Accommodation in Langebaan for July
Accommodation in Langebaan could have been a problem was it not for my old school mate, André and his wife Marieta, who generously offered their rental accommodation for our use.
It made our life much easier because we had accommodation while we had to have maintenance done on the Scout’s tent and had the Suzuki serviced. They rent out the 4-bedroom bottom level of their house, Seekasteel in an estate, and offer a special price for long-term campers who need to take a breather to have their vehicles serviced and maintenance done to tents and caravans. I will provide their contact details and accommodation information below.
I had the Suzuki serviced at Suzuki Vredenburg who has a good Google Review rating. I was very satisfied with the service experience.
The tent we had repaired at Westlife Upholstery in Vredenburg. They quoted us a fair price for repairs to a torn canvas as well as replacing some of the loops on the tent.
The eyelets of the rally tent were ripping and it became serious the previous month when we camped at Kleine Paradys with the strong winds and serious gusts.
After 18 months of camping in strong winds the tent canvas could be expected to start showing signs of material fatigue.
Longtime readers of the blog will remember that we chose campsites right on the beach to test our Maxcons pegs and accessories because we also sell their products on my Maxcons website.
Below is a video I made for one of my early blog posts, as well as a photo that shows the damage 18 months of sun, rain and wind can do:
18 Months of this treatment will put strain on any tent!
Damage to a tent corner
I used the clips as an emergency measure to make it last till we could have it repaired.
The Maxcons pole anchors (if used correctly) help to relieve the pull on the canvas as it pulls the canvas tight on the spigot at the top, but it cannot compensate for canvas wear and tear.
Strengthen the canvas corner with seatbelt webbing.
Three strips of 100 – 150mm on each side as well as crossing over. Eyelet is embedded in the webbing.
We’ll see how long it lasts.
I suspect changing climate conditions will necessitate changes to camping equipment manufacturing.
I have been pondering the effects of the change in weather patterns and what it will mean for the design and quality of camping equipment, if any.
This led me to ask the people at Westlife to do the repairs different from that they traditionally do, which is to use webbing of safety belt material to create stronger corners for the rally tent.
Although I think they could have done a neater job, I am curious to see how well my idea will perform in the next year of exposure to the elements.
On the Way
If you travel from Kleine Paradys to Langebaan there is more than one route, but I suggest you take the R399 and R27 via Velddrif and visit the Weskus Spens Padstal (click for map) not far from Langebaan and Vredenburg.
To me, this is an excellent example of what a farmstall should be.
Most products are made in-house and are fresh, and their Heerbone or Herenbone soup, is something really worthwhile.
A farmstall should have at least one product that distinguishes it from other farmstalls, and this soup (and variety of rusks) distinguishes Weskus Spens from other farmstalls.
During our month-long stay at Langebaan our hosts took us to many more places than we would have found if we were just camping in the area.
Hopefield Market
Hopefield has a small market in a house that is quite impressive for such a small market. We bought good, farm quality cheeses from Kokerboom Cheeses.
The Hopefield Market is well worth a visit!
Hopefield is the home of Simply Bee, the well-known honey brand.
I popped in and got myself some delicious carrot and buchu honey, and I had most enjoyable interactions with staff members.
Paternoster
Paternoster is a popular West Coast town that many campers and visitors to the Western Cape know.
We visited the town after 16 years and found it changed and is much larger.
We relaxed and had lunch at The Whales Rib on the Paternoster Waterfront. While the wives visited every little trinket shop in town, I and friend Andre popped in to see what the Koelkamers Teater looked like, and visited the Workshop Volkswagen Diecast Collectibles Museum where I took a photo or five to send to my engineer brother-in-law in Eldoraigne.
The Wife took a nice photo of the bakkies at the Waterfront:
Jacobsbaai
Great ambiance, good food.
A happy place on a misty morning.
Langebaan
The West Coast is famous for its sunset photo opportunities.
Yzerfontein
I and The Wife visited Yzerfontein to see what the town looks like.
It’s the typical West Coast town and we enjoyed our quick visit and walk on the rocks where the waves break and the seals bask in the sun on big bulky boulders.
The Weskus Padstal at the turn-off to Yzerfontein boasts meat pies that were named the best meat pies in the country. We bought two pies and I must say, it was probably the best I had in a long time.
We also visited Midwest in St Helena Bay, Leentjiesklip and Oostewal in Langebaan.
They all looked like places where one can have an enjoyable camp although Oostewal was a bit neglected (maybe because it was out of season) and one should not camp on the beachfront at Leentjiesklip when it’s quiet because of previous events of theft.
Like the receptionist at Leentjiesklip said when I asked her about the rumours of theft at the camp: “Where in South Africa don’t they steal?”
Fair enough!
Midwest Caravan Park
If you haven’t heard of Midwest Caravan Park: that is the park where the manager cleans the ablutions herself!
She has to renew her lease with the municipality every year, which I think is a bit unfair. Surely the municipality can give her a lease of 3 or 5 years to enable her to plan and run her site on a more steadfast basis?
Accommodation in Langebaan
If you are a long-term camper who needs to have tents repaired, cars serviced, doctors to visit or any business to do in Cape Town or the West Coast, Andre and Marieta at Seekasteel in Langebaan will accommodate you out of peak season.
They were long-term campers who often toured Botswana and Namibia and they also had Maranata Toere, so they know long-term camping and have a soft spot for campers.
Seekasteel is in the Blue Lagoon 1 security development, 125km from the V&A Waterfront, 138km from the Cape Town International Airport and 25km from Vredenburg.
Their present rates if you arrive with your caravan or can prove that you are a long-term camper is R1000,00 per week or R4000,00 per month. Their normal rates for holidaymakers and visitors are a bit more, but call them and enquire.
Call Andre at 082 451 7108.
This is what you can expect (104mb):
On to Strandfontein
And so, at the end of July our pleasant stay at Seekasteel in Langebaan came to an end and it was time to move on.
Our repaired tent will be erected at Strandfontein for August.
We did not come this way for the flowers but it seems we will catch the early Namakwaland bloom as we saw some flowers as we travelled to Strandfontein.
