www.leisurewheels.com |
Showing You Quality Articles…ShowMe and Leisure Wheels, the adventure motoring magazine, bring you some of this magazine’s top notch content right here on our site. And if that doesn’t impress you, wait ‘til you have a copy of Leisure Wheels open in front of you:
The Adventure Motoring Magazine See below for more info on the latest issues and find out how to subscribe |
Berg Mountain Passes – Riding the dragon
Text: Mike Meyer. Photography: Mike Meyer and Tanya Hall
Source: This article is from the November 2011 issue of Leisure Wheels.
Between Newcastle in the north and Bergville in the south-west, there are no less than 12 spectacular passes that snake along the crest of the Drakensberg mountains. Leisure Wheels reader Mike Meyer decided to spend a long weekend exploring some of these roads.
Heading down from Newcastle to Bergville, you will find a multitude of mountain passes, specifically at the point where the Mpumalanga, Free State and KwaZulu-Natal provinces meet. Some of these passes serve as main arteries, and are easily accessible. Others are a bit tougher to find.
Having squeezed a long weekend out of the Women’s Day holiday on Tuesday, 9 August, by taking the Monday off, nine friends set out to drive some of these wonderful mountain routes. Four of us were in a Land Cruiser Station Wagon and the other five in a Nissan Patrol. Both vehicles were towing trailers.
We left Durban at 07h00 on the Saturday morning. It was chilly and overcast, and a cold front blowing in from the Cape promised to make things even worse. After a short stop in Mooi River for breakfast and to stock up on braai meat, we arrived at a cold and damp Chelmsford Dam at around 11h00.
After parking our trailers, we set off to tackle Muller’s Pass. Low clouds and mist meant that this was a ride lacking in views, but once over the scarpment, we were treated to typically picturesque Free State scenery. The last remnants of two-week-old snowfall could also be seen. And this encouraged the more adventurous members of our group to toss a few snowballs at each other!
At a place called Roodepoort, we turned back towards the escarpment and Normandien Pass. This is where things started to get interesting. The snow and rain had turned the steep but traversable road into a slippery bobsled track that required heavy concentration and lightning-quick reflexes. Completing the route wasn’t easy, but both vehicles thankfully made it down without a problem.
After enjoying a beer at the Pint and Pigout in Newcastle, we headed for Leokop Campsite. The wind was blowing furiously, which made the prospect of spending the night in a tent a rather unpleasant one.
Luckily, we were the only people crazy enough to go camping in such weather, so the site’s boma was unoccupied, which meant that we could spend the night cowering behinds its walls. It helped a little, but it was still a tough night.
The following morning there were encouraging glimpses of blue sky to the west. Wanting to make the most of the day, we jumped into our vehicles and headed for Collings Pass. This pass, like Normandien, was icy and slippery. And with the camber of the road forcing us towards the perilous void and the trailers pushing from behind, staying on the track was a difficult task.
Not far beyond the crest of the pass, we found a VW Caddy with a trailer stuck in deep mud. The driver had been on his way to collect a bull for use in a traditional wedding ceremony when he encountered a large pool of water on the track. He had tried to go around it, but discovered that the surrounding mud was just as treacherous.
We unhitched one of the trailers and pulled him out. He was very grateful, but also pleaded with us not to upload any pictures of the rescue to the internet, since he didn’t want his boss to see what he had been doing in a company vehicle!
We descended via De Beers Pass. This had once been a minor track, but to aid in the construction of the new Ingula Pumped Storage Scheme, it was now tarred. At the foot of the pass, near Besters, we turned upwards again and followed the route of the old railway line through a disused tunnel to the village at Van Reenen. Descending via the N3, we turned right at Sandspruit and made our way to Geluksburg, our stop for the following two nights.
After spending the night at Gina’s Self-Catering Chalets, we ascended Middledale Pass. This road had once clearly been tarred, but now sports so many potholes that you struggle to find a decent stretch of tar.
Despite the potholes, though, it wasn’t too tough to traverse.
Having learnt of a shortcut from the owner of Gina’s Chalets, we quickly travelled from the top of Middledale Pass to the start of Bezuidenhout’s Pass.
This pass proved to be the most challenging one of the entire weekend. It even required a bit of road building.
While traversing the pass, we met a couple of rangers from a local private game reserve who told us about a Mercedes-Benz C200 owner whose GPS unit led him down the road in the dark.
That must have been a harrowing experience!
Our last pass for the weekend was Retief’s Pass, which follows the route that Piet Retief’s group followed in 1837 to enter Natal. It was very tough in places and crossed a number of streams.
Near Drakensville, at the base of the Tugela Pumped Storage Scheme, the pass ended and we turned back onto a tar road.
Our trip was at an end, but we were satisfied. We had spent the long weekend exploring some of the most beautiful passes the country has to offer.
Share your adventures …
and Win!
Send us an account of your off-road adventure and a handful of photographs, and you could win a fabulous prize.
If you haven’t been blessed with the writing ability of William Shakespeare, don’t’ worry. We will rewrite your story if necessary. You are also welcome to write the article in the language of your choice – we will translate it.
This month our prize goes to Mike Meyer for his account of a trip along some of the Drakensberg’s lesser-known passes. Mike wins a Mr Handsfree Blue Alert car kit valued at R1000.
Mr Handsfree is both a warning system for fixed-camera positions and a Bluetooth hands-free phone kit. It features a latest-generation GPS receiver with built-in antenna, as well as a built-in speaker and microphone.
Mr Handsfree is distributed by Gammatek. For more information,
tel. 011 201-0800; or visit www.mrhandsfree.com.
More information:
Leokop Farm: Tel. 082 494-5317; or
e-mail info@leokop.co.za.
Gina’s Chalets: Tel. 084 583-1596; or
e-mail ginageluk@mweb.co.za.
Also visit www.ginas.co.za
|
Subscribe to Leisure WheelsIf you enjoyed this article and would like to read more about adventure motoring, why not subscribe to this quality publication? Give a Gift Subscription to a FriendLooking for a gift for someone who loves off-roading and has an inclination for the bush – let them receive a copy of this great magazine from you every month. Latest issue of Leisure WheelsSee what’s in the latest exciting issue of Leisure Wheels. |