Camping at Beauvallon

[georg ruf jr.]

I've always wondered if people still go camping at Beauvallon. We loved it as kids. Over easter for eg when the days were still quite warm.
I remember them building the swimming pool. We prefered to swim in the river. That was more dangerous and more fun. Walking up river (couple of hundred meters) to drift down the river again.
Does anybody remember stories?
What happens there nowadays?

[Michael Alexander]

After indepenance , Beauvallon was given back to the South Africans.... we now go2 Hohenfels... the old German police station on the hill.....

[Bev Burchell]

 swim

Hey George I also remember many happy weekends camping at Beauvallon... some really good memories there.... remember getting your car sandblasted on the way home?

[georg ruf jr.]

Not just the car. The inside was full of dust so you felt sandblasted yourself. Remember the taste of the dirt? But that was part of the fun.

[Barbara Eia (Brownless)]

I remember walking to Beauvallon we had a few botles of wine which we took from my dad, he had made some wine from the grapes in the garden, boy was that potent stuff.......we were drunk before we got there....such a hot day we had to have some liquid. Cannot for the life of me think who went, do remember Neil Bennet was one of them does anyone remember that day.......

[georg ruf jr.]

At the age of 12 Andy, Mark and I wanted a couple of days off at Beauvellon from home before leaving to boarding school for the first time. Trying booze and smoking.
Somehow we got someone to buy us a 6 pack of Lions. Tough boys as we were, we wanted to get pissed. hahaha
Each had 2 bottles in one go. We waited and obviously nobody changed into Mr. Hide.
The short trip was stopped by my parents, cause they found out I had been driving our vw combi up and down the gravel road between 2nd and third avenue. hihihi

[georg ruf jr.]

I think it was in a particular season (once every year), the Oranje would be flooded and had a strong current. We kids would still be swimming and having fun. I remember Charles Loeffler swimming against the current and just being swept away...
Now and then we got hold of a piece of wood floating by. One day a boy (i believe one of the Gotch brothers) grabbed hold of a "branch" and came back saying that was a humans arm. Everybody ran screaming towards the camping sight. Almost like in "Jaws".
This was reported to the cops who picked the body up a couple of days later. They told us, two guys had been fighting drunken using knives. This fellow was the less fortunate one...