For a while I have been looking at going to Klipkrans on the Breede River just outside Worcester. Their website looked good as well as very positive comments on their facebook page and other pages on facebook dedicated to camping. I got a newsletter from the Trekkers Outdoor Recreation Club, laarger 8, to which we belong saying that they were booking a section of the campsite over a long weekend at the end of April. Now as I have mentioned before, I usually try to avoid camping over the weekends to avoid the crowds but the Trekkers are a really lovely bunch of people and at least you would have people you know all around you. In fact as it turned out, the campsite at Klipkrans is divided into 3 sections and we were allocated almost all of the one section with one other party on 3 of the sites, who also turned out to be great people.
We arrived quite early on the Friday, after phoning them to confirm that this was o.k. as after packing the trailer at home we were ready to go. We found the place easily enough as there are good directions on their website. After entering the access gate with the supplied code, we had to negotiate 3km of fairly rough and narrow gravel road to the campsite but took this slowly. There was a list posted on the entrance kiosk door indicating our allocated section and we moved on to a nice grassed site on the waters edge. After seeting up we relaxed under our gazebo as it was a lovely warm day and waited for the others to arrive.
Here is a view over the river from our site.
During the rest of the day several others arrived but most arrived after dark, towing some quite large caravans over the rough dirt access road. I had read a few comments on various facebook pages from people saying that they would not tow a large van along this road but this photo proves that it can be done.
Saturday dawned with stunning weather and we went for a long paddle on our SUP's. There is around a 2.5km long stretch of water on the river that is great for this. However in the afternoon a strong North Westerly came up and we battened down the hatches and sat it out. However it calmed down in the evening and we were treated to a lovely sunset.
Sunday dawned to another stunning day, warming up quite quickly after a farily cold night and we spent most of the day on the river on our SUP's with a few of the other Trekker members also having a go. There are also a couple of kayak's at the campsite available as well. A lot of other campers were also fishing in the river and we saw a couple of nice size carp coming out.
Another photo of the campsite and some sunset shots.
On Monday we awoke to yet another stunning day and this was a repeat of the previous day except that we had a braai at lunchtime. After lunch most of the others packed up and departed for home but we had opted to stay another night.
Tuesday morning dawned again with lovely weather and once our tent and gazebo had dried out from the early morning dew, we packed up and took a leisurely drive home.
This was one of the nicest campsites that we have been to and a repeat visit is definitely on the cards. The ablutions are very good with lots of hot water and there were another two toilets with hand basins situated at the section on which we were camping.
With a break of not camping due to the Easter long weekend and school holidays, which are times when we prefer not to camp as the local campsites get extremely crowded and noisy, I was looking for somewhere to go for a few days and decided to find somewhre new.
With a lot of research on the internet I finally decided on Skurwekop, near Robertson which is about 150 kilometers away from us. It is situated on a farm along a wide stretch of the Breede river and looked very well suited to Standup paddling with nice lawned sites. After checking the weather forecast, which looked good I booked to stay there for 4 nights from Monday to Friday.
We arrived there on the Monday with gorgeous warm weather. We had a great choice of sites as we were the only people there and chose a nice spacious site on the waters edge. We are getting pretty good with setting our trailer up and shortly after we arrived were relaxing with a cold beer. Setting up is thirsty work!
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That night we got the braai going in our mini weber braai with a nice salad from home and were priviliged to also have a lovely sunset.
The next morning we woke up to another lovely day, quite cloudy but fairly warm and calm. After breakfast we decided to explore the river a bit while we doing this and went for a nice long paddle. The wind came up a bit so we did not go too far downstream as it meant coming back against the breeze. The owner of the farm, Nico told us however that the river is just as wide and deep for another two ans a half kilometers downstream towards Robertson. Going upstream one can only go about 300 meters before reaching some rapids.
One of the reasons why we chose to go to the Robertson area was also because of all the attractions in the area. We had a very nice lunch at the restaurant at Rooiberg Winery, just up the road from the campsite. Of course we did a winetasting while there and bought some wine as well. On another day we took a drive, stopping at Arabella wine estate to buy some wine and went on to check out another campsite the other side of Montagu, called Doringlaagte. We will definitely be going there sometime in the future as it is stuated on a large dam, also good for Standup paddling.
I also took a few photo's of the campsite and ablutions for easy reference to see what to expect if you go there. The ablutions, by the way, are immaculate and very upmarket. On the first night we had the place to ourselves and on the second day, one other couple arrived and thoughtfully chose a spot a few sites away from us.
On our 2nd last day we awoke to some light rain, which continued most of the day, so we just relaxed in our tent with our ereaders. The rain is just a part of camping. When we awoke on the Friday, it had stopped raining which made packing up much easier.
The campsite is extremely well run and very well maintained. An absolute gem.
You can click on any of the photo's above to see a larger version.
