Innehållsförteckning för June 2019 från Go! Drive & Camp

Ever heard of a “toy hauler”? It’s basically a trailer in which you can load big boy toys, such as a racing quad, scramblers or some mountain bikes, but also have a place to sleep. This concept hasn’t yet taken off in South Africa, but Pretoria caravan manufacturer Brandon Hardie has now launched a series of these. Seven years ago, toy haulers were seen locally at Jurgens Ci’s sixtieth anniversary celebrations. They wanted to revive the Gypsey brand with just such a product and called it the Gypsey Toyhauler, but the project didn’t quite get off the ground. After two years and two models – a single axle, the SX, and double axle, the DX – they disappeared. Since then, none of the mainstream caravan manufacturers have troubled themselves with…

Great Wall Pickup, a division of GWM and the market leader among Chinese bakkies, launched a new bakkie at the Shanghai Motor Show in April this year. It doesn’t have a name yet, but according to GWM it will arrive in South Africa in 2021. There will be three versions: a LWB single-cab for the commercial market, a double cab for the lifestyle market and a double cab offroader (pictured) for the adventurous. No dimensions or power figures have yet been released, but Jiaming Zhang, GWM’s pickup platform director, confirmed that the new bakkie would initially be powered by a 2 ℓ four-cylinder turbo petrol engine. The engine will have various power and torque outputs depending on the version in which it is used. A larger capacity turbo diesel is…

South Korean car manufacturer Hyundai has just unveiled its latest and smallest SUV at the New York Motor Show. Hyundai’s vehicles are traditionally named after exotic destinations (such as Tucson, Creta, Santa Fe), but the Hyundai Venue is so named because a “Venue” is supposedly a place you want to be seen in. “We plan to introduce the Venue in our local model line-up, pending the completion of a business case study,” said Stanley Anderson, sales and operations director at Hyundai Automotive South Africa. “The initial impression of the Venue is that of a seamless combination of style and versatility. It is small in size, but big on practicality and personality, and it has lovely bold character.“ Despite its modest dimensions, the Venue will be stuffed with all sorts of…

Many of us associate camping only with certain months of the year, because trying to pitch a tent near the Cape between November and January with the Southeaster turning your canvas into makeshift sails can be downright unpleasant. Similarly, if you’re in the Highveld between June and August and happen to be trying to be enjoy the great outdoors, you might very well get turned into an icicle. It doesn’t have to be that way if you have the luxury of camping away from home for prolonged periods of time. Even if all you can manage is a weekend away, simply take your cue from the great migrations of nature, including the monarch butterfly migration in North America and the great wildebeest migration across Tanzania and Kenya. Many people, such…

You’ve probably heard the stories about a mythical farmer who can drive his rear-wheel drive KB250 in places where even the Cruiser guys wouldn’t dare. How? By simply pumping the handbrake or engaging the diff lock. We won’t question the ability of that legendary farmer, but we used our own long-term test vehicle, the Isuzu D-Max, to see how a diff lock weighs up against four-wheel drive. There are four graduated levels in 4x4 language: four-wheel drive, four-wheel drive with diff lock, four-wheel drive with low range, and four-wheel drive with low range and diff lock. Our D-Max falls into the latter category, and because you can also drive it in rear-wheel drive only – with the diff locked or open – it was a suitable candidate for our test.…

Road to somewhere Even though he’s driving back from home after the holidays, he stops when he sees a pretty scene along the way, says Danie Snyman of Pretoria. “I took the photo on my way between Venterstad and Bethulie. We drove through some rain on the way back to Gauteng from Bushman’s River Mouth. The weather cleared and it was then that I saw the lovely straight road stretching in front of us. I found the different colours incredibly beautiful and I simply had to shoot the scene.” Danie is spot on about the colours, but the picture has many other components that make it even more outstanding. When you first see the photo, you know exactly where to look, because the dotted line compels your eye to look at…

It’s a windy, stormy day in Cape Town in November 2008 when two girlfriends and I set off for a much-anticipated hike on the Whale Trail. It has been raining for a few days and I’m a fair-weather driver in a small Renault Clio (named after my favourite Roald Dahl character – Matilda) so I find the muddy dirt road after Bredasdorp challenging. Fifty kilometres later, we make it to the parking lot at De Hoop Nature Reserve. The next morning, when we’re supposed to start our hike, it’s still raining. So my friends and I walk over to the camp manager’s house. Not even two minutes outside and we’re soaked through. We find the office staff trying to decide whether to evacuate everyone or not. But it’s the cellphone…

With most of the first world having adopted electric vehicles (EV), it’s no surprise that automotive giants the likes of Nissan, Toyota and Volvo are at the forefront of the technological advances that will be gracing the majority of the US and Europe’s roads soon. Here in sunny Mzansi, things take a little bit more time to come to fruition. But one local firm is taking the fight to the EV know-it-alls including Tesla, who has yet to make inroads in Africa. The Jolt is not the first electric vehicle to come from South Africa, because that honour kind of belongs to the ill-fated Joule. This vehicle was the talk of town about 10 years ago when Cape Town-based Optimal Energy ambitiously designed and built an oddly-shaped hatchback that never…

HELLO, NEIGHBOUR! We are pensioners who, together with our friends Danie and Lenore Joubert, undertook a three-week tour of the Karoo and Cederberg. The small towns of the Northern Cape – including Williston, Carnarvon, Calvinia and many others – are beautifully clean with friendly people who make tourists feel welcome. Loxton with its Rooi Granaat coffee shop as well as the tiny Middelpos with its old-fashioned charm are some of the hidden gems. Sutherland and the Tankwa Karoo National Park were a once-in-a-lifetime experience that should be on everyone’s bucket list. The stargazing evening with Jurg Wagener at the Sterland campsite once again made us realise the grandeur of the immeasurable universe. And if only to eat Karoo lamb chops at the Whitehouse Inn in town again, we’ll have no…

LeisureWorld has been doing business for almost a year, and judging by the number of dealerships, business is booming. They came about as a direct result of Jurgens Ci’s problems of maintaining stock and repairs at their Campworld branches nationwide. A total of 17 of these dealers established a new venture – LeisureWorld – thus enabling them, among other things, to keep the camping equipment sections of their businesses going. Arnold Prosch, one of LeisureWorld’s directors, says things are going so well that even non-caravan dealers have joined the group in the meantime. Currently, they have a network of 22 dealerships across the country. LeisureWorld also managed to arrange that Jurgens Ci caravans – such as Gypsey, Sprite and Jurgens – can be serviced by their dealers; and they have…

Loftus Caravan City has been importing Swift caravans from England since September, and many campers are loving its British luxury. Woody Loftus says Swift has 40 different layouts for its caravans, four of which are imported. (For example, all four have an island bed because it’s so popular locally.) In the past few months, they have already imported 29 units and the next eight are on their way. Something you don’t see on an imported caravan is an outdoor kitchen. For R20 000 extra, Woody and his team can equip your Swift with one, but only on the Coastline Delux and Atlantic models. In both, the kitchen pulls out from the space under the double bed. The kitchen is similar to those seen on the Okto caravans, just slightly wider,…

Nissan SA says it will invest R3bn in its plant in Rosslyn, Pretoria, so it can produce the next generation of Navara in South Africa for the first time. Production of the Navara is expected to start next year and the bakkies are destined for the local and export market. The Navara will be built next to the popular NP200 and NP300 that are exported to more than 40 African countries. Nissan says the investment will create 1 200 jobs and increase the plant’s production by 30 000 vehicles per year. President Cyril Ramaphosa attended the announcement. Before getting behind the wheel of a Navara for a photo, he praised Nissan for its contribution to the South African economy. “The automotive industry is already the largest part of South Africa’s…

The first-generation Koleos died a quiet death, and to be honest, it wasn’t really missed. Renault also didn’t have the best reputation in this country, especially when it came to costly repairs or customers often having to wait several months for replacement parts. However, that all seems to be in the past, especially with Renault’s renewed commitment to the South African market and the investment of a new local parts distribution centre a few years ago. The brand’s fortunes have also been on the rise thanks to the runaway popularity of its Sandero Stepway crossover and the tough little Duster SUV. Buoyed by the recent sales success, and armed with a sexy new design language ushered in with the current Megane, can you blame the Renault bigwigs for trying again…

Morgan Bay is a tiny hamlet. According to the latest census, only 321 people live here in 105 households. This much is clear when you arrive here: the entire residential area is barely larger than a square kilometre and will easily fit on top of Table Mountain. There are no traffic lights here, not even a fuel pump. And no main street with fast food franchises. There is, however, the Top Shop where you can get wood, liquor, and a variety of groceries. You come here to truly relax surrounded by nature’s best. If you want to swim, head down to the sea or the lagoon as none of the campsites have a swimming pool. At Yellowwood Forest, you camp next to a forest, at the Morgan Bay Caravan Park…

“Thanks to everyone for a trip that was amazing in all aspects. From the company, to the camps, the adventures to the cooking. I think this is something all of us will remember for a long time.”– Roger White Mongolia is one of the last places on the planet where nomadic life is still a living tradition. It is a land of contrasts with scenes of desert, the wide-open steppe and beautiful fresh water lakes. It is also the country with the lowest population density in the world. The majestic and vast emptiness has an appeal that lures travellers to explore  and discover this destination, which is also referred to as the “Land of Blue Skies”. It is said to have 250 sunny days each year. The winters are very…

“ My fiancée Erique Jordaan and I recently camped at Letaba Rest Camp. We managed to secure a stand right next to the campsite’s fence and  spent our time exploring the vast unspoilt nature of the park, sunrises over waterholes, the night sounds, and would often stop next to a waterhole to grow quiet and take it all in. Here, humans are kept in caged enclosures, while the wildlife is free to roam around as they please. Tell us what Letaba looks like The camp is beautiful. Letaba is in the central part of the park right on the Letaba River’s banks, with beautiful views of the river. The camp is fenced and the vegetation around it is typical bushveld. The stands were all neat and clean when we arrived,…

Nico’s dad, also named Nico, used to make steel window frames for a living, but his hands were always itching to build his own caravan. This planted the caravan seed early within a young Nico. With the exception of the Exclusive, Nico has owned every single Jurgens caravan model at some point. That was before he decided to build his own. Last year, the idea of building his own caravan reached a tipping point. A few interesting months lay ahead and midnight hours would gain new meaning. Nico’s build would also provide a dose of drama after his near-complete caravan fell apart after four months. Instead of giving up, though, it was actually the beginning of Nico’s next challenge. A victory was in sight and two months later he was…

Perhaps the size of a large caravan is getting a little too difficult for you to manoeuvre and maintain. Maybe the kids have moved out and it’s time to downsize, or perhaps you’ve had one too many close encounters with creepy crawlies on the ground and could do with some elevation when you’re out camping in the wild. Maybe you’ve also had to endure the indignity of packing up your gear after a particularly ferocious downpour turned the campsite into a slippery slide. The answer is a rooftop tent. They’re easier to erect than a safari or dome tent, and because you don’t need a degree in physics to fold it away as you do with a pop-up tent, a rooftop tent is probably the easiest and most convenient option…

On 7 December 1998, two Austrian tourists, Karl Goeschka and Caroline Grossmueller were travelling through Australia’s Outback in a rented Toyota Land Cruiser camper. The couple left William Creek (population 10) in South Australia and drove 65 km to the remote Lake Eyre camp where their Cruiser got stuck in sand, in the campsite. Although they had 65 ℓ water and enough food to last a week, Karl and Caroline decided to return to William Creek after two days of waiting. Caroline was a seasoned hiker and she calculated that if they could walk during the night, they would reach the settlement early the following afternoon. Caroline and Karl left their vehicle with only 17 ℓ of water, despite the fact that the mercury hit 35 °C that night. Karl…

Morkel and Elfriede win a cooler bag worth R220. Whether you’re a camper, fisherman or sports fan next to a cricket pitch, this cooler bag has room for luch box and a 1,5 ℓ cooldrink bottle. The lid also has space for a coffee flask. The interior is lined with PVC which makes it easy to keep this bag clean and hygenic. The bag has a short strap that reaches over the top and attaches with a Velcro strip, and also a longer shoulder strap if you’re going to carry it over longer distances. It’s an ideal picnic accessory or a padkos bag for a road trip.…

After its inception, Stealth Caravans appointed four dealers nationwide to sell its caravans. Garry Coady, owner of Stealth, says they have now selected another three traders to serve an even wider area. They are Cara-Camp Caravan & Outdoor Center in Somerset West, Silver Lakes Caravans in Pretoria and Middelburg Caravans & LeisureWorld in Mpumalanga. The existing ones are Loftus Caravan City in Randburg, Kempton Caravans in Johannesburg, Natal Caravans & Marine in Pinetown and Tygerberg Caravans in Cape Town. Contact 031 713 8900 admin@profibre.co.za stealthcaravans .co.za…

If you like numbers, you should definitely follow the monthly new vehicle sales figures by the National Association of Automobile Manufacturers of South Africa (Naamsa). We’ve been studying their records for the past 10 years, and it’s interesting to chart the downfall of once popular brands and follow the rise of other makes over the past decade. From 2009 to 2011, Isuzu dominated Ford with double the monthly sales. Land Rover’s Defender bakkie was neck and neck with the Mahindra Scorpio bakkie, and with the launch of the then-new Ranger in 2012, Ford grew from selling roughly 600 bakkies a month to more than 2 000 units within a year. Mazda sold 400 bakkies a month 10 years ago, but that number is decreasing year on year. Today, Mazda can’t…

The clouds above the Shell filling station in Ghanzi form white spots in the pale blue sky. Through the frame of the bakkie’s windscreen, it looks like a Windows screensaver on a home computer. It’s late afternoon and the mercury is still touching 40 ºC. But in these regions, such scorching heat is nothing unusual, because you are on the edge of the Central Kalahari Game Reserve. You’re expecting it. As is quite often the case, today’s rallying point for a drive through one of Africa’s most  secluded regions is a petrol station’s parking lot. We meet Phil van Wyk and Moagi Rain Robson, our tour guides from Bhejane 4x4 Adventures. First, they offer handshakes and then distribute radios to the eight-vehicle tour group. Having stocked up on fuel and…

The Breede River Valley is renowned for being a fruit and wine region, with many small towns and villages playing host to a handful of vineyards and orchards that stretch as far as the eye can see. With so much wine and fruit tourism, it’s easy to forget that there are also outstanding pockets of land that make for first-rate campsites. One such spot is the Bonnievale River Lodge, not even 1km from the namesake town’s main road. Welcome, welcome When you arrive, you’re greeted at the gate by Stephen Oelofse, who, along with his partner Lynnette van Wyk at reception, manages the campsite on behalf of Corplodge. The couple quickly run through the ground rules, explain the campsite layout and show you to your camping stand. If it’s not…

FISHING RESORT MASELSPOORT RESORT Kids play while you fish The land on which Maselspoort Resort lies is barely 30 km outside Bloemfontein. A large waterworks plant was built here in 1904, and in 1933 it became a resort first owned by the municipality and the province before private owners took over its management. About 15 years ago, two Bloemfontein brothers, Reg and Fritz Krohn, who grew up on a farm just across the river, bought the resort and developed it to what it is today. The Modder River covers one of the fringes – its waters teeming with various species of fish. Maselspoort is a quiet resort. No motor boats and water skis are allowed near the resort. Notice boards prohibit this and warn of fines. Over weekends, families and…

Pop-up caravans, especially new ones, are as scarce as hen’s teeth on our roads, mainly because virtually none of the mainstream caravan builders have a version of their own. Eko Veld Gear, known for its Armadillo off-road caravans, has introduced the prototype of its Lite model. It’s a pop-up caravan, but because the base is pretty much a copy of its existing caravans, you can also tow this pop-up caravan into the bush. The top half of the caravan consists of canvas panels with a solid roof on top. The mechanism Eko Field Gear uses on the Lite for the setting up and taking down is Z-shaped which you flatten from above when closing. Not only is the Lite much lower than its bush-caravan brothers – which of course means…

WHEN? 19 – 21 July 2019 WHERE? DeTuinen, Rosendal HOW MUCH? The weekend workshop costs R3 250 per person, including all meals, hands-on tuition and course notes. Non-participating partners are more than welcome and can join for the meals – R1 200 per person. WHERE TO STAY? Accommodation is not included in the price. Contact Frik de Jager on 084 666 6616 or e-mail detuinenrosendal@ gmail.com to book a place to stay at the workshop venue, or elsewhere in town. I WANT TO SIGN UP! To book, call Donvé Myburgh on 021 406 2387 or e-mail donve.myburgh@ media24.com – be quick, because the last one sold out in the blink of an eye… INDIVIDUAL ATTENTION • MEALS INCLUDED • COMPREHENSIVE COURSE NOTES…

“My requirements of a vehicle are that I want to be comfortable behind the steering wheel, I don’t want it to sound like a tractor and I want to have confidence in the vehicle’s reliability. It should also be a family car, and the final need is that when we go camping – about five or six times a year – I don’t want to struggle to tow. I drive on tar roads 99 % of the time, and on the odd occasion when I have to tackle a bad gravel road, I simply slow down and drive really carefully. My towing vehicle is a 2010 Audi A6 3.0T Quattro. I bought it used in 2015 for R250 000 and have recently found out that its trade-in value is a…