DAY 21 and 22 : 19/20 MARCH 2011 : PRINCE ALBERT TO GRAAFF-REINET

This was quite a long haul – 406 km – longer than we have been doing.   We went via Meirings Poort, De Rust, and Aberdeen.  

Meirings poort

Meiringspoort was spectacular with the road following the river gorge through the heart of the Swartberg range with towering cliffs on either side of the road.   The trip through the Karoo was also an eye opener.   We had always thought that the Karoo was flat and dry and uninteresting, but this road was fantastic, with mountain ranges visible on either side for most of the route and all dams full to the brim and water lying in every depression.   The veld itself was very green with lots of tall grasses.   It was very lush – not what we had expected.   We were now on the N9 but there was virtually no traffic.  

Jesa - Graaff-Reinet caravan park

The one and only caravan park in Graaff Reinet was very strange – it was out of town at the back of a trading store on a small holding.   We were very dubious about it as the sites were all in a row under shade cloth and there was a lot of building material lying around.   The positives though, were that it was all enclosed in a security fence and you had your own bathroom with a key.   There were 8 sites, however there was only one other caravan there.   Once we got used it, it wasn’t too bad.

The Valley of Desolation in the Camdeboo National Park was incredible.



Valley of Desolation



Camdeboo National Park

Vanryneveldpass Dam overflowing

The whole park was also very good, however they have had such phenomenal rains that all the rivers were in flood and the Van Ryneveld Pass Dam was overflowing, something that is most unusual.  This hadn’t happened for the last 20 years or so, and this was evidenced by the crowds that were viewing the event.

Large herds of Eland in the Camdeboo Park

There were many roads that we closed due to flooding but we really enjoyed the park, very different to what we are used to.   It is 8000 ha and virtually surrounds Graaff Reinet on 3 sides.   The high vantage points in the park gave us great views of the town.

Graaff Reinet was a very neat and tidy town with lots of old Cape Style buildings, wide streets and a peaceful atmosphere.