Saturday 17^th to  Sunday 18^th September, 2011

Kaapsche Hoop, well known for its Wild Horses roaming freely, is a charming village situated in Mpumlanga, South Africa. This popular tourist village is a haven of beauty, peace and tranquility, is rich in History and local art, and offers various leisure activities, such as Horse Riding, Hiking trails, etc. With the local Restaurants, quaint shops and loads of accommodation, it makes for the perfect holiday, or one-night weekend away with the BMW Motorcycle Club Central.

   

Silver Mist is situated in the heart of the Lowveld nestled in a small historical village by the name of Kaapsche Hoop.  The name "Kaapsche Hoop" directly translated means "Cape Hope".   The reason for the name is that trekking settlers thought they had arrived in Cape Town due to the striking resemblance of the picturesque habitat.   Kaapsche Hoop is as rich in history as it is in fauna and flora, and it is one of the only villages in South Africa that hosts wild horses.   Kaapsche Hoop started its existence as a miner's village in the early days of the gold rush, but with even larger finds being made further away, the village was abandoned before it reached maturity.    For the longest time, Kaapsche Hoop remained a ghost village.

Eventually artists around the area started to recognize the beauty and mystery of the little village.  Kaapsche Hoop came to life again and the inhabitants made sure to preserve the timeless beauty.   Through the years Kaapsche Hoop has evolved into something truly unique.  Venues like Silver Mist make it possible for everyone to visit and to backtrack to a magical time in history surrounded by nature that has been unchanged for hundreds of years.

The meeting place for the start of this weekend was after the second Toll Gate (R7.50) on the N17 at 07h30 to leave at 08h00 on the Saturday morning.   The weather looked a bit grim, slightly overcast, cloudy and looked like it was going to rain.   Upon arrival, I was greeted by quite a few motorcyclists and a 4-wheeled vehicle!   Turned out Raymond and Annaleen Geldenhys decided to come by car.   While we were waiting for people to arrive, I received a phone call from Nico Martins, who said that his bike (RT1200) had battery problems, and that he had called his son-in-law to come and assist them, jump start the bike, and then take them home, to change over to his GS1200.  He said that we should not wait for him, as this could take some time and that he would catch up with us later on in the day.

Weekend “Organiser” giving last minute instructions to Riders, Group Leaders and Tail-End Charlie before the start of the ride.

 

Please notice the “No Stopping Sign” towards the end of the bikes on the left.  So we were very good, we stopped all before this sign!

I had asked Wymoth and Anne to lead the ride, with Mark and Lili-Ann being the Tail-End-Charlie, and I would then ride somewhere in the middle, to keep check on the group to make sure that no-one would get lost, because we had a rather large group of bikes – 19 bikes.

 

We set off on the N17 and it was decided that we would stop in Carolina for Breakfast / Brunch / Refreshments at the Wimpy.  Raymond kindly phoned ahead and booked tables.  Looking at the outside of the place, we were surprised that we received very good service, considering that this is a small town and we were quite a big group.   Prior to stopping at the Wimpy, most people had stopped off at the petrol pumps to fill their bikes, ready to leave after filling their stomachs.

So, once we had all finished eating, we departed for our next leg of the ride past Badplaas, through some lovely twisties onto the Barberton turn-off, where we all turned left, and the GPS showed that the Kaapsche Hoop turnoff was about 500m further, where we all turned left onto this road.   We had not proceeded too far, when everyone came to a stop.   Why, you ask?  Well, the tar road became a dirt road, and even though most of us ride Dual Purpose bikes, we turned around and headed for Nelspruit, where we then took the road to Kaapsche Hoop, which was tar road and I must say, a very nice road with lots of nice corners too.   There were a few riders who took the dirt road, including a Road Bike – brave people, seeing that we did not know the condition of this road.

Along the way, we had a few Stop-Go’s, where we had to wait, but not for long.   As can be seen in the photos, the weather was rather over-cast and cool.

Upon arrival at Kaapsche Hoop, you go through a boom, which of course, was open, then along the dirt road, turn right, and go up the 2-track road to the Silver Mist Country Inn, with its reception area on the left.   This was a Post Office back in 1898, which is now a beautifully restored and friendly establishment.

Everyone booked in, found their rooms, parked their bikes, unloaded their luggage, checked out the view and got settled in.  Other Riders who did not start with our group in the morning, but made their own way to Kaapsche Hoop, had also arrived.   Yours truly, spoke to Dianne at Silver Mist, the lady that handled all the bookings, and asked her nicely to please give me a decent room, one with a double bed, because as a single person, I always land up with a single bed.

 

Checking out to see if the room next door was better than theirs……………!!!!  I don’t think so, as Lance and Heidi got the other Honeymoon Suite. In the photo below, a view from one of the rooms in the Main section of the Country Inn.

 

Well, thanks to Dianne, because after speaking to her, she sympathized with my predicament and gave me the best room – the Honeymoon Suite, with a four-poster bed and a lovely bathroom.    There is another Honeymoon Suite in the Main House as well.

 

Our “esteemed Club Chairman”, Nico, looks pleased with himself, having cleaned his own bike and the others bikes, he dons on his jacket, and walks back to the Inn, to join the troops.  Remember, Nico and Caroline were delayed as their other bike, the RT, had a flat battery, but this did not stop him changing bikes and joining the group, albeit a bit later in the afternoon.

 

And this brings me to the other couple who came by car, Raymond and Annaleen.   Raymond woke up on Saturday morning, not feeling well, and instead of cancelling their ride with us, they decided to use their car.  Well done, and thanks for being there.

 

As the Springboks played their Rugby World Cup Fixture against Fiji at 08h00 on the Saturday morning, we were unable to watch the game, due to this clashing with our departure time at 08h00.    Our rooms all had TV’s but not DSTV.  Only the Pub had DSTV, but fortunately, the rugby match viewing was scheduled for later on in the evening again, much to the relief of Leon, Lance and the many rugby enthusiasts, who after the braai, settled in at the Pub to watch the replay.

A braai was organised in the Waenhuis, where there was a lovely outside braai facility for a true African bush experience.

 

 

 

 

The Braai comprised of Chicken Kebabs, Pork Chops, Wors, Pap and Sauce (Sous), Pot Bread, Potato Salad, Green Salad and Salad Dressing, followed by a Chocolate pudding and homemade custard and finished off with Coffee.

And of course, we ate out of tin plates and drank coffee out of tin mugs.

 

The Pot Bread was delicious as well, freshly baked and served hot.

To make things a bit more interesting for the Saturday evening BRAAI, I suggested a SPRINGBOK evening, where everyone should dress up in Springbok clothing, and the best dressed person would get a prize, plus I had 2 other prizes as well. It was nice to see so many Bikers dressed up in their Springbok clothing.

The First Prize went to Etienne who had really dressed up for the occasion, but his “horns” kept flopping, which meant that he had not taken his “blue pill!”

Joanna won the prize for best dressed Springbok Lady.

The next prize went to Antoinette.   This was her first long ride on her new bike.

 

   

Fun was had by all.   We ate a lovely supper, gifts of yellow munch coolers were handed out to all the attendees, and as I said earlier, after the dinner a few people went off to watch the replay of the Springbok Rugby match in the PUB, whilst others retired to bed.

Breakfast was served from 07h00 to 09h00 in the Main dining room.   It was decided that whoever wanted to leave with the Group, the departure time was 09h30 in the front of the Country Inn.

Before departing on the ride back home, Wymoth requested that all the Lady Riders line up for a photographic session.

From left to right:-

Joanna Moore (GS1200), Patricia Jenkerson (GS1200) , Patricia Draper (GS650), Ariana Swanepoel (R1200), Anne Palmer-Pilgrim (GS650), Antoinette Brinckmann (GS650)

The percentage of lady riders – 6 bikes out of 23, not bad at all.

We departed, filled up with petrol just about 15kms from Kaapsche Hoop and then went onto Lydenburg, via the Long Tom Pass.   Once again, we stopped off in Lydenburg, for a leg-stretch, some people had Red Bulls, some had other refreshments while some enjoyed shopping, using the bathrooms, or just taking a smoke break.   Anne phoned Harries Pancakes in Dullstroom to reserve a table for us, so that we could enjoy some of their delicious pancakes.

 

Tummies full, we departed for our last petrol stop – Alzu on the N4 highway.

Here we said our good-byes, upon which many riders went home on different routes. And I am also happy to report that there was no rain at all.

I would like to thank all those who attended the weekend and hope that you all enjoyed it as much as I did.    Thanks for all the photos sent to me by various people, and I am sure some of you will recognise your photos used in this write-up.   There were so many great photos and not enough space to use them all.

Written and hosted by Patricia Jenkerson