Rock and Roll in Capetown and lunch in Velddrif

On Saturday evening we were at a Rock and Roll party at the Hout Bay Yacht Club, something to do with the opening of the sailing season and what a good party it was! The band was excellent, the booze was cheap and the food was good and sometime in the early hours of the next morning we were back at the house where Rob and I finished off the last of Dick's good whiskey. It had been a party of note and I'm not quite sure what time it was when I eventually fell into bed.

We were not in any huge hurry to get on the road the next morning so we were able to take it easy, even so I needed a pit stop on the way. Our destination for lunch was Des' shop; "Ek en Djy Visserye" at No 1 Bokkom Boulevard on the banks of the Berg River, some 160kms away.

It was a lovely ride, there was quite a strong wind out of the north but that was the way we were heading so it didn't bother us too much, I stayed at 140kmh just slowing down to the speed limit at the lay byes where we expect the speed traps but I didn't see any at all, must have been a rest day.

The big red machine comfortably ate up the distance and it was just after 12pm that we cruised down the dirt road along the Berg River towards Des' quaint little shop.

Next to the shop is Marina's River studio where her art is on display and for sale, lots of interesting things to see;

We have been there many times and the last time this was "Lady Gaga", this time it was his ex Mother in law holding out the "bokkoms", dried harders (mullet) a West Coast delicacy.
Leon and Christine who used to have the "Seafood Shack" restaurant in Velddrif are now doing lunches on weekends at Bokkom Boulevard, we had enjoyed their restaurant and I wrote about it some time ago, so I was keen to see what they were doing;

Looks good for R40 (You do the math.) We ordered two beers and two lunches and sat down to have a chat with our friends.

It really is an idyllic location and Des and Marina are very friendly people, bikers too so they love having other bikers come by.

There is also the option of a cruise up the Berg river with Dan who operates from the jetty right in front of the shop, it was very relaxing sitting there watching the boats cruising past and whilst we waited for our food Des showed me his new clothing range, so far only tee shirts but with Des you never know! This is bound to catch on;

Inside Des' shop there is an eclectic mix of things to buy, things to make you laugh and things to ponder over. His cash register has a bell on the side in case customers want him to ring something up;

Whenever we go to No.1 Bokkom Boulevard there is always something new to see, it wasn't long before our lunch was ready, a simple but deliciously satisfying meal;

Clockwise from the left; a lovely creamy Feta cheese with olives, sweet and sour mussels, potato and lettuce salad, smoked Snoek nuggets with a seafood sauce and home baked bread. I really enjoyed the meal, perhaps the ambience had something to do with it, apparently Leon and Christine do different meals each time and I am keen to go back for their seafood pot sometime.

Soon it was time to get our ducks in a row and move on. (Sorry!) Seriously though, you Western Cape people should visit sometime, turn right at the major four way stop after the bridge over the Berg river as if heading to Piketburg and after about one kilometre or so look out for the sign "Bokkom Bedryf" on the right, go right down to the dirt road which goes left along the riverbank, a good easy to ride road and you'll soon come up to Ek en Djy Visserye, and as I said Des loves having motorbikes parked outside the place - tell him I sent you.

R.I.P. Marco Simoncelli

A sad day for MotoGP in particular and for the biking world in general, Marco Simoncelli succumbed to his injuries sustained in a crash in lap two of the race on Sunday, rest in peace brother.

We wuz robbed!

What do Bryce Lawrence and the Dalai Lama have in common?
Neither of them can get a visa to visit South Africa!

Bloody Aussies - bloody Ref. - bloody disallowed (because-of-a-supposed-forward-pass) try - bloody Aussies - bloody hell!

Ok now I 've got that little rant off my chest I can continue;

We stayed over at Linda's house on Saturday night, we were invited to her Springbok breakfast for the game on Sunday morning but we managed to have quite a bit of a piss-up that night anyway!

We were up bright and early Sunday morning helping to get things ready and eagerly anticipating the game, which we were all sure that we would win.

Linda always goes to great lengths to ensure that her guests have a great time and with Janet and Patsi's help she put on a wonderful breakfast spread.

There were even little South African flags on the hors d'ouvres and there was a hot breakfast for after the game.

Springbok rugby fans just before the game started; Don, Trish, Patsi, Linda, Sharon and Brian but they didn't look this happy when they sat down to breakfast a bit later!

This rather clever email came through my inbox, not to make light of the American 9-11 tragedy, somebody caught onto the 9-11 score and made a comparison.

We enjoyed a hearty breakfast with our friends and then got out on the road, it was again a lovely sunny day and I was keen to get going. Even though the R27 West Coast road is very familiar and very boring we had a lovely cruise in the mid morning sun and got home just after 11h00.

I dropped Janet off at home and then went around to the Sports Club where I knew that the local bike club the "Meeulanders" were handing the proceeds of their food tin collection to the local Round Table.

A couple of weeks ago the Meeulanders spread out and spent hours outside local supermarkets persuading members of the public to donate tins of food for needy people, the result of their efforts was an amazing 1,2 tons of tinned food collected!

An incredible effort by a relatively small bunch of dedicated bikers, I've said it before and I'll say it again; bikers are good folk.

Here Div, left, the President of the Meeulanders MCC hands a tin, representing the 1,2ton load over to the President of the local Round Table, well done guys.

Here are the members who were there on Sunday, I'm not sure if this is all of them, probably not but it is the largest and the oldest motorcycle club in the area having been formed some twelve or thirteen years ago. I know them well and ride with them often, a great bunch of people and long may they continue to thrive and prosper.

Ink and Iron show 2011

Janet and I met up with Frank at the Engen One Stop on the R27 and after a cup of Wimpy's famous coffee we hit the road bound for Capetown and the second annual Ink and Iron show. By the time we left, just after 09h00 it was alread feeling very warm, promising to be a hot and windless day. What a day to be out on the bikes! The ride down to Capetown was fast and very enjoyable and after dropping Janet off at Linda's house, (they had their own plans for the day) Frank and I headed off through the Saturday traffic to Timor Hall in Plumstead.

I know the venue very well having been there many times, but it was immediately evident that this was a much better venue for this show because of the large rolling lawn areas and the abundance of massive shade trees. Our first priority was to get a cold beer in hand, after that we could concentrate on the displays.

Obviously cars are also "iron" and there were some very interesting classic and custom cars on display, including some very nice American muscle, lovely stuff.

There's a new magazine on the market guys, this sweet young thing was one of several beauties who were promoting "Garage magazine", it's a high quality glossy mag with great photos and interesting articles of particular interest to us petrolheads, I have since had a chance to peruse it and it's a good one.

Every available interior space was taken up by tattoo artists, including some space on the veranda and there were many people subjecting themselves to the pain! This young lady was having a large tattoo done on her side, she was quite relaxed about it though.

This young lady looks very familiar, is she not the one who featured in last year's blog post? I'll have to compare photos, she also seemed oblivious to the pain. You will no doubt have guessed that I have not yet plucked up the courage to have my first tat done.

There was plenty of eye candy in the form of beautiful motorbikes to look at, drool over and comment on such as these two lovely Ducatis.

We liked this very interesting low-slung custom job and there was also this very sweet Kawasaki Ninja which was obviously a class winner;

It was plain to see that a great deal of tender loving care (and money) had gone into the preparation of this lovely looking bike. Also there was this amazing Honda Rune 1800 belonging to a brother we see at many local rallies;

 When I commented on the huge amount of chrome that had to be polished he willingly admitted that he didn't have to do that, a member of his staff kept it clean for him. Nice one.

An amazing looking machine based on the 1800 Goldwing and Valkyrie engine.

By then it was time for a snack, there were plenty of food stalls and all seemed to be doing a roaring trade, this lady sold delicious boerewors rolls with lashings of fried onions which went down very well.

It's a great place for "people watching" and we were able to witness a biker wedding that took place in the afternoon;

Amid much cheering and celebration these two people were married infront of their brothers and sisters.

The happy couple head inside to sign the register and to have their wedding rings tattooed onto their fingers, we wish them a long and happy life together.
After spending a bit more time wandering around we decided that it was time to leave, Frank had to ride back to Vredenburg, I was staying in Capetown for the night.

It definitely seemed that there were more people than last year, there were certainly a lot of motorbikes in the parking area and the show was better organised this time. I hope that it continues to be a part of the Western Cape biking calendar, who knows, maybe I'll get my tattoo done next year?