5 Passes Run
Text and pictures: Mike Copeland. Article from the January 2014 issue of Country Life Magazine.
The Western Cape is blessed with many historic and interesting mountain passes. Mike Copeland tackles five of them, in a day, on a motorcycle
Nothing beats the exhilarating freshness of an early spring day in the Boland. The air is still, the flowers bloom and traces of late snow cover the highest peaks. But I had not yet noticed any of this, as I lubed my GS’s chain and prayed that the battery would still have power. I hit the starter button and my trusty BMW 650 roared into life and settled into that gentle throb of a single cylinder ready to ride.
She’s always ready to ride, a veteran of Cape to Cairo and other African adventures, and I have to work hard to keep up with her enthusiasm on the road. So with camera and map (none of that new-fangled GPS high-tech for us), we left Paarl and dawdled through Wellington to the approach of our first pass, Bain’s Kloof.
This masterpiece of engineering through the Limietberg mountains was the work of Andrew Geddes Bain, famous road builder and geologist. Completed in 1853, it opened the Cape’s first direct line of communication with the interior and served as our main artery to the north (via Sutherland, Fraserberg and Victoria West) for almost a century, until Du Toit’s Kloof Pass opened in 1949.
Having just completed Michell’s Pass near Ceres, Bain moved his team of construction workers (which included up to 450 convicts at times) across to Wellington and started blasting and digging his way through the mountains. Without the use of dynamite (it hadn’t been invented yet) and no mechanised machinery, Bain and his men completed this amazing feat of construction in a mere four and a half years. Try getting that done today, even with all our modern aids and equipment.
The pass started gently as we left the fertile Wamakersvallei (where sturdy wagons were made for long journeys into the interior), passing vineyards and cellars. Smoke from cooking fires washed the mountains with waves of blue as the bike and I carefully wound our way up around sharp bends.
Half-way up I met with a group of Harley riders who thought I was crazy to be tackling five passes in a day. I thought they were crazy not to. The top of the pass is called The Nek and used to boast a lovely old hotel that burnt down in 1964. Today, the cottages there, one of which was originally occupied by Bain, offer quiet accommodation and the promise of great hiking trails.
The eastern descent of Bain’s Kloof is where the fun really starts, with tight corners, narrow road, rocky overhangs and the white waters of the surging Witte River far below. The spectacular, low-hanging Dacre’s Pulpit is just one of the features along this section, as is the wonderful use of dry-packed stone walls to support this precarious track. Past Tweede Tol camp and picnic site (no time to stop today) and soon I’d reached my favourite bush pub, Calabash. I made time for a quick stop for a cool drink and then off again, to the bottom of the pass and across the Breede River.
Staying on the R43, I passed the turnoff to Worcester and headed through quaint farms and green olive groves for Ceres. Across the Breede River again, and I’d reached another of Andrew Geddes Bain’s famous passes, Michell’s Pass.
Working to a design by Charles Michell, civil engineer and Surveyor-General of the Cape Colony, Bain built this pass in the amazingly short period of two years. With only 240 convicts and a couple of special assistants, including his son Thomas (who went on to be as brilliant a pass-builder as his father), he completed the pass and it was opened in 1848. It is much improved now, but still an important route to the north and a lifeline for the folk of Ceres and the Bokkeveld.
The BMW and I swept effortlessly up the smooth, wide highway with only the lonely old Tolhuis and jay-walking baboons to remind us of the difficult past. Comfortable lay-bys with inviting picnic tables had me stopping for photos of the fantastic rock formations, but I soon reached the top and dropped over into the fruit-growing town of Ceres.
How Bain loved to plant oak trees wherever he worked and, as I burbled along, avoiding the temptations of local coffee shops and steakhouses, I suspected that he had planted a few along this main road.
I love old towns that still have a main route travelling through them. Their main roads are a heady mix of local and foreign, near and far. The local resident feels connected to the attractions of the outside world, and the traveller feels let in, if only for a brief passing moment, to the intimacies of local life.
Heading out into the Warm Bokkeveld, I passed orchards and pack sheds, for this is the fruit basket of the Western Cape. Soon I was nearing the gentle approaches of the Theronsberg Pass, number three for the day. It was used as a trek route by sheep farmers, who migrated annually with their livestock from the icy winters of the Koue Bokkeveld to the warmer climes of the Karoo. Theronsberg was named after the Theron family who farmed nearby for generations on the farm Leeuwfontein. Modern trekboere still use this pass, but make use of double-decker trucks to transport their sheep. So ride carefully as the road becomes steep and windy towards the top and then sweeps down into Hottentots Holland Kloof.
Soon I was nearing the gentle approaches of the Theronsberg Pass. It was used as a trek route by sheep farmers, who migrated annually with their livestock from the icy winters of the Koue Bokkeveld
To keep to my Five Passes Route, I took the next right turn and stayed on the R46 for a wonderfully lonely ride across the Karoo landscape to join the N1 near Touws River. South Africa’s main north/south highway is busy, but fortunately wide and reasonably safe, so I turned right again and made my way down to the Hex River Pass. A wagon trail into the hinterland dating from the earliest days, the road was first constructed by the local Divisional Council in the 1860s and modernised and widened in 1939. Fortunately for me (and the rest of South Africa) the ‘new’ dual-carriageway I swept down with little effort was opened in 1986, and really takes the evil out of the witch (hex).
The beautiful vine-covered Hex River Valley was looking her best, coloured with wild flowers and towered over by snow-clad peaks as I sped along on the home stretch. Through Worcester, I took a nostalgic ride down Church Street with its old Cape Dutch and Art Deco treasures, and out via Nekkies, home of the annual Swallows bikers rally. A quick stop in Rawsonville for a surprisingly tasty pie (all that riding was making me hungry) and I was into Du Toit’s Kloof.
They say to keep the best for last and this was the case as I powered up my final pass of the day. Pushing relentlessly up into the mountains, with seemingly nowhere to go and hemmed in by towering peaks on all sides, this passage is truly breathtaking. Trouble is, the engineers have made it such an effortless passage that we often don’t appreciate Du Toit’s Kloof Pass. We also sometimes forget that it’s a fairly new addition to our long list of Western Cape passes.
The kloof through these Hawequas Mountains must have first been used by wild animals looking for better grazing, and later by Khoi stock farmerss looking to trade with the Dutch East India Company in Table Bay.
Many efforts were made to build a passable road through the rough chain of bergs but it was only in the 1940s that the SA government decided that the new and improved national road should carve its way straight through the mountains that had thwarted travellers to the north for so long.
Unfortunately, most of SA’s engineers were away fighting in World War II and there was a shortage of manpower. So the government put 400 Italian prisoners of war to work on the new pass, and a fine contribution they made too (some liked Paarl and its hospitality so much that they didn’t want to return to Italy after the war). Of course, with the route so important, it has been much improved since then. Now motorists have the option of diving into a two-lane tunnel, which, at four kilometres in length, saves them having to take the long way around and over the top. This frees up the old road, great for dedicated bikers like me who just can’t wait to hit the bends and tackle a good pass. It also saves me an exorbitant R29 (the same as for a mini-bus full of passengers and a trailer full of luggage).
The really pleasurable riding started when I escaped from the four-lane dual carriage-way, dodging the tunnel, and throttled back on the old road up the pass and over the top. Less traffic, more sweeping bends and beautiful scenery – in fact, the perfect ride. As I pulled into a lay-by to admire the view that stretched across Paarl Valley to Table Mountain in the distance, I thought, “Where else can I ride five glorious mountain passes in one day?” Only in the Boland.
Pull in to these pit stops
■ Calabash Bush Pub
An oasis in Bain’s Kloof, it’s owned and run by the very hospitable Suzanne, who is famous for her breakfasts, pizzas, prawns, burgers and cold beers. If you decide to stay over, there are reasonably-priced self-catering units, dorms and camping available.
023 3551844, www.calabash.za.net
■ Die Tolhuis
The old toll house on Michell’s Pass is now a cosy restaurant serving interesting dishes like Kiep in ‘n Koppie (chicken pie) and Kaalgat Special (scones with jam and cheese).
023 3121211, www.tolhuis.co.za
■ Ceres Inn
Comfortable, family-run inn with a history, and boasts well-appointed guest rooms, a restaurant and a pub. 023 312 2325, www.ceresinn.co.za
■ Baba’s Jem
Eileen Baron (aka Baba) produces some unique jams and preserves, and also serves traditional Cape dishes in her home kitchen restaurant. Try her famous afval kerrie, vetkoek, chakalaka and moerkoffie. Book ahead for meals at 023 312 3545, babasjem@telkomsa.net.
■ Church Street, Worcester
This historic old street in Worcester is home to accommodation such as the biker-friendly Da Rooms (072 250 7471), restaurants like Fowlers Grill (023 347 8761) and the ever-popular Dros on the square.
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