Bike loaded. Sad goodbyes. Next stop Vespa Wynberg.
Documenting my travels on a Vespa
Category: South Africa (Page 1 of 2)
By my rough estimate there must have been 60 Vespas and their cheerful riders who turned out to ride Mike out of town.
Here are a few shots to share the moment. It was nippy at first but by time breakfast was over the sun had made its presence known. I think we caused a public spectacle as we weaved our way to Krugerdorp via the Kromdraai Road.
Bon voyage Mike “Solo Scooterist” Strauss. You are on your own from here on out … literally. I hope the blog and camera lessons translate into lots of posts from you over the months ahead.
Best wishes from us all.
Rob
ps. Mike will be plotting has route as he goes. You can see the map here
What a day ! Johannesburg gave me one of those beautiful clear crisp Highveld mornings. The perfect send off and yet my eyes were covered in a mist of emotion. The goodbyes were really difficult. To leave loved ones for adventure is damn hard.
The send off from all my fellow scooterists this morning was incredible and very heart felt. Thank you one and all for your effort and your company – it was much appreciated.
I took it slow. Victoria and I love the open road and that smell of Veld just cleared my head… and we were off! I must admit it is not often that so many different vehicles pass me but at least I managed to get past a Combine Harvester . We could have fitted into the tyre valve it was so gigantic.
The stats for the day might interest some – so 430 km was covered; Victoria sipped 13,11 litres of 95 high octane – she is a snob that way. The only heart stopper of a moment was when the engine started with a few splutters… but after a while all was well and we were’ Cruzin’.
As you can see I stopped to smell the roses.
Hello Folks
Daniel Basch from Creative Directions produced this wonderful movie of Mike’s departure gig. I think you will find it informative while capturing the essence of the morning and the spirit of Vespa.
Enjoy
After a great rest at Lavender Lodge , with great company from the Strydom family and friends , I set off on day 2 feeling great. I was on my way to meet up with my parents in Namibia on day 3 . The scooter was running superbly. I took the Kuruman , a very busy little town with a hive of activity.
From here I travelled through Kathu , a mining town that is amazing in that the amount of development is huge! There are newly built homes as far as the eye can see. The whole area is covered in this fine dark burgundy chocolate powder that has altered the look of the whole area. As I was riding through I found the landscape so alien – the huge mining equipment standing in the distance – a very harsh looking environment.
Kathu skyline
From here it was on to Upington , Keimoes , Kakamas and to my final destination – the not so mighty Augrabies Falls. The landscape had changed dramatically with the mighty Orange feeding and nurturing the farming areas around it. There are vineyards as far as the eye can see and the most beautiful gardens lush with greenery and alive with colour. Very different to where I had come from.
After riding over 530 Km I arrived at the falls totally exhausted at sunset. I managed to get the last chalet, a few great pictures of the falls and then took the scooter and gear off to the chalet. Being so tired and with not concentrating , the next thing I knew , the bike and I had fallen over. Luckily we had fallen into a wall so the bike only fell halfway, breaking the mirror off. I managed to get it up with a bit of effort. Damn the scooter is heavy .
Augrabies Falls
Sunset over Augrabies
© 2021 The Solo Scooterist
Theme by Anders Noren — Up ↑