We set off on a heavily overcast day, determined not to let
the weather get us down. Meeting halfway, Villiersdorp seemed the ideal place,
as it’s surrounded by mountains, dams and forests.
We headed into the mountains from the town, going past a
cemetery and then not having any idea where we were.
Following the front wheels we criss-crossed through a forest, over donga’s and ditches - and down into a spectacular valley where we ended up having our picnic. Well…. Sort of. It was a lovely camp site and the caretaker told us we were welcome to “camp out” on the lawn and have our meal of buns, cold meat and coffee.
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Preference to campers |
He was extremely knowledgeable and told us about the
beginnings of the campsite, where we could explore a bit more and a lot about
the vegetation. Unfortunately he did talk a bit much and our idea was to ride,
not sit around, so after about an hour (without being able to have our picnic),
we excused ourselves and headed off on a back road he suggested, deeper into
the mountains.
After some twists and turns we came across a beautiful dam.
Called the Elandskloof dam, named after the Elands river running through it and
situated in an exotic “kloof” – ravine. Unfortunately we could not get to the
dam itself, fenced up and big NO ENTRY signs deterring us from wetting our
feet, so to speak.
We took a few detours on our way back, snooping around small
dirt road inlets and getting deeper into the mountains. And being forced to
turn around a few times, getting ourselves into impossible situations!
We found a nice spot and decided to take a break and have
some of the food we were prevented from eating earlier. We were also fairly
tired, as Toni had managed to put his bike down a few times – and no, he was
not even on that big thing! As a matter of fact, once he was not even touching
it, still, Jongosi was heavy and lifting it was hard work - we needed to
replenish before we headed home!
It was not long before the drops started falling and by the
time we were packed and leaving town it was coming down in buckets! In spite of
the rain, we had a wonderful day of exploring and learning. Thank you oom Koos
for teaching us more about your valley. And thanks to the bikes, we were able
to find some hidden treasures!
Thank you for reminding us about this hidden gem. Nice pictures!
ReplyDeleteGlad you like it Johan. Thank you.
ReplyDelete