Edgar, Jenny, Verine and I left Wellington fairly early on Saturday 8^th August bound for Appelboskraal, a private farm that belongs to a friend of ours. The Monday was a public holiday and we were all looking forward to a lovely long weekend in and around the Cederberg.

Naturally our route took us through the magnificent Bainskloof Pass and we stopped near the top for some photos and to breathe the fresh air. From there we went through Mitchell’s Pass on our way to Ceres. Both these passes were built by Andrew Geddes Bain who had his son Thomas working with him on Bainskloof Pass as an apprentice. The old man must have been a good teacher because Thomas went on to build more than twenty magnificent passes using the tried and tested dry packed method past down to him by his dad which is still very functional even during heavy rain in Bainskloof.

We first did the by now virtually compulsory stop at Ceres Pick n Pay for last minute essentials and then we turned north for Prince Alfred Hamlet and the Gydo Pass. The views from the top of the Gydo Pass are really amazing. The mountains on the west of the pass look as if you are on another planet as there is not a sign of life or vegetation at all. Just after Op-die-Berg, which is more of a replenishment station for the farms in the area rather than a town, as the Co-op and some of the businesses in Ceres carry a buffer stock in Op-die-Berg so that it is not such a long delivery from town, there is a road turning right for Kagga Kamma. This road winds through some farms and suddenly the mountains and rock formations change drastically to the most amazing creations which lets the imagination run wild. I think this must be the very southern tip of the Cederberg. The road changes to gravel at a turn off to Kagga Kamma to the right, but we carried on straight. The road curves to the left and heads in a northerly direction and just after the bend there is a lovely dam which you can ride up onto the dam wall and park in the corner by the skeleton of a dead tree for a picnic and the most amazing photos if the wind isn’t blowing. We had a perfect mirror image of the mountain behind the dam in the water. That is on the opposite side to this photo.

Dam

The road north climbs through a valley and up to the top of a mountain and when you get to the top you can see the road going down the valley and way in the distance you can see it climbing up the next mountain and so it goes on through some of the most beautiful landscapes on earth.

You pass the Oasis Lodge on your right and I threaten to stop there every time I travel this road but I haven’t yet. Maybe someday.

When we got to Matjiesrivier I stopped to get a permit for the Stadsaal and they said they do not sell the permits. They told me I would either have to go back to the Oasis or on to Cederberg Winery / Sanddrift which would be closed for lunch until 2.00pm. Damn, that would make us too late to still get to Appelboskraal before sunset. I thought I’d take a drive to Sanddrift anyway and have a look. To get there you drive right past the gate to the Stadsaal and Bushman paintings and as we went past there was a car coming out. A brainwave struck me and I hit brakes and turned left to the gate. Now I know this is wrong and I will pay double when I go back there again. I have been there so many times and paid my fare every time but my friends had not seen the caves before and I didn’t want them to miss one of the most incredible places on earth. I did a shlenter. I went up to the girl while she was opening the gate and asked her to leave it open. She wasn’t born yesterday and asked me what the code was. I told her I didn’t have a code and explained my situation. She was furious with me and told me that this is not how it is done. I told her I was well aware of that and that I had no intention of trying to sneak in without paying but I could not get a permit within a reasonable time and we had a long way to go. I’m sure we have all done this at pay toilets at some stage during our lives. Anyway by submitting this story I am now traceable and the SANParks can get hold of me if they want and I’ll gladly pay my dues.

The stop was definitely worth the effort and you can never get enough of the spectacular creation that has been formed by the wind, sand and water and with a bit of help from above. Needless to say Edgar, Jenny and Verine were stunned by the beauty of this place.

Stadsaal Caves

We went to look at the Bushman paintings and I don’t remember them being so bright on my previous visits. They somehow looked almost as if they have been enhanced or touched up. They are obviously very well preserved. In fact I don’t remember seeing any Bushman paintings as bright and clear as these and I thought the praying mantis at Kagga Kamma was the best I’d seen. How our memories fade.

Bushman Paintings

From here we backtracked to Matjiesrivier and turned left at the T-junction and went along what is classified as a Jeep track on some maps and it doesn’t even appear on other maps as a road at all. However as Pieter Pretorius said in one of his stories about this area, he has seen the locals ride these roads in normal sedans, usually well worn sedans I must add but sedans none the less.

To me this is the Cederberg and when you drive this road you know and you feel that you are in the Cederberg. We went past Chris’ timeshare, that’s another story, and then through the lovely little settlement of Eselbank, stopping all the time to take photos as we went along. I would have loved to stop at Chris’ timeshare but as time was few and distance was many we decided not to go there. Actually the real reason is because the T5 4motion probably doesn’t have the ground clearance to get there and I had promised Verine I wouldn’t even try.

Eselbank

Just past Eselbank we turned right to see the waterfalls and to have lunch.

Lunch at Waterfall

The lunch was good and with satisfied tummies we ventured down the very steep pass to Wuppertal with Edgar and me eyeing all the other tracks which could be seen from that vantage point and wondering which one we should try on our next trip and Jenny and Verine wishing we hadn’t seen them at all.

A short stop and look around in Wuppertal and then we were on our way again. When we got down into the Biedouw valley we turned right at the sign to Uitspankraal and went past Enjolife. It is very nice to see how the new owners are improving this little gem every time we go past there.

Just before we got to Uitspankraal a Merc Sprinter was coming in the opposite direction from the Doring River side and he pulled up next to us where we had pulled over to let him past and he asked if we were ok and did we know where we were going. We said yes thanks and he looked at us with a very strange look and off he went. He probably thought that we didn’t know that there was an impassable river just ahead but why didn’t he say something then?

Anyway, left at Uitspankraal and then just a few more bumps and rocks and we were there. Appelboskraal you beauty.

Appeboskraal

Appelboskraal is a private farm which belongs to Chris. He unfortunately wasn’t there this weekend but his brother and family and his sister and brother in law were there camping further down at the river. We took a stroll down to them to say hi once we had set up camp. They had a potjie on the fire and were almost ready for supper. They had been there since the night before already.

We got ourselves a fire going and had a braai. Mike came up later to join us as the rest of his party had gone to bed. The night became a long one.

The next morning, Sunday, Chris’ family all left together fairly early because of horse riding commitments and so on. That left just the four of us all alone in paradise. We got the fire going again, made breakfast and lazed around a bit.

After we cleaned up and washed up we went for a walk down the farm which runs along the Doring River. Strangely the border of the farm is not the river but on the other side of the river just above the bushes as you look at it from this picture.

The winter flooding had formed beautiful beaches along the river and the caravan that Chris had, had been swept away by the force and had been dumped a long way down under an old tree. It is now a playpen for the baboons.

Doornrivier

We gathered rocks and things and bushman tools which have been shaped into cutting utensils and axes under the watchful eye of this little fella.

I'm watching you

That evening we had a braai again and the funniest part of the weekend was when Edgar sat on the edge of an old bath which was perched outside on some rocks. It had been functional a while back when Chris had the place all sorted out with running water etc. Anyway Edgar sat on the edge with a glass of red wine in his hand and the bath tilted and he fell backwards into the bath and the red wine spilt all over him. It was hilarious. We all cackled about this for ages.

The Bath

Red Wine Spill

That night the wind came up and started blowing stronger and stronger down the valley. I had to get up to batten down the hatches and went back to bed. It wasn’t long and I heard chaos outside again. This time I had to take the tent and awning down which is attached to the Kombi, before something got damaged. Edgar and Jenny said the next morning that they were fine in their tent.

The next morning the wind was still blowing but a little less vicious than the night before but we decided to pack up slowly and start winding our way out of there.

We went down to the river crossing to see what that looked like and on this photo you can see what a healthy flow of water there still was and you can see Maans, the local farmer’s rope spun across the river which is how he gets across the river on his Pont to tend to his sheep and goats on the other side.

Doorn River crossing for the brave

Here’s a picture of the Pont. You can just make out the rope right on the water line and in the trees on the right.

Maan's Pont

Naturally we were tempted to give it a try across the river but we thought better of it and rather headed home. Some time back I did go through the river when it was about knee high in the old Kombi and Chris says he has gone through there in his Landy when the water was waist high when sitting inside the car!

The drive back was very pleasant but unfortunately we were too early for the flowers. I was hoping for some early showings because the Biedouw valley is renowned for its flowers but there were only small patches here and there.

We did stop at the “Engelsman se graf” at the intersection where the Biedouw valley road joins the R364 and then another stop at C Louis Leipoldt’s grave under his little overhanging rock with some faint Bushman paintings still evident. Leipoldt, the well known poet is the grandson of one of the founders of Wuppertal.

A bit further along the R364 just past Leipoldt’s grave we made another and last stop. There is a road turning off to the left and you go a short way along this road and look out for a rock taking the shape of a soldier’s head with helmet on on the left. There is a faded board if you watch carefully as well.

Soldaatkop

From there it was over the rest of Pakhuis Pass and home.

Oh yes, we did stop at Kardoesie Padstal on Piekenierskloof Pass for some refreshments as well.

What a way to spend a long weekend.