RI7ER JOURNAL POSTS

It was good to wake up and hear raindrops on the tent - I thought I would sleep in and take the day off - but by nine o’clock the sun came out in its full glory and blasted me out of the tent. Yeah!!

Hung out all my gear to dry and checked water level. I still had some water above normal flow so decided to get going - I wanted to stop off in Orania to check out the town and then move on.

I ended up paddling past the town because of the dense vegetation on river left and decided to just keep going. I ran a weir in the fish chute and a good rapid just below, and on for about another two kilometres when I noticed a camp site. Made a quick decision to stop and check it out .

Walking up the grass bank, I met two guys going fishing - Wally and Gerald. Anyways, they said the town was not far off. I jumped on the back of Wally’s scooter to the grocery store and then he gave me the full tour of the town - it was awesome.

He rode ... I shot photo and video on the move: what a pleasant little town. Corn, koring and pecan nuts are the crops, sheep and cattle the livestock.

It has received bad press due to the nature of its ‘whites only’ inhabitants. But, if it suits them ... then, well, let them be. I only met friendly helpful folk.