Lazing in Lutzputs

(60kms)

S 28° 21’ 65” – E 20°32’ 70”

I woke early, on this the first day of 2008, and went for a walk in the vineyards with Stoffel. We sampled some of the Sultana grapes hanging from the vines, and then went back to the house for breakfast. We were taken to see a grape pack-house in full swing. Grapes were being packed for Tesco’s and Asda in the U.K. This was a high tech operation and very impressive to watch. I couldn’t believe that this was New Years Day!! I wondered how many other industries were hard at work on this traditional holiday…

Packing Table Grapes for export…New Years Day!!

After doing a little shopping in Kakamas with Marli and Stoffel, we drove through town to a working waterwheel, where we took a few photos. This waterwheel was situated on one of Marli’s father’s farms. Then it was back to “Spook en Spartel”, the home where we had spent the previous night. David tried his best to convince us to stay for the rest of the day, as they were taking his boat onto the river and would be having a picnic somewhere along its banks. We had to decline the offer, as Marli’s parents were expecting us, and, I was not sure if my liver could stand another prolonged round of Jagermeister and Red Bulls….   

I packed most of my gear into Stoffel’s pickup, and I then kitted up for the ride out to their farm in Lutzputs, about 60km out of town, on a dirt road… It had been suggested that we load the bike onto a bakkie and take it out to the farm in this manner, to avoid serious injury to my person!! Marli was convinced that it was too dangerous to drive such a heavy bike through the thick sand and loose gravel that apparently littered this road. I decided that if I was going to have trouble with dirt roads, then I’d better have it now when Stoffel was there to help me…

Working Water-wheel, Kakamas.

I headed back to town to refuel, while Marli and Stoffel stowed their gear away, and waited at the turnoff to Riemvasmaak for me. The garage was bustling, and it took me longer to get fuel than I would have liked, resulting in a considerable loss of my bodily fluids in the midday sun…

We headed off down what was quite an accurate description of the road on Marli’s part… The road was hard packed gravel, with corrugations and loose sand liberally scattered along its entire length. Once they had pulled away onto the gravel road, I disengaged the ABS braking and gingerly eased my way onto the gravel. I had to remind myself of a few tips that had been given to me by friends who rode their bikes on sand far more often that I had; Stand up, Loosen up, Look up, and the one I feared the most; Open up (as in throttle!!). Stoffel drove on ahead and stopped from time to time to warn me of those parts of the road they thought might be a hassle…

I kept in their tyre tracks for the most part, hoping that the lines they had taken had not gone through patches of sand that were too thick, and for the most part this proved the best way forward. I averaged speeds of about 70 – 80km/h, and had a few hairy moments, when forced to cross over the “middle-mannetjie” … This caused the front wheel to behave in an alarmingly uncontrollable manner and almost unseated me on a few occasions…

We stopped under the shade of a Camelthorn Tree, and shared a drink and lit up a much needed, nerve assisting cigarette! While Stoffel was all smiles, Marli fidgeted nervously…finally with a worried look, she advised that the “worst was yet to come”…. There was apparently a large patch of very thick sand, which was in fact a dry river bed, followed immediately by a very steep section, littered with loose rocks and shale… Marvelous….!!

Stoffel and I stop for a smoke-break in the shade of a Camelthorn Tree…

I eyed the back of the bakkie, wondering if I shouldn’t have taken Marli’s advice earlier…. I took a deep breath, let the clutch out and focused on the road again, as their bakkie disappeared over the next few rises on the way to the area she had described earlier… I battled through a few sections of thick sand and finally rounded a bend to find Stoffel parked in front of a dry river bed… It stretched out in front of his bakkie, about 30 metres wide… Marli had already crossed it, and was running up a steep slope on the other side, camera in hand… It seemed that they expected some interesting photographic opportunities, and had made up their minds, that this was the best place to get them…

My heart rate picked up, I could almost hear it beat inside my helmet… I opened the throttle and hit the loose stuff with more momentum that I would ordinarily be comfortable with…. The front wheel immediately decided that it had a better route in mind and jerked off to the right, as the tail snaked off to the left. My feet came off the pegs, my legs shot out at right angles to the bike to keep my balance, and with heart pumping wildly, sand flying in all directions, I felt the front wheel gain purchase again on the far side… I opened the throttle wider and climbed past a startled looking Marli, camera in hand, mouth agape… Up the steep slope I went, rear tyre flinging stones behind me, hoping none of them had hit Marli… Cresting the top, I breathed a huge sigh of relief, feeling the sweat pouring down my forehead and running down my back. I’d made it, and from here on my confidence improved…

We reached a road sign that advised we were on the road to the Namibian Border, and a little further on came through a section of the road where many little streams would ordinarily have flowed across it, but were now instead, sections of deep sand… Most of them I handled with ease, but one longer piece had my feet off the pegs again and jerked my backside out of the saddle… I felt a twinge in my lower back and hoped that I had not pulled a muscle… Shortly after that, I saw a Steenbok dash across an open patch of sand behind the fence I was adjacent to… The pain in my back was quickly forgotten, as I followed its progress between the thorn trees until it disappeared from sight… These unexpected sightings of wild animals are often the most exciting for me… I was smiling inside my helmet, despite the extraordinary heat that was making me feel a little giddy…

The “Dark Destroyer” comes to grips with the “Road to Lutzputs”… Yes, my feet are off the pegs… I had nearly “come-a-cropper” a few moments before the photo was taken!!

We finally rounded a long bend in the road, and I saw the left indicator of Stoffel’s bakkie blinking ahead of me… We turned up a small dirt road and drove into the parking area of a rambling farmhouse… I had made it!! Flooded with relief, I climbed off the bike, took my helmet off and grinning like a Cheshire cat, greeted Marli’s parents…reminding myself as I did so, not to mention Jacob Zuma and his ilk…

We lugged all my kit into the room allocated to me, and I began shedding my riding gear, pouring with sweat as I did so… The excitement of the last hour was beginning to wear off, and I realized that even inside the house, it was hot….very hot!! Within a few minutes, we were in the dam behind the house, cooling off as best we could in water that was not cold, but much cooler than the 39 degree heat that waited outside the dam…

While we splashed around in the dam, Stoffel and Marli explained the history of the farms in the area and shared interesting anecdotes about the local farmers and their “volk”… Interesting place this Northern Cape… In my youth I had spent many days on farms similar to this one…far away from the nearest town, and I enjoyed the relaxed atmosphere that seems to permeate the country life of the farmers who live and work on them… Maybe I missed my calling…??

The Dam behind the house became “headquarters” for the duration of my stay…

That night, Stoffel and I decided to sleep outside, and lugged two metal beds into the front garden, complete with bedding. We enjoyed a delicious braai which Stoffel and Rabie, his father-in-law, took complete charge of. We finally said our goodnights at about 2.00am, and prepared to sleep under the stars, with a cool breeze blowing over us. Stoffel advised me not to walk around bare foot at night, as the garden was home to a large number of scorpions!! I placed my torch in easy reach of where I lay, just in case nature called… I planned to light the garden up before setting foot on the paving around my bed… I lay awake for a while watching the stars in the night sky and thinking again about the circumstances that had brought me this far…and the scorpions…