Day 1:
Eisbein, Vicky, Operator, LGF and I were going to spend the weekend riding the amazing roads and passes of the Garden Route, Baviaanskloof and Klein Karoo. Eisbein, Vicky and Operator arrived in George on Friday night already so we could have an early start the next day, but we chatted the night away and only got to bed in the wee hours of the morning. We left George (the sixth oldest town in South Africa) early on the 1st day full of anticipation of what lay ahead.
The route for the first day would follow the 7 Passes road, Kom se Pad, Prince Alfred’s Pass, past Uniondale, through the Hartbeesrivier road and the Noukloof Pass toe Uitspan campsite in the Western side of the Baviaanskloof.
First up: Saasveld Pass. It's tarred but the scenery more that makes up for that. We encountered lots of runners on this section. Petrol must really be getting expensive.
Saasveld Pass and the Old George/Knysna road is a historic route with old bridges and lots of scenery. The bridges date from the late 1800's and very early 1900's.
Near the old forestry settlement Karatra we met up with LGF and his trusty DRZ.
After cheerful greetings the full party continued on through the rest of the 7 Passes…
…past the Knysna lagoon, along “Kom se pad” and over Prince Alfred's Pass towards Uniondale.
Eisbein and Vicky cruising along enjoying the scenery:
In Uniondale we stopped at our usual spot – the Crackling Rosie – for some lunch.
See anything old or interesting?
Lots more chat and laughter (this is a social scenic ride after all
) and with full tummies we headed off to Baviaanskloof!
Bring it on! There’s no stopping us this time.
We were past the point were had had to turn around last time and anticipation was building.
Nuwekloof Pass was our final pass of for the day and it did not disappoint.
Finally our destination for the first night. Uitspan is an old favorite with great facilities.
Baviaanskloof teems with wildlife, including Leopard, Rhino and Buffalo, but we’ll go searching for those on Day 2. Tonight we had a rugby game to watch (Go Stormers!) and a nice braai waiting.
(Pic from a previous ride)
We spend some time in the bar and had some lamb tjops & sosaties (kebabs) on the braai (BBQ).
After lots and lots of laughter we finally settled in much later that night.
On Day 1 we rode 9 spectacular passes in 260km and including all photo stops and lunch we travelled 7 hours from George to Uitspan. It was a nice leisurely ride and the perfect precursor for what was to follow on Day 2.
Day 2:
Today we were moving early. Baviaanskloof waited! Operator's bike had other plans though. After I pushed and pushed Operators bike he had it renamed to Land Rover and it got towed by a Land Cruiser till it started.
We settled the bar tab
and we were on our way.
The plan was to ride through Baviaanskloof and back again to Bakkrans where we’d be sleeping on the 2nd night. On the way in we stopped at Bakkrans (Kleinspoort) to refuel and we left some of our luggage there since we’d be returning that evening.
At the first gate we met this informative fellow:
He had a lot of background and anecdotes about the kloof and suggested that, if we come across a Rhino, we give it right of way. No kidding…
The Kloof is the driest I’ve seen it ever, but eventually we got to our first water crossing.
Eisbein deposited Vicky on the other side and we then proceeded to cross several times for some nice photo shots.
Operator also dropped his bike here (luckily on dry ground) and I reacted totally out of character: I jumped of my bike to help him without taking a photo.
Vicky got one though. 
Next up – the wilderness area:
Today was a scenic ride, so I’ll let the scenery tell the story.
The much anticipated water crossing as Smitskraal. Of course we had to walk the water crossing first. The water was low but it was nice none the less.
It was a leisurely ride with lots of photo stops, but we wanted to reach the plateau at least. Eisbein has heard a lot of horror stories about that pass. He’s been wanting to ride it with his GS and pillion for some time and I wanted to see it done. I’m always in awe of the big heavy bikes taking on difficult terrain and doing so successfully. I also knew that if some-one could do it (and make it seem easy) it was Eisbein.
And finally the pass. As usual the photos don’t do the incline justice, but suffice it to say it’s got steep sections with rocky “step-ups” and ground clearance usually is the greatest problem.
Success!
And the view from the top:
We decided to head back to the Smitskraal picnic spot for lunch and cruise back through the kloof to our cave we’d call home for the night.
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