In Calitzdorp’s backyard

      Groenfontein sounds like the kind of destination that would make sokkie kings Die Campbells wax lyrical:

      Gedaan en moeg

      Vir die stad se pyn?

      Vat jou bokkie

      Vir ’n sokkie

      op Groenfontein

      Worn out and tired

      of the city’s pain?

      Take your bokkie

      for a sokkie

      at Groenfontein

      Or it might be more fun simply to take your bokkie on your adventure bike and explore one of the most beautiful dirt roads in the Little Karoo – between Calitzdorp and the R328 at the Swartberg Pass, via Groenfontein and Kruisrivier. The turn-off to the left is plumb in the middle of Calitzdorp’s R62 main street, a block or so past the charming stone church. And, before you are properly out of town, the tar ends and the adventure begins.

      This route has multiple pleasures. First, the road surface is usually excellent, which means you can take a passenger along and even beginners can master it easily. Second, you will struggle to find a straight stretch longer than a few hundred metres. You are barely out of town when the curves begin. And they don’t stop until you are back on the tar at Matjiesrivier.

      Third, the architecture. You frequently ride close to and sometimes right through farmyards with the most wonderful Karoo architecture you will see in the Western Cape. Outbuildings whose walls create pleasing textures and sheds that have recently been restored according to historical tradition – it’s all there.

      The farm names tell stories of abundant water, prosperity and perhaps a setback or two: Groenkloof, Welgevonden, Witfontein, Vinknesrivier, Voorbedacht and, last but not least, Gatplaas.

      Then there is the landscape.

      First, the Calitzdorp dam on your left, which at certain times of the year is nearly pitch-black from the mountain water, provides a surprising visual effect. Then you will see the nameless hills to your right, while the road almost disappears every now and then between sky-high reeds and bulrushes.

      Sometimes the Swartberg beckons far ahead and then you’ll know: due north, over Boesmansnek, lies Gamkaskloof, less than 15 km away as the crow flies. Oh, and ride slowly so that you can appreciate the aloes on show. When we were there in June, the red masses took our breath away.

      At Kruisrivier, about 28 km from Calitzdorp, the valley opens up for the first time, but don’t open the throttle too much, because you have to turn left here, towards Matjiesrivier. The road swerves and curves less now, but it is up and down over one ridge after the next, each opening up a new feast for the eyes.

      Even though the last stretch of road is tarred before you reach the R328 T-junction, the scenery is still striking. The ideal way to do this route is to ride it there and back – mainly because the scenery from various angles is so dramatically different. One direction only will grant you only half the show.

      The one thing to be careful of is the width of the road. Here and there it’s only wide enough for one inconsiderate 4x4 and, if there is unexpected traffic ahead, you might be in a pickle. With so many blind corners and rises, it’s wise to watch your speed.

      Please consider staying over at Marie and Grant Burton’s Victorian farm guest house. It’s called The Retreat at Groenfontein and is hidden away in a conservancy that borders the Swartberg Nature Reserve and the meals are out of this world. But there is no sokkie, alas, for your bokkie.

       Route grading

      1

       Starting point

      Calitzdorp

       Distance

      From where you leave the R62 in Calitzdorp to the R328 just south of the Swartberg Pass it is just over 50 km.

       Duration

      You can do it in just over an hour if you are in a hurry, but rather allow a generous three hours and do a return trip.

      When you think you’ve seen it all: Cloete’s Pass

      My road map doesn’t let on whether this is a scenic route or not. It seems flat and one-dimensional. The lines that connect the vital organs of cities and towns like veins run this way and that for no apparent reason.

      When you are forced to travel by motorbike from Cape Town to George (and back again) for the sixth time in three weeks, you desperately crave a novel experience. Even Route 62 can start to lose its charm – nowadays all you see is one tour bus after the other, full of Dutch or German tourists. And the frenetic N2 is spectacular only up to the turn-off to Hermanus. After that the beauty dries up, as though Mother Nature ran out of steam past Houwhoek.

      Besides, if you want to ride an adventure-touring bike, you want dirt under your wheels – obscure back roads and secret trails that make you feel as though you’re the first to see the new vista that opens up in front of you.

      That was what made me pick up the road map to look more closely at the line that turned off southwards at Lemoenshoek, about 15 km on the other side of Barrydale – towards Brandrivier. It was a thin black vein, so not tar. What would it involve? There are mountains in that area, that much I knew. It had the Little Karoo on one side and coastal plains on the other. But what lay in between?

      On the sixth trip to George I found out.

      The first section, from Lemoenshoek on the R62 (just before you turn left on the R323) is lovely, without being totally enchanting. With the Langeberg in the distance, it takes you through ostrich, sheep and goat farms with names like Klein-Doornrivier, Hoëveld and Phesantefontein.

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