This farm is a delightful base camp for several peaks. For this weekend meet, two were selected as goals – Stormberg and Hoёberg. On Friday evening 12 campers set up tents at the picturesque campsite and lapa, nestled between two farm dams and overlooking apple and pear orchards. The afternoon fog soon cleared, and it [...]
Over the last ten years or so, the SC Section has enjoyed several ascents of Spitskop and its neighbouring peaks of Tierkop and Bloupunt. On these occasions we stayed at a grand old farmhouse called Wilgemond. Sadly this is no longer possible, so a new place had to be found for this Spitskop outing. We [...]
A misty morning started our hike on Saturday. Fifteen hikers showed up for the forest walk. As agreed beforehand some of the hikers were to join us for a few kilometres before turning back to the cars at their own pace. L to R: Albert (V) and Saartjie van der Merwe, Mike van der Heyde, [...]
I could almost write a book about the extended effort to make this hike a reality. I had the idea of such a hike in my head for many years, and eventually put it on the meets program for May 2023. The planned 3-day route involved hiking through two adjacent private nature reserves in the [...]
The invasive alien tree Hakea sericea remains an ominous threat to the Klein Swartberg Mountains. As a small part of bigger coordinated effort to control hakea in these beautiful mountains, Hugh Sussen and I headed up the Waterkloof valley on Saturday morning, 16 March. We didn’t let the disappointment of only being two in number [...]
I have been living in Stilbaai for almost 7 years now, also operating a slackpacking trail along the coast. So it was about time that I invited our Section’s members to come this way and see some of the beauty and variety along this stretch of our coast. Twenty-one people attended this meet, spending two [...]
L-R: Jacquie Kennedy**, Craig Bax, Annette van Wyk**, Janet Moore, Erica Davies, Kim Gaskell, Tim Gaskell, Janine Smith, Linda Bisset**, Ettienne and Santie de Villiers, Cheryl Devine, Greg Devine, Lyle Ownhouse**. Photo by Tony Bowen – meet leader. (**Temporary members and guests). The party of 15 comprised a balanced mixture of “old” members, “fairly new [...]
Anyone who was even half-conscious in the early sixties, and not living in a cave, has at least heard of, if not seen, the “Carry-on …..” series of movies. There was Carry on Doctor, Carry on Nurse and so on, a farcical collection, culminating in “Carry on up the Khyber” which would have been high [...]
Cockscomb mountain in the Groot Winterhoek range of the Easten Cape has a rich historic drape that envelops its shoulders, not unlike the frequent cloud and mist that swirls around its summit as exhibited on Wednesday evening when we arrived at Pinnacle Cottage, our appropriately named base camp. Its rich historical tapestry mainly concerns its [...]
On Saturday, the 2nd December 2023 the South Cape Section held their annual Christmas function. This time it was slightly different as we chose to camp and braai at Swartvlei Campsite. The weather looked a little uncertain a few days ahead of time, but when the day arrived in was a mild, pleasant day. 17 [...]