Innehållsförteckning för February 2018 från Go! Drive & Camp

I cut my journalism teeth at a community newspaper in Parys in the Free State years ago. You’d be surprised by how much news there is in a town like Parys. Sure, there isn’t a cash-in-transit heist or a political scandal every week, and when the town’s rugby team loses it was always because of “unnecessary handling errors and bad decisions by the ref”. But thanks to the locals there was an overabundance of news – from the Rotary Club, bowling results, schools news and giant vegetables grown in backyards to court cases, weddings, Christmas carol services and wedding anniversaries. I once had to photograph twins who celebrated their 95th birthday. These two had their hair done the day before and slept sitting up in their lounge that night so…

There is a certain element of satisfaction driving a big, tall 4x4 in traffic. There is a lot of metal around you for protection. Those big 33” tyres, 2” suspension lift and bullbar certainly lend an air of invincibility. Add to this that 300 W LED light bar to scare off anybody who dares pull into the gap in front of you. I witnessed some truly shocking behaviour recently from a fellow Ford Ranger driver in traffic. Shocking! The male driver used his truck to intimidate a young mom with her kiddies driving a small hatchback on their way to school. Traffic was its usual horrible self and the lady had to get across three lanes to make a turn at a very poorly designed intersection. She was indicating and…

It’s not every day that you get to camp amongst cattle, farmlands and wild animals on a Bushveld farm. Wiehahn Geldenhuys farms part-time with cattle and game, and also plants sunflowers and lucerne for the game. The farm is 123 ha big and lies exactly between Mookgophong and Roedtan (28 km from each). You’ll be hard pressed to find a spot deeper in the bush. On one section of the farm, Wiehahn has cleared 12 spots for stands between the yellowwood trees and sicklebush. It’s laid out in such a way that you’re not right on top of your neighbour and the ablution block is in the middle. The hot water comes from a gas geyser and inside the building are showers, basins and toilets, but no baths. The scullery…

The November 2017 sales figures for new vehicles show an upwards trend, with 32 821 units finding new homes. That’s a 16,4% improvement on November 2016’s figure of 28 207. This is largely thanks to rental companies that acquired just about 20% of all new vehicles sold. Low investor confidence and a struggling economy are responsible for declining sales in the light commercial vehicle market. 1 170 fewer bakkies and minibuses were sold in November 2017 than in the same month in 2016. That’s a drop of 7,4%. This sales figure is slightly higher than October 2017, though. HERE ARE SOME FIGURES FOR NEW VEHICLE SALES AND EXPORTS FOR NOVEMBER 2017…

The sixth-generation Patrol was launched back in 2010 in Dubai, but Nissan South Africa only decided recently to bring it to our shores. If it looks somewhat familiar it’s because until recently it was marketed locally as the Infinity QX80. You might also have seen the Patrol on TV as the UN’s favourite runabout and wealthy Middle Eastern oil tycoons’ favourite sand buggy. The QX80 had classier finishes and a different grille, but besides that it was almost exactly the same vehicle. The exterior The Patrol looks tamer than it’s forebears, but looks can be deceiving. The styling might seem flimsy but underneath that bulky body is a tough-as-nails ladder frame chassis and beefy double wishbone suspension on each wheel that allows a surprising amount of articulation and travel. The…

Secunda is probably the last place you’d expect to find a waterfront. Highveld plains and coal mines, sure. But a waterfront? Unlikely. The locals, however, will tell you a different story. Here, on the edge of town, bordering houses, car dealerships and headframes on the horizon, lies the town’s most popular hangout for young and old. The Lake Umuzi development is next to two dams in Trichardtspruit. On the northern side is the Lake Umuzi Waterfront on the banks of what is known as the “top dam” and bordering this is the Lake Umuzi Lodge and Merchant Hotel. The combination of restaurants, accommodation, function venues and especially family entertainment places is super-popular. Besides the waterfront’s full-time entertainment, there are beer, wine and music festivals during the year, as well as…

Salt Rock Caravan Park Worth its salt The resort lies on the KwaZulu-Natal coast, opposite an impressive man-made tidal pool in between the rocks. This pool is also the launching pad for your bait, which will hopefully help get a few fish on the hook. The campsite has a top section – to the left of the entrance gate – and a bottom section that stretches down a slope to the sea. You’ll find the reception office as you drive through the gate – it towers out over the five terraces and its stands. The bottom stands are clearly marked with newly painted numbers on a sidewalk as well as a number on the garbage bin. Some of the numbers even have an arrow next to it pointing in the…

DAY 1 We meet at 2 pm in the campsite at Ithala Game Reserve, giving us enough time to settle in and do a short 4X4 sundowner route in the game reserve. Ithala is an easy half day’s drive from Gauteng, and the reserve is unique in that it has the feeling of the Natal Drakensberg in its high-lying areas and the Zululand bush-veld in the valleys. DAY 2 After a nice big breakfast we do another 4X4 route in Ithala Game Reserve. This gives us the opportunity to really explore the reserve and be on the lookout for black and white rhino, among other wildlife. We return back to camp in the late afternoon. DAYS 3 & 4 Today we head towards the Hluhluwe-Umfolozi Game Reserve which was once…

Ranger right up there 2015 FORD RANGER 3.2 TDCI 4X4 You won’t be left wanting if you opt for the range-topping five-cylinder Ranger, says AJ Liebenberg from Durbanville. “My 2008 model previous-generation Toyota Hilux was a great vehicle, but it was starting to get overtaken by contemporary rivals in terms of technology and look and feel of the cabin. A Dakar Edition Hilux was one of the options I considered when it was time to upgrade, but I was eventually bowled over by the Ranger. I bought the top-of-the-line model new in 2015, which set me back almost R500 000, nicknamed it ‘ The Beast’, and I haven’t looked back since. I was particularly looking for something that had decent 4x4 capability and undoubtable reliability, and in the two years…

FREE OF CHARGE Our Jeep’s water pump started giving us trouble one day so we had it replaced and also put in a new thermostat. After this the Jeep’s engine overheated a few more times and so-called Jeep experts told us the fault lay with the radiator cap. So I replaced this with a fancy one with its own valve and all. It’s the end of April and my wife, Ronel and I, were heading to Eiland-spa with the Xcape in tow. I watched the temperature gauge with a hawk’s eye and in the Magoebaskloof Pass it overheated again. I left the engine to cool down and crawled to Tzaneen. I saw that one of the tyre valves were almost off and I had it replaced at a tyre place.…

For the first time in years I towed to the South Coast of KwaZulu-Natal this past December holiday. Friends asked us at the last minute whether we would take over their booking and we had to move fast. The packing list for a seaside holiday is significantly more complicated than one for a weekend camping trip outside Pretoria. But this goes without saying, and right from the start there were a few items at the top of my list. A proper flysheet is nonnegotiable, even if you have air con in your caravan. By the way, I am yet to invest in the latter. In KwaZulu-Natal some trees bear fruit in December and if those fruit fall on your tent roof, it leaves sticky residue that is difficult to clean.…

After 12 hours on the road, the convoy finally arrives at the overnight spot. There are 21 vehicles in the group and some of them are still busy climbing the last hill. The participants are hungry and tired, and suddenly a panicked voice calls over the radio: “The Pajero has rolled!” Looking for adventure The Rocking Crawlers is a bunch of hardcore 4x4 enthusiasts, and their Ultimate 4x4 Adventure is the highlight of their year. A convoy made up of a select few vehicles leave from Gauteng en route to an unknown destination where 4x4s are tested to the limits. If there’s a good line to the right of an obstacle these guys will rather drive over the obstacle. Hardcore is the only way to describe it. This adventure isn’t…

November is an excellent time to visit the Eastern Free State. There’s the Cherry Festival in Ficksburg, Clarens goes into holiday mode, and the Golden Gate National Park is lush green thanks to the recent rains. If you get your timing right you’ll even see some snow on the Maloti Mountains. If you want to head into the mountains to build your very own Olaf the snowman, there’s a nice, family-friendly 4x4 route close by. Rebellie has two 4x4 trails, but it’s the tamer Mountain trail with its spectacular view over the Eastern Free State that gets the popular vote. Getting there From Clarens you drive east towards Golden Gate. After about 14 km you’ll see the sign for Rebellie Game Farm on your right. The farm is a part…

BEEFY BREAD For meat lovers Freeze some of the mixture and keep it at hand to use as a pasta sauce or sandwich filling to beat all sandwich fillings. Ingredients (enough for 10) 1 kg beef (brisket) 2 red peppers, chopped 1 can (410 g) tomato relish 1 cup water 1 teaspoon fine cumin 1 teaspoon cayenne pepper 1 teaspoon smoked chilli flakes 1 teaspoon dried oreganum 2 cloves garlic, finely chopped salt and pepper, to taste For the sandwiches 2 slices sourdough bread butter ¼ cup grated cheddar cheese 2 gherkins, thinly sliced Here’s how 1 Cook the meat in a potjie with the lid on together with all the other ingredients for 1 hour at 150 °C. Then switch off the oven, but don’t open the oven door…

Morning glory When she visits the Kgalagai Transfrontier Park she’s up at the crack of dawn, says Elsie van der Walt from Witbank. “We recently visited the Kgalagadi Transfrontier Park and camped in the Botswana side. One morning we were up early again and drove past a dead tree next to the road. Perched on the tree was a group of vultures. The sun was just rising as we pulled over, and I was ready with my camera. As the sun was edging out further, the vultures were preening quietly on the branches. While they were busy with their feathers, you couldn’t clearly distinguish the birds’ outlines against the sunrise. I waited for them to lift their heads and took a few photos to make sure I got one where…

Julie Hundermark When previous campers leave the place dirty, with rubbish and booze bottles lying everywhere except in the bin. Sandra Wiese For me it’s the music loud enough for the entire campsite to hear. Take people into consideration! And also, if the rules state that no music is allowed but it doesn’t get enforced. Deon Britz Just one thing annoys me: those little black kick bikes with plastic wheels on tarmac. Especially before sunrise. Everything else I can handle. Ernest Horn When you spot an open stand and the neighbour comes over to say “Sorry, I’m keeping this spot for my friend”. Eben de Swardt A neighbour who burns more lights at night than at Ellis Park. Danie Hattingh Drunk teenagers that try to create an outdoor nightclub on…

The Eastern Free State is one of the most beautiful areas in the country, but unfortunately there aren’t a whole lot of campsites. The De Ark Mountain Lodge is just outside of Clarens and has been operating for 25 years. They have recently expanded their accommodation options to include caravan stands. De Ark lies on the Rooiberg, with the Caledon River a kilometre away and Lesotho with its Maloti Mountains in the background. Miguel Lage, the owner, says they initially bought the land as a breakaway spot for the family but with time more and more of them wanted to come relax here. They eventually turned it into a lodge. “I found the surge in the caravan industry the past few years interesting, and we decided to add a campsite…

You know you’re close to Montagu when you get to the famous rock tunnel. But how many of us have ever stopped here to find out a bit more about the history of this landmark? The famous road builder Thomas Charles John Bain was responsible for the construction of this tunnel. Even if you don’t know who Bain was, there’s about a 100% probability that you’ve driven on a road built by either him or his father Andrew Geddes Bain. Thomas Bain was a road builder in the 1800s and he completed the tunnel in 1877 to make life easier for those travelling through the Cogmanskloof. The tunnel was made bigger in the 1950s to accommodate passing trucks, and this means that you shouldn’t have any issues towing your caravan…

“ It took us nearly two years to book a spot over a weekend at the evidently very popular Bendito Ranch, which is about 25 km outside Mokopane. So we made the most of it by taking along our cousins Mercia and Pieter Jacobson and their two daughters, aged 16 and 10. We hitched our Jurgens Safari Xplorer to our Ford Ranger 2.2 double cab 4x2 and headed to Limpopo from Sasolburg via the R59, N1, and R101. The journey took us about four and a half hours. Describe Bendito Ranch to those who have not had the pleasure. This is a proper bush camp so don’t expect any running water or electricity supply. There are storage drums at the stands that the staff fills with enough water for your…

Long ago, when people still drove around in ox wagons, suspension was not that important. But when the internal combustion engine enabled our ancestors to whizz around at 60 km/h, even decent dirt roads became a bumpy, disagreeable ordeal. Out of sympathy for teeth and spines, the lab coats designed suspension. But suspension on its own isn’t enough to absorb jolts; it can only store the energy of a jolt by bouncing up and down. The clever guys had to come up with a plan to keep the bucking of an agitated suspension system under control. C.L. Horock designed the first hydraulic shock absorber in 1901, but it only dampened in one direction. Mechanical shock absorbers like Gabriel Snubber’s device that contained some type of belt coiled up inside it…