East London/Border GTG

[AM Racing]

Hi guys,

Who would be interested in a GTG of some nature which would also involve inviting some previously disadvantaged Hiluxers who haven't had the pleasure of our company before?
Thinking something not to hectic for first-timers like Andy, but certainly NOT a parking lot speed bump excursion.

Idea's for dates and venues welcome....

[Mud Dog]

Hehehe! What do you have in mind for us 'first-timers'?

I'm keen, was thinking that we go and visit the KWT boys .......

[AM Racing]

KWT sounds like a plan. Let them suggest something that side...

[Thunder02]

Hehehe! What do you have in mind for us 'first-timers'?

I'm keen, was thinking that we go and visit the KWT boys .......

A few more kms,and you can come visit us

[AM Racing]

Hehehe! What do you have in mind for us 'first-timers'?

I'm keen, was thinking that we go and visit the KWT boys .......

A few more kms,and you can come visit us

I'm gonna need a long range tank for my long range tank to get there!

[Sebata]

myself & Donkey will be in Stutterheim on the weekend of the 19th, getting upto no good again. we would love to join in, if the date has been confirmed

[Mud Dog]

That would be cool! We will have to work around the 19th/20th then if it's OK with the rest.

[Sebata]

[AM Racing]

Sounds like a plan. Any ideas for venue or drive?

[FIRSTGEER]

Howzit guys. Great idea and about time you buggers visit us . I will chat to the rest of the. KWT gang and see what we can come up with. I will keep you guys up to date asap .

[Mud Dog]

Good on you Tony, ...... we'll wait to hear from you!

[AM Racing]

How about exploring some of the country side in that side of the world?

[Whisky]

myself & Donkey will be in Stutterheim on the weekend of the 19th, getting upto no good again. we would love to join in, if the date has been confirmed

Hi Sebata,

You will be in my town What will you be doing around here?

[Mud Dog]

Will you be joining us Ben?

[Sebata]

myself & Donkey will be in Stutterheim on the weekend of the 19th, getting upto no good again. we would love to join in, if the date has been confirmed

Hi Sebata,

You will be in my town What will you be doing around here?

Hi Ben,

will be getting up to no good, Andy, Dylan & Edge have seen how mischievous we can get all in the name of fun

[AM Racing]

Ok so lets put a list together:

1. Dylan, Delia, Teaghan & Ethan
2. Andy + whoever is up to joining me (so far Sher & Nicole)

[Whisky]

Hi Andy,

I will have to clear with SWAMBO, I know she mentioned that we will be going somewhere. Will get back to you guys.

[Mud Dog]

Hi Andy,

I will have to clear with SWAMBO, I know she mentioned that we will be going somewhere. Will get back to you guys.

It would be nice to see you guys again.

[Haboob]

Ok so lets put a list together:

1. Dylan, Delia, Teaghan & Ethan
2. Andy + whoever is up to joining me (so far Sher & Nicole)
3. Edge & Viv (Tony is trying to organise the Thomas River Farming area) A double highway goes past there to Cathcart.

[AM Racing]

Great stuff. Thomas River area is beautiful!

BTW, is Tony bringing the whole gearbox or is he missing a few gears?

[Mud Dog]

As he will happily and smiling tell you himself, reverse gear is missing ... in fact it was never incorporated into the box right off the bat!

[AM Racing]

Oh yes, forgot!

[FIRSTGEER]

Hi there guys.Sorry for only coming back this morning with some info about our proposed outing.I 've been trying for days to contact family of mine who farm in the Thomas River area and eventually made contact. I propose that we meet in Stutterheim on Saturday morning and travell the approx 30 km's to the Thomas River Historical Village.The old station has been revamped and has a very interesting museum of old cars and motoring artifacts of the old bygone era.
From there we proceed for about another 14 km's to my nieces farm and hook up with her hubby who will take us for a scenic drive to the top of Mount Thomas which has a panoramic view of the area.One can see the goods sheds(Dylans workshop ) from there on a clear day.
After the viewing we will descend again and travell across the farm in a valley between two mountains towards the forest behind Rance Timbers.We will travell down the mountain ,along scenic forest roads to the Gubu Dam where we will stop and have a braai in the early afternoon.
We can then part company from there.The Gubu Dam is aprox 25 km's from Stutterheim.Please can you guys come back to me should you have any other suggestions .

[AM Racing]

We are in!

[Mud Dog]

Sounds good Tony!

What time to meet in Stut? Maybe Dylan and I will travel up together (McCleantown road).

[AM Racing]

Sounds like aplan. What time to meet at Stut?

[FIRSTGEER]

Hi again guys,I think a realistic time whould be about 8.30 am as we dont have too much driving to do and Edge also needs his beauty sleep.Also to allow the Historic village time to wake up.

[FIRSTGEER]

Come on Simoan and Ben, why dont you guys get some of your hometown 4x4 cronies to accompany you guys on this gtg . All other members are more than welcome to join us .

[Haboob]

As Tony says, I need all the beauty sleep that I can get...
It appears that Tumelo(Donkey) is not going to be available, but that Tau(Sebata) will grace us with his presence(Please confirm).
Suggest that we meet in front of the Spar, as you enter Stutt town(Parking on left side of the road usually open).
Thanks to Tony(First Geer) for arranging the drive.
It seems as the rest of the gear box & transfer box have other commitments(Racing Fourth Geer). Dunno about Second Geer?
Looking forward to seeing the EL boys again...are there no other Forum Chaps from East London?
What is Ben's excuse from Stutt & Simon from Queenstown, we are close to both of you.

[Mud Dog]

Got a mail from Simon to say he won't be attending ...............

Please pass this info onto the other guys, I do not have anybody else's email addresses.

I am working next weekend as well re-spraying forklifts.

My air locker on my Hilux is leaking air and I also need to have a look at it as well, I am not interested in spending R3 500.00 on a new air pump as yet.

Regards
simon

[Whisky]

I am here, have not run away.

I will be available, we are committed for Sunday. So will see you at Spar.

[AM Racing]

I have two prospective vehicles coming as well so let's see what happens!

[Mud Dog]

I am here, have not run away.

I will be available, we are committed for Sunday. So will see you at Spar.

Ben, that's Saturday the 20th not Sunday the 21st (unless it's been changed on the previous page ... will check after this post.)

[Mud Dog]

I am here, have not run away.

I will be available, we are committed for Sunday. So will see you at Spar.

Ben, that's Saturday the 20th not Sunday the 21st (unless it's been changed on the previous page ... will check after this post.)

Just checked back and there are no changes, so make a note, Ben. It will be great to see you there .... looks like we will be about 8 / 9 vehicles with Dylan's guests which is a nice manageable sized group.

[AM Racing]

Hi guys.
I had a chat with Andy today regarding some of the arrangements, more specifically the braaing.

Tony: I'm assuming there are built up braai's at the Gubu dam. I will bring a bag of wood and a braai grid. Andy has offered to bring a bag of brickettes. So I'm assuming that this would be sufficient for the numbers that are coming.
Is there anything else that is needed that we should organise within this week?

Let me know

[FIRSTGEER]

Howzit guys.I'm glad to see that more members are attending our gtg. I have also phoned Jaques in East London to join us and hopefully he will pitch.Regarding the braaing at the Gubu dam,there are proper built braai places available.On my my last visit ,braai grids were also provided but I will bring a grid or two incase the situation has followed the normal TREND..I will also load a bag of wood.See you buggers on Sat morning then !!!!!

[Mud Dog]

Note! We don't want to see any flippen Viennas on the braai!

P.S. Will probably be on ORRA channel 9 on the way up.

[Whisky]

Bump!

[Whisky]

Hi Andy,

Yes I have it that it is Saturday. Just mentioned that if it included Sunday I am committed.

So will see you Saturday morning.

[Mud Dog]

Great!

[Sebata]

due to a shooting incident to one of our family members in Lesotho on the 11th, when his 2011 D4D was hijacked, the old ladies have requested i take them to Lesotho on the 27th , the bakkie was recovered on Friday, he is also out of hospitaal, the bullet went through his shoulder.

i will have to pull out on the much anticipated trip coupled with your guys GTG , hoping to meet you guys next time

[Mud Dog]

Eish! Sorry to hear of the hi-jacking, glad to hear that he is recovering, disappointed that you won't be joining us but understand that family comes first.

[AM Racing]

due to a shooting incident to one of our family members in Lesotho on the 11th, when his 2011 D4D was hijacked, the old ladies have requested i take them to Lesotho on the 27th , the bakkie was recovered on Friday, he is also out of hospitaal, the bullet went through his shoulder.

i will have to pull out on the much anticipated trip coupled with your guys GTG , hoping to meet you guys next time

Eish bud! When will it stop?! Well send regards to yur fam and a bullet to the hijacker!

[Family_Dog]

Really sorry to hear this Tau but glad he survived and that he got the D4D back.


-F_D

[Mud Dog]

Will see you guys in Stutt in 7 hours. Safe travels!

[Mud Dog]

First things first. We as off-roaders are privileged in respect of the fact that we get to see places and aspects of nature that the vast rank and file of 'civilized' humanity do not. Our little group of awesome and similarly minded folk got to experience another of these privileges and for that we thank Tony (Firstgeer) who put together the arrangements of our day's outing, we thank the Sheard family and Tony's niece Nadine for the use of their historical and extensive farming land, we thank Jeff Sansom and his son in law for the opportunity to freely appreciate their private Thomas River museum and last but not least, all those that joined in and made the outing the enjoyable success that it was.

Thank you one and all!

Dylan together with his friends Gerhard and Bianca had planned to meet up at 07h30 to travel up together. Despite having prepared and packed the night before and being up and about a 06h00, trying to get my clan together proved to be more difficult than herding geese. We had barely left the house when Dylan called me up at 7.30 to enquire if we were already on the way. In an effort to make light of our tardiness (we humbly apologise), I pulled Dylan's leg ...... "Huh? Were'nt we supposed to meet at 8.30?" A moment of drawn out silence. In a subdued but concerned voice ... "No, we are supposed to meet the guys in Stutterheim at 8.30, we were supposed to meet here and travel together at 7.30". I was all prepared to draw out his anguish, but overcome with guilt, I was unable to pull it off. Laughingly I told him we were already on the way. We met and left our rendezvous at about 7.50 after prolonged greetings and introductions. Traffic was light and we were able to make up on lost time.

At 8.30 on the nose, Edge's voice comes over the airwaves as we entered the outskirts of Stutt .... "Andy, if you can hear us, I just want to let you know that it's common decency to let us know if you decided to bale out" Geez! Why do woman folk have to take so long to get going in the mornings! I mean what else is there to do but throw on your togs and your face ..... we have to shave our faces off, so that more or less equals things out.

Anyway, we pulled in behind the convoy less than two minutes later. Again, greetings, introductions, chatting and some last minute supplies from the local Spar. I think it was pretty close to nine bells when we pulled out of Stutt.

Edge's chirp should have forewarned me of the radio banter that ensued and lasted the entire day!


To be cont'd at a more earthly hour ....................

[Mud Dog]

From Stutterheim to Thomas river was a short hop of about 20km where we browsed through Jeff Sansom's private museum. The Thomas River railway station was on the route of the original line through to JHB and was lovingly restored by Jeff when he bought the land from the old SAR & H a good few years back. His collection of antique bric-a-brac ranges from coins, fossil fragments through to carriages and motor vehicles.

The restored station buildings ....

Not sure, but guessing (perhaps Tony can confirm) that this is the old hotel building .....

Anton's FIL taking a pic of the public phone booth .....

A vendor's cart .........

mills and presses .........

luggage scale .....

The oldest known camper van in the world. (Apparently still in running condition.)

As it appeared in the April 1991 edition of 'Caravan and outdoor life'

If you want to read (full resolution) .....

Carriages, carts and wagons .........

A wagon with antique (and some not so old) toolery .....

Wheelchair. The 'tyres' were shod with animal hide ........

Other stuff ........... one really has to visit this place and read all the history articles / origins on the various pieces.

An apartheid era chess set white government against black activists .... includes figures like B.J.Voster, P.W. Botha, Pik Botha, Nelson Mandela, Desmond Tutu. Pawns are white cops and black 'terrorists'.

Fossils, teeth and bone frogments, weapons, petrified wood, etc, etc. Too many exhibits to post here ..... also not enough time to properly explore the whole collection and read the various notes. One could easily spend an entire day here.

Museum entrance way ....

Not a water wheel ... the 'cups' are too small and the wheel too heavy / sturdily built. Must have been driven by some form of power as either a farm implement or excavator.

Old post office switch-board

the place is littered with old ornaments and period pieces like this roll-top bureau

20gallon cooker ...

old Union of South Africa map showing the railway lines

Ad posters

Some of the guys having coffee at the pub in the restaurant

pillar box and pumps ...

The phone booth again and the direction we were headed in the background

Waiting while Tony went in to the farmhouse to collect gate keys ...

To be cont'd with the scenic trail part of the outing ...........

[Mud Dog]

OK, so the trail ..... bit of a guilt trip for me actually (no pun intended ). It's like this .... Although my daughter loves the challenging and adrenalin rush obstacles, SWAMBO and MIL don't. They prefer the milder stuff with as comfortable a ride as possible. We knew about the Thomas River historical site and museum but had never actually been there so SWAMBO and MIL were keen to visit there. Tony's description of the trail, although accurate in itself may have been a bit misleading, a point which I used to my advantage in convincing them that it would be a leisurely drive (hope they never read this! ).

Quoting Tony - "take us for a scenic drive to the top of Mount Thomas which has a panoramic view of the area" and "we will descend again and travell across the farm in a valley between two mountains", "We will travel down the mountain ,along scenic forest roads to the Gubu Dam", apart from the outing with friends and beautiful scenery, I myself was expecting a mundane driving experience. Needless to say, I was pleasantly surprised to find that I would be needing the short stick a lot more than anticipated (even used the locker to save the tyres on a couple of occasions). The drive was not technical, but mildly challenging in a few places, so I don't blame Tony for 'under selling' it at all. Had SWAMBO and MIL had any inkling of the bumpy ride across the veld (especially in a SFA), they may not have come along, but I'm glad they did. I don't think the gradients bothered them at all, just the bouncing about, but overall I think they enjoyed the outing.

We left the gravel road and angled across the veld towards the hills and Mount Thomas, somewhere in the distance over the horizon ....

Our first obstacle, a steep decent with a turn in the bottom and a steep ascent .... reminded me a lot of the place where Jaco got stuck 1st time at Scheppie Saus, although this didn't have loose pebbles, but slippery grass on the incline.

Dylan's turn ....

... even the Disco made it.

Bringing up the rear, I wasn't in a favourable position to take too many trail shots. These by courtesy of Ben "Whiskey" ....

Regrouped after our first climb

Waiting for more pics from the guys .............

[AM Racing]

Andy, I will mail the pics we have tomorrow.

[Mud Dog]

Thanks Dylan.

Carrying on then with what I have.

Looking back ....

Further along. We'd just come over and along the ridge on the left ....

To the east was the Gubu dam in the lower valley, where we would ultimately have a braai.

Even up here there were sheep grazing. With the chilly wind that was pumping, one might have expected them to seek a more sheltered valley.

Moving along the ridge with the peak of Mount Thomas in the background (apparently one of the highest peaks in the area)

The last hill climb before the peak itself. The wind was pumping up here ....

A bit of a dip before the peak. Gubu dam in the valley again. There's a peninsula sticking out into the dam, this is where the camp site is where we would braai.

The last push

and looking back (we had come over the top of that hill from the adjacent camp)

The view from the top was as spectacular as promised

Ben enjoying the view. The Hogsback mountains can be seen against the horizon above him

Looking down into the valley towards the South .... the camera angle didn't allow to even include the horizon

The camp site is under those trees on the peninsula

One of the two farm workers ("my sons" as Tony was always calling them) that had accompanied us as guides and to open / close gates between the different camps. (Is there something we should know, Tony? )

Ben, Edge, Tony, Dylan, young Tegan, Tim and Gerhard.

Ben and Edge coming down

Going back over that koppie. (Not standard safe practice having okes on the back, we know, but those were the two farm worker "sons" that were perhaps better off on the back in this instance due to lack of bathing frequency ).

After having gone back and returned the keys at the farmhouse, we carried on along the valley floor towards the dam. looking up to were we had travelled along earlier ...

The koppie we had gone over and the peak behind it

We passed through a grove of trees, mostly wattle, were we collected some 'starters' for the fires. Leaving the farm lands we entered a forestry area through which we descended a bit further to the dam.

We eventually made it to the dam after Tony got us a bit lost in the forest but we had come out on the wrong side of the dam. We crossed over the dam wall, which had no spillway but a 'glory hole' instead (about 10m across)

We got to the camp site a bit later than anticipated, but didn't waste time to pull the vehicles around into a lager and got the fires going.

By this time (the sun had already set) everyone was hungry and the braai went down fantastically with a few refreshments and a lot of banter and chatting.

It was already dark when we broke camp, travelled back to Stutterheim as a group where we split our separate ways. We got home safely at about 19h15.

It was a really enjoyable day, doing what we love together with good friends. Thanks again to you all!

[FIRSTGEER]

And a very big thank you to all who joined us and a good time was had by all . Andy I must also admit that I have climbed to the top of Mt Thomas before and because I had no SWAMBO with me,I never really noticed how bumpy the ride was. Annemarie and Louise are still suffering from 'backlash and sore boned but they also agree it was well worth it. By the way, MY two 'sons' would normally have sat inside the lux and the two females on the back,But the wind was too strong for the females so I took pity on them .Anyway let us not wait too long for the next outing. The weather is starting to warm up so hopefully we can sleep out and you guys can then also experience Edge's wonderfull wild boar SNORE

[AM Racing]

And a very big thank you to all who joined us and a good time was had by all . Andy I must also admit that I have climbed to the top of Mt Thomas before and because I had no SWAMBO with me,I never really noticed how bumpy the ride was. Annemarie and Louise are still suffering from 'backlash and sore boned but they also agree it was well worth it. By the way, MY two 'sons' would normally have sat inside the lux and the two females on the back,But the wind was too strong for the females so I took pity on them .Anyway let us not wait too long for the next outing. The weather is starting to warm up so hopefully we can sleep out and you guys can then also experience Edge's wonderfull wild boar SNORE

When we were in Hogsback I thought it was wild boar. Good thing I put the crossbow away

[Haboob]

Thanks Andy for a great report(this partly cancels the late arrival of the East London crowd...I understand that they had a Landie to tow, luckily Dylan has a V8) & to all that made this a successful occasion, from the organizing to the starters, braai grids, wood & charcoal, it was a great day with a good bunch(welcome to Gerrit & Ben)

[Mud Dog]

Also courtesy of Ben ......

[Mud Dog]

These from Dylan and Tim .....

Those frog eyes!

One of "the son's" ...

The 'grassy knoll'

Waiting and watching in antici .....

... pation. (From L to R - Tim, Anton and his daughter behind Vivian, Annemarie, Louise, Tony and Edge)

Everyone is welcome ...

even Landies!

Hilux country

Young Tegan probably had the most fun of all. I saw him many times on Dylan's lap, steering along the trail.

Thanks again guys!