Golden Gate National Park Day 1

The rain finally stopped last night at around 9pm which was good because we had small leaks. The top corner above my bed had a seam that was lifted and let in small drips and soaked the mattress, it’s an easy repair but it needs to be dry. The outer fabric of the tent could probably do with re- waterproofing but with the amount of rain we had I don’t know if that would have done anything. By the time we went to bed water was seeping through the walls, so when it did stop raining we were grateful.
We got up at 6:30am and it was windy which was good because the outside of the tent was now dry and after 2 cups of coffee we started taking the tent down and by 8am we were ready to leave.
We were hoping to outdrive the rain that was forecast and our planned hikes for the royal natal national park had pretty much been ruined, but this is rainy season. We were now going to head 70 miles down to the Golden Gate National Park at the heart of the Drakensberg.
As we got further down the wind increased and I stuck to just 50 miles an hour, it was pushing the car sideways at one point and we climbed higher and higher into the mountain range and even though it wasn’t rainy, there was low mist killing any views.
As we got lower the landscape appeared and even though they are described as mountains I would say it looked more like a greener softer Peak District. Ellie thought the landscape was amazing but I think I’ve been spoilt, yes it was pretty but I’ve seen much better. Maybe it would impress me in sunshine.
We got to the reception area of Golden Gate at 10:30am and checked in. The campsite was dead opposite and much smaller than we thought it would be but we found a nice pitch with electric, our own braai and a concrete stand.
We decided to put our sun tarp over the top of the tent as we erected it. This would let us keep the windows open if it rained and would also keep the heat in at night aswell as keeping any heavy rain from getting in. It only took us another 15 minutes to set up and now we have a real sturdy camp ready for any weather.
The wind at Golden Gate is unbelievable. It’s not constant but really, really gusty and can really catch you unawares. It has shaped the sandstone rocks here with some weird formations.
By 1pm we had completely set up and had toasties for lunch, our new tarp roof was already proving a good idea as the wind battered the campsite.
We decided to go on our first hike as the weather was still holding out and we left camp, headed over the river to where all the trails start and started to head to echo ravine. This was apparently an easy 45 hike which turned out to be anything but.
About a kilometre in to the trail we came to a river and the trail pointed us right up it so we clambered over rocks and started heading uphill. Then the river widened and got much faster but the trail still said head up so we managed to cross the river and climb up what is now a ravine on some big rocks. Above us must have been 400 foot of sandstone rock with water pouring down every time the wind blew and now the wind was really howling down the ravine into us. We carried on going up, still climbing over rocks with the river rushing all around us. This was a health and safety inspectors worst nightmare.
Finally we could go no more and we came to a huge waterfall rushing down the end of the ravine. The wind howled and blew water across us. It was absolutely freezing.
We turned around and headed back down the river bed cautiously and at the end of the river picked up another trail heading to a look out point called Boskloof. We took this trail and we were now out in the open heading up the side of one of the bergs and the wind was gusting. Every now and again it would knock us slightly off balance or catch us unawares so we decided to turn around before we got blown off the side.
We got back to camp at 3:30pm and then we decided to take a drive out. There are 2 loop drives here and just outside of the main entrance we picked up the Bontebok Loop which took us right up to the top of one of the bergs into the clouds and we couldn’t see a thing. When we got to the bottom of the berg we spotted a herd of Wilderbeast right over on the horizon but they were too far to see clearly. As we came out of the bontebok loop we crossed over the road onto the omi omi loop. This didn’t take us quite as high but there is a vulture feeding area here and we did see a Roan Antelope which is the first we had ever seen.
We got back to camp at 4:30pm and then I lit the Braai and cooked another Wors with vegetables and potatoes in Braai relish. It was now a freezing cold wind as any heat from the sun had long gone and at 6:45pm we gave up trying to keep warm outside and headed indoors. Now we appreciated putting the extra tarp on, it already felt warmer and as we sat on the bed to watch tv we both said it felt cosy. We just had to contend with the wind battering us for the night now.Leia mais