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Drie Provinsies October 2008

In October 2008 we went with the Four Wheel Drive Club of Southern Africa to a 4x4 route called "Drie Provinsies" (Three Provinces where Mapumalanga, Free State and Natal all meet at the top of a mountain.)

The owner of the farm is Herman Geldenhuys seen here on his quad bike.

Herman's wife is Ronel Geldenhuys.

At the campsite there was a bush with an interesting flower.

It was very cold and we should have taken more warm bedding.

The clothing and stance of the other participants confirms that it was cold.

We set off on the trail and we saw that a lot of the veldt had been burned. In fact there were fires on adjoining farms. Unfortunately this meant that the scenery was more bleak than it would have been had there still been grass even if it was not green at this time of the year.

At one stage I got out to walk and take pictures. I passed this spot and knew that our group with a few novices would not be going up this slope.

How wrong I was. After a while I wondered where the group was and walked back to find Sylvia in a precarious position on just that slope.

Even coming down could be fun.

Serious fun.

A view further on.

A different type of scenery on the route.

More bush scenery.

I could imagine how beautiful this area might look in summer after the rains.

Vingerpolle - that is what these plants are called. They grow in specific areas and I have only seen them once or twice before.

The lunch stop. There was a fire behind us. The local farmers burn the veldt to improve the grazing.

There is a hill called "Hellshoogte" and this picture shows Sylvia going up.

The Hi-Lux is not very powerful and here the picture shows some willing helpers. When we let the tyres down more we were able to get up. We should have done this earlier - but forgot - panic causes the brain to shut down. (These shut downs are frequent on Siggy's part!) Three of the vehicles in the group managed to get up here - the others went around.

Where the three provinces meet. Rather than post a picture of a sign post I have included this eagle which was flying close by.

Some interesting bits.

And more.

This was the road ahead and the sight of water meant a picture was necessary - a river. Just around this time one of the vehicles landed on its roof behind us. We were quite far ahead and I have no pictures of my own showing the incident.

Day 2 (For those that felt like more!)

There were a few rocky bits.

And more rocky bits.

Actually one part was full of rocks.

A steep decline.

This was an interesting drop and some people decided not to come down this way.

Another descent.

Drie Provinsies is a lovely 4x4 route with good camping facilities and we will go back there one day.

It is a technical trail in parts.