October 24, 2024
Day 20-22: To Prince Albert
Finally, out of the Wilderness. After the rain the previous day, the track and dirt roads were muddy. Waste of time cleaning the bikes.
We rejoined the Seven Passes road from Wilderness. West of where we rejoined, the road was closed – to cars. Plenty remaining road for bikes. Uninterrupted and lovely cycling for a little while. This took us to George, which we rode straight through, missing out on the bread baked by Otto’s wife – Otto had met us in the campsite in De Vlugt and invited us to stay a night in George. We would have stayed, but after the extra couple of days in Wilderness, we decided we needed to get going (it’s not getting cooler in Namibia!).
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Out of George there was an option – the Montagu Pass (the old dirt road over the mountains) or the N9 main road (tar) over the Outeniqua pass. Apparently, the Montagu Pass is lovely and historic….and it has been washed away earlier this year in the ‘floods’ just after having been repaired from the last washout only 12 months earlier. The roads in the Western Cape are great, but that one seems to be stretching the roads department. Either way, we’d been told (by locals in George and a cyclist we met who came down this pass) that it’s really difficult. After the recent rains, and after much deliberation (and even riding 2km up the road to ‘have a look’), we decided against riding up a waterfall, and took the tar. Much longer, but a good choice. It rained on us again going up - the dirt road would have been a real slog.
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Back on the R62 (going the wrong way – east… why??) to pick up a dirt road taking us north. After only a few kilometers, we found a farm with a lovely campsite beside a river and the people renting the homestead sent us a parcel of olives and biltong. Nice!
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Next day we started to see Ostrich farms. Which started out a novelty, but they’re everywhere. And trucks filled with Ostriches (little heads poking out the top. Wonder what they’re thinking).
The wind is a feature around here. It was our turn for a headwind. 10km took an age, but we made it to De Rust for a feed – a great burger. Followed by coffee. And to stick it to the wind, pancakes.
Then straight up the Meiringspoort (a gorge) that would take us through the Swartzberg range. Great road -great scenery and a lovely, smooth road. Must have just been repaired after the floods – some people still working on cleaning the mug from the gutter.
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Popped out at a small town of Klaarstroom which didn’t look appealing, despite how late it was, so we rode on hoping to find a place to stay. And got lucky at a homestead. Despite the house being some distance behind a gate, the dogs are quite effective as doorbells and the young landowner allowed us to camp on a nice patch of grass and opened a toilet and shower for us. Lucky us, and just another example of the famous South African hospitality.
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Activity on the farm started early, but that suited us, because the days are quite hot. We finally got away reasonably early on the last stretch to Prince Albert, this is the edge of the Karoo – clearly drier that just south of the mountains. Lots of low saltbush (or something like it) and terrain that reminds us of the Flinders Rangers back home. Rolled up and over the small pass and down into Prince Albert before it had got too hot. We planned on going on, but after a sleep in a park in town, and another lunchtime feed at a restaurant, we decided that was enough for today. There’s a reasonable campsite on the edge of town where we could try to avoid the sun, and then the wind.
Today's ride: 191 km (119 miles)
Total: 669 km (415 miles)
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