Maggie's Rambles

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...