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4x4-Trek Creates Excitement With River Crossings

4x4-Trek Creates Excitement With River Crossings

Date: 2013-09-27
After their daunting journey from Post Retief over the Winterberg mountain range to Aliwal North the 4x4 commemorative "trek", celebrating the 175th anniversary of the Great Trek (1835-1838), on Thursday, 19 September, crossed the two big rivers between the Eastern Cape and the Free State province.

The group, consisting of 34 people, left Post Retief, close to Fort Beaufort in the Eastern Cape, on Tuesday and followed the route of the trek leader Piet Retief to the Gariep River (or Great River, as it was known back then).

On the outskirts of Aliwal North the 4x4 "trek leader" Gerhard Groenewald attempted to cross the river in his Toyota Hilux, kitted with dedicated off-road accessories from 4x4 Megaworld. The modern "ox wagon" used all the horsepower it could muster to negotiate its way through the flowing stream. In low range 4x4 the vehicle waded from sandbank to sandbank until it reached the opposite side.

Groenewald's first attempt, the Wrangler-tyres on the Hilux churning to find grip in the murky waters and water splashing over its bows, was successful, but a second attempt (for the TV crew) did not go according to plan.

Close to the opposite bank the vehicle beached itself, and it had to be recovered using ropes tied to another vehicle to lodge it free from its sandy prison. Safely on the other side, the convoy continued on its journey through the flat Free State terrain.