Year end function, a weekend away

This year Rinette, one of our lady members suggested a place called "Rondeberg Resort" as the venue for our club year end function, a committee was formed mid year and investigations were carried out. Our ladies did an excellent job of organizing and it wasn't long before bookings were made, deposit paid and the planning began.

As we had done reasonably well during the year it was decided that the club would pay for two nights accommodation for everyone and for brunch and dinner on Saturday, as well as the tea and coffee etc., those arriving on the Friday evening should bring meat for a braai and booze was for "own account".

We used four units altogether giving us 28 beds in separate bedrooms, the main unit (above) slept nine people in five rooms and we took this one so that we could all make use of the ample space in front for the two nights of partying.

It was very hot that weekend so a lot of time was spent in the shade with liquid refreshment but Anton brought his boat so a lot of time was spent either swimming in the dam or playing on the boat.

A lot of time was spent, on Saturday on this double seat "tube", eventually Stephen and I managed to break the stainless steel towing bracket when Anton tried to tow us! I like to believe that the bracket broke as a result of cumulative damage over the years and we were the proverbial "straw that broke the camel's back".

The food for the weekend was absolutely amazing, we were out there on Thursday and Anton made a delicious Offal pot for dinner, we also polished off a 5litre bottle of red wine that night between eight of us! This actually resulted in me having trouble staying awake on Saturday night!

I took along a big bag of fresh mussels for the Friday evening as a starter, these always go down extremely well, and then it was time for the braai. Although everyone brought their own meat there was a lot of "Skaap stertjies" - Sheep's tails which we started with, these are delicious and very popular.

My brother Sooi showing off the tails before they went on the braai. After that we all braaiied our own meat when we felt like it. Our ladies made some lovely salads.

Saturday morning was going to be another hot one, Sooi set off in a more sedate manner on the dam to try a bit of Bass fishing while Kathy started the breakfast, egg, bacon and cheese buns which went down extremely well.  As the people surfaced and came down to the main house they helped them selves to breakfast buns and the day started anew.

This is a good indication of how low the dams are, normally when the dam is full the water is up against that wall on the left.

Saturday was a bit quieter with people doing their own thing, Anton took people out for rides on the boat and on the "tube", a few of us spent time swimming and then by midday we plucked up the courage to drink again, the ice cold beers were particularly good. Sampie, Kathy and I started with the beef shin potjies (pots) that we were having for dinner later on.

Most of the group headed for home during Sunday morning but we stayed for another night, it had been an excellent weekend, a weekend filled with fun, laughter and camaraderie, of getting the family together. Unfortunately, due to various reasons a few of the members could not make the weekend but most were there.

Here's Uncle Frank chilling on Sunday, it's a lovely place and the accommodation prices are not over the top, I don't think I would like to be there December through February, I'm sure it would be way too hot but I wouldn't mind going again.

If you're interested in seeing the pictures full size just click on them, I have also posted all of the pictures from the weekend on my facebook page "Braais, beers and bikes". For the few of you reading this I may be discontinuing this blog, I get far more response from that facebook page. Cheers for now, ride safe.

Talk about busy; Book Club, Rugby and Breakfast run

The October Book Club meeting took place on Wednesday 23rd, a lovely warm sunny day perfect for riding. Four of us; Anton, Daan, Murray and I met at our usual place, the Phoenix bar in Vredenburg for a drink before hitting the road, a nice cruise through to Langebaan and we lined the bikes up outside a hairdressing salon as that was the only space available, anyone driving past might have thought that bikers have gone a bit soft!

Right next door however, is the Sand Bar a fairly pleasant little pub and Anton's first visit, the beers were cold. We sat and chatted there for a while and then mounted up, we rode the more interesting back roads through to Juffroushoogte

Outside Juffroushoogte; Daan, Anton and Murray

Myself, Murray, Daan and Anton - only four this time

 We rode from there up the R27 and took the new connecting road through to Saint Helena Bay, I was leading and as the road and the weather were just so good my speed increased until all four of us were blasting along at 200kmh, what a lovely ride! Slightly more sedate heading down to Saint Helena Bay, slightly and we parked outside the Gull and Bell for an A.B.F.

November will probably be the last Book Club run for the year, we shall see but the consensus is that we meet up at 11h00 and go for lunch at Lula's Portuguese restaurant in Yzerfontein where the Peri-peri chicken is to die for. Our usual kitty feed and what is already in the kitty should cover the cost, looking forward to that already.

Rugby World Cup, South Africa vs England

On Saturday our friends Frans and Linda invited us to their home in Yzerfontein to watch the World Cup rugby final between South Africa and England, have a braai afterwards and spend the night. The first things I noticed were the amazing platters our lovely friend had made representing the flags of the two countries, very clever.

I am not a huge fan of rugby, of any sport for that matter, except maybe motorcycle racing but I will watch a world cup final that features our team and what a game it was! Edge of the seat stuff.

This is the picture that says it all

There were scenes of jubilation in the stadium and in pubs and taverns all over the country, this sort of thing definitely helps to promote unity to a certain extent, but the crime continues and in Parliament this last week Julius Malema's EFF, the Economic Freedom Fighters stayed seated and refused to acknowledge the world cup winners, they are not interested in racial unity in this country. We, however were jubilant and I found it quite emotional, what a win! 

We had a really nice braai after the game, I did a batch of lamb ribs and then a little later Frans braaied  some really good Peri-peri chicken, it had been a lovely afternoon which carried on into the evening quite easily.

We were on our bike because the monthly breakfast run was scheduled for the next day and I didn't want to miss it, the group agreed to have breakfast nearby so that we could join them, so at 09h30 on Sunday morning we said goodbye to our friends and headed off back up the R27 towards Langebaan and pulled off into a laybye which is approximately halfway.

We got there first but we didn't have to wait long, soon I saw the line of headlights approaching and Daan and Bev lead the group into the laybye.

Fifteen of us on eight bikes

Tea is served everyone

Cheers to the world champs

Right! Time to go

I lead the group out, back onto the R27 for the short ride to the Yzerfontein turn off, took a right and we pulled into the parking area of the little Yzervark deli, pub and restaurant about halfway down.

 We had been there before for a visit and a beer but had not eaten there so we didn't know what to expect, it turned out to be very pleasant, the food was good, tasty and best of all still warm when we got it. The service was good and the beers were cold.

I was so hungry I forgot to photograph my food for the blog but I have no hesitation in recommending the place to you, they are biker friendly and have been trying to encourage biker groups so give it a go, call them on 0768330074 and tell them I sent you.

More riding coming up, on Saturday one of the less pleasant occasions, a memorial ride for a biker who passed away and then on Sunday we have our own biker memorial service at the Lighuis church where our fallen brothers and sisters are remembered, after that we can lighten the mood with a breakfast and official handover of our non-perishable food items to the local Round Table chapter.

I'll tell you all about it, if you want to see any of the photos full size just click on them, stay safe out there.

W.I.M.A rally Cradock March 1982

As soon as I got back into biking, when I bought my Yamaha 1.1 I decided to start going to some rallies and the first one I chose was the Woman's International Motorcycle Association rally in the pretty coastal town of Port Alfred, a distance of some 280km from where I lived at that time. This was back in 1982 and as I booked accommodation at the hotel Janet was happy to come with me although she didn't spend much time at the rally!

Janet stopped accompanying me to rallies when I started camping at the rally sites, which I did for two main reasons; firstly I enjoyed being where the action was and secondly I was (still am to a slightly lesser extent) a party animal and I didn't want to be riding my bike late at night under the influence of alcohol.

The Woman's International Motorcycle Association was established in 1950 in the USA, I do not know if they are still active in South Africa, I was not able to get much information from Google but the rallies were not restricted to women, we were welcome to attend. It was not a very big rally but it grew in popularity and by the time I attended my third one it was a lot bigger.

This dude has a pistol on his hip, he's 37 years older now, I wonder if he's reading this? Leave a comment if you recognize yourself in these pictures.

You often see this at rallies

and there are often minor falls

Evening in the main tent

drinking beer

 

This guy wearing a BSAP cap wasn't an ex member

The mass ride took place around the town and the harbour and the following year the W.I.M.A rally was held in Cradock, I don't know if they were not wanted back in Port Alfred but I attended two more and was accompanied by more riding friends on those, along with wives. As a first rally it wasn't too bad and I was to go on and attend many, many more over the years.

Looking back to years gone by

My love of motorbikes goes way back to my teenage years but I only bought my first motorbike in 1973 in Durban when I was 24 years old, that was a Suzuki GT750 "Water buffalo", it was second hand but in lovely condition.

My first brand new bike was a Yamaha 1.1 shaft which I bought in 1981 for the princely sum of R3,500 if I remember correctly, man that was an exciting day!

 We lived in a little village in the Eastern Cape from 1977 until 1987 and there was only one other bike owner, my mate Dirk so obviously we used to ride together whenever we could, usually on weekends because we were both working.

Our children were very young then so our biking was limited but our wives loved the bikes too.

When we could get away for a day, thanks to the kindness of friends looking after the children there were only two directions to go, these being road bikes it was either north up the N2 towards Umtata or South towards East London, it got a bit boring.

 It wasn't long before I added a couple of scramblers, we had lots of bush tracks and dirt roads to play on.

I also used to "tootle" around the village with the children on the bike, Christie on the back and Simon on the seat in front of me. Later on I would use the bike to go and fetch Christie from school, she had her own crash helmet and became a fearless pillion passenger.

I added the "Windjammer" fairing and "Wedge" panniers a bit later in preparation for an extended trip around South Africa which we had planned. I wrote about that trip earlier in which we traveled 8630km in a month around the whole country.

 

I sold that Yamaha a bit later and bought the first of my Honda Goldwings but I wish that I could have kept every single bike that I had previously and subsequently owned. Now it is more than thirty years since these photos were taken and I am still riding, hopefully there are a good few riding years still left in this old biker.