Maggie's Rambles

Date: 15 April 2023 Sleeping location: Ladismith Manor B&B, Ladismith, South Africa Distance (km today/total/total Part 2): 68  / 23057 / 8220 Estimated climb ( m  t oday/total/ tot a l   Part  2):  1200  / 2205 00 / 102500 Excitement levels: 90+ db Day in three words: Port poort port In the morning I enacted Operation Sheath on Maggie’s rear tyre: I took out the banged up inner tube and cut it up to create a long thing circular piece of rubber, which I then put between a new inner tube and the tyre. The idea being that this would stop any micro punctures, which had been causing all of my woes, from reaching the inner at all. With this done we had breakfast (three courses, one of yoghurt and fruit, one of pancakes with blueberries and syrup and one of bacon and eggs, all done nicely, though the coffee was merely alright: 8/10) and popped across the road to the Boplaas winery. It was a bit early for sampling but the woman was happy to tell us the history...

Date: 14 April 2023 Sleeping location: Port Wine guesthouse, Calitzdorp, South Africa Distance (km today/total/total Part 2): 115  / 22989 / 8152 Estimated climb ( m  t oday/total/ tot a l   Part  2):  2200  / 2193 00 / 101300 Total giraffe: 20-25m Day in three words: Peak of gravel The power was off again in the night, 10-2, but dad forgot to switch his light off before bed so it came back on at 2am. And there was no electricity again in the morning - loadshedding is having a real moment. As a result there was minor chaos at breakfast as they had no electricity for toast or coffee and the generator they’d hired wasn’t hooked up yet. It was a good selection of cold treats and I eventually got a decent eggs royale, but any breakfast that makes me wait over 30 minutes for the first coffee of the day gets 0/10. Today dad and I were taking different routes, as I was keen to ride the mighty Swartberg gravel pass and he definitely wasn’t, so I set off solo and im...

Date: 13 April 2023 Sleeping location: Surval Boutique Olive Estate, 5km north of Oudtshoorn, South Africa Distance (km today/total/total Part 2): 74  / 22874 / 8037 Estimated climb ( m  t oday/total/ tot a l   Part  2):  1000  / 2171 00 / 99100 Olives: seven ways Day in three words: Happy birthday journey Breakfast was a real mixed bag: they had a “sausage of the day” but it was not used as a breakwater, Alan Partridge style, between the scrambled eggs and beans; there was no fruit salad but there was one of those big toast machines, which are always fun, so overall a confusing 6.5/10. Today we were changing landscape entirely, finally leaving the coastal plain and heading over the Outeniqua mountains into the Little Karoo.  This required a big climb straight outta George, up 500m from almost a standing start. This was on a big road, the N12, but it was quiet with a good shoulder and actually quite a pleasant ride. As we climbed we got great views bac...

Date: 12 April 2023 Sleeping location: Loerie Guest Lodge, George, South Africa Distance (km today/total/total Part 2): 89  / 22800 / 7963 Estimated climb ( m  t oday/total/ tot a l   Part  2):  1700  / 2161 00 / 98100 Passes: 8 Day in three words: Happy birthday journey Day 365 - a whole year on the road. What a thing to have dedicated a year of my life to, at once amazing and ridiculous.    After breakfast (potatoes with feta, avocado and fried eggs, good coffee, cooked by me so obviously 10/10) we set off into an immediate long and steep climb away from the bay and its resident wildlife. Even once up the steepest bit the road seemed to deliberately go right to the top of the hill rather than taking an easier route around the side, just to make it harder for us. Half way up the hill was a confusing road sign showing a picture of a cyclist, a picture of a tortoise and the word “beware”. I spent the rest of the climb on the lookout for vicious tor...

Date: 11 April 2023 Sleeping location: Brenton Lake Holiday Cottages, Brenton, South Africa Distance (km today/total/total Part 2): 49  / 22711 / 7874 Estimated climb ( m  t oday/total/ tot a l   Part  2):  700  / 2144 00 / 96400 Daniel(le): missing Day in three words: Seals and rails After breakfast (Nice coffee, eggs, bacon and toast, but a group of Germans ate most of the fruit salad: 7/10) we loaded up the bikes, cycled the short but hilly distance to the Robberg Peninsula nature reserve, left the bikes there and slipped on our hiking shoes for a jaunt around. It was a nice day, sunny and cool with a strong wind blowing, and the car park was full but once we got walking it became clear there was more than enough path to go around. Robberg is a dramatic, long thin peninsula which drops almost vertically 100m to the sea on one side and slopes more gently down to it on the other. The path starts on the higher side and we walked out through a load of rocks ...

Date: 10 April 2023 Sleeping location: Cornerway House, Plettenberg Bay, South Africa Distance (km today/total/total Part 2): 40  / 22662 / 7825 Estimated climb ( m  t oday/total/ tot a l   Part  2):  400  / 2137 00 / 95700 Wet legs: 8x Day in three words: Nature and nurture Before breakfast we went for a walk around the beach and lagoon, which was all very dramatic under moody skies and with some gusty winds (again). To get to a secret bit of the beach we had to wade across the little river flowing out of the lagoon, all good fun with water up to our knees and seemingly higher on the way back over. After breakfast (fairly simple bacon and eggs, fruit and cereal, enhanced by conversation with the owner Daniel and a beautiful white dog to pet: 7/10) I discovered my rear tyre was flat again. By this point I was getting rather nihilistic about the whole thing; clearly the tyre is compromised, and I’d have swapped it out for the spare that I’d been pointlessly ...

Date: 9 April 2023 Sleeping location: Nature’s Valley B&B, Nature’s Valley, South Africa Distance (km today/total/total Part 2): 62  / 22622 / 7785 Estimated climb ( m  t oday/total/ tot a l   Part  2):  400  / 2133 00 / 95300 Most pissed off animal award: Hyrax, always Day in three words: Impressive river stuff After breakfast (a fairly standard selection of continental plus bacon and eggs, but competently done: 6.5/10) and during packing I noticed that my rear tyre was almost flat.  This was most frustrating as it was a new inner tube and by this point I was getting extremely bored of fixing rear wheel flats in South Africa. I hastily patched and pumped it and hoped for the the best, then we set off along a short section of flat road before dropping down 200m+ from the Tsitsikamma plateau to the sea at the Storms River mouth.   The setting was very beautiful, with the dramatic river canyon meeting the wild sea in an unspoiled landscape of cr...

Date: 8 April 2023 Sleeping location: Swallows Nest cottages, Stormsrivier, South Africa Distance (km today/total/total Part 2): 107  / 22560 / 7723 Estimated climb ( m  t oday/total/ tot a l   Part  2):  800  / 2129 00 / 94900 Welcome: wet Day in three words: Feels like home After the buffet breakfast (limited selection of “continental” items, steady bacon and eggs, rescued by home-made still-warm muffins: 7/10) we headed out west. The weather was quite cool and drizzly with a headwind, the road was busy, the scenery was fields, wind farms and litter. Dad could have stayed at home for this. We reset with good coffee and cake at a nice cafe in the town of Humansdorp, with me really hoping this wasn't the end of the exciting bit of my journey.  After the ‘dorp we were now on a quiet road, first through empty farmland then through pine forest. After a bit of up and down we hit the Tsitsikamma plateau about 300m up and it was fairly flat, but the headwind...

Date: 7 April 2023 Sleeping location: Stone Olive guesthouse, Jeffreys Bay, South Africa Distance (km today/total/total Part 2): 85  / 22453 / 7616 Estimated climb ( m  t oday/total/ tot a l   Part  2):  700  / 2121 00 / 94100 Welcome: wild Day in three words: Gusts with gusto Shortly after waking up a feisty gust of wind blew my sandwich bag out of the window, which was a taste of things to come (It was heroically rescued by my dad). The forecast was for strong winds, and not helpful ones. We stocked up on calories at the breakfast buffet (great selection of cold and hot items, good coffee, yoghurt and muesli served in wine glasses for some reason, beautiful timber and painted ceiling: 9/10)*, packed up and headed off into chaos. The wind was gusting at about 50kph from our front left** and blowing us all over the place. At times it was impossible to keep on a straight line, especially when we went from a sheltered area into an open one. One guy got pissed...

Date: 6 April 2023 Sleeping location: The Beach hotel, Port Elizabeth/Gqeberha, South Africa Distance (km today/total/total Part 2): 25  / 22368 / 7531 Estimated climb ( m  t oday/total/ tot a l   Part  2):  100  / 2114 00 / 93400 Maggie: restored Day in three words: Dad’s in Africa I didn't sleep that well, being in the same room as another person (who snores) for the first time in a while, but my dad at least got mostly over his overnight flight. We hit the hotel buffet breakfast, a mighty spread but as we weren’t cycling I didn't go big today - that will come tomorrow. Dad then reassembled his bike after the flight and I gave Maggie some TLC. The wooden heart from Piet and Ronel was strapped on the front rack just above Yoshi. Then I carried out a massive reshuffle of things in order to ship my camping and cooking gear ahead to Cape Town, since I won’t need it whilst cycling with my dad, saving me about 12kg. With bike reassembled we took a test ride out...

Date: 5 April 2023 Sleeping location: The Beach hotel, Port Elizabeth/Gqeberha, South Africa Distance (km today/total/total Part 2): 73  / 22343 / 7506 Estimated climb ( m  t oday/total/ tot a l   Part  2):  200  / 2113 00 / 93300 Lonesome: no more Day in three words: Sea the see As Renee is a farmer he was up and away very early, so my alarm was set for 5.30 to catch a lift back to the service station with him. Thankfully Madeleine had prepared me a little tray of coffee, milk and cereal to make getting up that little bit easier. Lovely hosts, lovely people. After saying goodbye to Renee I set off - it wasn’t even 7 yet and it was a cool but bright morning. The private game reserves had disappeared and everything was farmland again now.  Coming over a small climb I saw a big blue thing in the distance - what was this? - it was my first view of the African sea. Fancy people like the sea and the harbour town of Colchester* was very affluent, all big hou...

Date: 4 April 2023 Sleeping location: Renee and Madeleine’s house, 33.5940S, 26.0821E, South Africa Distance (km today/total/total Part 2): 109  / 22270 / 7433 Estimated climb ( m  t oday/total/ tot a l   Part  2):  1600  / 2111 00 / 93100 Number of the day: 2 Day in three words: Couple to couple I had discussed the Dagwood sandwich - a triple decker with beef burger, cheese and a fried egg, plus chips on the side - with Piet and Ronel the previous night and I’d said I’d take one for breakfast, but at 7am and after a bowl of granola and milk this seemed like less of a good idea. I went for it anyway out of pride; it was tasty but a full on assault on the senses. Weighed down by this I headed out into a calm but humid day, a great combination when I had to tackle Ecca Pass first off, a long, medium effort climb that wasn't too hard but was an absolute sweat fest in these (internal and external) conditions. The Bain Monument at the top of the pass, commemorat...

Date: 3 April 2023 Sleeping location: (Floor of) Fort Brown General Store, 33.1298S, 26.6162E, South Africa Distance (km today/total/total Part 2): 110  / 22161 / 7324 Estimated climb ( m  t oday/total/ tot a l   Part  2):  1100  / 2 09500 / 91500 For 24 years I’ve been living next door to: Alice  Day in three words: Beaufort Annoyance Scale On and off wind and rain in the night meant a very broken sleep, and thunderstorms in the morning meant a lazy getaway whilst I waited for it to clear, made a load of food and watched a dog running round like crazy after the monkeys in the trees. It cleared up around 9.30 and I was away a bit after 10. I had three days to cover a bit less than 300km to Port Elizabeth/Gqeberha to meet my dad for the final chapter, and I knew my vague route but nothing else. Straight out of Hogsback I had a big descent down a narrow twisty road through trees, like a green tunnel. Down at the bottom, looking back at the huge forested ...

Date: 2 April 2023 Sleeping location: Away With The Fairies backpackers, Hogsback, South Africa Distance (km today/total/total Part 2): 0  / 22051 / 7214 Estimated climb ( m  t oday/total/ tot a l   Part  2):  0  / 208400 / 90400 Waterfalls: 4 (Madonna and Child, Kettlespout, 39 Steps, bath) Day in three words: With the fairies Over a hearty breakfast I got talking to a fun guy who revealed he had been in town for South Africa's first mushroom festival the day before. This reinforced the impression that Hogsback was a very spiritual, natural, “magical” kind of place. The group were going out for a nature hike shortly afterwards and he invited me to join; I set off well after them, even accounting for hippy time, but they were ambling to the max and after a short while I caught up and walked with them. They were REALLY into mushrooms, and proper hippies, many of them walking barefoot. This was super dense old growth forest, all gnarled and complicated with l...

Date: 1 April 2023 Sleeping location: Away With The Fairies backpackers, Hogsback, South Africa Distance (km today/total/total Part 2): 104  / 22051 / 7214 Estimated climb ( m  t oday/total/ tot a l   Part  2):  1100  / 208400 / 90400 Favourite couple: Andreas and Toni Day in three words: Low key lovely With little reason other than inertia I didn’t sat off until after 10, which was silly as I wanted to cycle 105km to the town of Hogsback and take a rest day there. Thankfully conditions were ideal; calm and clear and the perfect temperature, and the first half of the day was almost totally flat. I headed out of town on the big smooth R67 with its  beautiful wide shoulder, kept my head down and hammered out the first 50km in one go.  The scenery wasn’t much for this whole section, just a big wide valley with low hills either side, alternating between agriculture, cows, horses or just nothing (but still fenced off, of course). At one point ther...

Date: 31 March 2023 Sleeping location: Conti Inn, Queenstown, South Africa Distance (km today/total/total Part 2): 0  / 21947 / 7110 Estimated climb ( m  t oday/total/ tot a l   Part  2):  0  / 208400 / 90400 Hair: cut Day in three words: Hustle and bustle I did actually have some admin to do on my rest day but I made the most of a lie in, the first in a couple of weeks, before heading out to a nice local cafe for breakfast (actually, two breakfasts, and what was referred to on the menu as a “mega coffee”). Queenstown is moderately interesting, with a centre built in a hexagonal layout so that you could fire a cannon in multiple directions from the middle. Architecturally it was kind of like a crap British town, with a few old Anglican style buildings plus a load of dilapidated 60s and 70s shite. It was a lot more bustling though, with the streets heaving and massive queues at ATMs and shops. I clocked that it was the  last Friday of the month - people...

Date: 30 March 2023 Sleeping location: Conti Inn, Queenstown, South Africa Distance (km today/total/total Part 2): 131  / 21947 / 7110 Estimated climb ( m  t oday/total/ tot a l   Part  2):  1500  / 208400 / 90400 Dordrechts: 2 Day in three words: Mammals gone wild I slept soundly in the big comfy bed and was up early for a big day, 130km with the first 55km of that on a dirt road with some big climb. I had a chat, breakfast and goodbye with Johan before he went off to get the lawnmower fixed, then Mitzi insisted I had some toast and some extremely fresh milk.*. They were an absolutely lovely family and I was glad I made the impromptu decision to stop.  Straight away I was into a long and stiff climb with a surface that was treacherous in places. The landscape was quite beautiful, cliffs, plains and little lakes and very, very empty.  Johan had said there were around 45 families in the area 30 years ago, but it was now down to seven families farmi...

Date: 29 March 2023 Sleeping location: Greyling family farm, 31.0149S 27.1843E, South Africa Distance (km today/total/total Part 2): 57  / 21816 / 6979 Estimated climb ( m  t oday/total/ tot a l   Part  2):  900  / 206900 / 88900 D:3 Day in three words: Whirlwind of welcome Fitting the new kit, plus proofreading the previous day’s blog entries, plus general idlement meant I didn't leave until half 11, then I had to stop soon afterwards and readjust some of the new things and the troublesome cleat again. I was aiming to get to Queenstown, about 185km with a fair chunk of dirt road in the middle, over the next two days before giving myself another rest day, which I still needed to properly get my body over the efforts of Lesotho. I had eight days to cycle around 600km to Gqeberha/Port Elizabeth to meet my dad and the whole thing almost felt like a chore. I needed to get my mojo back; maybe another rest day would help, or I could deliberately ride up hills in ...