Have you ever seen 18 beautiful ladies on powerful machines gracing the roads of SA?
The West Coast has come alive with the roar of 18 Harley Davidson motorcycles and just as many beautiful ladies. The Journey of Hope 2009 is in full swing and the cycles are burning up the tar.
But it is not only the bikes that are turning on the heat, the communities of the West Coast have opened their hearts and are pouring out a steady flow of goodwill and love.
Before the girls left the V&A Waterfront on Saturday, the crowds were entertained by Anna Davel and Claude Pretorius and Mariki Theron - who sang the special Journey of Hope song written by one of the survivors and riders: Adri van Nieuwenhuizen from George.
A number of Cape Town riders joined the girls as they left the Waterfront and nearly caused a Saturday morning traffic jam of note!
At Ratanga Juction they were joined by more riders as well as TV crews and journalists. We hope that you saw us on SABC 2 news on Saturday evening; again on Sunday morning; on the front page of the Kaap Rapport as well as in Die Burger today.
The wide open spaces ……………
Only then could the girls get onto the highway - the N7 north, with the first stop at Moorreesburg. And what a stop it was! Pink ribbons decorated the lamp poles and trees all the way to the golf club. The community really went to town on food, entertainment as well as on a very welcome and HUGE donation of close on R11 000 - they even declined the money for the food for the extra riders and also donated this to the Journey. A special Journey thank you to Lolandri and Pauline Schreuder for the fabulous gourmet food – and the pink cup cakes were really a special touch!
After Moorreesburg it was on the road again - this time to Lambertsbaai - home of Muisbosskerm, the authentic and first outdoor seafood restaurant in the country. After a welcome by the town’s own troop of cute and so professional drum majorettes , and girls lining the streets with long pink ribbons and flashing smiles, the staff at the Lambertsbaai Hotel opened their arms and hearts for the girls.
Then it was off to one of the most exciting eating experiences: Muisbosskerm on the Atlantic Coast. The restaurant is built of indigenious “muisbos” which was erected to keep the wind out. All the dishes are cooked on the open fires in the centre and the homemade bread is baked in outside ovens.
Seafood to steal for …………
The girls went to town on the “soetpatats ”, the snoek, angelfish, hake and paella to name but a few. For the not so keen seafood enthusiasts there was ‘waterblommetjiebredie’, venison pie and roasted chicken - all served without any cutlery. Your eating utensil is a cleaned mussle shell! Quite something to get use to.
For sweets they served crispy and ‘juicy’ koeksisters and ‘moerkoffie’ out of the kettle on the fire. So rustic and so lekker!
A number of locals joined the girls and they were treated to a “foreign” story when survivor Annelie Saker told them about her experience as a rider on a breast cancer ride in America during the first two weeks of October. She and Amy Jansen, another Journey rider, had the time of their life in America and just came back in time to join the Journey of Hope.
