November 9, 2025 to November 10, 2025
Prince Alfred's Hamlet
Sunday the 9th of November 2025
It was a very peaceful night in the hut on Ysterplaat farm. Unfortunately we had to have an early start because I would have really enjoyed spending the morning hours here.
It was two kilometers back to the road on the farm tracks and then another two kilometers of sandy and corrugated dirt road before the tar started.
For the first hour and a half we didn't see another vehicle on the road and it remained quiet for the first forty kilometers or so as we cycled through the Kouebokkeveld, a long valley with high mountains on either side. As we approached Die-Dorp-Op-Die-Berg (literally The Town On The Mountain), the only town in the area, we hit the first of two sets of major roadworks and the traffic volume started to pick up.
We had short lunch stop in the town before tackling the next section of roadworks. This was a lot easier because although one side of the road had been blocked off, work was yet to start and we had the blocked off side to ourselves.
With a bit more than ten kilometers to go we plummeted over five hundred meters down the dramatic Gydo Pass into the village of Prince Alfred's Hamlet where we have a lovely apartment for the next two nights.
Monday the 10th of November 2025
We've had a relaxing day recovering in Prince Alfred's Hamlet. My brother and his wife, who live in Durbanville to the north of Cape Town, spent a few hours with us here on their way to couple of night's in a remote area east of the Cederberge. It was good to catch up with them. Leigh's spell of not feeling well made the timing of the meeting easier because we would have been through here five days ago if she hadn't fallen ill. Dark clouds tend to have a silver lining.
Leigh seems to over her ailments and is ready to tackle the next section of the journey. Whatever route we choose, it is not more than nine hundred kilometers until we are back in Gqeberha so we are approaching the home straight.
We have another climb over a short distance tomorrow heading towards the Matroosberg, apparently the most snowed on mountain in South Africa. Only thirty kilometers but well over seven hundred meters of climbing to what will most likely be the highest elevation on this trip.
Today's ride: 79 km (49 miles)
Total: 1,127 km (700 miles)
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2 months ago