With no agenda and no planned route, we were struggling to get going on our road trip. All we knew was that we wanted to end up in Cape Town and March/April was a good time to be there. We wanted to visit friends and family along the way and have a few Ufudu niggles seen to by Hein and his team in Brackenfell.
On the 20th March I got a Facebook notification that my friend Teresa was at the KKNK (Klein Karoo Nasionale Kunstefees) opening, which is roughly the Afrikaans equivalent of the Grahamstown Festival. To my surprise Roger was immediately enthusiastic to go to Oudshoorn. That would be a good start to our trip. We went to Silver Creek as planned, cleaned up Ufudu and brought him back to Jo’burg in the early afternoon. The oil filter needed to be changed but it had been screwed on so tightly at the previous service in Upington that a heavy-duty chain tool was required to get it off. We stopped en route at a contact Roger got from Sean and fortunately just made it before they closed for the long weekend. On the 21st we packed what we needed for 4 weeks on the road and left Rosebank in the mid-morning on March the 22nd. It is always amazing how things fall into place once there is a plan…
Roger was concerned about a rumbling noise coming from the tyres. The tyre surfaces were rather ‘wavy’ and unevenly worn so he decided to have that seen to before we hit the open road. After a Google search and a few phone calls we ended up at Precision Mobile Wheel Alignment premises in Vanderbijlpark. There we were assured that there was nothing to be done; it was already too late. The reason for the uneven wear: the tyre pressure was too low. ‘Just continue to drive as is and eventually replace when worn’, was the advice given. Mmm, and we thought it was a good thing to ‘soften’ the ride by reducing the pressure…
We arrived at the Reyneke Park resort outside Bloemfontein in the late afternoon for our first night stop. It was a bit of a challenge to find a restaurant without driving too far but we ended up at a Spur. Neither of us could remember when we last dined at a Spur, but it turned out to be quite enjoyable. Our holiday had begun!
Our next night stop was at Graaff Reinet. Sadly, our favourite campsite at Camdeboo National Park was full and we were directed to the Profcon Resort in the middle of town. We arrived there in the midst of a load shedding period; the place was open but dark and deserted. No amount of walking around and calling ‘helloooo’ produced any sign of life. Roger eventually called a cell number that was displayed at the reception desk and the young receptionist appeared shortly thereafter, looking rather flushed and embarrassed; she had fallen asleep in an adjacent room.
They have 5 camp sites and we were lucky enough to secure one of them.
We walked to the Polka Restaurant where we had delicious Karoo lamb for dinner. The storm broke just before our food arrived, so we had to move to a dry spot where we shared a table with our camping neighbours. It was a pleasant evening.
We arrived in Oudshoorn in the mid-afternoon on Sunday the 24th and managed to get a camping site at the C J Langenhoven Gymnasium Sport Fields where we would spend the next 3 days.
After registration we made our selection of shows for the 3 days; some of them were really hard-hitting:
- ‘My seuns’ with Sandra Prinsloo
- ‘Statements after an arrest under the Immorality Act’ – Athol Fugard
- ‘Die Poggenpoels praat’ – Pieter-Dirk Uys. Neither of us enjoyed this one. It was just too crude. I should have walked out like many others did!
- ‘Bloed en Bodem’ – a very relevant, upsetting and thought-provoking show
- Weerklink van ‘n Wanklank – in conversation with Pieter Dirk Uys about his most interesting auto-biography. We bought the book; it was a good read indeed.
During our wanderings around the show grounds we stopped at a booth that was promoting a place called Vanwyksdorp, which is situated in the centre of the Gouritz Cluster Biosphere Reserve (GCBR). It is a small rural village situated in the Klein Karoo, 42 km from Ladismith and 65 km from Riversdale. Roger had a long conversation with Ina, the person manning the stall, about their project called ‘Jobs for Carbon’. The principle aim of the project is to contribute towards the development of an expanded land restoration programme based on spekboom planting and carbon sequestration.
Our interest was aroused and with André Britz’s contact details in hand we decided that Vanwyksdorp would be our next stop.
André grew up in Vanwyksdorp and is passionate about developing the village and improving conditions for all its inhabitants. He is a farmer as well as Operations Manager for the Jobs for Carbon and other related projects. We found him at his ‘town house’, the erstwhile rectory of the Dutch Reformed Church. As in most South African towns, the church is situated in the centre of town with the rectory across the road from it. We were heartily welcomed and invited in, also to spend the night in the house but, as always, we chose to sleep in Ufudu, parked in the street next to the church.
The next morning André took us on a guided tour of the sports complex which is under construction, followed by breakfast at the Rooiberg Lodge. While driving around we were most impressed by the many fields of spekboom that have been planted by the community as well as volunteers from around the world. What an amazing group of dedicated, passionate and driven people; so inspiring! Thanks André, for your hospitality and taking time out of your busy schedule.
In the words of Margaret Mead: “Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful, committed citizens can change the world; indeed, it’s the only thing that ever has.”
We left the village in the mid-morning; next stop Riversdale.