LANDROVING IN KZN

March 2006

18^th Annual General Meeting               24 February 2007 

It’s the 3^rd year that the AGM has been held at the Eston Farmers club, with a camp over and full weekend of Events. Gates event on the Saturday morning, AGM in the afternoon followed by a Braai on Saturday evening and a short trail drive on Sunday. 

27 Vehicles in the Gates Event and 30 vehicles on the Sunday Trail drive. BUT the big one was the AGM with 74 members signing the attendance register. This does not include the wife’s and visitors who signed. 74 out of a total membership of 148, is very good in my books.

Awards were presented to the following members :

10 Year Membership : (certificates)

Tim & Marianne Foley, Rob & Bev de Robillard, Robin & Denise Philp, Loyd & Jeanette Wing. Eric & Udith McMillan, Selwyn & Jean Ambler, Trevor Budde and Fred & Eva Meyer.

Newsletter : Eric Mc Millan and Betty Gordon who received the floating trophy.

Gates : (Certificates and floating trophy) Craig de Winnar (top score),  Wesley Goldstone (Most improved driver), Graeme Poulson (perseverance) and Selwyn Ambler (gates wally)

Land Rover vs Toyota Challenge held in November. (certificates)

2^nd place modified Craig de Winnar, 1^st place standard Gary Evangelista, 2^nd Place standard George Goswell, 3^rd place standard Craig Levy, with Bruce Fraser picking up the Wally award.

Chairmans Award (floating trophy) went to Rob de Robillard and Henry Cochrane.

Standing down from the committee were Rob de Robillard, Don Erwin, Dave King and Mike Cullen. Thanks guys for the effort you have put in over the years on the committee.

New Members on the committee are Gary Clinton, Greg Labuscagne and Gavin McKenzie.

Thanks to the Eston Farmers Club namely Sue for the use of their facilities, Michael Dukes for the use of the Quarry, Greg Gurnie and Peter Brisco on who’s property we drove on the Sunday trail and Brett Gurnie for the Dam Braai site.  

Thanks also to all who have helped to make the LROC KZN a success in 2006 with a special thanks to my son Ryan who is always available.

                                         Ryan cutting the grass at the Dam Braai site.

WELCOME TO THE FOLLOWING NEW MEMBERS

Elise Wilson                              Richmond                      1978 Series 111

Stewart Campbell                       Richmond                      1978 Series 111

Dave & Jill Jones                        Warner Beach               1997 Defender 90

Gordon Tripp                              Durban                          1989 Defender 110 County, 1973 Series 111 SWB

Rob & Wendy Drake                  Kloof                             1974 Series 111 SW

Desmond & Bridget Wright         Amanzimtoti                  1995 Defender 110 TDI

Johan & Wilma Vosloo               Umkomaas                    Series 111 PUP

Future Events for your Diary

TRAIL GRADING All our events from now on will have a Trail Grading according to the 5 grades below.

1.        Complete novice soft dirt road trail, no low range required. Suitable for all Land Rovers including the Freelander.

2.       Limited low range required but suitable for the novice driver. Suitable for all Land Rovers with certain trails not suitable for the Freelander.

3.       Low range and limited off road knowledge required. Suitable for all Land Rovers except the Freelander.

4.       A low range technical trail suitable for the experienced. The inexperienced will be able to do the trail, as assistance will be available from the more experienced members. Suitable for all Land Rovers except the Freelander.

5.       Extremely technical, suitable for the experienced only with the possibility of vehicle damage. Only suitable for "Series" Land Rovers and maybe a few others.

The LROC KZN year runs from January to December, which means that your subscription for the year 2007 is now OVERDUE.

Subs are R120.00 per member per annum. 

 If you have not received a notice of Subscription Renewal please contact the  Membership Secretary, Henry Cochrane.

You will be cut off from the newsletter and any further correspondence as at end of April if you have not renewed your subscription by then.

CONT’D from last month.   PART 2 TRIP DOWN THE TRANSKEI COAST – 27 DECEMBER 2006

By :ROZANNA STONE

29/12/2006           DAY THREE

We were given a ‘rise and shine’ hoot at 5 a.m. to a beautifully sunny day.  After breakfast, showers, strolls down to the beach and packing up we were ready to leave Sikombe at 8h30.

One of the Disco’s wouldn’t start for some reason, but there is never a problem too big for these Landy owners.  It’s quite a sight seeing them all standing with their heads together, peering into an engine, discussing what could be wrong, but they got that Disco going again. Rob’s son was taking a bet as to who was going to get stuck first. Within the next 5 km recoveries had to be given to Rob in his Range Rover and Henry in his 2006, 110 Defender with ABS breaks and Traction control plus electric windows – shame.  The tracks were bad after the rain and Gary once again had to unhitch his trailer and do recovery work.

Once we got onto a ‘main’ dirt road marked only by an unreadable sign board, we were up for some challenging driving following tracks using GPS.  There were lots of mud pools and deep tyre tracks that had to be carefully driven though, or around (depending on the driver).

Eventually the dirt road became flat and dry and we drove a long way through a beautiful valley to Lusikisiki via Holy Cross. The weather had become sunny and we stopped to swim in the Mzikaba River to cool down. At Lusikisiki some filled up and bought refreshments.  Drove past tea farms with cows grazing in them – you can actually smell the tea – and visited Fraser Waterfall.  We could see the clouds were hanging heavy and grey and after making enquiries at Mboyi campsite we decided that their fee of R100 per person was a bit much, especially since they had no ablutions.

We drove around trying to find a spot but the ground was too wet. Paul and I went to look for a spot and drove almost vertically up a hill – nerve wrecking.  Helmut got stuck and then Rob in his Range Rover got stuck in wet clay, and Glen had to be pulled out of the clay after walking through it and getting stuck knee deep!  After deciding that the locals might be offended if we camped on their soccer field, we drove to the very top of a hill next to a telephone tower and we all fitted in with a squash.  There were some families sitting in comfort in ‘illegally purchased’ cottages, who must have thought we were crazy.  It was already getting dark and as we started erecting our tents the rain started bucketing down.  We all had quick suppers and I went to bed in wet clothes, as I couldn’t have cared at that point.  All I remember is that a huge drop of rain fell on my forehead while I was in the tent and I shouted to my husband: “Paul, there’s wet rain falling on my head” and I heard the guys outside the tent pack up laughing and comment on rain usually being wet! In my defence I was half asleep!

30/12/2006            DAY FOUR

We awoke the next morning to find that some had made the decision to split from the convoy.  Glen in his Disco had only planned on staying three days due to commitments in town. Our German friends, Gunther and his wife felt that the weather was not going to clear and I think they were worried about their Landy overheating due to a faulty relay which could not be replaced at the local Midas in Lusikisiki. Three others decided that they would go as far as Mpande and four of us decided to head on straight through to Kei Mouth to get behind the weather as it did not look like it was going to clear anytime soon.   It took a lot of skill getting out of the area as the rain had hammered the already bad road. 

“We started with nine Landy’s driving in convoy, and then there were four”. 

It was a long misty drive through Umtata where we stopped for diesel and air for the tyres.  We drove to Kei Mouth Cutting, along a long dirt road, and then turned left onto what the guys said was a newly tarred road.  We drove into Kei Mouth and decided that it was too commercial for what we were after (us ladies wouldn’t have minded though!).  We crossed the pont (R50 per car) at Kei River Mouth and immediately felt better that we were back in the bush. 

We took a little two track off a dirt road, drove through some thick low bush and found an excluded spot right next to the beach. The area was just big enough for the four Landy’s.  We drove past a lot of cows – one with a perfectly white circle around its mouth and it reminded me of that cat which had licked the cream.  At this new spot we hoped that we would be able to stay put for two days as we were all tired.  After a little socialising, we were in bed by 21h00. The wind picked up and the sea was very loud – well, I’m not surprised; we were only about 10 metres from it.

31/12/2006            DAY FIVE

We woke to beautiful clear skies and the promise (?) of a stunning wind and rain free day.  We all savoured a proper bacon and eggs breakfast (at last) but we hadn’t even washed our dishes when the wind picked up to gale force strength.  At that point John and Sandy had to drop their tent and we had to take our gazebo down. We tried to cope with the wind for a while longer hoping that it would die down a little but eventually made the decision to move on.  By 13h50 we had left and made for Qolora mouth – another beautiful scenic drive.

We could not find a suitable spot until a local resident named Tim, who had been fascinated by our convoy, approached us and showed us a wind free, clear flat site which was surrounded by trees.  We decided to offload only the essentials as Tim had said that we must move out early the next morning as the locals come down in their droves by bus for New Year.  A local guy came by and was not impressed that we were staying in ‘his’ spot and said that Tim had no right in telling us we could stay there, but we assured him we would be out first thing in the morning.  We had a nice social braai and as we started eating the rain, which had been threatening, started so we moved into a little log cabin, which had no windows or doors.  I went to lie with the boys while they fell asleep and woke up when Paul came to bed a couple of hours later – so I missed some socialising but I was not the only one who did not see the New Year in.

Earlier on we were approached by two local ladies who had came to tell us that our mattress had blown off the roof of our Landy, and told us where we could retrieve our property. They had walked really far to give us this message.  Having already left one mattress and pillow behind on the top of the hill on day three, we drove to the house and had to give the homeowner R20 to give our mattress back. It was already in his house, the plastic bag in which the mattress had been  had already been blown against the fence, stuck against the barbed wire.

01/01/2007           DAY SIX

Up at 5h15 and gone by 6h30 – off to Mazeppa Bay. The road was quite bad and every few km’s there were remnants of burnt out tyres on the road.  Found a beautiful spot at the bottom of a hill in Mazeppa Bay. Again it was too windy and the swell out to sea must have been about 20 to 30 feet. Here we attempted to drive on to Kob Inn, but the two track had deteriorated such that we had to go by dirt road.

It was becoming clear that due to all the rain extensive flooding and river mouths breached that the 560 odd km’s to do the T4A echo tour was going to be a long set of detours, 1881 km’s in fact and decided to stay at a place called Dolphin View which is a popular stop-off for Landy owners.  It is an exquisite place where the slopes go from grass to rock straight into the sea.  A family have opened their large garden to campers and they also have a small self – catering, three bed roomed chalet.  We decided to stay for two nights so that we could all relax as everyone was feeling very tired. The cost was R50 per person regardless of whether we stayed in tents or the chalet.  Some of us stayed in the chalet and some erected tents but we all used the facilities and comfort of the chalet. 

Gary immediately got his fishing gear ready and everyone took a walk with him down to the sea, except for me.  I just wanted to do domestic stuff and spent an hour washing every last dish that I could find (as we hadn’t washed up at the previous place).  I even washed the floor and even some clothes by hand – it was the only way I could get my nails really clean.  It really was lovely to smell clean sheets and sit on nice soft chairs.  When Lynette and Sandy got back we prepared a great meal while the guys all jumped into Gary’s 90 and went for an explorative drive.  We all managed to have THE most wonderful showers and that evening we chatted around the table till 23h00.  The owner of the house surprised us with the most delicious small bread rolls, which tasted like manna from heaven.  My two boys met two other boys their age and had a good play and fell asleep within minutes of putting their heads on their pillows.

02/01/2007            DAY SEVEN

We woke up to a beautiful sunny day but not before long the wind picked up – at least the sky was completely blue.  Gary and Herman were up early to fish but caught nothing.  We had a lovely big breakfast together and then drove north of Kob Inn to Qora river mouth. There were some lovely holiday houses along the way and a landing strip full of grazing cows. The guys spent time fishing while the rest of us chatted or walked down to the river mouth.  There were a few holiday makers fishing and lying on the rocks and getting around on their quad bikes.  It was very windy. Paul made a delicious stew that evening and it was nice to be able to sit and chat without the wind or rain sending us to bed earlier than necessary.    

03/01/2007           DAY EIGHT

7h30 – We left Dolphin View to cross the Qora River and again had to detour as the river was too deep.  Gary drove down the hill with the hillside made up of tyres filled with stone at about a 43 deg angle. On reaching the bottom he had to reverse back up as the two track had been washed away after rains had formed a deep V in the terrain. 

We passed through Willowvale at about 9h00 and popped into the big trade store to buy essentials. We crossed the Mashe River and entered the Cwebe Nature Reserve at a cost of R10 per vehicle.  We noticed a few stunning holiday houses in the Reserve.  We drove through some stunning bush which enclosed the dirt road like an umbrella. We did not have enough time on hand to take the 20 minute walk to the Banyane Falls and I’m sure we would have caused a traffic jam with all our Landy’s parked along side the rain forest.

Once out of the reserve the road had lots of potholes and we drove through quite a large community via GPS. I can only wonder what some locals must think when they see us driving along a road that they cannot see, yet we all seem to know where we are headed.   Following these two tracks we finally arrived at Mangrove Estuary on Sora River around 14h00.   We found an exquisite spot close to the beach, which was well protected from the wind.  A few young locals came down to sell us oysters but none wanted.  We managed to relax nicely there and took some walks along the unspoilt beach which was full of beautiful shells. It was very windy on the beach. 

We had a nice braai together and the boys made a bonfire.  The tide dropped in the evening and exposed all the rock pools.  We were treated to a huge orange full moon. 

From the reports the next morning, I don’t think many of us slept very well – although the place was stunning and we had had a good rest, it just seemed like a very isolated place.  Apollo had been busy that night and had a good meal of bones while on duty!

04/01/2007             DAY NINE

In the morning some of the local ladies with beads around their ankles and necks walked through our camp to find oysters.     We left at about 8h15 for Hole-in-the-Wall and Coffee Bay on a cool overcast day.  Oops! Yes, Gary missed the turn off and ended up going via Elliotdale to Hole-in-the-Wall although he never had any complaints.  He assumed it must have been the tar road and not another dirt road and so off we drove +/- 60km round, missing Hluleka Nature Reserve and a few wrecks along the beach.

We drove through Coffee Bay to Hole-in-the-Wall through the most beautiful green hills, which looked as if they are regularly mowed.  We stopped at Hole-in-the-Wall and were approached by about 20 ‘car guards’ who wanted to guard our cars and walk us down to the Hole – for a fee of course.  These guys didn’t appear very humble, sad actually as they, not realising it, have made it an unpleasant experience to visit and left as they were having a big fist fit amongst themselves.

Hole-in-the-Wall could be one of the most beautiful places ever – the guys said that the beach face has changed over the years.  We were offered some crayfish which we should have taken as we didn’t come across them again.  There was nowhere for us to stay in Hole-in-the-Wall or Coffee Bay as it was full of people and in any case, it was too commercial, so at 13h00 we pushed through to Port St Johns where we hoped to stay put for a few days.

On this long scenic drive, John’s front right tyre went flat so here the trail was abandoned and we rejoined the R61 to Port St John. Gary and Herman drove ahead to secure a camping spot in PSJ.  We were pleased to arrive at the Pont a bit later – all very dirty and really looking forward to a shower – the guys especially wanted to fish.

John learnt a valuable lesson about Land Rovers’ wheel security nuts at this point in the trip:  having discovered that the wheel nut did not want to remove itself after many attempts, and using all three type B coded keys to remove the wheel, it was decided to have a local chap plug the tyre on the rim and hope it would make the trip back to Durban. We discovered later that they had welded a hex Allen key nut onto the nut to remove it. John was later to tell his story about the offending wheel nut and that he had subsequently replaced all the security nuts - as did a few other members when they heard about it later.

Back to The Pont:  cost is R50 per person (aged 10 and up) and a percentage of your age for below 10.  That night we had a lovely social braai and relaxed, knowing that we did not have to get up and move on in the morning, except for Henry and John but they had decided to head on home the next day as they had things to attend to.

05/01/2007           DAY TEN

We spent the morning chatting and drinking tea and coffee together, then Henry and John packed up and I was so relieved that it was not us who were packing up.  Our last little excursion together was up to Mnt Thisinger to see the landing strip which Matanzima had built a couple of years ago – it has never been used, nor is there a control tower.  It was quite a sight to get to the top of this very high mountain and drive onto this long tar landing strip which was littered with cow patties and at the end, was one lonely cow just standing in the middle of the landing strip.  I wished I had had my camera as it was a real ‘only in Africa’ snap shot.

We drove to the end of the landing strip towards the edge of the cliff – Paul and Gary considering a quick drag race on the way – and everyone got out and walked to the edge to look at the view.  I of course couldn’t get out the car – having developed a sudden fear of cliff edges – and I got Lynette to give me a handful of sweets so that I could bribe my youngest son to get into the car and away from the edge.  From there, one could see to the edge of the world.

That was where we said our goodbyes to Henry and Lynette, John and Sandy.  It felt like the family was splitting up and at the bottom of Mt Thesinger we said our last goodbyes and wished our friends a safe journey home on our radios which we had really come to enjoy communicating with.

So then there were two Landy’s left. Gary, Herman, Apollo, and our family.  We drove around the town of PSJ sight -seeing, went to buy some bait, and then took a lovely scenic drive to Pioenskop – another stunning place.  There were young locals sitting on the rocks who were burnt black from the sun and others swimming deep in the sea. We had a quick look and turned back – taking a detour off the beaten track.  We found a herd of cow’s right at the top of a hill, and the boys were most impressed at the cows who were all making ablutions!  No lack of fibre with those cows!

The guys spent the afternoon fishing at the river at the campsite but with no luck once again. We chatted, fished, relaxed, and fiddled around until the evening when we had supper together.  That afternoon I had started feeling very nauseous and the bones in my legs were aching.  I thought it was something I had eaten (I actually thought it was Herman’s dried peaches to be precise – sorry Herman!).  I had a bad night perspiring and sleeping very uncomfortably.

06/01/2007            DAY ELEVEN

Gary and Herman were up early so that they could hit the road.  Before long they had showered and were ready to go.  We said our goodbyes and it felt really weird to be alone, having travelled with all these other people for so long.

We took the boys to 2^nd beach – they loved playing in the sea until some older boys were being over friendly with Christian so we left.  We drove around sight-seeing a little more.  All I wanted was to drink out the entire water supply in PSJ – I was so dehydrated.  We felt like going to a proper restaurant but nothing appealed to us so we bought some supplies at the shops and went back to the Pont.  We had a very lazy afternoon and I went with the boys to the small splash pool we had found hidden away in the campsite.  Damian fished for the rest of the afternoon, Paul snoozed and I spent time with Christian at the pool.  We saw and heard the screech of a fish eagle – a real treat.  At night we had heard the strangest clacking noise followed by a very loud screeching sound which we discovered was the uncommon and hardly seen Tree Dassie.

I was still feeling very tired, with sore bones, headache, nausea, and then realised that I had a swollen gland under my armpit. Christian then mentioned that his arm was very sore and he had a headache. I then realised that the two of us had a very similar looking bite which I thought must be a spider bite and that must have been what was making us feel unwell.

That evening while we were having supper the rain started and Paul and I decided that it was time to go home the next day.  I had a terrible night, getting up in the middle of the night and sitting under the gazebo, staring into the darkness.  I was so thirsty and my bones ached – in fact everything ached.  It rained the whole night and the next morning we packed up – it really came down hard and Paul and Damian got soaked! 

07/01/2007           DAY TWELVE

We left PSJ at 10h25.  It rained the whole way home – we drove through some serious mist and at the border were stopped by the VET Society of Transkei (something like that) to check that we weren’t taking pork out of the Transkei. We had to unpack half the Landy in the rain, so that the vet could look in our cooler box and the fridge which Gary had lent us.  He did not see the bacon that was at the bottom of the freezer – that which we had purchased in KZN and had never used.

In Port Shepstone we stopped at Wimpy as we were craving burgers and chips.  It was wonderful to get home that afternoon and back to the luxuries of civilisation.  It had rained the entire way home and Louis the Landy got a good clean.

That evening I was freezing cold then hot again and I had a terrible headache.  Christian and I went off to the doctor the next morning for something for our spider bites. The doctor had a good chuckle and prescribed antibiotics and myprodols for our Tick Bite Fever!

All in all it was a fantastic rough and tough trip – one that we will speak about for a long time to come!  If anyone wants to do it again in June / July give Gary Clinton a shout.

 Mr. Chairman,

My wife and I would like to say thank you for a very pleasant weekend at Eston Farmers Country Club this past weekend.  We really enjoyed the weekend as new members and realize that it must have taken a lot of your time and a lot of planning to put this weekend together. Everyone were so friendly and it really made us feel at home.  The spirit was so catching and we couldn't help feeling that we have been members for years.  In the meantime it was our first day as members of the Land Rover Club.
Again thanks for the hospitality and the positive spirit of all the members.

Johan and Wilma Vosloo

Adverts that appear in the LROC KZN newsletter are from companies that have sponsored or part sponsored a LROC KZN event. Please support them as they are an important part of the LROC.

Thanks to Pietermaritzburg and in Pinetown for the lucky draw prizes at the 18^th AGM of the LROC KZN. 

Land Rover Owners Club KZN   Gates Feb 2007 (Total 10 Gates) 

Note :

1.       No score recorded for Kingsley

2.       Class ML = Standard vehicle with lockers

3.       Class MT = Standard vehicle with traction control

4.       Class M = Vehicles with chassis and/or suspension modifications