While doing a 4x4 trail over the Kouga Mountains Matt Covarr not only discovered the cushy life, but also an exciting alternative access route from the placid Langkloof to the wild Baviaanskloof.

Yes, the train used to run all the way to Avontuur,” the old bloke shouts in Afrikaans from the platform of Assegaaibos Station near Kareedouw in the Langkloof, “but it is lazing about now.”

From here, the narrow-gauge railway line between Port Elizabeth and Avontuur heads west under a thick mat of grass and gravel to the eponymous settlement, having last felt the wheels of the Apple Express steam train from Port Elizabeth some three years ago before being damaged by floods.

As the old Langklower reminisces about the glory days of the narrow-gauge transport line for export apples, I’m tightening the straps of our newly acquired Discovery’s roof rack before we take to the gravel road heading into the Kouga Mountains, now lying under a threatening spread of mist and cloud.

I’m reminiscing myself, longing for my old Defender 110 and its bonnet I could stand on without damaging it, and a time when we didn’t need to carry anything on the roof because the interior was the size of a small store room.
It’s the maiden voyage of the Discovery, a vehicle with the comfort and persona of a family station wagon.

With my pregnant wife stammering away in her best Afrikaans to our roadside companion, I wonder about the changes likely to affect our off-road travels in the future.

Will we still camp? Will we become “closed-window travellers”, climatically controlling our cosy cabin wherever we go? I ask myself, terrified at the prospect.
With the first drops of rain hitting my face, I jump down onto the gravel track.
This trip could be a turning point.

For starters, we are heading for the comfort of Baviaans Lodge at the starting point of the Baviaans-Kouga 4x4 Experience, the 4x4 trail north over the Kouga Mountains into the Baviaanskloof we’ll be tackling tomorrow. 
Secondly, we’re travelling in a vehicle that feels like driving a couch and, lastly, a pregnant woman’s bladder works at such an alarming rate that I’ll have ample opportunity to stop and admire the Kouga scenery.

Doing it in style

After 35 km of gravel road we arrive at Baviaans Lodge just as evening sets in.
In a wooded valley at the end of the dirt road, Rob le Roux has built a collection of timber and stone cottages, which, with a privately positioned campsite, blend seamlessly into the landscape.

Brindle, Rob’s 16-year-old collie, is lying sprawled out in front of the log fire roaring away in the dining room while the temperature is plummeting rapidly outside.
I’m reminded of my earlier thoughts on the roof rack.
Although we’d usually be huddled around a campfire by now, Baviaans Lodge has me wondering whether we shouldn’t opt for this type of accommodation more often.

Over dinner Rob describes the 35 km of the Baviaans-Kouga 4x4 Experience trail in detail − from wildlife and plants we can expect to see, to San paintings in caves.

The track over the mountains was established years ago as a fire-access road, with sections of it also once used by forestry workers. Before it drops down into the Baviaanskloof it crosses four neighbouring properties, including a large section of the Baviaanskloof Wilderness Area, a World Heritage Site.

With the rain now pelting down on the roof, I’m wondering how the Discovery will handle 35 km of waterlogged mountain trail.

“You’ll be fine,” assures Rob. “It’s mainly stone and rock. Just make sure your car’s in gear when you get out.” He grins as he fills us in on local 4x4 legend Katot Meyer’s accidental disposal of his Land Rover Defender into a gorge and the three-day exercise to get it out.