What is in a name?

Well, it's been a while since this little exploration started, but it was not forgotten. And as it happens another opportunity to go explore presented itself at last.

My wheels for today's journey was the aptly named Dodge Journey, a capable 3.6L V6 with enough ground clearance to handle anything today might throw at it. Also note how clean it is... for now.

Today I approached the area from a different direction, finding myself North of the Breede River traveling in an Easterly direction. In Beutler's day they would have been traveling East between the Breede and Zonderendriver, so that's where I needed to be. I crossed the Breede River on the R317 towards Stormsvlei, via the Red Iron Bridge:

The Red Iron bridge could easily be mistaken for a train bridge from a distance. It was built in the early 1900's, but apart from that I could not find any meaningful info on it. Structures like these have always fascinated me. Bridges connect people. Bridges provide safe passage over swollen rivers. Bridges allow the adventurer in you to go see what lies on the other side.

And today the Breede River was swollen, overflowing its banks after the recent rain:



The road hugs the Breede River traveling east, and even includes a little pass. It's not spectacular as far as Western Cape passes go, but there you have it - Hessekwasnek Pass:

Soon the road comes to a T-junction and right across you are presented with this:

Now I am pretty sure had Beutler's party come across this all those years ago, they would have stopped, and so did I. Wagon loaded with the newly acquired provisions I hit the road again.

The first gravel - you can see the earth is well and truly drenched at the moment.

Some scenery of the winter landscape:

Once again, I did not have my T4A GPS, so I was merely following my nose with only a general idea of what direction I had to travel in.

Two roads diverged in the Overberg, and I, I took the one less traveled by...

And that has made all the difference!
(with apologies to Robert Frost)



Beginning to move down to the Zonderendriver valley.

The dense row of threes in the distance show where the river runs.



I stopped at the homestead to make my presence known, but no-one was home. I don't like being on some-ones land without permission, but the river was so painstakingly close now. I decided to drive the last couple of 100 meters to the river.

And there it was, overflowing its banks between the trees.

Here wagons had to camp for days waiting for the river to run down. And here I am, on the exact same spot.

The Breede and Zonderend rivers converge mere kilometers from here, with Swellendam being Northeast, and more importantly, North of the Breede river. I wonder why travelers on their way to Swellendam crossed the Zonderendriver to get to the Southern side, only to be confronted by a full Breede River 8km further on? Surely crossing the Breede river higher upstream would have been a better option? I makes little sense to me now, but I am sure they had their reasons back then.

Some more scenery on the way out:



And just as I thought my little adventure was over, I was confronted with the same problem Beutler had! An impassible route due to flooding!

While taking the photo a truck approached, weighed the options of taking the detour, and decided to go for it.

That didn't seem so bad? At least I know the bridge is intact. Should I chance it? Why not?

Well, let me give you some advice. When a road is closed, don't chance it! It's NOT worth it. I drove over the bridge, but the water was much higher / stronger / faster than I anticipated! A wall of water quickly formed next to the car, and I could feel the force of the water trying to push me off the bridge. I made it, through grace. Luckily, I was in a big car with reasonable clearance!

The rest of the journey home was spent looking at the Canola fields in full bloom and reflecting on what I have found.

What is in a name?

Juliet did not attach much importance to it, but in this case, there was more in a name I could have ever imagined. History, exploration, adventure. A name is the link of a place to it's past. I believe in traveling informed. It makes for a much richer travel experience and if you travel informed, a name is where your trip begins. So, Juliet, there is a lot in a name after all! When I first went to see what lay over that hill, some people would only have found a dead end, but because of the name, I now know that I stood where true explorers and adventurers once stood before. And that is very cool.

The last map of my travels:

But the adventure was not over yet...

Loch Bridge (1893)

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Construction of Loch Bridge commenced in the middle of November 1891 and the last arch was keyed in on 5 December 1892, but the bridge was only completed in March 1893. A labour shortage resulted in the approach roads only being completed in September 1893. There were 24 stone masons, three carpenters, and about 150 natives employed on the works, and some 300 more were kept on the work of the approaches on either side.



The bridge consists of five elliptical arches of 40 feet each, the length of masonry is 264 feet and the full length of the bridge is 640 feet. The roadway is 16 feet clear, and is 43 feet above the bed of the riverbed. The highest known flood reached 21 feet below the roadway. Wing walls were added to the bridge after the floods of January 1898 damaged the abutments.



The final total cost of the bridge amounted to £ 14 722. Mr Birnie’s good management and accurate work was praised as the project was completed within the estimate, and when the last stone was laid, there were only two left out of the thousands that were cut.

The official opening of the bridge took place on Wednesday 6 December 1893, the delay was due to a dispute between the local Divisional Council of Barkly East and the Government about the former taking over responsibility for the bridge. The bridge was opened by Mrs Gie, the wife of the Civil Commissioner and Resident Magistrate of Barkly East, Mr J C Gie, amid great festivities attended by almost a thousand people, followed by a sports meeting, all while the band played on. A stone plague on the parapet wall had the following inscription :

“Built by the Public Works Department, WILLIAM MAGEE GRIER, M.I.C.E., Chief Inspector, under the immediate supervision of JOSEPH NEWEY, M.I.C.E., District Inspector, WILLIAM BIRNIE, Clerk of Works, 1893.”

The bridge was named after the Governor of the Cape Colony, Sir Henry Brougham Loch. It is a national monument and truly a masterpiece.

Source: Stone Arch Bridges of the Northeast Cape




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Letty's bridge (1873)

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In 1869 road engineer Thomas Bain turned his attention to the Tradouw Pass.

Bain was welcomed warmly by the Barry family of Swellendam who invited his family to move into a beautiful old house on the farm Lismore (situated 3km from Suurbraak) and the Barrys and the Bains became great friends.

Soon the construction of the pass began. Bain knew that river courses, like roads, preferred the path of least resistance. He therefore decided that the pass should follow the same winding course that the Tradouw River had carved through the landscape.

One of the first things you come across as you ride towards the Tradouw Pass from the Suurbraak side is the Andries Uys Bridge.



Bain built a six-metre-span bridge over the Gats river as part of the original construction and this was called Letty's bridge after on of the Barrys. Unfortunately it was washed away in 1875, two years after the opening of the pass. Bain then replaced it with a higher twelve-meter-span Teak bridge which was in use until 1979 when it was replaced by the modern Andries Uys Bridge.

This is what the old bridge looks like today:









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The Beauty of the Southern Drakenberg

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The campsite was a hive of activity this morning with the last of the riders wanting to get an early start.






(Photo by Gryph)

In the fresh morning air we set out. Gryph and I took it easy this morning, drinking in the scenery. Around every corner you are amazed at the sights and scenes. It's really worth your while to take your time around here.

The view over the Kraai river on the road between Wartrail & New England:



The Kraai River is a tributary of the Orange River. It originates to the south of Lesotho and flows westward, where it joins the Orange near Aliwal North. The bridge in the photo is a railway bridge and the remains of the old Railway station Tierkrans can be seen in the left of the photo.



This area not only boasts great scenery and beauty of nature, but also a rich history. Only a few kilometers down this road we cross the Kraai River over the Loch Bridge - a national monument.

Construction of Loch Bridge commenced in the middle of November 1891 and the last arch was keyed in on 5 December 1892, but the bridge was only completed in March 1893. A labour shortage resulted in the approach roads only being completed in September 1893. There were 24 stone masons, three carpenters, and about 150 natives employed on the works, and some 300 more were kept on the work of the approaches on either side.



The bridge consists of five elliptical arches of 40 feet each, the length of masonry is 264 feet and the full length of the bridge is 640 feet. The roadway is 16 feet clear, and is 43 feet above the bed of the riverbed. The highest known flood reached 21 feet below the roadway. Wing walls were added to the bridge after the floods of January 1898 damaged the abutments.

The bridge was named after the Governor of the Cape Colony, Sir Henry Brougham Loch. It is a national monument and truly a masterpiece.

We ride to Barkley East for fuel from where we'll head out towards Elliott until we reach Bastervoetpad. Barkley East itself has some interesting buildings.

The Old Mill Inn was originally built in 1895 as a flour mill for the district of Barkley East. The building has since been remodeled into an inn while retaining the old Victorian atmosphere.



This might be a good option when I bring Mrs.TR here.

We hit the R58 to Elliott (tar, but still very scenic) until we see this:



Bastervoetpad takes you from the R58 (linking Barkley East & Elliot) to Ugie. It's a mountainous gravel road that can be very challenging depending on which time of the year you travel over it. It's also known as the L.A.P.A. Munnik Pass.



In 1862 Adam Kok and his Griqua people were resettled in the Kokstad area. En route a splinter group of Griqua made their way over the Drakensberg and down the Bastervoetpad. They settled in the vicinity of Ugie. In 1863 William Murray established his mission station on the banks of the Inux and from 1874 onwards the area gradually became settled by white pioneering traders and farmers.

William Murray, a medical missionary and schoolmaster, founded the small village of Ugie with its peaceful ambiance and beautiful surroundings in 1863.

We passed by this road on our January trip and I vowed then to come back. This is it.



Scenery en route:



We were enjoying today's ride. No rush, stopping when we want to, enjoying our surroundings.

Gryph rode past a spot where something caught and ate a porcupine.



We took care not to ride over those "spikes". The last thing we wanted today as a flat tyre...

More scenery, beginning to ascend the pass:



In ride perspective:



Halfway up the pass this is what I found:



Gryph had a flat rear wheel.



The incline here is much steeper than it seems on the photos, so I had to stop my bike on level ground and walk up to Gryph to help.

This pic he took gives a better perspective:


(Photo By Gryph)

Back on level ground the wheel was taken off and fixed. We both carry all the tools to be able to fix a flat even if we were on our own, the only difference being that Gryph has a compressor and I carry gas bombs to inflate my tyre. Only problem was that Gryph's power socket broke so we couldn't use the compressor.



With the spare tube fitted we used two gas bombs (I had four) to inflate the tyre and we were set.


(Photo by Gryph)

Now it was decision time. Do we continue over this pass without a compressor, or do we get supplies first? It was afternoon already and it gets very cold here at night. We wouldn't want to get stuck overnight on this mountain.

The sense of adventure wanted us to continue, but in the end we decided on the safe option.



Thinking back I find it weird that we made this decision. I have been looking forward to riding this pass for a very long time and normally we'd continue. As it turns out we made the right decision in the end...

Starting the ride back down:



And not even 100m down the road...



Another flat, rear again. The spare tube Gryph had was suspect right from the start as I had a similar spare tube before and it failed 2km after the first flat. Gryph too has had bad luck with a similar tube on our Loxton trip when it failed right after he fitted it. The likelihood of a 2nd flat is one of the reasons we turned back. I hope he's learned his lesson with these tubes by now!

The great scenery around us was no comfort for a dejected Gryph who unpacked his pannier again, but if you're going to break down, it might as well be beautiful around you.





An frustrated Gryph:



I lent Gryph my spare tube (a thick enduro type tube) and after the wheel was fixed we inflated it with the last two gas bombs. We realized that after this fix we'd have no spare tubes left and no way to inflate a tyre, so we phoned GlenInk in Elliott who started riding out to meet us.

He arrived just as we finished up the fix.


(Photo by Gryph)

Tired and frustrated we headed back towards Elliott. Tonight we wanted a steak, an early night and a warm bed to sleep in, but about 10km down the road I noticed Gryph's wheel was deflating again. It seemed like a slow puncture this time so Gryph quickly inserted a can of tyre fix.



Let's get out of here. We'll fix this mess in civilization.

Barkley Pass:



We wanted some luxury to lift our moods and GlenInk knew exactly where to take us - Intaba Lodge.





Wow! This is exactly what the doctor ordered!

Some pics by Gryph:
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We also found this magnificent Morgan parked out in front:



My room - a welcome change after the small icy tent!



Tonight we can get a well deserved rest. Four nights of partying can really take it out of you.

As soon as the restaurant opened we ordered. We've had nothing to eat since breakfast that morning. Rib combo tonight. Just look at this plate of food! The steak is still under that!



Having dined like kings we retired to the pub for a last one, and another, and another... Next thing we knew it was closing time! So much for an early night.



Tomorrow we start heading home.

So I missed out on Bastervoetpad again, but I will be back. I have been in this area twice now and both times I purposefully avoided Naudes Nek Pass, saving it for my trip to Sani Pass. Bastervoetpad will now be done on that trip, on the way back. There's lots or riding to be done in this area still!






Sources: Loch Bridge

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