Johannesburg - It’s one of the best-kept secrets in Gauteng, according to one of the guys I met at the Bayshore Restaurant in the Vaal Marina on the shores of the lake of the same name.
After a lovely Sunday lunch under the trees, with good food, good wine , beer and good company, I found it difficult to disagree with him.
Just over an hour’s drive from Joburg, the Vaal Dam and river make a great, easy-going getaway choice.
Deneysville is the central point of the towns along the Vaal and they say it’s the gateway to recreation and water sports on the dam. Vaal Marina is about 20 minutes away on the other side of the dam.
Both have that small-town feeling where everyone knows someone and the greetings fly across the table as people come and go. I’m not a boat person, but we learnt a few things that day, such as dry sailors (these are the guys who don’t keep their boats in the water all the time) and how they use special paint to stop the algae from forming on the hulls.
Some people ship their boats from here to Durban or Cape Town to enter certain races or events in and around South Africa ... depending on the size of the boat and the transporter required, you could fork out R50 000 a time for these events.
The dam is only 60 percent full, soevrybody is waiting for the rains to fall in the catchment areas. The motorboats are out and warnings about the rocks seem to be unheard as the harbours get the repairs coming in after the weekend coke and sprite mishaps. The water is so far down on one of the fronts it almost looks like a beach and the fishermen have pitched their gazebos on them, with the children building sandcastles.
The Sasol Vaaldam big bird count is a regular event held in January organised by Birdlife Vaaldam and has a South African record of 83 species with 97 500 birds counted.
We popped into one of the estate agencies and spoke to Irene, who was tending two owls: one would never fly again, but the other had a collar and was on the mend. It’s touching to see her love for birds – it’s got to be love when you see the mess they make...
There are plenty of little places to pop into for breakfast, lunch or dinner. At the Quarter Deck in Denyesville I had the biggest plate of fish and chips I have seen: the beer-battered fish fell off both sides of the plate. Flushed down with a few cool beers, it was hard to leave.
The motorbike museum in Deneysville is a wonderful surpris. It’s amazing to see just how many bikes and memorabilia are on display. This alone was well worth the trip. Even if you’re not a biker, the numbers and age of the exhibits will transport you back to bygone eras.
We were also lucky enough to visit a husband-and-wife team of artists, Julian and Rosemary Girard. Julian had painted planes landing on the water of the dam and told me the old Imperial Airways used to land their massive flying boats on the dam, as part of a near- week-long journey from London to Cape Town.
We spent the night in the Vaalnest Boutique Hotel with a thatched roof that adds a lovely homely feeling to a rather intimate and quiet setting.
Dinner was at 8pm, and cooked to perfection. After a restful night and a hearty breakfast we left for home.
It was an eventful weekend and we had only scratched the surface of what’s available in this hideaway by the sea… sorry, by the dam.
IF YOU GO
l The Nest Boutique Hotel: 016 372 1075
l Club Bayshore Marina Restaurant: 076 704 3018
l Pennant Nine Yacht Club: 016 372 1018
l Quarter Deck : 016 371 1821
l Gallery Girard: 016 371 1401
lMotor Cycle Museum
Deneysville: 016 371 1115
l Vaal Marina Boating Services: 082 490 8060 - Saturday Star