This past weekend-off I thought I’d do something different. So I set off with 2 Dutch friends to explore the Drakensburg Mountains. Normally I have everything planned and booked before I leave, but this time we took a chance and headed off to Southern Drakensburg not really knowing what would happen.
We found a lovely Backpackers (previous bad experiences have taught me that the words ‘lovely’ and ‘Backpackers’ don’t often go together) called Sani Lodge (on the Sani Pass Rd – the main way to Lesotho) which was comfortable, bug-free, had incredibly comfy beds, a welcoming log-fire (it’s getting a bit chilly in the evenings) and even an outdoor shower, which I braved this morning!
The Drakensburg is a bit like Wales, only with moderately less rainfall. There a small towns with not much to do but hike… I chose to chill out with some good books on Saturday, but today we really pushed ourselves out of the comfort zone and went Quad biking… The plan had been to go in micro-lite aircraft over the mountains but it was too windy (and I was never going to actually do it, but the others didn’t need to know that until the last minute, did they?!) but when we got to the place it was too windy and the only option was quad biking so that is what we did.
We found a lovely Backpackers (previous bad experiences have taught me that the words ‘lovely’ and ‘Backpackers’ don’t often go together) called Sani Lodge (on the Sani Pass Rd – the main way to Lesotho) which was comfortable, bug-free, had incredibly comfy beds, a welcoming log-fire (it’s getting a bit chilly in the evenings) and even an outdoor shower, which I braved this morning!
The Drakensburg is a bit like Wales, only with moderately less rainfall. There a small towns with not much to do but hike… I chose to chill out with some good books on Saturday, but today we really pushed ourselves out of the comfort zone and went Quad biking… The plan had been to go in micro-lite aircraft over the mountains but it was too windy (and I was never going to actually do it, but the others didn’t need to know that until the last minute, did they?!) but when we got to the place it was too windy and the only option was quad biking so that is what we did.
Our helpful instructor, Sipho, wouldn't take us out until he was confident we'd passed the training (and signed the indemnity form and chosen our chocolate snack!) and he gave us some good training and vital safety talk.
We set off along the edge of a maize field on our bikes, I was struggling a bit in regulating the speed. That was fine. But then we came to a woodland area and it was necessary to go down steep hills and up on the pine needles. I managed to break (nearly) every safety rule we'd just been taught in a kamikazi left turn through the pine trees where I somehow managed to push on the accelerator AND brakes and skid off the track and come within about an inch of a nearby tree, putting my foot out of the bike in the process... needless to say I wasn't too keen to carry on after the mild panic attack I nearly underwent. Sipho was fairly mean about it and told me I had ONE chance left, after which I'd be walking (which would have been fine with me, I reasoned to myself!) but anyway the mistakes taught me how to ride properly and I was fine from there on in, even on the 'windey, windey' tracks through more woodland. There was some hesitation when we had to follow him down a steep rock into and across a stream but the hardest by far was crossing another stream on 2 timber logs with the bikes... scary stuff, but sometimes you just have to put your foot down and trust...
A lesson in trust and in perseverance... all in all it was quite fun and I'd probably do it again, but not for a very long time. I'm awaiting tomorrow to see which muscles I've worked too hard. Like with ski-ing, I think I'll only feel it in the morning!
