30 Caravan & Outdoor Life Magazine July 2019
turn-off is the R335 on your right.
I decided to take a drive down to
Slagboom, lying directly at the base
of the Zuurberg Mountain range. It’s
beautiful, and I had the “excuse” of
needing to test the Isuzu on a gravel road
without a caravan rolling along behind.
An easy way of getting to Slagboom
is simply follow the signboards to the
Addo Police Academy. The first part
of this short excursion takes you past
the huge citrus orchids that now
seem to cover every square inch of
the Addo/Kirkwood landscape. But
you reach a turn off to the left with a
pretty bad gravel road that takes you
down to Slagboom adjacent to the
electrified Addo fence.
It’s this drive that makes you aware
of the dense, dense thorny bush that
must have greeted everyone from the
early stone age dweller to the Xhosa
and later the white colonialists.
It’s a beautiful drive and well worth
it. I decided to come back to the point
where I turned next to the Addo fence ,
and instead of turning left back to camp
I turned right and did a circular route
via the small town of Kirkwood.
In Kirkwood I stopped at one of
my late brother’s best friends, Kevin
Tibshraeny’s, butchery for the bestbiltong, droëwors and biltong in area.
I then followed the R336 back to camp
in Addo. It’s an interesting drive back
past orchard after orchard with the
ripe oranges, looking like Christmas
decorations, waiting for the picking
team to arrive.
I stopped at the bridge over the
Sundays River to take a picture. With
my notes I realised that it was Percy
Fitzpatrick, of Jock of the Bushveld fame,
who played a huge role in the formation
of the Sundays River irrigation
programme. He was also one of the
pioneers in introducing citrus to this
part of the world.
The next day I was to find out a
lot more about this fascinating man
when I arrived at my second campsite
forthetrip.thEhoMEstEAd
The Homestead is just a short distance
from the tiny hamlet of Addo. It was sad
to leave the excellent campsite at the
Addo Elephant National Park, but The
Homestead was great too. The resort is
run by Ronnie and Hildelene Beyl.
The beautiful old homestead with its
magnificent gardens was originally the
home of Hildelene’s parents, Thurston
and Magda Whittle.EAstErnCApE CArAvAns
abigthanksmustgototheGrobler
familyofeasternCapeCaravans
inPortelizabeth for lending me
theirveryownbrandnewJurgens
Fleetlineforthistrip.
and a big thank you for supplying
me with a fully-kitted caravan with
every single thing an experienced
camper dreams of.
You can see the family’s
dedication to detailthemomentyou
enterthespick-and-spanpremises
atnumber22,4thavenue,Walmer.
theyareauthoriseddealers
forJurgensCi,Gypsey,Sprite,Sprite
tourer, and Jurgens Safari luggage
and off-road 4x4 trailers.
I had to hold on to my credit card
with all my might when I entered one
of the best-stocked camping shops
selling tents, equipment, outdoor
gadgets of every kind, and of course
thoseingenious coffee sachets.
ContACt:
t: 041 581 5363
W: http://www.easterncapecaravans.co.za
Address: 22 FourthAvenue,
Walmer,port Elizabeth