Wilkinson's World

Archive for April, 1999

Day 6 - Groblershoop to Griekwastad

Day 6 – We set off from Boegoeberg Dam well before 5.00am for the drive to Groblershoop and the spot where I had stopped cycling the day before, the turnoff to Griekwastad. We made good time in spite of the narrow dirt road and I was able to start cycling at about 5.30am. It was cool at the start and the sun did not seem quite as fierce when it first rose into a clear sky.

The nightmares of the second day had faded and I found myself enjoying the ride. The rolling countryside was challenging, but made for an interesting ride. This is what I had envisaged when I planned the tour. Warm sun, but not overbearingly hot; a rolling countryside of interesting scenery; the bike functioning the way the makers intended and legs that were enjoying turning in their private little orbits.

But this never lasts, does it? And where would the challenge be if it did?

My front wheel became a source of concern, dragging me from my comfortable reverie as some of the spokes began rattling loosely. My efforts at tightening them were unsuccessful and I would have to do the job properly when the ride was over for the day.

As the day wore on my legs became tired and there were times when I seemed to be making very little headway. Several steep hills (which probably weren’t really that steep at all!) as the road climbed the low range of the Asbestos Mountains took their toll and I was greatly pleased to eventually reach the historical village of Griekwastad or Griquatown and the end of the day’s ride.

We decided not to stay overnight in Griekwastad and drove on to Kimberly instead, where we booked into a B&B for three nights. What luxury! We were able to unpack the car for the first time in a week and consider this to be our base for a few days. Camping is fun, but when you are really tired it does take its toll. When the weather is really hot a tent offers very little protection from the sun, at least the modest little tent that we use. The air inside heats up until it is more appropriate for the baking of bread than for an afternoon nap. At night it becomes cooler, but lacks the comfort required by aching muscles in order to have an uninterrupted eight hours of rest.

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Day 5 - Upington to Groblershoop

Day 5 – Weatherwise, each day seems to be a carbon copy of the day before. I left Upington at 5.30am before first light and while it was still pleasantly cool. After just a few minutes I paused on the bridge over the Orange River to appreciate the moonlight reflecting on the water. In the early morning before the bustle of human activity could cast its far-reaching shadow, this was a timeless scene. Undoubtedly appreciated by the early settlers and unchanged for untold decades before that.

A few deep breaths and I rode on into the cool air. But the cool was not to last. It became very hot once the sun came up.

It is a pleasant route from Upington to Groblershoop, with many ups and downs as the road vaguely follows the course of the Orange River. This also makes for very pleasant scenery changes as the irrigated lands, mostly grapevines and citrus, contrast strongly with the bleakness of the unwatered veld. The semi-desert has a harsh beauty all of its own and it supports a fascinating array of plants and animals. But man demands more from these acres than Nature has provided and has taken it upon himself to spread the influence of the river far beyond the banks that confined it for so long. The green swathe marking the course of the river has been widened, jobs created and food produced.

The kilometres clicked by and fairly soon I reached Groblershoop, the hope, apparently, of one Piet Grobler, one time Minister of Agriculture.

We had passed a large, tranquil looking dam about 28 kilometres before Groblershoop, where there were a few people camping. On finding the Caravan Park in town abandoned and derelict, we loaded up the bike and drove back to towards this dam with the thought that we might spend the night there. We stopped at the offices of the Dept of Water Affairs along the route, to solicit some advice and a very helpful official suggested that, for reasons of security, we would be better off going to the Boegoeberg Dam Caravan Park, 33 kilometres to the south of Groblershoop.

Boegoeberg Caravan Park, proved to be interesting, sited on the edge of the dam. We arrived on Good Friday, the start of the Easter weekend, and the Boegoeberg Dam is obviously a popular spot for the boating and fishing fraternity. In the late evening a group of young folk arrived at the concrete recreation area, quite near to which we had pitched our tent, to do some dancing. Music courtesy of an in-car stereo system. Played South African style – loudly. Very loudly.

They were determined to enjoy themselves at all costs, which motive cannot be faulted, but which was greatly at odds with my intention of getting a good night’s sleep. Luckily for us their enthusiasm for dancing did not match the volume of their music and they didn’t stay too long. I wondered if dancing had been included in the weekend programme by the womenfolk as retribution for the hours devoted to fishing and boating by the men. The hunting-fishing-beer-and-braai brigade were hardly going to impose an evening of dancing on themselves.

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Day 4 - Kakamas to Upington

Day 4 – According to my planning this was set to be the shortest and easiest day of the entire trip. Less that 85km in total. Nevertheless, I set off at 5.40am while it was still dark in an effort to beat the heat, which had been such a source of discomfit over the past few days. The dark made riding rather difficult because of the narrow road with no shoulder and very broken edges. The panelbeaters had been at work designing roads again. Although the moon was fairly new, it lit the road sufficiently with its reflected glow.

I expected to ride for less than three-and-half hours on this, the fourth day. The wind was light and although it was once again blowing from the east it was hardly a bother. My spirits were buoyant as I cycled into the slowly lightening daybreak and my thoughts turned to some of the vagabonds who roamed the area in the country’s youth. George St Leger Gordon Lennox, better known to his compatriots and to history as Scottie Smith, who lived for a good part of his later life up the road in Upington. In fact he, or at least his mortal remains, will spend all of eternity in the cemetery at Upington. Eternity in Upington. A heavy price, some unkind souls may say, even for his sinful life. A horse thief, cattle rustler and general highwayman, he had a reputation as something of a Robin Hood and seems to be remembered almost as one of the good guys.

I passed through the farming centre of Keimoes – which turned out to be a lot bigger than I expected – about half way through the day’s ride. It is really fun to ride through these little country villages. It is not only interesting to see them at a far less frenetic pace than usual, but it somehow gives one a mental and physical boost. It gives one a few kilometres for free!! It is also amusing to see the bewildered expressions on the faces of the local folk who inhabit the streets when they catch sight of me cycling through their domain. Many of them wave, without the slightest inkling of where I have come from or where I am going. Just a bemused smile and a friendly wave to the idiot on the bicycle.

These country folk, if the few that I spoke to are typical of the breed, are not great on their geography. Tell them that you are cycling to Richards Bay and they look bewildered. Tell them that you are heading for the next town or village and they will grin and nod wisely, usually with some comment about the vastness of the distance and a polite query regarding your sanity.

There are lots of ups and downs between Kakamas and Upington, which were pleasant rather than grinding as they were on previous days, although this feeling is probably influenced by knowing that there are only about 85 kilometres to be cycled today. There is a considerable mental component to fatigue and when one is in high spirits the uphills seem less steep and the kilometres a little shorter.

I reached Upington before 9.00am and we booked into the Island Caravan Park, beautifully laid out on the banks of the Orange River. Upington, like so many of the towns in South Africa, was named after a British politician, Sir Thomas Upington, who was the Prime Minister of the Cape Colony in the 1880’s. The Island Caravan Park is very convenient to the N10, which is our route for tomorrow and is wonderfully spacious and clean. Lots of sprinklers going for hours on end to keep everything green. What miracles can be engineered by water.

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