Baviaanskloof Mountains

We were awoken yet again by the sounds of bagpipes. Yes, Graham was up but feeling very hungover. He obviously wanted to find out if anyone else felt as bad as him. Fortunately I felt fine and was looking forward to riding through the Baviaanskloof mountains. This I had been told would be one of the highlight of the trip and I wasn’t disappointed.

Before we were able to enter the mountain pass we had to pay a small fee and sign In so that when we arrived at the other end of the pass we could be signed out. This was for safety so that no one would be left on the pass overnight.

The mountain pass included mixture of technical rocky climbs and plenty of water crossings, some a bit deeper than expected. There were also hidden rocks beneath the water line which could redirect you into the bushes.

And of course some water crossing were great fun but I did get a bit wet.

We arrived at a picnic area at around 11.30am, so decided to take an early lunch.

Graham had managed to make some rolls using the left overs from our BBQ back in Jeffreys bay.

It wasn’t until we started to eat the rolls that we realised he had made sausage and jam rolls...a weird combination but it was the thought that counted!

At first we were not quite sure what Graham had put in his mouth...it didn’t look good!

With lunch soon over we pushed on to complete the Baviaanskloopf Pass which proved to be great fun. Fortunately we had one more pass to complete before making our way to our overnight accommodation in Knysna. We would be going through St Alfreds pass. This was a road/track that had been cut through the rock to form a small valley and was an experience that I won’t forget in a hurry.

The days riding had been both fun and exhilarating without being too long in the saddle. A great day!

Now we had arrived in Knysna our final challenge of the day was find our accommodation for the night.