Jurg se Kaya 2011 trip report

"Be afraid. Be very afraid." It was the pre-trip get-together at Geoff's house, and Geoff had the floor. And no, Geoff was not talking about the sandy parts of the trip - it was the strafdoppe he was warning us about. But more about that later.

The trip to Jurg se Kaya on the West Coast is one of those 'must do' trips on the club's calendar. This year was no different, and the trip filled up within a matter of hours.

There are several great 'Jurg se Kaya' trip reports on this forum (Brenda Buttercup's one is my favourite) - read them and you'll see one common thread - this trip is all about fun; riding some of the lesser-known West Coast gravel roads; getting to grips with gravel roads with some sand on them, sandy roads with some gravel on them, and sandy roads without any gravel whatsoever; a seafood extravaganza to remember for a long time; stunning scenery; great camaraderie, and the like.

Day 1: Friday

We started Friday morning bright and early (or, in my husband's case, not so bright, as he had had only one cup of coffee up to that point), meeting at the Engen Swartland. From there we would stay on tar until Moorreesburg.

Starting the trip: Briefing at Swartland Engen: Neels (our back-up driver who somehow was always in the right place at the right time), Charles (who kindly agreed to sweep), Geoff and Bob - all still nice and clean

First stop

Quick smoke break, with the emphasis on quick: (maybe it just felt quick as I rode at the back and was always one of the last to arrive at the stops)

After this stop, I gave the camera to Noeline (who came down with a really bad cold a few days before the trip, but was determined to come on the trip, so rode Day 1 in the back-up vehicle) to take a few shots en route.

On Day 1, my GPS says we did just over 500 km (from home). Tar to Moorreesburg, and then we got onto gravel and eventually linked up with the R399 before going through Kapteinskloof, linked up with the R365, and finally went close to the back of the Engelsman se Berge. The road to Graafwater was in fairly poor condition, with long stretches of very soft sand on top of gravel, and while there were a few heart-in-mouth moments, there were fortunately no incidents.

We eventually ended up in Vanrhynsdorp for lunch - I think they used up half the supply of cheese in town on my pizza . We then did a 90km burst on the N7 before going back onto gravel at Bitterfontein.

Scenery en route

Gravel roads... with a bit of sand creeping in

Lovely koppies

Spot the dust clouds made by the bikes ahead

Andyman

Getting closer to the coast

With the sea just around the corner, Geoff stopped us to say that the few (?!!) bits of sand we'd experienced until this point was absolutely nothing, and we could now start looking forward to the serious stuff.

And then we stopped for the official 'Here Be Dragons' pep talk...

A few nervous faces were hiding behind the helmets

Annie' distinctive helmet feather

Unfortunately I did not take any pics of the ride-in to Jurg se Kaya; I was too busy concentrating on staying upright. It was quite a fun section, though, and I was very proud to get to the other side unscathed (albeit with quite a bit of paddling).

Finally - our destination: Jurg se Kaya on the right, with some of the sleeping shelters further along

Our comfortable bungalow for the weekend

Gentleman Bob shared with Gavin and myself

Just look at that view!

Most of us then lazed around the Kaya to have a dop or three...

... while Tian went for a skinnydip instead.

Jurg made sure that nobody went hungry, and we waited somewhat nervously for the strafdoppe to follow.

At the pre-trip briefing, Geoff had said that any fall in the sand was sure to get you an instant strafdop, and after seeing the stuff he had hauled along for this purpose, we knew we were in for a rough time. Having paddled my way through the thickest stuff and managing to stay upright, I was quietly congratulating myself for escaping this dreadful fate, when Geoff burst my bubble: "No strafdoppe tonight," he announced. "The sand looks good, so the route is being changed and tomorrow we are doing the seriously sandy 4x4 track to the Groenriviermond. Strafdoppe will follow afterwards."

Drat.

Anyway, it had been a long day, and soon after 10, most of us trundled off to bed.

Day 2: Saturday

Early morning view

After a light breakfast, we were ready to rock & roll at around 08h30. The route would first take us out along the same 4km [there is some debate around how long this stretch actually is - just ask Charles] from Jurg se Kaya back to the Brakriviermond.

Noeline was feeling better today and joined us on her bike. (Last night, Neels gave Noeline some honey tequila. Today she felt good enough to ride her bike. We are convinced the one dop of tequila fixed what a week's cold & flu medicine could not.)

The faster guys set off, with the more sedate group following.

We soon, however, got word that Andy had taken a bad fall and was lying on the ground with blood coming out of his mouth. He got up and continued to Groenriviermond, but was then in enough pain that his bike was loaded onto the trailer and he spent the rest of the day keeping Neels company. Later we would hear that he had a cracked sternum and broken shoulder. Eishhhhh!!!

Getting ready for some real sand on the stretch to Groenriviermond

Somewhere along the 4x4 trail

 Nice place to have an office!

Just having fun

Regroup and photo opp

Stopping to cool off a bit. Sand riding is sweaty work!

The lighthouse at Groenriviermond marks the end of the 4x4 route

Location, location, location What a place to ride an adventure bike!

Groenriviermond

So, how bad were the sandy bits on the 4x4 track? In some places the stuff was axle-deep and really loose, in other places it was a tweespoor with about 10-15cm of sand on top of surprisingly good traction - looked worse than it felt. Other times there was almost no sand; just solid, hard-packed dirt. On the deeper stuff, as long as you vaguely stayed in the tracks made by the other bikes, you were generally okay. Getting over and around the earthworks left by the faster riders was almost the biggest challenge .

At Groenriviermond, one of the Nature Conservation guys said the road to Garies was in a shocking state, but fortunately 'shocking state' for a car and for an adventure bike are two different things, and apart from a few potholes, rough sections and some corrugated stretches, the 50-odd km to Garies passed quickly and we were all soon ordering lunch at the Garies Hotel.

At the Hotel, we found that 'first ordered' does not necessarily mean 'first served', but in general it appears that the food came out quicker than usual and around 2 we started back towards Jurg se Kaya.

We went back along the same route for a while, and then turned off to follow a great winding tweespoor track through the farms towards Kotzesrus. I really loved this track - it was twisty and interesting; you could see for miles and miles.

On the way back from Garies, through the farms

Noeline started feeling really sick again on this stretch (the honey tequila must have stopped working) and loaded her bike onto the trailer.

Inbetween Kotzesrus and the Brakriviermond

Interestingly, this second time round I found the stretch from Kotzesrus to Brakriviermond to be a touch more tricky than the previous day. Perhaps it was because in general I rode faster; perhaps some of the sandy bits had been loosened by all the traffic - who knows.

We now rode the section between Brakriviermond and Jurg se Kaya for the third time. You knew what was coming; you knew where the soft bits were, and I mentally apologized to Charles for ever doubting his word. On Friday he said that, by the end of the trip, we would be riding that section like champions. At the time I thought he was, errrm, how shall I put it, 'mistaken', but he was 100% right.

We got back to Jurg se Kaya with plenty of daylight to spare. This time Tristan joined Tian for a swim, and the rest of us opened a well-earned dop.

Time to relax!

The sunset that night was spectacular and many pics were taken. Here's just two of them:

Start of the spectacular sunset...

What a sight!

Supper started with Jurg dishing up some exceptional seafood chowder, followed by his by-now-famous crayfish extravaganza. If anyone went hungry that night, I don't know how they managed that.

Crayfish, crayfish and more crayfish!

After supper a few party games followed. There's a way of stepping through and around a stick held in your hands that only a really, really supple person can do, and Tian was the only one who managed that. It was also interesting to see which of the boys could fit inbetween the two poles in the Kaya.

Tian doing the limbo thing

Finally it was time for strafdoppe. Not having put my bike down yet, I was happily sipping my whisky, mistaken in the belief that I would be spared a strafdop, but it was not to be. Geoff fabricated a reason to give everyone a strafdop, including Janetta, who actually deserved a medal for riding all that sand on the back of Tian's HP2 (look at the seat on the HP2, and look at the height of the pillion's foot pegs, and you'll know what I mean!).

Day 3: Sunday

When I woke up on Sunday morning, my first thought was that Geoff''s strafdop had been even worse than I had thought at the time.

I could not move.

My legs had gone on strike. Two days of jumping up and down and acting as shock absorbers are enough, they said. My shoulders agreed, and a moment later my lower back chirped in as well. I think it was only my desperate need for coffee that proved 'mind over matter' sometimes still works, and creakily and stiffly I got moving (two days later, my quads are still sore).

We had the same light breakfast as the previous day, broke up camp and again had the wheels rolling around 08h30.

This time we headed out of Jurg se Kaya the other way, following the scenic West Coast 4x4 trail south, passing lovely bays with names like Hoekbaai, Koffiebaai, Strandbaai, Tietiesbaai and Piet se Baai (or so Garmap tells me) until Brand se Baai, where we stopped so that Rusty could take a group pic with the sea behind us.

Somewhere along the West Coast 4x4 trail

It was yet another lovely morning for being on a bike

One of the pretty bays

The road progressively became less sandy although more corrugated, and eventually we ended up at Lutzville where we pumped up tyres and refuelled (with Tian's HP2 in the group we did not pass too many garages, come to think of it).

From Lutzville we went past Doringbaai, got onto the two Transnet toll roads (this time they charged toll fees for every bike) and eventually ended up at the Elandsbaai Hotel where Geoff treated us all to a three-course meal.

Elandsbaai

Resting after a big lunch

That's Jeanne underneath there

From Elandsbaai it was back onto tar past Dwarskersbos to refuel at Velddrif, and the group got together one last time at the Vlakvarkgat Pub outside Langebaan so that those who wanted to load bags onto bikes, could do so. Then it was a 120 km headbang into the southeaster back home, with fantastic memories to last a lifetime.

All thanks to Geoff for organising a memorable trip; to Charles for sweeping; to Neels for driving back-up; to Dave for acting as my 'wingman' on the  Groenriviermond trail and for never making me feel I should ride faster; to all the truly great guys and girls on the trip: It was a special one.

(More trip feedback here)