Day 6

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Last day. No rush this morning.



A quick check of the radiator reservoir shows no change since we got here and it's still almost full.

We take it easy today. We don't have a lot of distance to do and it's a nice cool day. Our first cool day of the trip.

Uniondale:



And the pass over into the Lankloof:





We stop on the Langkloof road to check the radiator reservoir again. All is still fine and the bike is running at normal temperature. Luckily the Transalp does not have an old needle temperature gauge, but a digital gauge that gives you a reading in degrees Celsius, so if there is a spike in engine temperature you'll notice it immediately.

The last pass of the trip:



One last stop at the viewpoint on Outeniqua pass and this also is where we say goodbye. This was a special trip. It was not just the scenery. The people, the friendship, the camaraderie made it special.



Thanks Smidty and Smidty Jnr. It was a privilege for Asterix and I to have you on this trip


We travelled just over 2000km and crossed 22 passes, most of which I have not seen before. But we all know that we have only but scratched the surface. We have seen magnificent places, but many more trips will be needed to unlock the true splendor that is the Eastern Cape, not to mention the Mountain Kingdom of Lesotho!



Tying up loose ends:

I got well and truly beat by the GPS. I reset it each morning to have an accurate reading of each days stats, only to find that I deleted each day's track along with it! The route I loaded also did not work out well so obviously I need to study the use of a GPS a bit (a lot!) more. It was useful in finding fuel, shops and points of interest though. So we learn.

As far as the bike is concerned I took it in to the local Honda dealer (Honda Wing George) on the Tuesday after we got back. As it turns out the radiator did not break, but got hit by a stone and only had a small leak. I put in an insurance claim which was approved the next morning and a new radiator was ordered. Honda SA had one in stock and it was promptly sent off. Great service by my broker, Honda SA and Honda George.








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