Chapter Ten - Mist, Heat, Durban - Valentino Rests

STOP - or suffer the consequences!

Waking to an overcast Gonubie Beach morning, Daddy Harley Dude made coffee for Mommy Lila and started packing before they went down for a full breakfast in the hotel dining room. Packing the Harley in front of the reception, a man who turned out to be the hotel owner stopped to chat. He remembered Mommy and Daddy from when they visited here three years ago while travelling to Knysna on their honeymoon. So nice to have that connection and memory. After a friendly chat he warned that the road to Umtata looks like having rain.

Twenty km's along the road proved him right. It started with light drizzle and a bit of mist, then got steadily worse, with the mist alternatively lifting, then getting heavy and thick, slowing us down to a slow third gear crawl, then slowly clearing as we got to the Kei River garage. The Harley rain gear from the Durban dealership kept all dry, but one needs riding savvy to safely navigate this weather and the traffic through mountain passes safely. Even fully loaded we never even had any close calls on the reputedly dangerous road through what was the Transkei. By the time we got to Umtata for a wake-up coffee, the sky was clear and it was getting rather warm. Rain gear off!

The ride from Umtata to Kokstad was getting hot, really hot. After all the riding for the last 10 days and 300 km's so far today, the heat resulted in us stopping for a leg stretch and water drink mid town. Even this part of our country is beautiful. A ten minute rest saw us able to get on and do the rest of the road to Kokstad, where we had lunch.

Now the last 270 km's were going slowly, but gave a chance for some reflection on the roads travelled, people met, and towns and sites seen in the last 10 days. The roads were now more familiar, having been used for many HOG breakfast runs over the last eight years. While our Blue chrome steed never missed a beat on the 4 020 km's travelled on this trip, it was showing the road dirt and a bit of an oil leak when it stopped back home in Durban. Mommy and Daddy unpacked and tiredly made their way upstairs for a restful relaxing bath.

This trip was one that doesn't leave you, but gets filed in the memory banks, and re-visited many times as one encounters what was familiar and draws comparisons with the experiences and feelings of the last few days.

Would this have been similar if done in a car? Not even close!!! The trip to Cape Town on our Harley made this a life experience that gives you a rush when recalling it. It's a feeling that reflects the slogan on the "T" short that says "If I have to explain it, you wouldn't understand". Fellow riders know what this is about. Till the next trip!!

Chapter Nine - From Knysna to East London with Valentino

Feeding cheese to the wagtail.

Valentino was fascinated with the little wagtail that walked around wanting cheese, and Mommy Lila duly obliged while we had breakfast in Knysna. With morning coffee under the belt (as well as a muffin and toast), we set off for a nice ride towards Plettenberg Bay on Monday morning.

Keurboomstrand

It being a week-day, the road works gangs were back on the job, and made their presence known before we even got to Plettenberg Bay. We arrive at road signs with the slow down message, and the speed limit gets progressively squeezed down to the 60 km/h limit before seeing the line of stopped cars. Love sitting on the Harley and slowly idling past all the cars while they watch us go to the front of the queue. The Harley sound reaches them first, then they turn round to see the burbling chrome and blue tourer pass by. We wait a couple of minutes with the road closed for traffic coming the other way, then seeing the message come through on the radio to the worker who opens the road for us, we start and loudly roar away, with an open road and no traffic until we reach the other end of the road works. When we got to Plettenberg Bay, we did a slight deviation to see The Dunes resort and a construction site from Whale Watching Spot at Keurboomstrand. We saw an amazing home there that looks like something out of Star Trek.

The Harley Dude

"I'll smack you" - in front of Storms River bridge.

We made good progress, stopping for a top up (and petrol) at the Storms River Bridge garage. The viewing site of the bridge provided a good photo opportunity. Then some snacks at the Mugg n Bean before heading down the road again.

Valentino orders Fish n Chips

The wind farm near Jeffrey's Bay (actually at Kouga) was eagerly anticipated, because it created such a surprise impression when we first saw it. We stopped again to take pictures of this wonderful show of "green power". Pity there aren't more of them.

Harley on P E Beachfront

Next stop Port Elizabeth beach front - Summerstrand. where we found a great restaurant overlooking the beach (and the Harley) for lunch. Once again, many stops had made us take many hours to do only 280 km's, so the accelerator was opened a bit more enabling us to get to East London in their afternoon rush hour. The traffic was quite bad and we saw a SAPS van just miss a jaywalking pedestrian. We also had a driver shout at us "Hey, where is your baby's helmet?"

I'm not tired - what about a beach walk.

After negotiating the heavy traffic to Gonubie Beach, we ended up at the Blue Waters Hotel, where after some haggling we ended up with the best room in the Hotel, upstairs nearest the beach. We needed a good rest before our last day's ride home. 580 km's today, 700km's tomorrow.

Chapter Eight - Cape Town to Knysna via Route 62

Valentino Checking the Traffic

Harley Chrome Not Too Shiny 

I was back to my position as tail spotter on Sunday morning as we left Bloubergstrand and headed for the N1, fully loaded again. The Chrome and Blue thundering Harley was idling its way through the traffic until we got to the freeway. We got a couple of smiles and comments as we stopped at the robots, even seeing a couple of fellow riders going to their breakfast run departure points. It was good in Cape Town, but good being on the road again too. Daddy rode at an average pace with the traffic all the way to Paarl, keeping a keen eye on the signs for directions to Worcester, then Robertson and Montague.

The first time we stopped was for a dreaded toll road booth, just after a confusing sign that said the road split, with both ways going to Robertson, just the toll road way was shorter. Daddy told Mommy he had never been on this road before. The road was getting quite near another mountain, and then the reason for the split became apparent. Our toll road was approaching a TUNNEL. We stopped for a picture or two (there was a good view back down into the valley with Paarl in the distance, and looking up the mountain, the other, longer road winding it's way up) then set off into the tunnel. It was the longest tunnel I've ever been in, well lit, and amplifying the Harley Screaming Eagle thump-thump in a very pleasing way.

Muffin with Jam n Cheese and Koeksister

Coming out into the sunlight, we rode through some of the nicest landscapes we have seen, the road winding its way through valleys, past beautiful rock formations and once through the mountains passing through valleys with wine farms. Many of the farms had signs inviting all to wine-tasting in their roadside shops. Worcester was a quant little town, a little short on signage, but small enough that you couldn't go too wrong. On a Sunday morning, traffic was scarce. We rode through and found the road to Robertson and Route 62.

There were many more farms here with many road-side farm stalls, and when we were near Robertson, Mommy Lila said she was falling asleep and needed some coffee. The ride was going very smoothly, with little traffic to deal with, and having fallen asleep, Mommy Lila woke with a start when Daddy started waving his left hand at a sign in the middle of a farm field. It had nothing but a huge "?" on it. The locals had a sense of humour. Further along we found a farm that had put up ten signs, each with one of the Ten Commandments on it. We like the Western Cape. The road-side shop we stopped at was just amazing. It had a little shop on one side with home-made jams, and bread as well as the usual cold-drinks and some local nick-nacks. The other side was a restaurant/ coffee shop, with a "trots Afrikaans" sign above the door. We had farm muffins and koeksister with our coffee, and the owner himself came around for a chat while we were enjoying the coffee break.

We got on the road again, quickly passing through Robertson and arriving in Montague. We had to stop at the bakery in the main street to pose in front of the Route 62 sign. The bakery owner came out and talked to us, inviting us in. He was pleased to hear that the Route 62 Rally would be in town the next week-end. We rode through town and Daddy took Mommy to the Avalon Springs Hotel with the springs where the rally would be held (he had been there 8 years before).

The ride was getting really hot now (Mommy had taken off a t-shirt and some tights already), and by the time we got to Barrydale, we really enjoyed the cold drinks with the lunch at the Country Pumpkin restaurant. This is the middle of the Karoo, where good Bobotie and Tomatie Bredie (tomato stew with lamb) come from. Needless to say, ESKOM's rolling power cuts arrived with our rolling thunder Harley, but the restaurant had gas stoves. This little village is a regular tourist stop for buses and the recipe's have suffered a little since Daddy's last visit.

We took a ride through an awesome mountain pass before getting back onto the N2 near Heidelburg, before riding through familiar territory to Knysna. Our friends Lyn and Monty hadn't got back from Cape Town yet, but very kindly let us stay at their home for a night on our way back.

The morning ride was so interesting and picturesque, that we took five hours to do only 250 km's. The rest of the ride (220 km's) took just over 2 hours, with Daddy pushing the Harley's beat a bit higher, but still just cruising. The evening was well appreciated for it's relaxing, lazy, peaceful environment in our friends home from home.

Tomorrow would be the last stretch home.

Chapter Seven - Valentino Harleybear's Last Day in Cape Town

Saturday morning was another sunny one, but with an astonishing site on the Bloubergstrand Beach. Daddy was used to seeing people taking their dogs for walk on the beach, but this was different. He called Mommy Lila over to have a look. The picture shows it all, a lot of Huskies pulling a sled, ala Greenland style. It had Daddy wondering what he had put in his coffee cup this morning. What an amazing place.

Our friends from Knysna, Lyn and Monty, had come to Cape Town for the week-end and we met them at Killarney Race track to watch some classic car and motor cycle racing. There was some interesting machinery on show and the pits were open to the public for all to wander in while all the tune-ups and preparations were going on. The racing was interesting, with Jackie Scheckter, younger generation of the famous Scheckter racers, winning a heat in a very fast Ferrari saloon car, beating Lola's, Ford GT40's, Porsches and various other recognisable cars. The loudest (but slower) heat had Sarel van der Merwe in a 60's Ford Galaxie competing against the likes of a Fairlane, Chevy Impala and several smaller cars.

Valentino in relaxed mode - Big Bay

One hapless contender unfortunately broke down right in front of the spectators stand. Embarrassing. But an interesting day. We left mid day, returning to the flat to begin preparing for the return trip by packing what we could.

We decided to have a sun-downer at one of the Big Bay restaurants, where the views were just as good as from the flat. The friendly atmosphere and everyone's lack of issues with those around them are a pleasure to experience. The tenseness felt when walking around in Durban is totally absent here, as well as the pleasant driving conditions, busy but considerate. Cars stop at pedestrian crossings.....and I never saw anyone go through a red robot. Hooting is seldom heard. Things are just so much more civilised.

Cape Town made a big impression on all of us. The night was on us all too soon, and we discussed our few days here while packing and preparing to leave on Sunday morning. Let it not be felt that this is a perfect city, there was a bus drivers strike one day while we were here, but only partial, some buses ran. ESKOM had it's load shedding effects here as well as in the rest of the country. We are repeatedly told that the winters can be really miserable, wet and cold. Flat and house prices in the better areas are just ridiculous. Overall though, there are many positives, Quality of life principles seem to be higher here than in Durban, as well as work opportunities. There are affordable homes in the suburbs, facilities seem to work better than elsewhere in the country. Superb shopping centres and the top of the list, TWO Harley Dealerships! and a bike shop that sells Victory bikes and has a workshop that works on Harleys near the Bloubergstrand beach.

Tomorrow is the start of the ride back, via Paarl and Route 62.

Chapter Six - Valentino Visits The Harley Dealership

Deloittes offices are at the top of the centre building

On Friday we all woke up and looked at the now usual, but still overwhelming view from the balcony. Daddy decided to have a look for the Deloittes offices in town, and after a lazy breakfast, took us on the now familiar road towards Table Mountain, turning to the waterfront and then into town.

We found Deloittes, right next to the Harley Dealership! A needed visit, where Daddy got some top-up oil for our 92 cubic inch V twin thundering motor. He also found a Valentines Day present for Mommy, and Mommy realised that the prices in this dealership were definately a bit cheaper than back home.

 The Harley staff and people are as friendly as any others we have been into, and we found other travelers with long-trip stories, as well as advice on which roads to try, and a query on whether we were going to the Route 62 Rally in Montagu next week.

Interestingly, there was an old rock built church past the Deloittes building, so Daddy quipped that Deloittes found itself between a Rock and Rolling Harley dealership and a Hard Rock Church.

Our next stop was up the freeway to Century City, where one of the biggest shopping centres in South Africa was situated. Century City has it's own theme park, and Canal Walk shopping Centre. Absolutely huge. We wandered around until Mommy found a shop that sold bikini's for less than R500.00 - thank goodness for Mr. Price. Like the rest of Cape Town, there are many restaurants and coffee shops, and once again, all seem to be doing business. This centre is really worth seeing. It has granite patterned passages, huge stained glass patterned windows and foyers where one has seats upstairs to look down on passers-by. Beautifully hand-made wooden benches for tired shoppers and granite finished rest rooms that smell good.

Back at our beach-side flat, Mommy decided to use the new bikini and visited the beach across the road to tan in the warm summer sun, while Daddy used the lap-top to catch up on emails and view property for sale in the area. When Mommy came back, they made some sandwiches and thought a relaxing evening would be a good idea. They were about to see an amazing sight.

Standing on the balcony and looking out at the beach we saw hundreds of kite surfers all along the beach as far as one could see. The multi-coloured kites were spectacular. An unforgettable sight. This picture on the left doesn't do the spectacle justice. (Try clicking on it to enlarge it). Daddy spoke to the local people about it, and they were blase', This happens every Friday afternoon in the summer, apparently, and the surfers then converge on the cafe's and restaurants nearby when the sun goes down. This laid back approach to life pervades everything; or so it felt to us.

Our visit to Cape Town had one more day before we tackled the return trip to Durban on the Harley; and what a Saturday it was going to be. See you tomorrow.                                                                                                                                                

Chapter Five - Big Bay, Table Mountain and Camps Bay

Table Mountain - Official World Wonder of Nature

Thursday morning dawned bright and sunny. and after gawking at the view from our balcony while drinking our morning coffee we decided what to do with our day. The attractions of Cape Town were already making a deep impression on us, and we decided to have a more careful look at the coastal regions, firstly a bit North at Big Bay and Melkbosstrand.

Big Bay grandstand.

Camps Bay Beachfront - red sign says LIVE ON

We got on the Harley and rode slowly up the coast to Big Bay, where we stopped at the beach where we saw a grandstand on the edge of the sand. We gathered that this is one of the beaches where World Championship Kite Surfing contests are held. There is a parking area for visitors to the beach surrounded by small modern blocks of flats, restaurants and a small shopping centre. We availed ourselves of the opportunity to have a bacon and eggs breakfast with a beautiful view, before proceeding along the road to Melkbosstrand. Part of the roadside is not yet built up, giving one a view of the renowned "fynbos" growing there. After passing a new Golf Course development one arrives at the village of Melkbosstrand, which is reminiscent of Hermanus, which we saw a couple of days ago. From the beachfront a view of the Koeberg Power station can be seen. Deciding that South was a more attractive option, we did an about turn, and backtracked to Bloubergstrand, then going on to the City, getting used to the traffic and the roads now. Riding through Sea Point one can't help but notice the modernisation of old buildings that are now apparently worth millions of Dollars (Rands are slowly becoming a less acceptable way of measuring worth in property terms). The road to Camps Bay is noticably not a new one (it winds through an area that has been built up for hundreds of years), but the slow ride is not a problem, as one has so much to look at.

Robben Island in the distance

Arriving at Camps Bay, one once again notices beaches on the one side of the road, and restaurants or coffee shops on the other. We immediately took a liking to Camps Bay, as it sported special motorcycle parking areas on the main road. The restaurants were not as busy as they usually are, due to Eishkom inflicting it's inefficiencies on the public while we walked around. Further South is Hout Bay and we rode along the coastal road for about 5 km's until we came to a road block, stopping traffic for 20 minutes at a time in each direction to allow road works to be done. Deciding our time would be better used travelling around, we ended up back at the V & A Waterfront for lunch. The "Bunny Chow" I ordered, was a mistake. The Cape Town chefs prepared a bland curry that no Durbanite would believe has any comparison to our spicy speciality.

Sunset on Bloubergstarnd

We returned to our "home-from-home" to reflect on our days exploring after visiting Uncle Andre' at work. There is certainly a lot to see and do in this vibrant City, and it was apparent that our five days here would not be enough to see even a third of it all.

Reflecting on our time in the City so far, we were quickly coming to the conclusion that this was a place where we felt comfortable; where we didn't walk around with one eye on "grab and run" candidates; where the drivers in the traffic don't give one the impression of being "aggressive". They stop for pedestrians, they allow motorbikes to pass between the lanes on the white lines, they stop at red lights. Not what we are used to in Durban.

We were being seduced by the peace of this City, the views, the people, the facilities, and the sunsets.

More tomorrow

Chapter Four - Valentino See's Cape Town

Uncle Andre' gave Daddy directions to his offices in Sea Point by 'phone when we were having lunch in Hermanus. Good directions, because we pulled up in front of his offices only having gone a hundred yards too far. We haven't seen each other for two years, since he moved to Cape Town from Durban with his family, so it was a happy re-union.

Cloudy view of Table Mountain from THE FLAT.

After the greetings had been made and a bit of chit-chat about the ride, we were given an envelope and directions to Bloubergstrand with a 'phone number on it. The verbal directions were a scream. "Get on your bike, ride to the stop street, turn left, go 50 feet to the next stop street, then turn left. Go straight until you get to the traffic circle, go left then straight through, the same way you came. Keep in the left lane until you get to the robots; then turn left. You will now go on to the freeway, keep left. Get in to the lane on the left which says N1 Paarl. The freeway splits. Go left."....etc....etc. We had difficulty in trying to concentrate on the instructions. Fortunately, it ended with a pyramid hotel (it really does look like that), and two more Go left's. We were told that the person we phoned would give us a set of flat keys when we gave him the envelope. We were told that we were booked into a self-catering beachfront flat for 5 days. That way we could come and go as we please without worrying about disturbing anybody. How awesome!!

The directions were RIGHT. We went left and found ourselves with a third floor view of Table Mountain and Robben Island from as close to Bloubergstrand as one can get. After getting the flat ship-shape and unpacking, we relaxed after our long ride having now done close to 1800 km's since leaving Durban in four days. A light supper with an evening of looking at the sun setting after 19.30 and the people visiting the beach for various activities, walking, running, dog walking, etc.

We woke up a bit late, but after coffee and toast, we decided to visit the much advertised and talked about V & A Waterfront. Not knowing the number of ways to get there, we parked once, then found that it was possible to get motorcycle parking near the centre of the business area, and so fetched the Harley to re-park. We found ourselves near the four statue memorial of Nobel Square with Albert Luthuli, F. W. de Klerk, Nelson Mandela and Bishop Tutu. Mommy Lila posed next to Tutu in his famous "deep thought" pose, and "shook hands" with the one and only Nelson Mandela.

Walking around, we found a fascinating mix of quaint, high quality stalls with unique hand-made articles (from clothing and jewellery, to wooden decorations and furniture), to a large shopping centre replete with all the franchised stores ....and restaurants. Everywhere you look, restaurants. Outside the Cape Town Fish Market restaurant we saw the historic Clock Tower. Once Red and White, it has now been painted Yellow and Black. It boasts an old tidal-gauge mechanism on the ground floor, which was used to measure tide levels. The second floor holds a decorative mirror room, which enabled the Port Captain a full view of all harbour activities. The clock mechanism can be found on the top floor, and, thanks to a restoration in 1997, the original clock is still in use today.

It is easy to get tired from all the walking to see the sites, but as said, there is lots of seating at the plentiful restaurants for resting weary legs. One of the hotels has an open air patio restaurant, featuring a golden statue of a seal called Oscar. At first glance, the impressive seal sculpture is a fitting mascot – Cape Fur Seals are an integral part of harbour life at the V&A Waterfront, and seal-watching is an amusing pastime.
But Oscar the Seal wasn't just another playful marine pup gamboling on the tyres along the quaysides. Beneath the statue erected in his honour, an inscription reads: "Oscar" the Cape Fur Seal. The original protector and guardian of the Table Bay. So, we have more than one famous "Oscar" with no legs.

One more sight seeing attraction worth mentioning is one of the boat rides, a pirate ship, complete with one-legged pirate captain in charge. We saw him, but no parrot on his shoulder.

Weary, we ended up back up at the flat for a rest. In the evening, we were fetched by Uncle Andre' and taken on a drive up the coast, to see the sights, and then to his home in Big Bay, where we renewed family friendships while enjoying a much appreciated home-cooked meal. Fortunately the cooking was done before the dreaded ESKOM power shedding arrived, We saw pictures of our great granddaddy and great grandmommy and a stool made by him that Uncle Andre' inherited.

It was good to share quality time with close family and catch up on new events, growing children, and relive old memories.
More in Chapter five tomorrow. 

Chapter Three - Knysna To Cape Town

Our friends in Knysna, Lyn and Monty, were so good to us, we reluctantly got up early on Tuesday morning to finish packing for the third stage of our ride..... TO CAPE TOWN!

Mommy Lila had decided that the back pack was too much for a comfortable and safe ride, and arranged to leave it here in Knysna, for collection at a later time. This is how Mommy looked when getting ready to leave. Yes, it's a sin to hide that beautiful face and smile, but it stops rain from stinging the face, and scares the hell out of kids on the side of the road. Now that I think of it, no cops stopped us anywhere either.

I was safely out of my black plastic raincoat again, with a view back at all we pass, safely held on by my blue safety belt. Daddy Harley Dude is big on safety, and helps Mommy with her helmet and jacket to make sure all is properly closed. He insists on wearing a leather jacket, gloves and strong boots that support the ankle whenever riding the Harley.

Mossel Bay Beachfront

 After a good breakfast and coffee, we were off, excited at the prospect of seeing new towns and sea-side villages on the way to our destination. We rode slowly from Leisure Island in Knysna, through the familiar town (Mommy and Daddy spent their honeymoon here, three years ago), and across the lagoon bridge, on the way to Wilderness.

Pictures don't do Wilderness justice. It is so green and clean and has a village feel to it, built around and between a river and the sea. The road climbs when you leave Wilderness, up through a mountain pass that looks down over a spectacular ravine with a river at its bottom. Once past this, the road passes a few seaside villages (like the small Victoria Bay), that are worth a visit.

Swellendam main street

We followed the freeway, passing short of George, on the way to Mossel Bay, loving the now sunny ride. Mossel Bay is nice to visit, with the friendly feel of all the Western Cape seaside towns. Scenic too. We stopped for petrol and found our petrol attendant was a friendly young guy that was such a pleasure to deal with. Totally unlike the surliness we have become used to. Onward we rode, our rolling thunder machine totally comfortable with all we asked of it. It comes from the land of "no drama Obama", but you know it's there, loud and proud.

Next stop was in Riversdale, for a snack and coffee. Mommy was falling asleep on the back. Then  on to Swellendam. Despite the name that evokes images of a Dutch colonial town, filled with historical buildings, it is a bit disappointing. It features a Massey Ferguson tractor outlet, a mountain and an old church.

River flowing into the sea just outside Hermanus

We rode along the N2, stopping at Riviersonderend for fuel, and the turned down to the coast again, to Hermanus. This is a beautiful little sea-side village, that one is immediately comfortable in. It also has a mountain, as well as the sea, and a great beachfront. It has mix of modernised old and new homes, and B & B's with a mix of franchise and mom & pop's restaurants. This was an indication of what we were going to see in Cape Town.

After lunch, we moved on and soon arrived at Sir Lowreys Pass, a spectacular way to look down on the suburbs leading to Cape Town. The road passes Khayalitsha and Langa townships, where one see's miles and miles of shacks, one on top of the other. Not a pretty sight.

Hermanus Beachfront

And one follows the road to the famous Cape Town Waterfront and Sea Point, where we were going to meet Uncle Andre', Daddy's best man when he married Mommy. We had arranged to stay with him for a few days.

 The traffic was bad, with a big city feel of all rushing to important meetings and destinations. The big soccer stadium smart, but dwarfed by THE MOUNTAIN!

What a nice, unexpected surprise was awaiting us. That will be our next Chapter.

Chapter Two - To Cape Town And Back To Durban

I, Valentino Harleybear, have never heard Mommy Lila let out a shreak on our Harley before, but when we heard the thunder and saw the lightning strike near us in the veld, her immediate scream was involuntary. The rain while we were riding was not too bad, as visibility was still ok, but I got very wet, and the back tyre sent a lot of sand up onto me when we rode up the short distance to the farm cottage.

After a hot shower and coffee with rusks, we were able to relax in comfort, with birds all around outside, and DSTV with premium package inside. Just what we needed after the long 880 km ride. The next morning packing was quite quick, but it was still raining, and after another cup of hot coffee with rusks, we set off on the road to Knysna, via Port Elizabeth, with me safely wrapped in a black plastic "raincoat". The dirt road back to the main road was a bit tricky, with a near mishap resulting in another scream and the Harley in the furrow next to the road, but still upright thanks to Daddy Harley Dude using his experience to keep us all safe on the muddy road. We got safely onto the main road after extricating the Blue and muddy Milwaukee Iron from the rut, and had a careful ride in the rain to Port Elizabeth, where we stopped for a warm breakfast at the Primi Piatta on the beachfront.

It had dried up a bit when we left Port Elizabeth, and we saw a sight near Jeffrey's Bay that is really impressive. We stopped and took pictures on the road back. It is the Jeffreys Bay Wind Farm project and has 60 wind turbines, each standing 80 metres tall. It was completed last year (2014) and makes a fair contribution to the South African power grid. Each turbine has blades 49 metres long and a rotor diameter of 101 metres. While this production of power is "green", it is quite an expensive option compared to more conventional sources and we have been told that birds get killed by them quite often. We still like this a lot.

Monty checking the dinghy mooring.

The ride after this got misty and drizzly, with long trains of vehicles forming behind slow trucks, unable to see ahead for safe overtaking. The mist cleared near the Storms River bridge, but not the rain, and we carried on until arriving at Keurboomstrand and Plettenburg Bay, where we had a small lunch at the very good Portuguese restaurant in the Old Nick Village. Arriving in this area gives one a good feeling, as there is a lot of greenery and all the people you come in contact with are warm and friendly. After warming up and filling the tank, we rode through to Leisure Island in Knysna, where we met our very good friends, Lyn and Monty. They put us up for two nights and showed us the local sights, took us for walks and out to the local pub. We met some of the local people and were able to really relax with special people giving special hospitality.

Monty took us on a 5 km walk around the Isle (checking his dinghy mooring on the way). We saw beautiful homes, met friendly people, and saw indigenous flora. I have never seen one of these before. Can't decide if it is really beautiful, or really ugly. Anyway, special.

The one day break in our ride was a relief to weary legs and necks. Mommy even came back from an outing to town with her nails done. Very smart. Even the local fauna (birds) are friendly. Makes a change from the horrible squawking Indian Mynah's in Durban. The Wagtails in particular, are so docile, they follow you around waiting for a handout of cheese. By follow around, I mean even inside the house, to the extent of standing on the kitchen workplace next to where you are preparing meals. If you walk through the lounge to the front porch, they follow you. Lovely.

More tomorrow.

Chapter One - Valentino HarleyBear Swanepoel Goes To Cape Town

All packed at the Kokstad petrol stop.

On a bright, sunny Saturday morning, at the end of January, 2015, Mommy Lila, Daddy HarleyDude and I left Durban on a long trip....... the longest I have been on. We had an early start. Mommy Lila was woken up at 4 am with a cup of coffee, and after dressing and taking the last of the bags and me downstairs (most of the packing was done last night), we all left at about 5 am as the sky was getting light.

On the way down the stairs, Daddy said "I think those boots are a mistake" to Mommy. At the garage door, she turned sideways and said "whats wrong, I wear these often". Daddy looked and saw a boot with a conventional heel that will hook properly over the footrest on the Harley. On the stairs he thought he saw a boot that had a completely flat bottom, as was the fashion a year or so ago, but not suitable for riding. "Sorry, I thought it had no heel" he said.

Different boots.

They got on the road and went South, past Amanzimtoti, Scottburgh and Port Shepstone, then turning inland to Kokstad, about 270 km's from Durban. Th
e ride was nice and sunny, but when Mommy got off at the petrol stop in Kokstad, she nearly fell. Her ankle twisted and she couldn't stand properly on her left foot. The problem was discovered. Two different boots, one flat, one heeled!

Mommy also had a full heavy back-pack on her shoulders, which really added more weight than usual to the Harley. Fortunately, another pair of short boots had been packed, and these were now put on, meaning the long boots had to be packed.

After a nice breakfast, we left Kokstad for Umtata, but Mommy couldn't get comfortable, because one of the boots was digging nto her back. This meant a bit of moving about on the bike, and with it being tail heavy, caused a bit of swaying from side to side on the road. We filled up with petrol again at Umtata and headed for Butterworth, the skies getting a bit cloudy. After a bit and more swaying, daddy stopped next to the road where there was a bit of a clearing and a view of a river and gorge.

The gorge where Mommy's boot ended up.

It was decided that to improve Mommy's comfort, so she would not need to move around so much, the useless troublesome boot should be disposed of. We smile when we think of somebody finding a single boot in good condition in the gorge not too far from the road where Daddy threw it (with much gusto).

With all a bit more comfortable, we rode on through Butterworth until the clouds looked threatening. In the distance it looked like rain as the hills weren't visible. Daddy stopped at a roadside bus stop and they put on their excellent Harley raincoats. When riding again, we found it wasn't rain but a bit of mist we were riding into.

We carried on to the Kei River Mouth garage for petrol and a snack. The back pack was still heavy, and when Mommy tried to get off, her raincoat pants have a strap that fits under the heel of the boot, this strap had got hooked around the footpeg on the Harley. Totally off balance now, she couldn't stop herself and slowly went down, rolling onto her back between the Harley and the petrol bowser. Daddy was holding the bike up and couldn't put the side-stand down because Mommy was on the ground there. He tried to help lift her up with his left arm while still holding the bike upright as well. The petrol attendant just stood back looking away into the distance, wanting no part of this strange event. Lila managed to stand up eventually, and after filling the petrol tank, they both went to the restaurant for a bit of sustenance and energy.

With the weather now not so nice, occasional drizzle, we rode on towards East London, passing by on the road to Port Alfred where we were booked in to a cottage on a farm 15 km's past Port Alfred. Riding in constant rain now, we filled up with petrol again at Port Alfred and set off to find the farm.

It was exactly where it was supposed to be, but on a dirt road about 1km from the main road. It was a relief to get out of the wet and into a beautiful well furnished cottage, not far from the main farmhouse. Very enjoyable, despite the fact that we couldn't explore the beach due to the weather, because the shower was hot, the coffee and rusks good, and the DSTV a full premium package.

More on this story later.