The month of August was packed with awesome adventures!

By Ewan Visser & Nadine Klopper

We at Flex Adventures was fortunate to go to Ou Trekpad on the 2nd of August, what an amazing place to go. Ou Trekpad is named after the old transport route that crossed the farm. The route was used by the West Coast & Sandveld farmers to transport their goods to & from Cape Town. The 4×4 route is about 40km from Cape Town City Centre. Ou Trekpad is a family route & it is about 25km long. There is a lot of sand and water that you can play in, from dunes to sand obstacles, self-made obstacles, and dune drifting. There is a nice lapa braai area and we really enjoyed socializing with the others. We were able to use and keep our cold drinks cold with our Flex Adventures Fridge.

On the 8th of August, we joined a company called Mega Explore & Cape Town WOW Factor. They do some 4×4 courses & 4×4 learning activities on the Zevenwacht Wine farm. Zevenwacht Wine Farm is situated on the Stellenbosch Wine Route. The meaning of the name Zevenwacht says it all: Seven Expectations. We were expectant and this day exceeded our expectations, although we were unfortunately caught by the wind. We could not open our Flex awnings, but we met cool people and we had a fun day with Francois from Mega Explore. The farm is huge and they offer some site seeing, as well as obstacle courses, that they also use for training. There is also a little 4×4 route on the farm, that is not too difficult. Zevenwacht Wine farm is definitely a gem, so make sure to put them on your list!

On Sunday 30 August 2020, we left Somerset West to join the guys from Mega Explore at the Kroonland 4×4 track, just outside Villiersdorp. As we got over the Grabouw pass, it was just white mountain peaks everywhere, what an amazing view. We then drove on and as we ascended down towards Grabouw, we saw all the mist laying over the valley in between the trees, it was a beautiful sight to be able to see. We went through to Grabouw & drove past the Theewaterskloof dam & it is also awesome to see how full the dam is, we haven’t seen the dam so full in ages. Eventually, we got to Villiersdorp and we saw all the white peaks sticking out. It was about 3 degrees on the way there & our car even beeped & warned us of ice roads & conditions.

We waited for everybody; as we had some guys that pitched up a bit late, so we left Villiersdorp at about 9:30 in the morning. We headed out to the farm and deflated our tires because the road from Villiersdorp to the farm is still tar road, which is fairly steep. Mega Explore did a quick briefing, who is who in the zoo, what can be done and what is not allowed all the normal procedures. We then head off and we got to the first obstacle that was literally flooded and we decided to not take that obstacle & bypass it to a second section of the obstacle, that is an extremely slippery slope & you have to go through water.

The group decided they don’t want to do that obstacle, but myself and another guy called Loyd decided to take this obstacle on. He went through with his Disco 4, because he had a winch in front so if he got stuck, he would have been able to winch himself out. I (Ewan) decided to go after him and then logically his got a winch to pull me out if I got stuck, so we planned it properly. Loyd gave us a bit of a fright, because his Disco 4 went down sideways on the slope, sliding down and then went through the water. I went down and I decided to do it slightly different and I jumped the slope so I can keep the wheels turning & I can steer my car. I made it to stop before the water & I managed to go through the water with no problems.

Gershwin with his Gen 3 Pajero also went through, he unfortunately took the wrong line and had to go through the water on the left-hand side and got stuck and took on some water, so we had to winch him out. A lady with a little small Jimney also decided to take on this obstacle, she went down with the assistance of Francois of Mega Explore and everything went well & she went through the water. Then I guy called Ian from Motor Corp and his Ford Ranger, as well as his friend with his Ford Ranger Raptor, also went through the obstacle and the rest of the team decided to bypass the obstacle.

From there on we just took a drive through the mountains, it was extremely wet, a lot of water running through the rocks, so the rocks were extremely wet & slippery. We manage to get to a lookout point, where there was some snow that we could touch & play with. It was very cold, but we enjoyed the snow experience! From there we went to the campsite, there are a couple of lodges with bunk beds that you can rent or you can camp there. They have a little pool that is fed by the mountain water that is coming down.

Then there is a massive braai area that can be used to make a big bonfire, the braai area is under the roof & has a chimney to extract all the smoke. You can stack your chairs all around & I am sure you can very easily fit 20-30 people around that braai. We left there & got back to the starting point, inflated our tires and everyone went home. That was an awesome day with the guys from Mega explore!

Check out Gershwin Williams – Off the Beaten Track, he takes all our epic videos and photos.

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/off_the_beaten_track_za/?hl=en

Subscribe to his Youtube Channel: https://www.youtube.com/c/GershwinWilliams

Here are some of the epic videos that he took of our trips in August!

Ou Trekpad: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5pTAW6KdKIY

Zevenwacht Wine Estate: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1nX7yp46qVM

Keep an eye out for the Kroonland video.. Watch this space…

Contact details:

Ou Trekpad: For more information check out their website https://www.outrekpad.com/index.html  Email: info@outrekpad.com or contact Hettie Stoffberg +27 (0) 79 499 4807 hettie@outrekpad.com

Zevenwacht Wine Farm: Contact Francois Marais, from Cape Town WOW Factor 082 379 7007 info@capewowfactor.co.za

Website: https://capewowfactor.co.za

Kroonland 4×4 Route: Facebook

https://www.facebook.com/pages/Kroonland%204X4/776582205725000/

Mitsu Care: Repair and maintenance partner, you can also find our products there

Facebook:  https://www.facebook.com/MitsuCarePTY

Flex Adventures: https://flexadventures.co.za/

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/FlexAdventuresSA

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/flex_adventures/

Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCwSy2sD3SyHhbw_UJk4b2Ww