Relaxing in Rondeberg

Pack up your troubles in your old kit bag, head to Rondeberg, and you'll be smiling all the way. Here, you'll be able to rest for real.

-  Pieter Redelinghuys

It seems our days of having to wear masks are a thing of the past, but now we're bombarded with persistent load shedding, the Zondo Commission, and the friendly-yet-urgent requests to return to the office amid rising fuel prices and the prospect of traffic jams... Sometimes, you simply have to go: "Stop the bus, I want to get off!"

About 22 km from Clanwilliam, a two-hour drive from Cape Town on the N7 in the direction of Namibia, there's an ideal place to get off that bus, pitch your tent, caravan, or bush trailer, and forget about everything that's complicated. Pure bliss.

This is where you'll find the Rondeberg Holiday Resort, on the banks of the Bulshoek Dam. The resort and its 30 different stands (with enough space: for 180 people) covers almost three hectares.

You'll find reception's boom gate after 500 m of a good dirt road through the vineyards. There's enough space to easily park your towing combination for checking in, without the prospect of any nerve-racking three-point turns.

Rondeberg is on your left, etched against the sapphire-blue sky. Dozens of stands line up to the left and stretch along a dirt road over a distance of about 100 m, all the way to just opposite a small dam.

To the left is the resort's large swimming pool. You'll be coming here for respite, because in summer it gets so hot even the devil wears sunscreen in the shade.

There are more stands down the dirt road, and to the right on the wide grassy shore there are more stands in front of the dam, which gives visitors unlimited access to almost 6 km of open water.

THE BULSHOEK DAM is an irrigation reservoir for farmers lower down in the Olifants River, so it always has water. What's more, the quality is controlled and regularly tested. Visitors can fish, water ski, row, and motorboat here and it's a safe swimming area for young and old.