Minwater 4x4, Steenbokrant and Rooiberg
Posted: Sat Jan 05, 2013 7:23 pm
Woke up this morning feeling a bit depressed because of the holiday that is coming to an end. Monday morning the phones will start ringing, machines will start breaking, people will be complaining and workers will be striking. Well maybe not that bad, but expect the worse and the reality will be better.
Anyway, its still two days to Monday and Paddatjie needs some exercise so where do we go today? Minwater 4x4 trial just outside Oudtshoorn seems like the perfect place, its 18km from home and chances are very, very good that we will be all alone, PERFECT!
At 8:30am we arrive at the farm house where Louis Jordaan, the owner, meets us. While we are doing the normal paperwork he tells me that the guys from Toyota will arrive at 14:00 to do a recce of the route for next week's Toyota Land Cruiser test drive by one of the 4x4 magazines, so keep an eye out for that article. The Land Cruisers are all specially prepared for this route with all the bells and whistles that one can only dream about. Louis asks us if we would mind staying off the Kloof section of the Sandberg route today to prevent our tracks from spoiling it for the Toyota guys and we agree.
Minwater is divided into 3 routes all coming together at the wind mill. The three routes are graded from an easy 2 up to a more challenging 5 and therefor caters for all driving abilities. From the farm house its an easy drive to the campsite that can be done with a trailer or off road caravan. The camp site is one of the neatest sites we have seen in a long-long time. It has everything you need with bush showers, toilets, taps with running water and a braai aria all under large thorn trees, a real oasis in the Karoo. We will definitely come to camp here one night...
From the campsite its the road start to resemble a 4x4 track and one kilometer away yo get to the windmill where all three routes as well as the start of the Kloof section converge. We decide to start with the easy Steenbokrant while there is still no one else on the farm and we can enjoy the tranquility.
Being the Klein Karoo, these tracks are all extremely rocky with both rock banks and those nasty little marble rocks that just rolls away with your vehicle on top if you are not careful. As mentioned earlier I will be replacing the standard tires with proper off road rubber later this month, but for now I have to make do with what I have. We deflate the tires to 1.7Bar in the front and 1.8 Bar in the back based on the conditions and the tires load index.
The first part of Steenbokrant is quite easy until we reach some kloofs at the foot of the mountain. Water from the last rain washed away some of these kloof crossings resulting in some interesting cross-axle driving where Paddatjie lifts its rear wheel just like little Yoda (my dog) would usually do against those standard Yokohama tires. This makes me think, "maybe I should be careful not to allow Yoda to do that because it looks like Paddatjie is learning the same tricks!"
The spekboom and other plants along the Steenbokrant route are exquisite. As we reach the plato we are greeted with lush green fynbos. Flowers where ever you look, this is the Karoo saying thank you for the recent rain. We are so lucky to be here!
As we come off the plato we see the windmill and we reach the end of Steenbokrant. This route may not be difficult or challenging, but its beauty makes it worth the drive. The route took us just over an hour, but it must be said that we stopped regularly to walk around and enjoy nature.
Our next route takes us up another mountain called Rooiberg. Just a few hundred meters in we realize that the rain made this road with its usual 3-grading a bit more challenging as we reach the first section that was washed away. The route is strewn with smallish round stones or "marbles" that slips out from under the wheels making the traction control work overtime.
As we climb higher we can see the plato of Steenbokrant where we just came from. We get out and Lizel takes a picture of the mountains below as with the Rooiberg route leading up to where we are standing. While she's busy with that I look ahead and see that the next section will require slow, steady momentum, but almost at the top I spot some large boulders that were washed into the road. Those boulders will damage Paddatjie and needs to be removed. Looking through the binoculars I spot a place in the road that flattens out just enough to allow me to stop and pull away from again.
Then, off we go! Paddatjie is in 4LLC and locked in first gear with the revs just under 1800 as we start the climb. Halfway in and Zandre decides that now would be a good time to hold on for life and cover his eyes as the traction control clatters away and all we can see out the windscreen is a clear blue sky. Hanging out the window to see where we are going I see the spot where I planned to stop, its steeper than what I thought!! Problem is that I HAVE to stop since the boulders are too big to drive over and there is no way around unless we want to plunge all the way down the mountain.
Reluctantly I stop, but there is no way that I can get out. I have to stay in Paddatjie and keep control so Lizel and Zandre gets out to clear the road. After clearing the boulders out of the way they get back in. Keeping my foot on the brake I slowly increase the revs until the engine power start to push forward. Slowly, as we start to creep forward I keep the engine speed constant at 1500RPM and start to release the brake pedal. Paddatjie is moving forward again and we climb to the top of the mountain where we turn around to double down.
As we ascend I have to be very careful not to lock any of the wheels that may cause us to start sliding on the marbles. We reach some cross-axle holes and as the body rolls through Yoda gets car sick right there on my lap! Well this does not happen very often to this seasoned little off roader, just proving how rough the road was.
Eventually we reach the farm house just before 13:00 and this is it for today. We will be back to do the Sandberg Route including the Kloof and Die gat, but for those we will need a full day and that planned 50mm suspension lift.
Anyway, its still two days to Monday and Paddatjie needs some exercise so where do we go today? Minwater 4x4 trial just outside Oudtshoorn seems like the perfect place, its 18km from home and chances are very, very good that we will be all alone, PERFECT!
At 8:30am we arrive at the farm house where Louis Jordaan, the owner, meets us. While we are doing the normal paperwork he tells me that the guys from Toyota will arrive at 14:00 to do a recce of the route for next week's Toyota Land Cruiser test drive by one of the 4x4 magazines, so keep an eye out for that article. The Land Cruisers are all specially prepared for this route with all the bells and whistles that one can only dream about. Louis asks us if we would mind staying off the Kloof section of the Sandberg route today to prevent our tracks from spoiling it for the Toyota guys and we agree.
Minwater is divided into 3 routes all coming together at the wind mill. The three routes are graded from an easy 2 up to a more challenging 5 and therefor caters for all driving abilities. From the farm house its an easy drive to the campsite that can be done with a trailer or off road caravan. The camp site is one of the neatest sites we have seen in a long-long time. It has everything you need with bush showers, toilets, taps with running water and a braai aria all under large thorn trees, a real oasis in the Karoo. We will definitely come to camp here one night...
From the campsite its the road start to resemble a 4x4 track and one kilometer away yo get to the windmill where all three routes as well as the start of the Kloof section converge. We decide to start with the easy Steenbokrant while there is still no one else on the farm and we can enjoy the tranquility.
Being the Klein Karoo, these tracks are all extremely rocky with both rock banks and those nasty little marble rocks that just rolls away with your vehicle on top if you are not careful. As mentioned earlier I will be replacing the standard tires with proper off road rubber later this month, but for now I have to make do with what I have. We deflate the tires to 1.7Bar in the front and 1.8 Bar in the back based on the conditions and the tires load index.
The first part of Steenbokrant is quite easy until we reach some kloofs at the foot of the mountain. Water from the last rain washed away some of these kloof crossings resulting in some interesting cross-axle driving where Paddatjie lifts its rear wheel just like little Yoda (my dog) would usually do against those standard Yokohama tires. This makes me think, "maybe I should be careful not to allow Yoda to do that because it looks like Paddatjie is learning the same tricks!"
The spekboom and other plants along the Steenbokrant route are exquisite. As we reach the plato we are greeted with lush green fynbos. Flowers where ever you look, this is the Karoo saying thank you for the recent rain. We are so lucky to be here!
As we come off the plato we see the windmill and we reach the end of Steenbokrant. This route may not be difficult or challenging, but its beauty makes it worth the drive. The route took us just over an hour, but it must be said that we stopped regularly to walk around and enjoy nature.
Our next route takes us up another mountain called Rooiberg. Just a few hundred meters in we realize that the rain made this road with its usual 3-grading a bit more challenging as we reach the first section that was washed away. The route is strewn with smallish round stones or "marbles" that slips out from under the wheels making the traction control work overtime.
As we climb higher we can see the plato of Steenbokrant where we just came from. We get out and Lizel takes a picture of the mountains below as with the Rooiberg route leading up to where we are standing. While she's busy with that I look ahead and see that the next section will require slow, steady momentum, but almost at the top I spot some large boulders that were washed into the road. Those boulders will damage Paddatjie and needs to be removed. Looking through the binoculars I spot a place in the road that flattens out just enough to allow me to stop and pull away from again.
Then, off we go! Paddatjie is in 4LLC and locked in first gear with the revs just under 1800 as we start the climb. Halfway in and Zandre decides that now would be a good time to hold on for life and cover his eyes as the traction control clatters away and all we can see out the windscreen is a clear blue sky. Hanging out the window to see where we are going I see the spot where I planned to stop, its steeper than what I thought!! Problem is that I HAVE to stop since the boulders are too big to drive over and there is no way around unless we want to plunge all the way down the mountain.
Reluctantly I stop, but there is no way that I can get out. I have to stay in Paddatjie and keep control so Lizel and Zandre gets out to clear the road. After clearing the boulders out of the way they get back in. Keeping my foot on the brake I slowly increase the revs until the engine power start to push forward. Slowly, as we start to creep forward I keep the engine speed constant at 1500RPM and start to release the brake pedal. Paddatjie is moving forward again and we climb to the top of the mountain where we turn around to double down.
As we ascend I have to be very careful not to lock any of the wheels that may cause us to start sliding on the marbles. We reach some cross-axle holes and as the body rolls through Yoda gets car sick right there on my lap! Well this does not happen very often to this seasoned little off roader, just proving how rough the road was.
Eventually we reach the farm house just before 13:00 and this is it for today. We will be back to do the Sandberg Route including the Kloof and Die gat, but for those we will need a full day and that planned 50mm suspension lift.