Platbank Camp & Wheel: 22 to 25 September 2023

[Mad Manny]

Report on Platbank 4x4 Trip 22 to 25 September 2023:
Friday:
The drive there was OK, but being the start of a long weekend - traffic was heavy.
Ant & Swift went up on Thursday - a far better idea.

I topped up in Vaalwater - impressive consumption on the way there.

I arrived at 15:00, being the end of winter, nearly 6 months after the last rains - it was a bit dry, but pretty nonetheless.

We set up at the bottom, near the river. Others, in addition to Ant & Swift et al had already arrived.
More campers arrived all afternoon, with the last of 'our' (the 4x4AG) goup arriving at 20:00.

Saturday:
The next morning the other group (that I only learnt about a few days earlier) arrived. This was the Lourens group.

'Our' group was all those on the list in post #2, plus spouses & kids plus the world famous Muller Van Tonder Von Stremlau Coetser - a true legend.
We headed out around 09:30 on Saturday morning to do the River Route.
It is a very nice route & any decent 4x4 (or what Swift calls a 'Plaas Bakkie) can do it - especially, as it was, in the dry.

The River Route was very nice - only one person got stuck - the world famous Muller Van Tonder Von Stremlau Coetser - he was recovered by a Defender 110 & will have to live with the shame for the rest of his life.

We got back to camp, braai'ed & relax - then the Patriots amongst us walked up to Aubrey's house to catch the Boks vs Ireland game - great game.

Sunday:
Late start. The 'big boys' went to do the Rubicon Route; I drove with Tinus 'Hin Hin' Lotz.
Some of the Lourens group did the mountain route which crosses the Rubicomn Route so they could catch the action.

The group doing the Rubicon route was Swift, the world famous Muller Van Tonder Von Stremlau Coetser, Tinus, Peter C, Ant, Douw, 2 others followed us, but we barely saw them.
The Rubicon route is tough, you need an SFA with lockers & 33's minimum - which all had.

Most of the rest of 'our' group stayed at camp, went for walks, went to Vaalwater, relaxed etc.

Sunday night we went a bit large & I decided to go shower around 21:00 - but then, for some reason, decided to open a bottle of Merlot.
The 1st sip of Merlot & I knew "Manny done foked up" - I got to bed well after midnight.

Monday:
Monday was, thankfully, cooler _ I packed up & left, Ally & Gary (Pink Landy) & I traveled together, stopping in Vaalwater for a nice & badly needed breakfast - but service was slow - we paid for that with heavy traffic on the way back.

[Mad Manny]

Summary, Thanks & Conclusion:
Summary:
It was great to spend time with legends like Ant, Adele, Swift & Cherise - I've known them for years but don't see them much these days.
I haven't seen the world famous Muller Van Tonder Von Stremlau Coetser for over a year & I look forward to not seeing him for another year.
It was also great to see Georg the German (Who Halen says is a Bavarian, not a German) & Halen - they too, I haven't seen for a while.
Douw & Marieke I see often, but not for 4x4'ing or even socially - so it was nice to see them.
Tinus 'Hin Hin' lotz & his lovely wife, who, as Ant pointed out, actually drives better than him, they were very accommodating.
PC & his wife - lovely couple. PC quietly goes about his business in a stoic way.
Then Alison's crew - the Land Rover English; Gary, her brother (Drunk Uncle), Tree & Helen (her CtoC friends) the Brands Tree Felling Family & all the kids & friends - lovely people.
In fact, everyone was simple wonderful - even Peet & his family but Peet borrowed all my firelighters.
The crowd that Lourens brought were also great.

Overall a lovely weekend away, great laughs, too much sun, too much imbibing, too little sleep.

Aubrey, our host, is a lovely chap - he got his ear chewed off about the ablutions - but, in his defense, he usually doesn't have 20+ vehicles there.
But we gave him some good suggestions on a few minor changes he should make. I've warned him I'll follow up...

Thanks:
Thanks to EVERYONE who attended.
Thank You to Johan Swift - without him the weekend would not have happened.
Thanks to the Land Rover English for the hospitality & the slave... er helpful kids.
Aubrey - thank you for letting us catch the Rugby in your vast lounge.
Tree - thank you for recovering the world famous Muller Van Tonder Von Stremlau Coetser

Conclusion:
A truly wonderful weekend - the River Route is great, technical without being too difficult.
The Rubicon Route is nice for those who want a challenge & have the correct vehicle & the right skills.
The Mountain Route - not a fan - but it's there for those who want a 3rd option or what to view the Rubicon route.

Should you go to Platbank?
Definitely! but Ideally in a group of 12 or less vehicles - our group was big, too big.
We coped, but the facilities took strain (there was no water Monday morning for example as Aubrey couldn't refill fast enough).
However, our large crowd also added to the vibe.

I hope others also share their views...

[BushWacker]

… will reserve this slot
for valid comment at a later stage ..

… goeie nag …

———————————————————————

Circa 28/9/2023 …

Reading through this thread
I must say I much regret missing it
as it seems a really great venue,
even better than v. near Taaibos
where I went a year or so ago.

There are those who may think I might say:

“ Awww missed this,
if only I'd known etc “

… but they would be wrong,
as your humble narrator
succumbed to the knife
of a surgeon for a partial knee replacement op
on the 10th July and this Platbank event was already
booked out by the 19 days aft … !

Well done Alley & Manny

[Anthony Forgey]

Thanks Manny. Platbank is a favourite. quite far for a 2 day weekender but we always end up doing long weekends there. I agree with your sentiments about the 3 trails. I love the river route and the Rubicon route.

[Bugjuic]

Great trip, thank you for everyone with organization. Truly amazing place, nice wheeling ranging through all categories.

Sunday me and my family just enjoyed the day at camp whilst the rest were out on the mountain trail and Rubicon route. What a nice camping area, swimming with the kids, bird watching, just enjoying the beauty Platbank has to offer. Rare to find a place with scenery of that nature as well as a place with decent and spectacular routes.

Truly a place the whole family can enjoy, one thing stood out the most to me, not once did I feel unsafe in any way. Never felt like someone was lurking in the bushes or that I had to lock up my vehicle at any stage. This means a lot!

Platbank will be one or the places I will repeatedly go to again!

[Mad Manny]

Hi Alley.
Platbank was a really interesting venue with beautiful scenery and views. We particularly enjoyed being able to sit on the "beach" and look at the rock formations with all of it's feathered inhabitants, etc. Some of the trees growing amongst the rocks were quite spectacular. The 4 x 4 route that we did was really enjoyable and not too hectic as I am a bit of a scaredy cat when it comes to 4x4'ing. Swimming in the rock pools was definitely a highlight. The only slight negative was the limited number of ablutions but otherwise it was a most enjoyable weekend filled with excellent company. Thanks for organising

~feedback from the Land Rover English

[Mad Manny]

Report by Peter Connan, stolen from the Patrol4x4 Forum...

This weekend a few of us went to Platbank. The trip was arranged by Mad Manny but since he was kind enough to advertise it here as well, a few of us joined.

From this forum we had Manny himself, Ant, Peet (Bugjuic), Tinus and myself.
Platbank is situated about 30km other side of Vaalwater in the Waterberg. The camp is situated in a bend in bend on a river, under clifs. One of the most beautiful camps it has been my privilege to visit. It is relatively basic but quite adequate for a group of 10-12 vehicles. There are two ablution blocks with hot water (one from a donkey, the other gas), a thatch roof and a braai area with a zinc. But the water is not certified to be safe for consumption (it is filtered river water) and there is no power. Unfortunately there were over 20 vehicles so the ablutions were under some pressure.

It's about 300km from Kempton and most of that along the N1. So easy to get to but susceptible to bad traffic on a long weekend.

There are four routes on the farm ranging from suitable for a relatively standard vehicle (although not a soft-roader) to rather flipping tough and over the course of the weekend we tackled parts of all of them.

[Mad Manny]

More from Peter Connan...

Johan Swift and Muller Coetser (well known to river trip-goers) were also there and guided us expertly.

Saturday morning we tackled the River Route.

Fantastically scenic and easy enough that a normal double-cab can do it (although one got stuck twice and had to be winched by Muller) but there are a couple of "optional obstacles" that are rather more challenging , to the point that Muller had to winch himself out once and I had to haul out my Hi-lift jack and pack some rocks to get myself off a rock. Ant helped me but in the process managed to smack his toe with a rock under the water.

There are a number of places on this route where one can park next to or even in the water for a rest.

The photos below are not mine. I didn't take many and still have to down-load those I did take from the camera. These days I always seem to be to busy guiding and helping to take photos.

[Mad Manny]

And more from Peter...

On Sunday the serious guys did the Rubicon route (I wonder how many Rubicon routes there are in this world), while a few of the other guys did the Mountain route. The Rubicon follows another river bed, dry at this time of year but with lots of big rock year round and is not recommended for standard vehicles. Typically it is said one needs 35" tires as a minimum and some say double lockers are also a must, although the real problem is clearance rather than traction. There are some serious axle twisters and steepish inclines of loose boulders though.

The Mountain route crosses the Rubicon several times as it meanders through the koppies.

Me being deaf and dumb, I decided to also do the Rubicon despite my 33's. But I have done it once before. The rest of the group was Johan Swift (fairly seriously modified Jeep), Muller (also), Tinus and Ant (both double-locked GU's on 37s) and Douw (old two-door Range Rover on 35's with double lockers and lots of beefed-up drivetrain components).
What was interesting is that every single vehicle that did the Rubicon was shod with Maxxis tires.

Note that I would definitely not recommend this trail for Patrols on tires smaller than 37" unless you are very confident in your underbody protection. I had to drag my car over several big rocks. I don't know about small cars like Zooks.

Other than dongs and scrapes from underneath, the trail went pretty well for all of us, except when Tinus had a small lapse in concentration and parked his front axle on a HUGE boulder. Hi-lift and wheel buddy sorted the situation out pretty quickly though.

Most of the group then completed the Mountain Route as well, although I had to turn back from just before the end of the Rubicon.

Later in the afternoon this group did another, apparently even more difficult trail. I unfortunately missed that too.

[Mad Manny]

...and the final part of Peter's report...


Monday morning was just pack up and come home, an uneventful trip despite fairly heavy traffic. At least the toll gates were fully manned and flowed pretty well when we went through.

My thanks to Mad Manny, Johan Swift and Muller for the arrangements, Ant, Swift, Muller and Tinus for the guidance and assistance and everyone else for the company and camaraderie. A real fun weekend and a venue we should definitely consider making a regular destination.

[BushWacker]

I did check the Jimny 4x4 Forum, but didn't see the Clarens Circle~Jerk event...

… you should have checked the 44AG forum calendar …
where the trusty RT Hon BushWacker Esq.
posted the event, nearly exactly one year prior
… so you would have time
to read and plan in respect of such …

[grips]

Sounds like a lekker trip.