Rolling Along The River

[ TRAVEL ] FOUR CAMPSITES AROUND GREYTON

The writer, poet and philosopher G.K. Chesterton once said: “The whole object of travel is not to set foot on foreign land; it is at last to set foot on one’s own country as a foreign land.”

I certainly learnt this lesson recently when I trundled out in my old Land Rover to camp in four very different campsites surrounding my hometown of Gretyon in the Western Cape.

It was an enriching and in many ways humbling experience. The biggest lesson is exactly as Chesterton stated: I had to learn what exciting camping and lekker things to do existed on my very front doorstep!

- Richard Van Ryneveld

Adding to the fun of this trip was the fact that the boss gave me the thumbs-up to use my old Landie camper for the adventure.

The Old Gal needs to drag a petrol bowser behind, as the twin SU carbs on the 3.5 V8 just literally guzzles petrol, so she mainly does duty as a spare bedroom for guests at home in Greyton... the kids usually love to sleep in the camper.

Secondly, it was great to be able to camp and take my best mate, my dog Pippin, along to two of the camps, Eco Camp and Champagne by the River.

None of the campsites were further than 10 kilometres from my front door, and I actually got to discover how many things there are to do in my own hometown. There are tons, as I will share with you.

GREYTON ECO CAMP & CARAVAN PARK

My first port of call was the Eco Camp down on the Sonderend River, just 3 kilometres from town.

Actually, the camp is sited on the confluence of the small Gobos River (more a stream than a river) and the larger Sonderend River that originally had its source in the foothills of the Franschhoek Mountains. This was eventually dammed up and is now known as the Theewaterskloof Dam.

A constant flow from the dam still feeds the Sonderend River on its long journey eastward before joining the Berg and flowing down to the sea.

Entering the boom gate my first reaction was a loud “wow, this looks great”!

The reason for my delight is the fact that I have had an off/on relationship with this site for the last 30-odd years.

My children learnt to swim here, and I learnt to fish for bass from this spot down near the bridge over the river. I caught more bass in those days with real cheap and nasty lures bought from Old Man Osman, Abdul’s father, than what I catch now with a lure box full of fancy imported American gadgets with names like Hoolah Poppers, Lazy Ike’s and Crazy Crawlers.