Rebellie 4x4 Trail near Clarens in the Eastern Free State separates the wheat from the wets, Philip Sackville Scott discovered.

The Cruiser is idling as I try to figure out how to drive down a steep mountain slope, across a narrow steel bridge and up a steep, uneven, slippery slope - all in one go. I’ll have to keep left, because if I hit a step up onto the rock on the right too fast, my vehicle could flip. If I stall, it could roll back down the mountainside.

From a standing start, I need all the power my vehicle can muster to see us safely up this section of the Rebellie 4x4 Trail on the Bokpoort Holiday Farm near Clarens in the eastern Free State.

I’m twitchy. Willem, my guide, is dead quiet in the passenger seat. My heart is pounding in my ears as I gun the Cruiser. Down, over the bridge and up the other side we roar.

Phew - made it!

Let’s face it, Rebellie isn’t a place where you come to learn where the diff lock switch is. After all, you are 2200m above sea level in the infamous Golden Gate Rooiberge, a stone’s throw from the Lesotho border. You and your vehicle better be as thick as those cattle thieves that sometimes slip across the border.

On a private game farm a mere 14km from the picturesque town of Clarens, Rebellie is one of the highest 4x4 trails in the country. There are two trails: the 18-km grade-4 Kloof Route, and the tamer grade-2-to-3 Mountain Route that doubles as a game drive with grand views. To the south is a massive mountain range, a Bastille-like fortification that curves around the farm in a semi-circle. Below you winds the Caledon River, and beyond that, Basotho huts dot the rural landscape. It’s stunning.

However, it is much more than just a 4x4 playground - it is a great all-round holiday destination, chockfull of activity options for the whole family, ranging from abseiling, mountain biking and clay-pigeon shooting, to horse riding and trout fishing.