Friday 12 January 2018

Gariep Dam, Port Elizabeth, Storms River, Camdaboo and Bloemfontein - December 2017

Gariep Dam, Port Elizabeth, Storms River, Camdaboo and Bloemfontein - December 2017


December 2017 we decided to camp at Storms River Rest Camp, within the Tsitsikama National Park.
Our trip would be with the Chevrolet Trailblazer towing our Jurgens Avion L caravan.




The round trip was as follows



We were leaving on a Monday, but as we did not have far to travel decided to take a more relaxed start and leave at about 11am. The trip was straight down the N1 past Bloemfontein and onto the Forever Resort at Gariep Dam.

According to Wikipedia : The wall is 88 m high and has a crest length of 914 m and contains approximately 1.73 million m³ of concrete. The Gariep Dam is the largest storage reservoir in South Africa. In South African English, 'dam' refers both to the structure and the lake it impounds. Gariep Dam has a total storage capacity of approximately 5,340,000 megalitres (5,340 hm3) and a surface area of more than 370 square kilometres (140 sq mi) when full. The hydro-electrical power station houses four 90 MW generators, giving a maximum output of 360 MW of electricity at a water flow rate of 800 m³/s.

As can be seen from the picture, the dam was rather low on water. In fact, the entire country seems to be in a drought situation.








We were to stay at the Forever Resort - Gariep Dam, in one of their camping sites with a private ablution facility. However, I decided to upgrade to a chalet and we had a very nice unit. We were also able to park the caravan just near the front door. 

According to their website, Award-winning Gariep, A Forever Resort is the perfect stopover between Gauteng and the Cape, 180 km South of Bloemfontein, just off the N1. The Gariep Dam is the largest dam in South Africa, bordering three provinces namely Free State, Northern Cape and Eastern Cape.




This is the chalet that we had. They have all been refurbished since we last stayed there and were in good condition.


The caravan park is also very nice and has loads of trees and nice facilities.





There are two routes which you can take to get to PE. One is back to the N1 and then through Colesburg and onto the N10 down to PE. The second if to cross over the dam wall and progress on the R33, onto the R58 and then onto the R390 and Steynsburg and Hofmeyr. This road joins the N10 at Cradock.

We decided to take the more leisurely route through Steynsburg and Hofmeyr. There is not much in Steynsburg and their website advises : Founded in 1872, this little town of some 400 plus households, situated deep in the sheep farming territory of the Eastern Cape’s Karoo and nestled in a ring of mountains and koppies, is being re-discovered by people looking for a different lifestyle. Property prices here mean that this is one of those destinations where you can actually afford that country home you had only dreamt about before.

We passed through and made steady progress onto Hofmeyr. According to Wikipedia, Hofmeyr is a small Karoo town in the Eastern Cape Province of South Africa, 20 km west of the Bamboesbergmountain range. It lies 64 km north-east of Cradock at an altitude of 1,252 metres. According to the 2011 census, the population of Hofmeyr proper is about 326 persons and the neighbouring township of Luxolweni is about 3354. In former times it lay at the centre of a flourishing sheep-farming district and managed some salt pans 10 km to its west.


With even less to do in Hofmeyr we progress onto Port Elizabeth, also known as Nelson Mandela Bay.

According to their site, Nelson Mandela Bay (Port  ElizabethUitenhageDespatch and Colchester), an excellent value-for-money-family-fun-in-the-sun-holiday destination, named after Nelson Mandela - humanitarian, freedom fighter and world icon of peace - is located 763 km east of Cape Town, is regarded as the "official" gateway to the scenic Eastern Cape Province and the world renowned Garden Route and is sometimes referred to (by the people who know her best) as the "friendly city" or the "water sport capital of Africa". Nelson Mandela Bay is also recognised as both the Mohair and Bottelnose Dolphin Capital of the World and is home to the largest breeding colony of the African Penguin.

Pine Lodge Resort is situated just on the outskirts of PE and in the Cape Recife Nature Reserve.
I thought that I had booked one of their luxury caravan sites. However it turned out to be a site with a huge boma, and nothing else. So I went back to reception and changed it for an ordinary site. Pine lodge is very nice and the ablutions were clean and tidy. The ablutions are in wooden buildings and they are kept locked. We had sufficient hot water and a very nice relaxing time.





Whilst in PE we decided to have a break from cooking and have a meal at the Barneys Tavern restaurant. This restaurant is on the beachfront and overlooks Hobie and Humewood beaches. A fantastic setting.

We had to leave the next morning and make our way down the N2 to Stormsriver. We were camping, for a few days, at the Storms River Mouth rest camp. This is a SANPARKS venue.
Storms River Restcamp, is described by SanParks as :Where the booming breakers of the Indian Ocean relentlessly pound rocky shores, where temperate high forest and fynbos roll down to the sea in an unspoilt verdant carpet, where ancient rivers carve their paths to the ocean down rocky ravines.
This, "the place of much water", is the Tsitsikamma Section of the Garden Route National Park. The heartland of the park stretches some 5km to sea, protecting a wonderland of inter-tidal life, reef and deep-sea fish.
Dolphins frolic in the breakers, surfing and playing for the sheer joy of life, and the gentle giant of the ocean, the southern right whale visits here, coming inshore to breed.
We had a lovely campsite there and had a wonderful view of the ocean. The waves broke on rocks about 10 meters from our site. We also did see the dolphins.












Whilst there, we went through to George for a day. This was because our daughter, Elizabeth was talking at Hope Church in George - this was with regard to her work at Village Of Hope in Mongu Western Zambia. 

George was good and we stayed over the night. We visited Victoria Bay which is really lovely. They have a fantastic caravan park. We have stayed there previously.


Back at Storms River, one of the days was a little cooler so my daughter and I decided to take the walk to the waterfall. Its advertised as a walk for those that are a little fit. Its 3.5km's each way. We started out on a very nice gently partway. All to soon, the pathway dissipated and you had to clamber over rocks. There was no sign of any path, just a few orange markings on the rocks every now and again. These depicted the way. It was quiet strenuous and after a few hours we finally arrived at the waterfall. I must say that it was quiet spectacular and worth the walk. A nice pool at the bottom of the waterfall was protected from the sea by a few rocks. We sat there for a while and then made our way back. Was a good walk !
















We had a great time at Storms River. 

Just a couple of random shots of Storms River.













But all too soon it was time to pack up and head homeward bound. But we were not going back to Johannesburg, we had booked at Camdeboo National Park. This park is just on the outskirts of Graaff Reinet. The area was very hot and dry.


To get to Graff Reinet from Storms river you have a few options. The two that we were considering were heading back along the N2 to Port Elizabeth and then going R334 to Uitenhage and onto the R75 up through Jansenville to Graff Reinet.

Our option was to travel through the Langkloof, turning off the N2 (travelling in the direction of Port Elizabeth) and heading to Kareedouw along the R62 (Route 62) and then turning onto the R336 and then the N9 at Uniondale  and progressing through Willowmore and Aberdeen before driving through Graaf Reinet and arriving at the Camdaboo National Park 


The camping sites were empty when we arrived so we were able to choose our own site. Luckily we got one with some shade.

We were camping there for two nights. We took a drive around on the game drive tracks and we did see a few species of game. The dam, called the Nwqeba Dam did not have much water, but there was a little.

The caravan park has really nice ablutions. There is also a deck for the campers. This is a raised deck from which you can see most of the dam. The campsite is fenced.
The Vervet monkeys were around and a little of a nuisance. Although they tried to pinch the tinfoil that we had left out, nothing else was taken.









The dam was almost empty, but you could see a small patch of water in the distance. We also did see a few animals while driving around.







We left Graff Reinet on the N9 and joined the N1 at Colesberg. We stopped for some diesel and also a quick something to eat at the Wimpy. From Colesburg its up the N1 to Bloemfontein.
We left Camdeboo and were travelling to a caravan park just on the outskirts of Bloemfontein. We had a pleasant drive back up, but the road was hectically busy with all the Gauteng  holiday makers making their way down to their coastal holiday destinations. Luckily the constant stream was going down and we were on our way back up.

The caravan park the we had chosen to stay was called River of Joy. It is quiet close to the highway, but we heard no traffic. The ablutions are a bit old, but they are very clean and supplied with hot water. The wash up facilities were a bit dilapidated, but still ok. We had electric power, shade and grass. It was only for 1 evening and served us adequately. Actually, the park filled up and most of the sites were taken for the evening. We would stay there again.

There were also a few long stay residents there.
The park has some geese and the turkey who roam around.







We left the next morning, and were home quiet early. We continued along the N1, passing through Ventersburg, where we decided to stop for diesel as it would be quieter than the only petrol stop in Kroonstad. This turned out to be a great decision.



We were home in Johannesburg just about lunch time.


Another superb holiday and a relaxing time.

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