It was a short, 50 odd km, drive to the Sterkfontein Dam Nature Reserve. On crossing over the Nuwejaarspruit just below the dam wall, we were amazed to see that the river was in full flood, having burst its banks!
The Sterkfontein Dam forms part of the Tugela-Vaal Water Scheme. When the Vaal Dam runs low, water is released from Sterkfontein into the Nuwejaarspruit which is a tributary to the Wilge River, which in turn flows into the Vaal Dam. The volume of water being released was unbelievable! The level of the Sterkfontein Dam is dropping rapidly as a result and this could be a problem for the fish and other aquatic life. The fish are spawning and eggs laid in the shallows are left behind as the water recedes.
We soon settled in and by the time we turned in the outside temperature was 11⁰C with 13⁰ inside! Time for the down duvet…
The next day was still cold and windy so we took the time to do some housekeeping and catching up with our correspondence and blog posts.
In the late afternoon our camping neighbours, John and Brent, came around to meet us and have a look at Ufudu. It turns out that they live very close to us in Jo’burg so we hope to keep in touch. John is a keen fly fisherman and of course Roger does not let an opportunity go by without trying to learn something new.
Monday morning dawned with no relief from the cold, windy weather. However, by about 11am the wind suddenly dropped and Roger decided to go and try his hand. All he came back with was some old fishing line and debris left by others. It is always upsetting to see how little respect people have for the environment.
He did at least see one fish swim past.
We left the campsite at about midday and stopped in Harrismith for lunch and some much needed shopping , hoping to reach Wakkerstroom by nightfall.
We will be back to this amazing dam…
