Welcome
Beautiful Baviaanskloof
to
Destination:To the World Heritage Site, and The Baviaanskloof Mega Reserve, through the kloof and the magnificent 5 Passes to Bergplaas & The Winston Le Roux Cable-way.
ENJOY MY BOOK: A Few Highlights - History....All The Great Stories... From The Horses Mouth: - 300 times down 'The Kloof' and all the Passes with 'Stove-Bolts'. Building The Cable-way, the only private one as far as is known, on the Continent of Africa if not in the World. Higher than the Highest bridge in The World--- Reducing travel-time between the two main Farms from 3 I/2 hours to 12 Minutes. Running 'The Donkey Train' over 2000 Km... The cost - Only grass and water. Channeling the water from Mac through the Cable Suspended Pipes for 15 Km. Taming Bergplaas and her 7 sisters. Celebtating with 'The Riel Dance'.
Restoring the Vintage Cars.
1909 12/14 Alldays & Onions. 1946 3 1/2 LT. Jaguar.
1952 2 1/2 Lt. Riley. 1951 Big-Six Citroen.
WE START OUR JOURNEY: -
From Spitskop our old family farm, 11 Km from Willowmore on the Steytlerville road.
It was established by my grand parents Antonie and Maria Le Roux in the late 1800's. I was born and raised on the farm and received an abundance of love from both them and my parents. Grandpa gave me my first horse and with this horse and my sheepdog I explored the Karroo plains and high hills, and my great love for nature and her animals was founded there.
It was here also where I was taught the nobleness of work, by parents and grandparents, and that principals and discipline, are the price of freedom.
One day I was accompanying Grandpa and he had a sheep-dog on a leash, something came to his mind and he said to me " I am going to tie this dog to the bottom of the fence here, until we come back. As we walked off I said to him "when we come back this dog will be dead." He looked at me inquiringly and asked. "Why? " "We will see." I replied.... When we returned the dog had climbed over the fence, the leash was too short for him to reach the ground surface on the other side - He had hanged himself. I saw it all in a flash when we walked off. Grandpa was badly shaken and went to tell my dad straight away.
It was when I left Spitskop to go and live on my own that Grandpa said to me. "If you so want to - live as rough as you can, but never be small, mean, or dishonest." I tried to stick to that.
FROM WILLOWMORE - we travel through the transition of the Karroo veldt to the rough Baviaanskloof mountain ranges and to the bo-kloof through Nuwekloof. Passing: - Rietrivier, Speekhout, Hingoe, Kasey, Vleikloof, Verloren rivier, Sederkloof. Through the poort to Studtis.
STUDTIS, is where Francis Nortje had the shop and hand operated petrol pump. The book relates various stories of Francis, the wonderful artesian well, Hendrik Poon and his orchestra. Old Richard Nortje, who was asked to kick the bucket, and his pigs, and the smart Belsize.
The Great flood of 1916.
Frank Nortje of Kleinpoort, my mother's sister's husband and the braying donkey.
This is where my old friend Lucas Smith now lives.
78 ​km​
1942 Chev panel van similar to Stove bolts.
1942 Chev panel van similar to Stove bolts.
KLEINPOORT TO DAM SE DRIF- -
Grandpa Thomas Smith's old family farm.
DAM SE DRIF.... is the scene of the the account of the various crops produced by grandpa Thomas, and the stories of the vicious Jersey bull, motorbike and model T Ford. Here he also, for the first time, told me about a lot of money in England, which still had to be collected.
Next we proceed to Colesplaas, so called because it was Uncle Fritz Coleske's farm, where he also had a shop and hand-operated petrol pump, where we often refueled. Doors and Dawie's large farm followed and the story of - to sleep 'Kop and Punt' [ head and feet together ] happened here.
Then - Zandvlakte, where the late Mr. David Gellman, originally from Latvia, started off in the ostrich feather business on his bicycle, to become the largest ostrich farmer in the Willowmore district and producer and exporter of vegetable seeds to Europe and Israel. He was a highly regarded friend of our family.
110 ​km​
Keerom.
This is where the twice weekly, large RMS buss used to over-night, for its return trip to Willowmore. It was on the approach to here where Grandpa Thomas lost his upper dentures on the motorbike trip... Read the entertaining story in the book.
This is on the approach of the start of the Grasnek, or as we used to call it, the Kruisrivier pass. Affording magnificent vistas and spectacular scenery.
The descent of the pass ends in the sharp drift where the motorbike story begins with the stripping of the Model T ford's diff gear-teeth. Here Smithskraal or Kruisrivier-valley starts and the hilarious crossing of the Kouga by the men happened, caught literally with their pants down,.... Entertaining the ladies.
NEXT 55 KM​
16 ​km​
DOODSKLIP PASS. [ Renier Se Stoot or Poeprug...Fart-Ridge Pass ]
To work out this riddle you have to read the book and the many great stories.
After this we hit the Holgat pass and on top come to The Winston Le Roux Cable-way which was designed, and built by me, and my ordinary farm workers in 1967.
It is higher than the highest bridge in the world and the saga of the building of it.... Spanning of the 410 meter wide gorge, pulling the 6 tons of cables through the abyss.... Is a must to read.
The taming of Bergplaas and her 7 Sisters... Bringing the water from Mac - 1582 m in elevation--- One of the highest peaks in the area-- for over 15 Km to Good Hope and Rooilaagte.
Running the donkey train over 2000 Km.-- On just grass and water!!
Restoring the four vintage cars... Are all epic stories related in my book.
DON'T WORRY!! AS LONG AS YOU READ THE BOOK YOU WON'T MISS ANYTHING.
MY BOOK.
"BEAUTIFUL BAVIAANSKLOOF"
With sub titles.
"The Saga of the Building of the Cable-way."
and
"An Amazing account of historical facts and stories regarding Bergplaas, and The Baviaanskloof Wilderness area which is a World Heritage Site".
The Restoration of the four vintage cars is fully described in the last chapter.
A 1909 Alldays & Onions, 1946 3 1/2 Lt. Jaguar, 2 1/2 Lt Riley, and Big-Six Citroen."
The Book Is now published and available from Fogarty's Bookshop, and others, in Port Elizabeth, and also from my email address:-
N/B. Please employ your regular email and not the version at the bottom of the page... It does not work..
The book is also available from Amazon in ebook format from the website below.
http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00N40S726
I have also written a multi page informative directive entitled:
How to Profit Amazingly, by Buying and Selling Shares.
Exploiting their regular Cyclical up and down Price movements
It is FREELY available from my Email address above and will enable you, by copying my trades, to generate 100%, and even much more, on your investments in the future. It will also enable you to improve the performance of your existing holdings atleast tenfold. Many years of research and experimenting has gone into perfecting this system. Everything is irrefutably proven by present and past market and share price movements on historical graphs, that nobody and nothing can change. It is FREE! So just email me and I will send it...It might just change your life!!
N\B The email facility below does not work, PLEASE use your own regular facility.
WEBSITE BUILT AND TEXTED BY WINSTON LE ROUX....
If you want a similar site built, just contact me.