A drive in the country

[jmvv]

This past weekend, I attended the Mighty Men Conference in Greytown. When I told my wife that I was taking Petrus and that I would take the side roads, she responded with " just make sure the recovery kit is on the bakkie"

This is an ode to the humble green Beetle "Petrus"

Thursday evening I packed the car and made sure that the tank was full and tyre pressures were right (2 bar rear 1.8 bar front). The oil was changed earlier in the week and I had a spare fan belt and a spare set of points

Its amazing what you can get into the Beetle



At 05:00 am, I hit the road taking the N14 to Krugersdorp.

Sunrise found me on the road between Westonarea and Sasolburg



I stopped outside Heilbron to strech my legs and realised that it is far better to stay on the straight and narrow



Outside Petrus Steyn, I encountered some mist, sometimes so thick that visibilty was down to 10 meters



The first fuel stop was at Bethlehem



On the way to Clarens, I stopped at the outlet from water from the Khatse Dam that supply the Vaal dam. Gauteng, this is where your water comes from.



Golden Gate was a welcome sight as I planned on having breakfast there



Breakfast comprised of padkos and coffee from the thermos while Petrus caught a breather



The next stop was at Sterkfontein Dam after playing with some BMW GS1200 through the twisties of the Monantsa Pass



After dispensing with the Oliviershoek Pass, I pushed on through Bergville, Winterton, Colenso and Weenen to reach Shalom Ministries near Greytown by 14:00



Saturday morning had us getting up to a misty wonderland after a night of rain



I'll post the pictures of the return trip tomorrow

[johanb]

Seems Petrus was a believer as well
Hope you enjoyed the trip,,

[zubz]

Nice trip and thanks for the pics dude....Wish my beetle will someday get to a reliable state as yours where I can hit the long road....

[Farhaad]

nice trippie jmvv
isnt it just great to proof the misses wrong about a beetle

[GavinHuart]

Big ups to Petrus! The Golden Gate/Clarens/Bethlehem route is SO scenic. A friend of mine lived in all three parts so I know the area pretty well. Winter there is another story though Glad you had a safe trip and that all went well.

[jmvv]

As promised, the pictures of the return trip.

It took me 2½ hours to leave the campsite and get to Greytown



I decided to take the R33 over Tugela ferry to Dundee









Wherever the road allowed it, I travelled at 120 kph, the oil temp went up to a max of 100 degrees, but oil pressure remained constant



Up the Laingsnek pass, I had great fun with the guy in the Z3 Coupe through the twisties. I drove Petrus like you would a bike and was able to overtake him on the inside of the corners, while he would overtake me on the straights. Sometimes, you need to prove to the youngsters what it takes to have fun....


]
Between Standerton and Leandra, I drove into this storm with serious winds and rain coming down in buckets. O top of it the road is so potholed that you can loose a farm animal in them. At some places, you have to drive on the shoulder of the road because the potholes are so severe.

I lost a trim ring there, when I hit a pothole so hard that the GPS fell off the windscreen and the car jumped out of gear



At 19:10, Petrus was safely back under the carport at home.



Over the weekend, he travelled more than 1300 km, ran as hard as he can, faced severe weather and the worst potholed road imaginable and never missed a beat and did not require a drop of oil; all the while providing me with a serious dose of fun .

All I can say is " WHATACAR"

[Pine]

Well done to both of you!

[BUSBFK]

Nice pictures and nice trip. Just one question is the members cars that unreliable that this is seen as a achievement? This is starting to worry me as I am going to start using my bus as n daily driver and I expect it to be reliable. And as soon as my buggy is up here I am going to drive her but this makes me worried? As I was told once that the VW Beatles\Buses was renown for their reliability. Sorry for the hijack

[calooker]

Rode my bicycle down to Durbs in December, using all the back roads, and some pot holes were larger than life.
One stretch from Deneysville to Oraniaville was REAL BAD they have stopped filling the holes with tar, only sand and the tar road was actually turning into a sand road again.
Everywhere there are major pot hole issues, around Reitz, Bergville, on the road to Reitz we found a GTI with a front strut popping out the bonnet.

[Dam]

Nice scenic trip, well done, I also like to take the road less travelled sometimes
(BTW, I would move the fuel filter out of the engine bay, too close to the dizzy for my liking!)

[lowlight]

Seems like you had a good trip, weekend and fun. That Standerton road is pothole area. My father lost 2 tyres and a rim there. I stopped using that road as I almost lost tyres there. Pitty I didnt saw your Petrus there.