Sunday morning breakfast run with the Garden Route BMW Motorcycle Club which ended at the Karooboom.  The wind was really huffing and puffing when we left George  along the Outeniqua pass where we had to hold on to the bikes.  As soon as we reached the Waboomskraal valley the wind subsided and it was just a beautiful Karoo day.

Today we followed the back roads via Kandelaarsrivier and De Hoop and so did the rain clouds.  As we pulled in at Karooboom the heavens opened on us – time to relax with a mug of  lekker boeretroos.  But soon after the downpour blue skies greeted us again = love the Klein Karoo!!

This is a no frills and fuss place with down to earth décor.  No fancy food on the menu.  The speciality at  Karooboom is pap en lap.  As no one in the group could vouch for it,  it was sort of  an  unanimous decision that all of us will give it a try.   What do you get when eating pap en lap?  Maize porridge served with tomato and onion relish, finely carved lieslap , a fried egg and home  baked bread and jam.  They also serve Sunday lunch and hosts a tripe evening  once a month.

Support Irene and Neil and find them on Facebook or visit their website at www.karooboom.co.za

Make your reservations for Sunday lunch at 044-0070034 or WhatsApp 079 620 1441

The post KAROOBOOM appeared first on TRAVELBUCKET.

The architect of this masterpiece is Watson Hall (1876 – 1941) and was ”compelled to come to South Africa for his health” arriving in Cape Town in 1897 at the age of 21.  He first worked as an assistant in the famous Sir Herbert Baker’s office in Cape Town before he became an assistant in John Parker’s office in Cape Town.  He lived in Claremont since his arrival in 1897 until his departure to Oudtshoorn in 1908 where he practised until 1920.

In 1910 Hall won a competition for the Dutch Reformed Church in Calitzdorp but “owing to the dissatisfaction expressed by the congregation” the job went to the second prize winner, Wynand Louw.  During 1920, at the age of 44, Watson Hall returned to Claremont.  At some point he was architect to the Rugby Union for a period of four years during which time he built stands at Newlands Rugby Grounds.

An interesting note in the Royal Institute of Britsh Arichtects (RIBA) states that he did “nothing outstanding, but specialized in churches and schools.”

Geocaching takes you places!   Visit the following cache at this site:  Volmoed (GC5F5KX)

The post DUTCH REFORMED CHURCH VOLMOED appeared first on TRAVELBUCKET.

What do you do for a summer holiday break?

Well we planned a camping trip to Gamkaberg Nature Reserve, tucked away in the mountains between Oudtshoorn and Calitzdorp, where the summer temperature easily soars to 40˚ C during summer.  Arriving at reception and while checking in with the helpful staff I glanced at the visitors book and noticed that we were the first campers in over a week.  Really not a favoured destination for the summer holidays!

After buying wood from Willem at reception we set off via the 4×4 trail climbing up Lawsons Pass to Bakenskop at 1105 meter (which were our highest elevation) to enjoy lunch in the cool breeze and enjoy the views from the top.

Arriving at Oukraal we found that the facilities really exceeded all our expectations.  The camping huts and stone shelter, providing cover against the relentless sun, were spotlessly clean.  No wonder I noticed an award in reception which proudly displayed best camp of Cape Nature.

During our stay we were rewarded with some breathtaking sunsets and one night we experienced an electrical storm that left my jaw dropping – way better than any New Year’s firework show can ever be.  Standing in the dark and watching the display I once again realized what a mighty God we serve!

We took early morning drives in search for elusive animals like eland and zebra and watched little critters coming to peep at us in curiosity during the heat of the day.  We were lucky enough to also see some really prominent cat spoor which can either be caracal or the very shy leopard.

These sit downs to photograph the small creatures first of all tests your patience and secondly your toughness in the Karoo sun.  Well, I did not last that long …  This is surely their world where I am the visitor.

We thoroughly enjoyed the peace and quiet with no cell phone reception and having the whole reserve to ourselves as we have not seen any other visitors during our stay.   The only thing to worry about is to defrost the meat that you want to braai tonight!   Just a quick reminder: you have to be self sufficient if you want to camp here.

As we were leaving the reserve I was pondering on the fact that maybe we are not the “normal” kind of family that choose to have a sea holiday, but rather come to the bush for a different experience during the heat of the summer.

The post GAMKABERG NATURE RESERVE appeared first on TRAVELBUCKET.

On the Outeniqua mountains

As the sun was starting to lift its head there was time for a quick early morning cup of coffee  and a rusk with Stanley providing the hot water source.   It was on the chilly side so  we did not linger long before we continued the drive.

Livingstone and Stanley

The sun was slow to rise and the shadows cold and deep.  We had breakfast while the fog was still hanging low over Oudtshoorn and the valley down below.  What a privilege to live in Africa and enjoy life from the window of your old Land Rover.

Early morning misty views

We all enjoyed a nice day out in nature and returned safely home  – well done Livingstone, the Landy!

The post LIVINGSTONE AND STANLEY appeared first on TRAVELBUCKET.

 We set off in George at a leisurely pace with clear blue skies, travel over the Outeniqua Pass via Oudtshoorn and aim for Prince Albert on the other side of the Swartberg Mountains.   The road is quiet.  I think the people are recovering from the New Year’s parties …

Once over the Outeniqua Pass the temperature rises to 31 degrees Celsius in the Klein Karoo.  It has been quite a while since I last traveled the iconic Swartberg pass, a gravel road, on the R328 but as all the previous times we were rewarded with stunning views of the mountains and yet again I am in awe of the skills of Thomas Baines – son of the famous Andrew Geddes Baines who built Bain’s Kloof Pass and many more – who constructed the road from 1881 until 1888 through the Cape fold mountains.  Today the dry-stone retaining walls are still in place and almost 120 years old.

The 120 year old stone walls

Along the road we stop for a geocache or two that are still outstanding and I have time to take some pictures of the veld flowers that are in bloom at this time of the year.   Just a reminder – keep your eyes open for snakes and scorpions when you are walking in the veld.

Before we reach The Top we see a brandwag (usually a big male baboon) keeping watch over his clan  whilst basking in the sun!  For those of you who are not familiar with baboons – close the doors and windows of your car when alighting, because they are very curious and can cause havock in your vehicle.

When we arrive at the top of the pass, which is located at  33°21′8″S 22°2′45″E , some tourists are enjoying their lunch at the viewpoint and admiring the vistas towards the Karoo.  The road is busy and you have to keep an extra special  lookout for cyclists and motor cyclists in the dusty conditions.  (This is a very popular motorbike road so please do not cut corners)!

The pass is  famous due to the spectacular geology that is exposed at its Northern end as you descend down to Prince Albert to the valley floor. The contortions in the rock display astonishing anticlines and synclines, and the vivid red coloration of the surrounding Quartzite is remarkable.  The pass was declared a national monument in 1988.  Along the way there are relics of the old  prison, toll hut and other historical sites.  This was Thomas Baines’ last engineering masterpiece.

You will also find the turn off to Die Hel or Gamkaskloof on this road.  Do not be fooled – it is a mere 37 km, but adhere to the time given on the signboard.  It WILL take you (+-) two hours of slow travel on the narrow and winding road!  Today however we will not take the turn off as we have visited Gamkaskloof before and are aiming for Prince Albert.

Prince Albert is buzzing over lunchtime and after passing the beautiful Dutch Reformed Church in the Main Street  our choice falls on a succulent burger and German bokwurst on the stoep of the famous Swartberg Hotel.

In the late 19^th century South Africa had more than 2000 mills, some of which dated back to the time of the first European settlers. Today only a few hundred of these mills survive, and of these, only a handful have been described or recorded in any detail.  On our way back we stop at the historic water mill, at the Southern edge of the town, to take some pictures. The mill was built by HJ Botes and was taken over by NAA Alberts and remained in his family for three generations. The mill was declared a national monument in 1963.

I will keep you posted on some more exciting travels in 2015, but this is my story and my smiley to start an exiting new year!

The post ROAD TRIPPING TO PRINCE ALBERT appeared first on TRAVELBUCKET.

Ek het begin oplees oor die geskiedenis van Oudtshoorn en vind toe uit dat daar  ongeveer 100 Joodse gesinne in 1877 hierheen gevlug het tydens die Russies-Turkse oorlog – meestal vanuit Lithuania wat op daardie stadium ‘n Russiese provinsie was.   Vandaar dat die sinagoge  in Baron van Reedestraat in 1881 opgerig is met die hulp van die Afrikaanssprekende gemeenskap van Oudsthoorn.  Die sinagoge is vandag nog in gebruik en lê weggesteek agter in ‘n lower groen tuin.  Soos wat ek stap hoor ek helder kinderstemme.  Vandag is daar ‘n kleuterskool in die ou Hebreeuse skool gebou agter die sinagoge.  Die kompleks het ook ‘n Joodse klub en die Rabbi se huis gehuisves.

Nog verder aan in Baron van Reedestraat (wat eers bekend was as Queenstraat) kry ek die Ou Tronk wat vroeg in die 19de eeu gebou is en ook die ontwerp van George Wallis was.  Vandag huisves dit nog steeds die Departement van Korrektiewe Dienste in Oudtshoorn.

Dan stop ek eers by Fairview te 131 Baron van Reedestraat wat dateer uit die vroeë 20ste eeu.  Die sandsteen heining met sy pilare waarop Fairview uitgekerf is, is eintlik nog in ‘n goeie toestand en is vir my mooi.

Ons draai op in ‘n nou straatjie om in Hoogstraat uit te kom en na ander juwele van die dorp te gaan kyk en loop onverwags die Methodiste Kerk, toe gerank met ‘n creeper, raak.  Die kerkie is gesluit, maar neem ek tog ‘n paar mooi foto’s hier.

 In Hoogstraat stop ek by die NG Kerk wat opgerig is vanaf 1860 tot 1879 en sy pastorie (1881) oorkant die straat.  Dit is jammer om te sien dat die kerk se sandsteen geverf is – ‘n mens wonder hoekom, want al die ander sandsteen geboue in Oudtshoorn het so mooi behoue gebly?   Ek dink ou Otto Hager, die argitek, draai in sy graf om as hy dit sien!

 Le Roux Huis reg langs die kerk is vandag oop.  Ons gaan loop ‘n draai deur die huis.   Daar kom ons te hore dat die linoleum en matte nog nooit vervang is nie en steeds oorspronklik is!  Volgens die besoekersboek loer oorsese toeriste gereeld hier in.

Dan op in Kampstraat na die Drill Saal toe.  Die gebou is aan die verwaarloosde kant en is op die oomblik in die mark.  Ek sien ook dat Cecil John Rhodes, die destydse premier van die Kaap Kolonie, die hoeksteen van die gebou gelê het in 1892.  Ek hoop iemand red gou die gebou van ondergang en bewaar die geskiedenis.

My laaste stop vir vandag gaan by die pragtige Foster’s Folly in Voortrekkerstraat wees wat vir JH Foster gebou is,  maar in 1914 bankrot verklaar is toe die volstruis verebedryf ineenstort.   Dit was ook eens as ‘n onderwysers kollege gebruik vanaf 1915 – 1924 en ook later as ‘n meisies koshuis.  In 1991 is dit as ‘n nasionale gedenkwaardigheid verklaar en vandag is dit egter ‘n gastehuis wat agter groot bome weg kruip.

 Gou was die oggend om en my verkenningstog van die verlede op ‘n einde – dit was tyd om huis toe te gaan!

The post ‘n BESOEK AAN OUDSTHOORN appeared first on TRAVELBUCKET.

So begin ek onder in Baron van Rheedestraat en stap verby die indrukwekkende CP Nel museum wat ongeveer 122 jaar oud is.  So leer ek dat ook Cecil John Rhodes hier op Oudtshoorn ‘n draai moes gemaak het toe hy die hoeksteen in 1892 gelê het.

Net ‘n klein entjie daarvandaan geniet toeriste ‘n koppie koffie by wit gedekte tafeldoeke op die bekende Queens Hotel se stoep.  Na bewering ook die derde oudste hotel in Suid-Afrika!  Maar ek is nog nie lus vir koffie nie en stap nog verder af in Baron Van Rheedestraat.

Dan kom ek op ‘n interessante oudhede winkeltjie af met die gepaste naam van Die Neelsie – dit is mos CJ Langenhoven wêreld die – waar jy enigiets van ‘n teelepel tot ‘n kas kan koop en as al die inkopies jou dors maak kan jy hierso ‘n lekker scone en koffie vir net R20 onder die kleurvolle sambrele geniet.  O ja, het ek gesê dit is ook in ‘n pragtige sandsteen huis geleë? Dit het intussen verander na Karoo Antiques, maar dis nog steeds heerlike eetgoed op.  Wanneer ek uitkom sien ek die Prince Vincent gebou (dd 1914) oorkant die straat wat in die “high days” van die volstruisveer bedryf die grootste vars produkte mark en algemene handelaar in Suid-Afrika gehuisves het.

Na koffie gaan ek links om die hoek na die hangbrug wat in 1913 deur Rowley en Seuns van Londen opgerig is om Wesbank met die middedorp te verbind.   Soek ‘n bietjie rond en jy sal dalk ‘n geocache hier kry.

Die rooi hangbrug in Kerkstraat

Maar oppad  terug na Baron van Rheedestraat wonder ek wie die Baron van Rheede nou eintlik was (Ek kan nie onthou dat ek ooit van hom in die geskiedenis geleer het nie, maar by die huis gekom het ek getrou aan my geocache naam hom gaan Google!).  Hy was die man wat Ryk Tulbagh moes opvolg maar het toe nooit in Suid-Afrika aangekom nie omdat hy onderweg hierheen op see gesterf het.

Die sonnetjie skyn lekker wanneer ek by die pragtige sandsteen kerkie van St Jude’s aankom wat deur die argitek George Wallis opgerig is, gebaseer op planne van Sophy Gray.  Sophy was ‘n interessante Engelse dame wat verantwoordelik was vir die oprig van ongeveer 53 kerkies in Suid-Afrika vanaf Claremont in Kaapstad tot in die Oos-Kaap.

Blikke van St Judes

Skuins oorkant die straat vanaf St Jude’s is Gotland Huis wat deur Charles Bullock, die ander naam wat telkens opduik in Oudtshoorn se sandsteen geskiedenis, ontwerp en in 1902 gebou is.  Vandag verskaf dit huisvesting aan bejaardes.

Maar eers gou die dors les onder die worsbome by Nostalgie wat reg langs Gotland Huis is.

Nog steeds in Baron van Rheede kom ek by Mimosa Lodge in die Art Nouveau-styl aan en haal die volgende direk aan want die huis word so mooi in detail beskryf.

“This beautiful Art Nouveau manor house was designed in 1907 by Mr Bullock for Robert Sladowski, a Jewish merchant of Oudtshoorn. The building was built of local sandstone by a contractor, J.T. Cooper (Jnr).

The roof line is broken by an octagonal-pointed spire steeple covered with fish-scale tiles. The base of the steeple is partially surrounded by cast-iron fretwork and on the top is a decorated spike. The bargeboard of the front gable is of beautiful dragon-design carpenter’s lace. A curved verandah is supported by decorated cast-iron poles, fretwork brackets and spandrels. A false portico is above the flight of steps to the main entrance. The wooden stoep is enclosed by cast-iron fretwork railings. Below the gable is an extension of the main bedroom partly covered with fish-scale tiles and a false parapet of cast-iron fretwork.

The four fireplaces each designed in a period art style and decorated with tiles, mirrors and Art Nouveau brasswork and encatchments, give evidence of plenty of money during Oudtshoorn’s feather-boom period. The ceiling of one of the bedrooms is of paper-mache in the French Rococo style. The dwelling now owned by Mr Andrew de Jager, is in the middle of one of the original water plots. An oak tree on one side of the front garden creates an atmosphere of peacefulness near a busy road to the Cango Caves.”  

(Bron:  http://www.oudtshoorninfo.com)

Daar is nog ‘n paar interessante geboue wat ek wil gaan opsoek wanneer ek weer in Oudtshoorn kom, maar was dit eers genoeg inligting vir een dag om te absorbeer.

The post SANDSTEEN ROETE, OUDTSHOORN appeared first on TRAVELBUCKET.