A Winters day Ride…

Today is a public holiday in South Africa. We remember the Soweto Township Riots of 1976, where police opened fire and killed a lot of school kids. Just like police opened fire and killed a lot of mine workers in Marikana last year… the more Africa changes, the more it stays the same…

But being a public holiday, we had to use this day to the fullest possible extend.  Remember- we are very fast nearing our shortest day in the year over this coming weekend. This is winter in South Africa. It is cold- our standards. Would still be an excellent summers day in England!

In any case, me, my colleague and good friends from Naboomspruit went on a 300 km circle route through our province. And here is just some of the moments- we enjoyed the ride, and did not stop for photos very often.

The circle went from Nylstroom to Naboomspruit, where we picked up Philip and Marietjie. Then we turned of at the Sterkrivier Dam road and soon came to a stop. Because, on a cold winters morning- this is what we saw…

Two of us being pastors, and some good Christian folk, we could not just past a lady in distress… we immediately thought of the story of the Good Samaritan, and stopped to help. We don’t want to be known as the church people just passing by… But it turned out that she had a few sharp edges, and set in her ways, so we could not offer her a lift. But we then took some photos to show that we intended to help…

This is our version of a cold winter’s day in South Africa, Limpopo province…

I really enjoyed my new bike on this ride, it was the furthest I have taken it out to date.

How do you know someone is a Biker? Their bike is always the subject of the photo!

Behind the beautiful girl there is a nursery with a coffee garden, so we enjoyed a cup of Java. Being a cold day, we also needed to use the facilities along the way quite often. What is it with cold days and fluids? Or is it just old age creeping up and biting us in the ass?

From that coffee shop we had the beautiful pass at Hanglip on the way to Marken from Potgietersrust. What a pass! Who would stop and take photos? Not us, we enjoyed the twists and turns! Then at Melkrivier we turned of direction Vaalwater. 30 Km before Vaalwater we reached a beautiful place, Eventiera, specializing in the auctions of Wildlife. They also have a lion park, where people can pet some wild cats… But that costs extra.

 

We enjoyed lunch at the restaurant, and I had an excellent Venison Pot dish, very affordable. We also had two beers… then we really had to make… Pitstops…

From Eventiera we rode through Vaalwater, back to Nylstroom. This is a very enjoyable circle route, with the minimum time going through towns, and you will see a lot of wildlife along the way. Just before we reached Vaalwater I saw a warthog scratching his backside on a rock. Must have been his mother in law’s curry dish last night burning a bit… wish I could take a photo of that expression on his face!  This route goes through very scenic parts, and has quite good tar surface most of the way.

Thanks friends for an awesome ride today!