We had so
much fun camping at the West Cape Tractor & Engine Club Annual Show in
Malmesbury recently that when another opportunity to camp, combined with a
Vintage Road Run was suggested, it met with enthusiastic support!
The Road Run
was organised by Canzius and Rykie Swart of Khomeesdrif Caravan and Camping
Site, a few kilometres east of Riviersonderend, in collaboration with Edu Roux
of the Villiersdorp Tractor & Engine Club, for Saturday 13th September. The
central location was also convenient for members of the Bredasdorp
Club, who turned out in force. It was unfortunate that the Breede River
members were unable to attend. The occasion was organised as a fund-raiser for
the Riviersonderend and Greyton NGK congregations.
Khomeesdrif is
situated on the southern banks of the Riviersonderend and has about 30 stands
and well appointed ablution facilities. There is one Chalet which was booked by
the Committee of the Villiersdorp Club!
Loading facilities are on the farm next door, at a suitable height for an 8-ton lorry. Members started arriving and setting up on Friday afternoon.
Most members had arrived by late Friday but more still turned up on Saturday morning. The route was to Greyton for lunch on the north bank of the river, via a breakfast stop at historic The Oaks farmstead and back on the south bank via Oewerzicht River Lodge for a refreshment stop. The full distance of the run was about 60km. Canzius rode out in front, followed by a tractor with rotating hazard lamp and the last tractor had a warning sign attached.
Several of the tractors towed trailers with straw-bales and the two vintage lorries also had comfortable seating arrangements for passengers.
The picture
above shows Eniel's Chev with passengers as we approached The Oaks, which in
the last six years has been superbly and accurately restored and is now
considered the most authentic Cape Dutch homestead, including encircling
wall, outside the immediate Cape Town area.
After
breakfast...... we hardly needed any more feeding till supper time!
We were
privileged to meet owner and restorer Gert Ehlers, who told us this farm is
said to have been the first in South Africa to use a metal mouldboard plough!
During the restoration, all plaster was removed from the buildings to find the
exact positions and sizes of the original doors and windows, which were
reinstated.
This below is
the original accommodation for the pack of hunting dogs:
..... and the
Mill (right, below). Unfortunately there was no milling machinery and it wasn't
possible to reinstate the mill stream. The building on the left was the first
outpost of the Genadendal Moravian mission which predates the Homestead.
Sleepy
Greyton was waiting for us!
Lunch of
lasagne and green salad was served in the Church Hall, after which we relaxed
under the trees next to the church:
We toured the
village, looking at the cosy-looking houses, mostly weekend retreats of
Capetonians. A Saturday morning market was just packing up as we arrived.
The local taxi was
doing good trade!
After lunch
we drove out of the village the way we came in and crossed to the southern bank
of the river to drive leisurely back on a new route. Purple hillsides were
striking!
We drove
along at a pace slower than the faster butterflies, much more slowly than a
sheep-dog we watched hassling guineafowl, and leisurely enough to watch a pair
of Spur-wing geese flying aerobatics. Whether this was in love or hate, I'm not
sure, but these are huge birds, yet very agile in the air! There was time to
observe the wild flowers along the road, but not much opportunity to photograph
them!
Mesembs
(vygies) above, and Daisies (?) below on the rockface.
As planned,
we stopped at Oewerzicht, a very well appointed guest farm and tented camp,
including a suspension bridge across the fast-flowing river, used for access to
the tented camp on the other side.
On the way
back, some of us stopped off at Het Ziekenhuis which I had read about in
Burrows' Overberg Outspan. He describes it as small but I was expecting
something more than an (active!) beehive!
Back in camp
we loaded tractors and rested, then cleaned up for the highlight, a spit-braai
laid on by Canzius, Rykie and the Riviersonderend congregation, as their
fundraiser. After a couple of speeches and a thanksgiving prayer, a huge meal
was enjoyed around campfires. It didn't take much to get Delport, Bol and Jamie
to bring out their instruments, the entertainment ended several hours later
with a resounding Abide with Me!
Further
exploration was organised for Sunday morning, after church to Oubos. We
couldn't wait so we went up in advance to the farm of a prominent
Villiersdorper, recently deceased, whose vision was to return to his father's
farm and develop 160ha of orchards in two years. He died after the first half
had been done, his children have completed his dream. His father is said to
have been unimpressed by the performance of his McCormick 10/20 and
cultivator, so he hung it up in an Oak which has grown considerably since!
The orchards
are planted on slopes where baboons need a walking stick! 12 (newer!) tractors
and spray machines are needed to keep the trees pest and disease free!
The event was
a huge success, with 26 vintage vehicles, including two classic cars, two
lorries and a Jeep. The remaining tractors included a McCormick:
...two
Lanzes, this one needing vigorous effort to start,
.....the
other starts electrically and makes wonderful smoke-rings
I think we
certainly livened things up at Khomeesdrif and we hope their fundraisers were a
success after all the effort which was put in, we certainly enjoyed the
experience and hope to make it a regular event on our calendar! It looked as though the wives, girlfriends and children
enjoyed the experience, some of the children only came in from swimming in time
for dinner! It was great meeting and spending leisure time with them all :-)
Andy Selfe
14th
September '14
