West Coast Tour
February 2006
by Carl Koch
At 07h00 on Friday 17th February 2006, some fourteen riders on thirteen BMW’s and one Triumph Tiger met for breakfast at the Swartland 1 Stop Wimpy on the N7. After some great organizing by Geoff Russell we were ready to start our three day tour of the West Coast. Back up was in the form of two 4x4 vehicles and included a trailer if needed.
Bang on schedule we left at 08:00 along the N7 for our first destination, Citrusdal. Once in the town it was time to drop tyre pressure for the first stretch of dirt. From Citrusdal we followed the dirt road next to the Olifants River and Clanwilliam Dam for 104km en route to Klawer. The road is hard gravel with a few sandy sections and some sharp bends. By the time we reached Klawer it was time to refuel and quench the 36 degree heat. By this time there had only been one rider down when one of the Dakar riders was too busy watching the photo that was been taken of him that a corner was misjudged. Fortunately no damage to bike or rider was done.
From Klawer it was up the N7 to Garies for lunch at the local Hotel. From Garies the plan was to head up the N7 for about 10km’s and then dirt through to Hondeklipbaai. It was over lunch that Hennie suggested we take the old N7 for about 10Km’s to the turn off to Hondeklipbaai rather than ride tar. Great idea and off we went, firmly believing that Hennie knew the way. The first three bikes followed not knowing that behind us Geoff had prevented the rest from following on what was later called “The wrong way round”. Not long after Hennie realised we were a bit lost and informed us of this error. Ok so now it was over to some rerouting on the GPS to find the best way to Hondeklipbaai. Ironically of the four of us Hennie was the only one who did not have a GPS.
After doing some rerouting it was agreed that the best option would be to continue on the current road to Kamieskroon and then backtrack some 40km’s down the N7 to the correct turnoff which would leave some 78km’s of dirt to Hondeklipbaai. Net result - we arrived at the Honnehok accommodation about an hour behind schedule to find the rest of the group, unpacked, swimming and enjoying cold frosties. Hennie did make it up by buying his three musketeers a beer.
Staying at the Hondehok (http://www.namaqualand.com/honnehok.htm ) surpassed all expectations. Attie and family really know how to treat their guests. After sundowners and a swim we were treated to a scrumptious dinner consisting of choice of two soups, seafood or tomato, hot homemade bread, a variety of salads and a main course of braaied chicken, lamb chops and wors. This was rounded off with a sweet fridge tart just like Mum used to make.
By 10pm folk were dropping like flies and dragging themselves off to their kennels for a good nights sleep. By the time I got to the Fisherman’s cottage my three roomies were all in bed fast asleep.
Saturday morning started with some more of Atties fine fare with a full breakfast to get the day going. After bidding our hosts the Hough family farwell, we left Hondeklipbaai with Geoff in the lead as Hennie had now been relegated to Tail end Charlie. The morning stretch saw us passing through the Namaqua National Park and over the Wildeperdehoek and Messelpad passes. Along the way we stopped at the ruins of the old prison which was used to house the prisoners that built the N7 many years ago. After some 100km’s of dirt which saw the surface vary from hard to sandy and some technical twisties over the pass we reached the N7 again. Next stop was Garies Hotel again for lunch and to purchase our drinks for Saturday night. Upon arrival at the Hotel we were greeted by the same crowd of locals that were there on the previous day, not much else to do in this small dorpie I suppose.
After lunch we hit the dirt again to Kotzesrus a distance of 51km’s where we regrouped before letting our tyres down even further for what was promised to be the most challenging section of the tour down to the coast and our final destination for Saturday night “Silwerdoos” or “Jurg se Kaya“. The first section saw us in and out of the dry Brakrivier bed. Although this section of road was very sandy at least the surface was flat and one could keep the speed up to float over the sand. Since this was my first experience in sand on two wheels I chose to be a bit cautious and kept the speed to just above 40kph.
After 20km’s we reached the coast and Geoff briefed us on what was to come, about 4km’s of thick twee spoor. Not sure how everybody else did although I did see one or two picking up bikes, I managed to go down four times in the 4km’s. After the first fall I realized that I could pick the Tiger up by myself which made it a bit easier.
At Silwerdoos we were joined by another group of riders that had come up the route that we would be traveling the next day. All in all there must have been thirty odd folk spending the night. Silwerdoos consists of a shack with some outbuildings nothing more that canvas over poles. All fresh water is brought in by road. Ablutions consist of a neat “Long Drop” and a donkey boiler to supply a super hot shower for all the weary riders. For sleeping we each grabbed a mattress out of the bakkie, found a spot under cover and hey presto your bed for the night.
No evening on the West coast would be right without crayfish, raw nogal marinated by Alwyn’s wife as a snack while sipping ice cold drinks. This was followed by a braai complete with salads. Chatting to Alwyn I learnt that as his favorite diving spot he built a shack some years ago and has been squatting ever since. So I can now say I spent a night in a squatter camp. Once again by 10pm most of us were ready for bed. There were of course some die hards that partied quite late.
Sunday morning saw damp mist roll in, in fact there had been some heavy precipitation during the night which one hoped would help to firm the sand up a bit.
Just before 9am we thanked our hosts for their fantastic “gasvryheid” and rolled out for what was to be a challenging 17km’s to the salt flats consisting of sections of twee spoor with hard surface in between.
From the salt flats we skirted around the Namaqua sands project. Unfortunately this section of road has seen some heavy earth moving traffic and soon had us dropping tyre pressures even further. The last of the 78km’s from Silwerdoos to Lutizville was hard gravel and was a joy to ride on.
By the time we all regrouped at the Engen Garage it was 12h30. Unfortunately with the power outages we were unable to fill up with fuel.
Hearing that the power was on in Vredendal we headed there and were able to fill the bikes. After some 900km’s of riding it was time to head for Klawer and the N7 home. All in all just over 1300kms’ over the three days on some of the most demanding roads I have had to endure. A great experience and adventure.
A special word of thanks the Geoff for the fantastic organization, can’t wait for Baviaans. To Doug and Giovanna for the back up and carrying all the gear, a big thank you.
