Could an overlanding trip set you up for a new beginning? On his ride from Gauteng, headed for his new home in Villiersdorp, adventure biker Andrew Miller set out to find out. Swapping tar for gravel, he found what he was looking for: scenery to lift the spirits, plus the time and solitude to clear his head.

“When I moved to the Cape from Johannesburg, I was looking for an experience that would help me close off my time there. So I asked Willem Rudolph, who I ride with a lot, to put together a route. In my opinion, he is the best route builder in the country. I wanted to do as much gravel as possible – no highways, no tar – and Willem delivered,” recounts Andrew.

Also read: On gravel roads to Wakkerstroom

The idea for the Exodus Ride, as the two friends took to calling it, was for Andrew to make his way south on the most fascinating dirt roads. “I wanted to keep Andrew as far in the countryside as possible so that he could reflect,” says Willem. In effect, the exodus is really about leaving things behind and moving forward. 

Andrew’s idea was to take it easy and stop whenever he felt like it. “I often say that it takes more than two tanks of fuel to clear your head. I was in no rush; I was going to ride until I’d had enough.” The plan was that there was no plan, just the route leading south.

Plotting the route

To create the route for the Exodus Ride, Willem began with his usual approach: drawing a straight line between the start and the destination. Since Andrew was coming from the east of Johannesburg, he would need to ride on tar to get out of town. So Willem decided to put the starting point proper near Parys, at a point close to the Vredefort Dome. Swapping between the Tracks4Africa map and satellite imagery, Willem plotted a route along gravel to Villiersdorp.

“The idea was to get Joburg out of his system, so I wanted him to experience open landscape and gravel roads. But at the same time I was concerned about the fact that he was on his own. So the route went past farm dwellings and small settlements so he would always be close to help,” explains Willem. 

The result was a route that was around 90% gravel yet within 10-15km reach of ‘civilisation’. “There is just one stretch in the deep Karoo that’s like no man’s land, with no one living there,” says Willem. 

Tracks4Africa says: On the Online Trip Planner, it’s possible to switch between the Tracks4Africa map and satellite images (among other map styles). Doing so offers a preview of the route and dwellings along the way.

Day 1: Vredefort to Jacobsdal

Two turns off the main road to Parys brought Andrew and his KTM 890 Rally to the start of his gravel ride. It had been raining quite a bit and there was a big puddle right at the start, with more rain to come. “At one point the route went right through the middle of a storm. Even though it was pouring down on either side, I only got some drops on me. But you could smell the rain and the freshness, it was the best thing ever.”

The route led through beautiful countryside, with kilometre upon kilometre of sunflowers to begin with. But the scenery kept changing, from fields of corn to rolling grasslands to koppies covered in scrub. It was mating season for tortoises and Andrew lost count of how many he encountered. At one point, as he was travelling along a farm road, the GPS directed him between two fences. “I didn’t want to doubt Willem’s route, but I wondered to myself if it was right. It turned out to be one of the nicest parts of the trip, with good jeep track for some 50km.”

A mix of roads – farm roads, sandy tracks, a bit of hard pack and “gravel highway” – led to Jacobsdal. Although it’s a small town, Andrew found first-class accommodation and dining at the Jacobsdal Inn.

Day 2: Jacobsdal to Loxton

On the next day, more high-quality gravel roads took him towards Loxton, a Karoo dorpie renowned for its tree-lined streets. The wide, open landscape was punctuated with old farmhouses and windpumps keeping farm dams topped up. These back roads offered the quiet Andrew was craving. He estimates that he passed no more than 20 cars on all the gravel sections of his trip.

“The roads were out of this world. In the De Aar area, they’re maintained by the wind energy plant.” Andrew admits that he could easily have gone much faster given the quality of the surface. But he specifically wanted to slow down and stop at interesting sights, whether a war grave or an old ruin. 

On the road towards Fraserburg, Andrew noticed flags and signs for a farm stall, but no stall itself. Turning around to investigate, he discovered it was an honesty farm stall hosted in a filing cabinet. The drawers held homemade cookies, sweets and other treats, with a cooler box keeping drinks chilled. 

Customers could note their purchases in a book and put their cash in a money box or even pay by EFT. “I bought these huge ginger cookies and sat there enjoying them while wondering about the system. It gave me a warm feeling to know that an honesty farm stall worked out in these parts.”

In Loxton, Andrew was looking for places to stay on the GPS when a local pulled up next to him with an offer for a B&B. After a beer and some chat with people at the pub, he discovered the pub’s kitchen was closed. But with true small-town hospitality, one of his new friends got him a venison cottage pie from the co-op. It turned out to be a meal to remember.

Day 3: Loxton to Matjiesfontein

The Karoo is Andrew’s idea of heaven, so he was in his element on the gravel roads to Matjiesfontein. “It’s what adventure bikes are made for. It’s like driving a Mercedes-Benz on the N1, I suppose,” he says. Along the way, he stopped off at the observatory near Sutherland to admire the Southern African Large Telescope (SALT). “It was a small detour, but so interesting to see the site and museum.” 

Tracks4Africa says: The observatory offers twice daily guided tours, Monday to Saturday. Tours must be booked and paid in advance.

Andrew had never been to Matjiesfontein, so he decided to treat himself to a night at The Lord Milner Hotel. This historic hotel dates to the early days of the Anglo-Boer War and was beautifully restored to recapture the Victorian era. Just as Andrew pulled into the parking lot, another motorbike stopped too. Volker was from Switzerland and riding in roughly the same direction. The two men got chatting over dinner and decided to ride together the next day.

Day 4: Matjiesfontein onwards

The stretch of gravel leading to Touws River proved one of the more challenging sections of the trip. So when the bikers reached town, Volker decided to continue on tar, but they agreed to meet up in Villiersdorp. Then, some 80km out of Touws River, Andrew’s bike picked up a nail. It went straight through the tire, damaging the tube beyond repair. It was high noon, 39°C and rising, and he was stranded in the middle of nowhere.

“I eventually managed to get the tyre off the rim, though I broke a tyre lever in the process. But I couldn’t get the tyre back on.” What’s more, it was a deserted stretch of road. In all the time Andrew was stuck there, around six hours, only two vehicles came past. Although one driver tried to help him, it wasn’t a straightforward fix. Eventually, Andrew used his GPS communicator, a spotX, to contact his partner, Jenece. 

Meanwhile, Volker had arrived in Villiersdorp to find no sign of him. Through Facebook he managed to track down Andrew’s daughter and by that time, the messages were starting to get through. Around six o’clock the cavalry arrived: Jenece had rented a trailer in Worcester and come to fetch him.

“It wasn’t a big issue for me to be stuck there. I was in the Karoo, listening to the sonbesies and the birds. And then I had a lovely sunset.” 

Despite the misfortune on the last leg, Andrew couldn’t have asked for a better Exodus Ride. “It was such an assortment of roads: gravel, clay, hard pack, sand, light stones. On the first day, I even had a section of single track. It was like a Licorice Allsorts packet of dirt roads. This is honestly the best trip that I’ve done in South Africa.”

View the route in the Tracks4Africa Trip Planner: https://map.tracks4africa.co.za?systemUserId=129&tripId=44655

Travel tips for adventure riders

• This trip is for riders of intermediate level and above. Since it doesn’t feature complex technical challenges, competent riders could do it with a pillion.
• You need to be fairly fit and have a certain amount of riding muscle memory. The ability to concentrate is key as you could go two hours between towns.
• It’s essential that you’re able to ride and follow the GPS at the same time because some tracks are inconspicuous.
• Fill up whenever you can. In these remote parts, it’s not always easy to get fuel (the card system may be down, the attendants away).
• You have to be able to deal with basic issues, like a puncture or broken chain. It could take long to get assistance.
• If going solo, ride with a GPS tracker/communicator or satellite phone so you can call for help if necessary. Bear in mind that it can take 15–20 minutes for a message to transmit.
• Slow down and ‘smell the roses’. The scenery is magnificent.