Sasolburg High School go Orange
“Hellsgate”
On 28th of April a group of 14 departs from
Sasolburg to Hopetown.
Why: For white water rafting on the Orange
River accompanied by three guides.
Who: Sasolburg High School
In the evenings a braai was on the menu
and sleeping on the banks of the Orange
River for 3 nights. Some used tents and
others used the rafts.
Water levels was excellent and low,
making for good fun at “Hubbly Bubbly”
and “Hellsgate”. No swimmers at Hubbly
but Hellsgate more than made up with
five swimmers in the “Chicken run”. 
For an adrenaline rush some jumped into
the shoot’s white water just 4 fun’s sake.
We slept next to the mighty grade 4 rapid,
“Hellsgate”, lulling us to deep slumber.
Next morning started with a capsize in
Hellsgate with kit getting wet in the process.
Someone is going to sleep wet. “Sideways
Sarel” caused no casualties, but were fun
anyway.
“Heart stop rock” 6m
At “Heart Stop Rock” most of the team had
some fun jumping the 6m into the river. Water
temperature is down but not too low.
That night we had a cold front coming |
through with a light frosting on some
items lying around..
The last day we started relatively early at
9.00 am. A long paddle with fun awaited
interspersed with some fun rapids. We
finished only at 3.00pm.
Since it was an easy take out, the packing
of equipment was also quick and easy.
Arrival in Sasolburg was around 11.00pm and
beautiful sleep and recuperation for two days.
ATKV Post-matrieks Asriver “White water rafting”
Wat ‘n fantastiese dag met blou lug en
warm sonskyn. Die river is op ‘n goeie vlak
en die water blinkskoon. Hulle is bespreek
vir voldag rafting saam met Ingwenya tours
en Outrageous Adventures.
Opgeilede en ervare gidse lei die toer en
is ook die “raft masters” op die groot bote.
Roei instruksies en veiligheidpraatjie is
noodsaaklik voor die toer. Roeigroepe word
ingedeel saam met spesifieke gidse. Sewe
rafts in totaal.
Groot versnellings wag soos “Bridge rapid”,
“Big Supprise” en “The Shoot”, almal graad
vier versnellings. Opwinding is hoog. Daar is
ook ‘n klompie kleineres tussenin. Die water
is koud maar harte warm.
Die Asriver, van die beste witwater roetes in
die land, met graad 3 en 4 versnellings is
tans onder beleg en daar word reeds ‘n 2de
“Hidro-elektriese stasie” gebou. Nog twee
is op pad en dit is waarskynlik die laaste
jaar wat die rivier vir rekreasie gebruik kan
word. Baie hartseer en groot verlies vir
Clarens se toerisme.
Intro en Bridge
Big SUPPRISE
The SHOOT
ATKV-Post-matriek raak dams (Sterkfondeindams)
Vier en dertig post matriek leerders sluit hulle vanjaar aan by Die ATKV Drakensville vir ‘n Post-matriek jaar. Hulle besoek die dam vir oriëntering en so ‘n bietjie “vasbyt”. Vir vier dae roei hulle van punt tot punt en slaan kamp op elke aand in eie tente.
Elkeen ontvang ‘n kosblik waarmee hulle moet uitkom. Radios is beskikbaar by die gidse vir noodgevalle. Veiligheid is nie onderhandelbaar nie en die reëls van die organisasie word uitgelig. Lewensvaardighede is deel van die kursus terwyl almal mekaar leer ken.
Die vierde dag roei hulle terug basiskamp toe vir ‘n warm ete en die gerief van ‘n ablusieblok. Aankoms word gevier met groot fanfare, fakkels word afgeskiet en die roeiers met mooi musiek begelei.
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Old Mutual (Vaal Triangle) gets wet on the Orange River at Hopetown
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“Hellsgate” at Sunrise on Orange River rafting trip
The management team of “Old Mutual”, Vaal Triangle arrived on the 23rd of November at the “Die Stalle Guesthouse” for a fun filled rafting trip on the Orange River. Luncheon was on the run with a watermelon to quench the thirst. “Hubbly Bubbly” was the first major rapid and went without incident.
On approaching “Hellsgate” we had a capsize and rescue 200m above the rapid. We ran “Hellsgate” twice before sunset at a difficult level – a real high adrenaline activity.
- Breakfast on the Orange River with Chantel
Sun-downers were enjoyed followed by a braai – and then to bed. Most bedded down on either upturned rafts or inflatable mattresses, next to the rapid keeping an eye on the water levels.
- Next morning the sun caught every one in bed. After breakfast and a launch straight into the current, we had some swimmers down the shoot. Quite some excitement. More swimmers at “Sideways Sarel”.
Orange River rafting Camp at “Skeleton Coast”
We made it early to the next campsite, “Skeleton coast”, with everyone hiding from the sun behind boats.
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Bachelors party Trevor
Trevor Brunns organized a bachelor’s party for best friend Stephan de Vos.
They stayed over at Rocky Ridge island and booked a river rafting tour with Ingwenya tours on the Vaal River at Parys.
Excellent weather with good water levels (30m³/s). Spectacular capsizes at “Gatsien” during the “Fun Run”. Makes for excellent pics.
Team building in Parys with Riverside Pharmacy.
Team building at Parys
JB Havenga and Liz-Marie organize the event.
Family and friends joined in to for a “Ken mekaar” day. Good weather and water levels for the day.
The TEAM build a Castle with inflatables in a very short time, well done.
Quite a few swimmers at “Gatsien” and JB Havenga captained the 6inaboat. Excellent captaincy JB, or was the capsizing on purpose?