Worcester to Hermanus

Day two was a lovely ride although it started out cold and grey. Janet did not win big at the casino unfortunately but she enjoyed her evening which was the main thing.

We rode the fifty odd kilometers to Robertson with fairly heavy traffic and had a really good breakfast at the Wimpy. By the time we had finished the weather was starting to clear and it had warmed up considerably, I could see patches of blue sky to the south and east which was where we were going.

The sixty kilometer stretch from Ashton to Swellendam has always been one of my favourite biking roads, a really good surface with wide shoulder areas and plenty of long sweeping bends. I had my new gopro camera mounted on the bike and when I tried to use it I found that the battery was flat! Still no photos to show yet.

At Swellendam we stopped for a beer and a bum stretch at a local biker pub but at that time of the day on a Tuesday there was nobody else around.

Swellendam to Caledon is 89 kilometers on the N2, one of the national highways, it is a very good road to ride on, well maintained with some really good bends and undulating hills, nearer to Caledon there are hundreds of acres of well manicured golden wheat fields stretching away into the distance, then around the next bend and over a rise and we saw huge areas dotted with large neatly rolled bales of hay.
We were taking the long way to get to Hermanus because we could. We stopped for another beer in a slightly less salubrious pub on the outskirts of the town and then headed back out for the run down to Stanford.
This is a lovely ride, we have done it before, the road twists and undulates through the wheat fields with very light traffic and soon we were taking the coastal road past the lagoon. There was a slight drizzle, overcast and the aromas coming from the fynbos alongside the road were absolutely refreshing.

I phoned my friend John and he gave me directions to their house, a couple of years since we have seen John and Tina but the friendship bond is still strong, we go back a long way to the days in the Rhodesian Police Force, the BSAP when we were on the same Detectives training course.

They offered us accommodation so I happily cancelled my previous arrangement, I'm sure that the young newlyweds were also relieved when they heard the news!

 

What do Rhodies do when they get together? They braai, and they do it with sadza! We went downtown for supplies and then settled down to a lovely evening of eating, drinking and of course reminiscing. It was a fantastic night and the red wine flowed like water.

That was only 295 kilometers and the next morning we only had some 50 kilometers to do to get to Gansbaai so we were not in any huge rush.

John took this photo of us leaving, we'll be back soon my brother.
Hermanus to Gansbaai is only 43 kilomteres and it has been many years since we were last there, I was amazed at how much the area around Gansbaai and Kraalbaai had grown.
We had two nights with Linda in a friend's cottage, a very pleasant place and between the town and the area we stayed there was plenty to keep us busy; some nice restaurants and a good bar across the road, one good braai before the bad weather kicked in but it was fun.
 

Janet and Linda at one of the harbour restaurants and some lovely fresh seafood, we spent Janet's birthday and our 43rd wedding anniversary there but unfortunately the weather turned bad and on Friday morning when we were ready to leave it was raining and the wind was pumping, not conducive to an enjoyable journey.
We're bikers!