If you find yourself stuck in Maselspoort after leaving Bloem on a long weekend, it might be time to set your sights a little further to the southeast, to a few back roads around Aliwal North and Lady Grey. Gerrie van Eeden did just that.

One of the (many) jokes about the Free State is that if a bird flies over this province, it turns on its back, because there’s nothing to see. But this bird would be silly not to turn onto its stomach and fly a few extra loops over the parts on either side of the Orange River that forms the province’s southern border.

If you have three days, you’d do well to explore a few passes in the southern Malutis and give the back roads around the Gariep a go on the way back.

I fill up in Smithfield on a Saturday afternoon. It’s the first place you encounter on the N6 direction Aliwal North. The tiny herd of cattle ambling along the main road confirms you’re many miles out of the big city.

I drive on, over the Caledon River and then over the Orange River and spend the night in Aliwal North, a town that was established by Sir Harry Smith in memory of a victory he had won as a commander of the British army in India.

The next morning I take the R58 to Lady Grey. Here history pretty much seeps out of the rocks. The town grew around the Dutch Reformed congregation, and that’s why the majestic old church stands in the middle of town and most of the old houses face it.

One day, two passes

I follow the Joubert’s Pass signs through town. On the outskirts of the town the gravel road starts curling up to this steep mountain pass. Half way up the pass I meet a hiker, walking stick in hand.

From under his floppy hat Mike, as he introduces himself, tells me he often walks up the pass. “It’s quite nice, actually, because there aren’t too many rocks.” He hails from the UK, but has retired in Lady Grey.

“This is unofficially the second-highest pass in South Africa,” Mike says pointing down the valley. “Everyone says Naudé’s Nek, just around the corner, and Sani Pass is higher, but Sani Pass is in Lesotho.”

He could be right. Sani Pass lies between the South African and Lesotho border posts, with its highest point in Lesotho. Most people agree that Naudé’s Nek is the highest and, depending on whom you ask, Joubert’s Pass is then the second highest.

Record talks done, you drive up the pass past signs with lovely names: Perskedraai, Rooiplaat, Jan se Afgrond, Die Nek and then, when you reach the summit – Hemel-op-Aarde (Heaven on Earth). The view deserves this name.

From there the pass drops into a valley through the Lammergeier Nature Reserve, where you can tease trout in the clear mountain water of the Karringmelkspruit. Only very occasionally do you see another vehicle. Perfect.

The road winds back to the R59 and I turn towards Barkly East. Almost 18km further you find the turnoff to the New England and Wartrail area. This region is known as the Eastern Cape Highlands (see the pullout map included with this issue).

I follow the signs to the Lundean’s Nek Pass on the R393 for my next adventure. This pass is 60km from the turnoff I took on the R58, and it runs along the border of Lesotho through the Maluti Mountains.

Every so often I catch a grim glimpse of a car wreck in a valley, and a deserted Sotho hut or two.

It’s a hard gravel road – I feel a bit worried about what the sharp-ish rocks could do to the Hilux’s wheels, but the vehicle gets through unscathed.

At a police station I have to open a gate before I can continue. A smiling sergeant waves at me from under a tree. Most of his work probably involves catching stock thieves and dagga smugglers from Lesotho. I suppose I don’t strike him as either.

From the summit it’s another 60km through a few Basotho villages to Sterkspruit. From there I drive through Zastron and Rouxville on the N6, back to Aliwal North.

It’s late and time to look for a place to spend the night. I take the Bethulie and Goedemoed turnoff onto a road that winds along the Free State side of the Orange River, in the hope of finding a place to stay.

However, don’t be fooled by Goedemoed’s friendly-sounding name – only once I’ve reached the gate do I realise it’s a prison and not a quaint resort with rolling green lawns.

I quickly make tracks and continue for a few kilos through the Tussen-die-Riviere Nature Reserve, where the Orange and Caledon rivers join. (I only discovered later on that the reserve had overnight facilities), and I head on towards Bethulie and Burgersdorp.

En route to Burgersdorp I cross the Hennie Steyn Bridge, the Southern Hemisphere’s longest road-and-rail bridge. Even though I’m in a bit of a hurry, I stop to take a few pictures of the setting sun and the concrete arches of the bridge that throw long shadows over the dam’s tranquil waters. Some distance further I turn onto the R390 to Venterstad and Oviston.

Venison pie and a game drive

It’s difficult to understand why the Oviston Nature Reserve on the banks of the Gariep Dam hasn’t been turned into a holiday resort yet. You’ll see the sun set here in a thousand hues.

I find a place to stay at Barney and Cathy Visser’s guesthouse,Tussen Stasies, one of only two in town. And I also get hot venison pie for dinner and find an unofficial tour guide in Barney, a near inexhaustible source of information on the area.

A guided game drive through the reserve is on the menu, part of it on the original tar road between Venterstad and Bethulie that was partially flooded when the Gariep Dam was built.

After the game drive the next morning, Barney and I stop at two other farms en route to the wall of the Gariep Dam. There is accommodation and an incomplete 4x4 trail at Morning Glory Cottage, about 9km from Oviston on the R58 to Norvalspont. At the Orange Valley Guest Farm you can relax in luxury safari tents with a view of the Orange River.

On any other day I’d happily tackle the 660 steps down the dam wall and back up, but fortunately Barney knows the man who leads tours to the Gariep Dam wall, and we can use the lift. He shares the dam’s history in the measured rhythm of someone who has recounted the tale a hundred times.

The trail without a name

Koos Botes of the River Destiny Lodge, on the banks of the Orange River and 5km from Norvalspont on the R58 to Colesberg, speaks respectfully of the 4x4 trail on his farm.

This alone is reason to spend the night here and tackle it the next morning. “No, we haven’t driven it yet, but the previous owners told me of a guy in a Hilux who drove it one New Year’s Eve, from the wrong side!”

When I invite André van der Westhuizen, the chef and Koos’ son-in-law, along, he ducks and dives, saying he has small children.

I go to bed excited that night. I simply have to tame the 8-km-long track over the mountain.

At sunrise I’m already halfway up the mountain. Overgrown by grass in places, the path evidently hasn’t been driven in quite a while. After having to stop a few times to gauge whether the Hilux would make it over the next rock, I’m becoming increasingly amped about the downhill – Koos told me that is the really rough part.

On the peak I stop for a cup of coffee from my flask to calm my nerves a bit. A bakkie bouncing up a rocky hill in low range rattles more than just your guts.

From my vantage point I quietly watch the sun’s first rays wash over the Orange River far below. In the distance, shards of sunlight reflect off the Gariep Dam.

Descending the mountain is a different story. It’s steeper than the ascent, and there’s an enormous erosion ditch in the middle of the road. A few times the Hilux’s wheels edge into the ditch, but fortunately I make it to the bottom. Phew!

Back on the farm a smiling Koos listens while I tell him about my experience on the trail. He looks sorry he didn’t come along. As I say cheers and drive off, I imagine him getting into his own Hilux. Who knows, perhaps he’s driven the trail himself by now?

Where to stay?

Aliwal North

• The Nest: camping (from R60 per caravan stand per night) and self-catering units (R550 for a family of six). Call Wanita Schlebusch 079 434 3247.

Oviston

• Oviston has chalets, guesthouses and a campsite. Call Barney Visser 084 657 4630.
• Lake !Gariep Resort offers camping stands on the banks of the dam from R100 per night for two for fishermen who’d like to relax, and self-catering chalets from R200 per night for two. Contact Elsa on 051 655 0124.

Gariep en Norvalspont

• Morning Glory Cottage: from R300 pppn. There’s a 4x4 trail on the farm. Call Christa van der Walt 051 654 0302.
• River Destiny Lodge: luxury self-catering chalets (from R200 pp) on the banks of the Orange River. Camping from R150 per stand for six people. Have a meal at the restaurant. Call Koos Botes or André van der Westhuizen on 051 753 0203.
• Orange Valley Guest Farm has secluded luxury safari tents on the banks of the river from R250 pppn. Call Bruce and Sue Arnott on 083 254 2895.

Originally published in DO #42 Jan-Feb 2011