On Friday 29 January 2010 I made a hurried decision. With an ever decreasing bank account, no employment and no rain in Cape Town, I bought an air ticket to fly up to Johannesburg. I made that choice at about 10:00am, I flew out that night. Johannesburg had received loads of rain and the rivers were flowing nicely. The Vaal was at around 2000 cumecs (for my American friends that just under 71 000 cfs!!!) and this was something of a fifteen year record. The plan was to drive to the Steelpoort River on Friday night straight from the airport, paddle it on Saturday, then drive later that evening to the Vaal, paddle the Vaal on Sunday and fly back Monday morning early. That’s exactly what we did. This first article covers only the Steelpoort with the monstrous Vaal coming up in the next one.

Read more...

 

In the weeks prior to the 2010 edition of the Blyde Xfest, hype and excitement for the weekend was built to a fever pitch by the organizers, Mohlatsi Adventures. For a change the organizers of a kayaking festival in South Africa actually decided to begin planning for the festival well in advance. The result was a record turnout, and an absolutely outstanding festival, with this year’s theme being “I’ve got a lovely bunch of Coconuts”.

Read more...

 

It was my birthday weekend. Shane had informed me that there was no water in Swaziland that weekend (a lie, according to 12C), so we decided to hit the upper Sabie.
However, that Friday (my actual birthday) The Killers were playing in Johannesburg, and they happen to be a favourite band of mine. So I proceeded to get raucously drunk with my housemates, and somehow drove to Adrian Vroom’s house at around 4am, after which I slept while he drove. Neil O’Leary also joined us.

Read more...

 

Blyde X-Fest 2008

The following morning we got up and gathered our gear for the day ahead. Some people struggled to shake off the effects of the previous nights’ booze but eventually everyone clambered onto the truck that would take us on the long but beautiful drive to the put in. The format of the event was simple and the same as the year before. We would paddle down the roughly 8 km section of river and have three races down three different rapids. There is no other option as one cannot access the gorge in any way, other than a helicopter. We hadn’t gone very far when a large stone lodged itself between the twin set of wheels at the back of the truck. After a bit of a struggle it was freed and on we went. The drive up was very slow in the truck but the scenery really great. If you haven’t been to this part of South Africa before then you’re really missing out. I won’t go into the whole deal about the Blyde Canyon and it being the third largest canyon in the world and what not. If you’re interested then check out my trip report from the 2007 Blyde X-Fest for more information or just Google it.

Read more...

 

Steelpoort – Getting Too Cocky?

There had been some rain at home but not a great amount. Not certainly within the last few days, although several localised thunderstorms should have done the trick. I was desperate for a paddle and so Luke Longridge and I drove down early that Sunday morning and met up with Neil O’Leary and Chris Barichievy. Having our usual breakfast of Steers was great, like always, and after that we hit the road to the put-in.

Read more...

 
More Articles...