Day 62: Forest Camp to Karino

Still not a slave on Apokalips.

I awoke to a clear day with a lovely layer of mist floating through the valley. Mmm, maybe if I had waited one more day I could have seen that site at Gods Window. Oh well. No use thinking about that now as I carried on. Got through Sabie quickly enough before it was uphill again for a little while. I had now decided to head towards Karino then towards Komatiepoort the next day, instead of going through Barbeton or Badplaas.

Digging that mist.

Little bit of the ol water flowing in Sabie.

Again. What an awesome place to ride through.

You stand out tree.

The road was plenty of long windy stretches going up and down as the forested areas opened up. I came to White River after what was one of the most awesome downhills of the trip. I met a guy who was selling home made ginger beer and I was thought, that needs to get in my belly. I purchased a bottle. It was delicious. I talked with the maker of the fine beverage I had just consumed and he handed me another bottle on the house after hearing my story. It was as delicious as the first when I drank it a little later. Cheers mate.

I was about 20kms from Karino which is about 15kms east of Nelspruit. I decided to avoid Nelspruit as it was a big city and I had no need to check it out. Plus Karino made the route more outside you know. It was a good choice. But first I had to get through what I realized at the time was the most dodgy road I had been on. It started about 5-6kms heading out of White River and damn it got messy. The shoulder disappeared. There were plenty trucks and the road was in pieces in many places. Plus potholes for good measure. Using my crafty bike ninja skills I swerved between trucks and such and got out alive on the other side. It was then a pretty straightforward and fairly downhill ride Karino.

Out Plaston which is just outside White River. Happy to have survived that dodgy road I took.

Now to enjoy this awesome downhill.

Yup, gotta catch em young.

Karino was listed as a railway station in my map book so I was expecting a small town. And it proved to be pretty awesome. I arrived at the N4 and debated whether I should go right and look for a place or left? I decided left just so that I didn’t have to back track. This took me right away to the edge of town with min option and I wasn’t planning on camping right beside the N4. I saw some houses and decided to take a chance. There was a security guard who said I must just wait till one of the owners came and sure enough a bakkie arrived with two guys in it. I asked for a garden to camp in and they said sure, follow us. Stoked. So in I went and I passed a handful of houses before pulling into Gavins house as I was to find out. Real friendly both of them were and they had just come back from a day of farming. Beers were quickly given out and we had a lekker chat. The other guy then said cheers as he headed to his house which was about 3 houses down. He also said if there was any washing I needed doing, I should just pop over sometime in the evening. Cool. My clothes could do with a wash. So it was just me and Gavin and it was a blast talking with him. He said I could just stay in one of the spare bedrooms if I wanted. I would end up sharing it with a cat called Tappet who was quite a character. Gavin told me all sorts of stories about the adventures he had in the past out in the wild. Sounded epic. He also worked on the Shaka Zulu series all those years ago starring Henry Cele. Anyone who has ever watched it knows the one. Bom bom bom bom bom, bom bom, bom. Then I got me some washing done, cleaned up and called it a night. Stoked I had pulled into Karino.

Distance 60kms