Expeditions / Trips Triple D Dairy / Updates Golden Gate to Pongola
Wednesday, 18 February 2009 12:12 Last Updated on Monday, 09 March 2009 13:37
Somehow I managed to calculate the days wrong and with the days calculated wrong this was supposed to be our longest day for the trip. We were heading for Sodwana Bay but our chances making it quickly disappeared when we took nearly 2 hours to fix our bikes (replacing the bolts that fell out of the 2 Kawasaki’s in Lesotho) in Harrysmit.
We rode through areas of South Africa I have never seen. Between Vryheid and Pongola there are some really beautiful hills and everything is very green. I loved riding here. We stopped near Louwsburg to fill up with petrol and a break and discussed our option. Still under the impression we where one day short I suggested we stay with Loenen the night in Pongola since we won’t make Sodwana Bay in daylight. Then the next day we wake up really early and do Sodwana Bay and Lake Sibaya in one day. They were not happy with the idea and reckoned the roads are too bad and the time too little. In our little discussion the word “impossible” even came out. I didn’t know how to respond to that. I wanted to laugh and I wanted to cry. Instead I did nothing and decided if they don’t want to give it a try I’ll go about it alone and they can sit and wait at Loenen’s house.
On our last stretch to Pongola we stopped for a quick photo and I noticed a huge bolt lying in the frame of Lance’s bike. We couldn’t immediately locate the spot where this bolt came from but judging by it size this was definitely an important one.
Once we arrived at Loenen we realized we had an extra day so we could go ahead with our planned schedule to Sodwana without having to try and cram too much into one day. Lance spent most of the evening fixing his bike and tightening all the bolts and screws on his bike. While doing this he noticed 3 bolts missing from the engine, which made the total count of 5 bolts.
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