Living The Dream Tours

11-27-09 – Our last day. We pack our things and head for the airport. The crew flies to Johannesburg where we have a 5 hour wait for the international flight. The November tour is over…  but maybe next year….

 

11-26-09 – We’re going up Table Mountain, and then returning the Harleys The day starts out cloudy, and we’re concerned about the low clouds over Table Mountain. When the “tablecloth” comes down over the mountain one can’t see much due to the thick clouds. We ride from Riebeeck Kasteel to the mountain and purchase our cable-car tickets. No-one is in the mood to walk up the steep kilometer-high mountain. The cable-car takes 65 people at a time, and the floor rotates while you ascend and descend.

We ride up the mountain and find ourselves in the clouds. It is wierd and cool at the same time. We have breakfast at the restaurant on top, and then walk around some. True to form Ron decides to provide the group with some drama, and disappears in the mist. Everyone walks around, calling after him. After an hour of searching we find that he rode the cable-car down and is waiting at the bikes. Terry says “…when we get down I wonder if Tracy will hug him or kick him..”. She hugs him.

From the mountain we take our rented Harleys back to the dealer and then head for the Fireman’s Arms and PIZZA. After a lengthy lunch we walk back to the Cape Sun, where Debbie has already checked us in.

Today is Thanksgiving, and we’re going to celebrate it in an Indian restaurant. When we get to Bukhara we find that Debbie has decorated the table with pumpkins, autumn garlands and USA flags. We have an AWESOME dinner, wish each other happy Thanksgiving, and head for bed. Tomorrow the long road back to the USA begins.

 

11-25-09 – Today is the fishy day. We leave Simonstown and ride to our next stop, Riebeeck Kasteel, a little West Coast town on the Atlantic seaboard. We check into the Royal hotel, which has been here forever, and prepare to go out to lunch. We pile into the little chase car and head for the coast. Diane isn’t feeling well, so she stays at the hotel.

We get to the Strandloper (beach bum) restaurant, which is situated on a beach. No, not next to a beach – ON a beach. We have 8 courses of seafood, all cooked on open BBQs, and finish off with a half-lobster each for dessert. It is a wonderful way to chill out after a number of long riding days. The food is good – the company is better. That evening we’re too full to eat dinner, so we drink wine instead. A good night’s sleep is had by all.

 

 

11-24-09 – BIG day today. We’re going to Hout Bay to see seals, and then riding around the coast to Cape Point, the Southwesternmost point in Africa. We take a boat from Hout Bay harbor to seal island where a huge colony of African fur seals live, and then on to view a ship wreck.

From Hout Bay we take a spectacular ride around Chapman’s Peak to Cape Point. On arriving at Cape Point we have a choice of riding a trolley up to the lighthouse or walking up a bazillion steps. We choose the steps. The exercise is good for us, and the view from the top is just great. Leaving Cape Point we have a short ride to Simonstown, home of the SA Navy. On the way to Simonstown we stop and look at penguins on the beach. They’ve laid their eggs and are brooding.

Simonstown is great. Instead of eating in our 4-star hotel we decide to hit a few of the local pubs, play some pool and eat pizza. We have a great time – except for the time that Ron (yes, you guessed it – he’s at it again) taps a loaned cue against the table after playing a poor shot, causing some distress on the part of the cue owner.   Brian, Terry and Ron  partake in a few “wee tighteners” and then head for bed.

 

11-23-09 – Today we head to the town Melkbosstrand where Brian and Deb lived for some time.  Our first stop is in Stellenbosch for breakfast and some time to wander the town.  Stellenbosch is full of little restaurants, coffee houses and other shops.  After breakfast we head directly to Melkbosstrand. Upon arriving into town, our first stop is at the Cafe Orca.  This seafood restaurant sits across the road from the beach and serves some of the best seafood around.  In fact, there is often a wait to even get dinner reservations.  We have a welcome drink and head to our guesthouse, the Gregorian.

The ladies at the Gregorian take our laundry, as we all get ready to enjoy our downtime.  Many head out to the beach for walks, some take naps, others visit with old friends.  After lunch at Café Orca, we get ready for the evening and head out on our bikes to the Blue Peter to catch up with Brian and Deb and enjoy sundowners with some of their friends.  The Blue Peter has a very relaxed atmosphere and people are hanging out at picnic tables and on the grass.  One could definitely get used to this place!

Back at the Gregorian we found our laundry done, all folded and wrapped for us!  Dinner was back at the Cafe Orca (lunch just wasn’t enough of this place). We ordered a number of seafood platters and filling our stomachs with a large sampling of fish and shellfish (no meat on this menu!).  I’m sure we all slept like babies after an afternoon and evening in the fresh ocean air.

 

 

11-22-09 –  Our ride today ends at the Zevenwacht Wine Estate in Stellenbosch. Di and Nat are especially anxious to get there considering their love of wine!  We head out after a lovely breakfast on the back patio in Montegu and head back towards Hermanus.  Our stop in Hermanus gives us all time to whale watch (search), eat lunch and shop for trinkets.  We leave Hermanus and Brian leads the group on a spectacular ride along the coast.  The ride around Hangklip stops abruptly due to an accident.  This is a “one-way in and one-way out” coastal road and any accident will cause major backups.  We find out from a couple of gals that a motorcyclist crashed and his motorbike went over the edge.  Fortunately, the rider did not make the journey over the cliff and was being treated by officials for his injuries.  We took the opportunity to enjoy the scenery, which goes by so fast while riding and paying attention to the road.

After the delay, we headed on to the Zevenwacht estate arriving just in time to enjoy the evening wine tasting.  It was a good way to unwind and get ready for a wonderful evening at the estate.  Deb negotiated with the manager of the wine cellars and he gave us the leftover opened bottles of wine to enjoy while we hung out in our chalet and got ready for dinner.

We rode up to the top of the hill to our groups’ private chalet. The road was dirt and negotiating the bikes was a challenge.  Our four-bedroom, four-bath chalet sat on top of the wine estate overlooking the entire valley below and was surrounded by vineyards.  Di asked “are we in heaven?” as we drove up to the chalet.  As the sun set, the valley sparkled.  Dinner was in the restaurant in a private dining room for our group. The dining room overlooked a pond and it became an enchanted evening eating wonderful dishes and watching the moon glow over the water.

 

11/21/09 – Today would be a shorter ride. We left Buffelsdrift after breakfast, on our way to the Cango Caves. Everyone was pretty low on fuel, but Brian was running on the smell of an oil-rag. We got to the caves without incident, and visited the first 2 caverns in the caves. We had neither the time nor inclination to go crawling in small, dark spaces. The caves were spectacular. From there we limped back to Oudtshoorn for gas and to do some Ostrich leather shopping. Some of the group picked up belts, purses and the like, and we were on the road to Montegu.

The R62 is akin to Route 66 in the states. It is ridden by bikers from all over South Africa, and is also the longest wine route in the world. We stopped at Ronnie’s Sex Shop (its not really a sex shop, its a bar – it just has that name compliments of Ronnie’s goofy friends) and had a beer or 2. From there some of the crew rode directly to Montegu while others made a couple of additional stops. We tasted mampoer/witblitz (moonshine) at the Country Pumpkin, and listened to music at the Karoo Saloon. That evening we stayed at the Montegu Country Hotel. Some of us ate in the restaurant, and some ordered take-out pizza at the local pub. The evening ended with a little gathering at the local pub to discuss upcoming events and riding time. We had an early night, looking forward to our ride around the coast back to Cape Town.

11/20/09 – This was a shorter riding day. We headed out from Swellendam early in the morning, enroute to Mossel Bay where Bartholomew Diaz began a tradition in 1487 of leaving mail in a sailor’s boot under a milkwood tree. Passing ships would take the mail back to Portugal. The boot still exists, albeit in stone form, and is still used as a mailbox. From there we rode to Oudtshoorn, where we had lunch at the Bronco tavern.

After lunch we rode to Buffelsdrift game lodge, between Oudtshoorn and the Cango Caves. The lodge is beautiful. Each couple had an airconditioned tent on the banks of a watering hole. That evening most of us piled into the open landrover and went game viewing. We were very fortunate. Among others we saw hippo, mountain zebra, springbok, giraffe and rhino. The ride was extremely festive. Dinner at the lodge was included in our package. After dinner we retired to our super-luxury tents for the night.

11/19/09 – It was a great day in Cape Town and a better day to pick up the Harley’s and head out of town!  We looked like a Harley club all on our matching black Heritage Softails.  Exchanged rental cars and headed to Hermanus in hopes of spotting the great whales.  What an experience to ride on the “wrong” side of the road but we quickly adapted and it worked well following our native, Brian.  We met the whale crier who uses a horn made from kelp to notify people when whales are spotted in the bay. After lunch we headed over to the adjacent bay to see the whales (per the recommendation from the whale crier himself).

We became tourist attractions ourselves as many people would honk and wave at us.  We also had many requests for photo ops.  Just think how many others’ vacation photos we are now in.

The wind picked up as we approached L’Agulhas, the most southern point on the African continent.  South of this point is Antarctica!  There’s a marker indicating where the Indian and the Atlantic oceans meet.   This marker became the spot for many of our photos.

Then on to Swellendam and stayed at Aan de Oever guest house.  This town reminded us Americans of the Sound of Music. Our rooms faced the mountains with a bubbling brook running through the back yard.  The Italian restaurant, the Connection, made for us a “take it or leave it” dinner meaning they cooked what they wanted to cook and brought it out to the table.  Of course it was stunning…

11/18/09 -  The last leg of the road trip. We all piled into the minvan and headed for Cape Town. The scenery changes rapidly once you’re South of Matjiesfontein. Mountains start to appear, and then the vineyards start. We reached Cape Town at about 1:00. Terry saw the mountain first. We checked into our hotel, the Cape Sun, in downtown Cape Town. What magnificent views from out rooms !! We then walked up the road and had a pub lunch at Brian’s favorite pub, the Fireman’s Arms. Terry and Tracy tackled the Fireman’s pie, which is WICKED spicy, while Brian and Di took the safer route by selecting pepper pies. After lunch we strolled around Greenmarket Square where street vendors sell trinkets and souvenirs. Ron bought some elephant hair bracelets. The evening started with a sunset champagne cruise on a sailing yacht. The winds were light, so the cruise was very enjoyable, with much champagne flowing. After the cruise we headed for dinner at a restaurant in the Cape Town Waterfront. We had a super meal. Brian’s son and his girlfriend visited for an after dinner cocktail. On the way back to the hotel Brian decided to do a U-turn at an intersection marked no U-turn. Of course the local police would be lurking and much apologizing they let us go and we headed for bed.

11/17/09 – The road trip continues. We started to get a little tired of being cooped up in the minivan, even if it is a luxurious 10 seater. Our route took us through the Great Karoo, the sheep farming mecca of South Africa. Ron and Terry did all the driving on this day. Ron nearly ran down a police officer standing in the road, waving us down – and then we drove away ! Ron thought we were just being waved by. After being chased down by the cop-car (we really needed something faster if we were going to outrun the cops) the officer walked up to the minivan window, very annoyed. Ron turns down his window and says to the officer “..do you speak English?”. That went down like a lead balloon.    After many apologies we were released. Todd, we nearly had to use the bail money you offered.. We arrived at our overnight stop, The Lord Milner hotel in Matjiesfontein. Matjiesfontein is a tiny village still stuck in the Victorian era. The Lord Milner is quaint, rickety and haunted. Ron and Tracy got to sleep in the most haunted room, but Ron proved that sawing logs (snore) is an effective way of keeping the ghosts at bay. We had an awesome dinner, served by ladies dressed in Victorian outfits (no, its not a re-enactment – this is how they live), followed by a nightcap in the attached bar which has a TON of character.

The Lord Milner Hotel

Lord Milner staircase, complete with resident cat, Theresa

11/16/09 – Drove from Mabalingwe to Kimberley, home of South Africa’s diamonds. Checked into Kimberley Club hotel. Awesome !! So historic. Natalie and Terry stayed in what used to be Cecil John Rhodes’ (founder of De Beers) personal apartment. Brian and Debbie stayed in the room that Queen Elizabeth and the Duke of Edinburgh stayed in during a visit. Went to see the Kimberley big hole and the diamond mine museum.

In the Kimberley club members only bar (we bacame temp members)

See additional pics from Mabalingwe below…

11/15/09 – Early morning game drive yielded Giraffe, Lion, baboons and many of those mentioned in yesterday’s blog. Lions were feeding. Stalked giraffe on foot. Great pics and video. No charger for laptop yet (power plug design issue). Everyone crashed in the afternoon to recoup after 2 long nights of partyig. Evening game drive with Peter Babbelbek found Zebra, Waterbuck and others. AWESOME African sunset. Quiet(ish) evening. Ate dinner at Mabalingwe restaurant. Tomorrow (11/16) we start our road trip to Kimberley.

11/14/09 – Headed out to Mabalingwe nature reserve. Got lost in Pretoria and ended up riding around in circles in the rough part of town. Terry the navigator found a way out, and we headed for Cullinan, and one of the richest diamond mines in the world. Undertook a tour of the mine (above ground). This is where the 3140 carat Cullinan diamond was discovered that resulted in the Great and Lesser Stars of Africa (both in the British crown jewels). Brian found a new girlfriend named Penny. Arrived at Mabalingwe safely. Met Ingrid our ranger for the first sunset game drive and immediately connected. 1st night we saw Elephants (up close), Rhino, Kudu, Impala, Warthog, Nyala, Tsessebe and more. Will post pics when we can get the laptop charged. The brave engaged in an antelope pellet-spitting contest (more details to follow). Brian braai’d lamb chops and wors (sausage) for dinner.

11/13/09 – Crew arrived safely in South Africa. MAJOR party in Johannesburg. Flew for 20+ hours and then partied until 2:00 am next morning. Just another day in Africa. Kickoff event at Voodoo Lounge sure to be the shape of things to come..

11/11/09.. Final arrangements. Packing bags. How many shoes Natalie? Clean the house. Send motorcycles to babysitter. Getting ready to ROCK ‘N ROLL..