Wednesday, October 29, 2008

H.O.G. GOES BUSH (Part 1)

Left to Right front - Hubs, Mahmoud aka Max (Emirati), Big Mike (Canadian) Left to Right behind - Doc Bob (English) & Sleepy Jim (American)


To save any smart arses the trouble of asking..................no, I was not busting to squeeze a kidney!

After loading up, we took off in convoy for Gold Reef City. It used to be a great place, but I guess time & possibly the change in politics have taken their toll. No worries though, some of the guys went down the mine & got to see a gold pour.

The following morning, after yet another brilliant 'full house' breakfast from Thelma, we packed the luggage into & on the bikes & set off to our next destination, Tzaneen. Like any city in the world, Joburg traffic leaves much to be desired, but it ain't half as bad as the chaos that pervades the UAE. Once we hit the highways, it was plain sailing. The weather was wonderful for riding, other motorists waved at us & gave us the thumbs up & despite what may seem as hefty toll fees (for locals) we found the highways to be in extremely good condition. All was good in the Rainbow Nation..................until..................phhhht phhhhht phhhht..................a sudden loss in power on our (i.e. Hubs & I) UltraGlide. Hmmmm, this shouldn't happen methinks! It was an 08 model, only had a few thousand k's on the clock........what could go wrong?

We pulled onto the hard shoulder, had a fag & the menfolk did much prodding & poking, trying to establish exactly what the problem might be. Ten minutes later, the 'Glide appeared to have recovered from its ailment & we set off again.

To cut a long story short, after the 3rd time it died on us, we parked the 'Glide under a bridge, phoned Riaan, told him what the story was & then did some rearranging with the remaining bikes. Max very kindly doubled up with Tanya & let us use his bike.

Wherever we stopped, either for fuel or just a breather, people came up to talk to us & asked if they could have their photos taken by the bikes.

Don'tcha just love it? A fully laden truck, with a 3 piece lounge suite & double kitchen sink on top! Only in Africa :-)

After some 350km into the ride, we stopped off at Picasso's, a beautiful little family run restaurant in Haenertsburg. Both the setting & food were divine. The owner has a wicked sense of humour & she got full marks for the little sign just above the menu board:

So, with tummies & kidneys fully replenished, we carried on our ride, to our final destination for the day - Mashutti Country Lodge near Tzaneen. Wow, what a lovely spot in paradise! As a Saffie, I can't begin to describe the feeling of just how special it is to get 'back to the bush'. The driveway to the lodge was lined with blossoms from overhanging trees & the view from our chalets was simply stunning.

October is the month for Jacaranda trees to show the world just how pretty their purple blossoms are.

We'd had a long day & a hard ride......................I did something I haven't done for many, many years - I had a beer *hic*! After just that one, my lips went numb & I was slightly light-headed, so I stuck to Sprite for the rest of the evening. I'm such a boring old ratbag!

Shortly before heading up to the lodge for dinner, I just took time out, soaking up the peace & tranquility of the bush at sunset. I think Camella, our Chapter mascot, enjoyed the feeling just as much as I did............................

To be continued.

* kugelspeak, understandable to Saffies.

Posted by Jayne :: 12:40 :: 21 Had Somminc To Say

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