SPOOKSPRUIT 4x4

If you’re in the mood for a technical 4x4 trail that will thoroughly test your driving skills – and send you home with a bunch of new, advanced ones – you should make your way to Spookspruit 4x4 the first weekend you can. This 4x4 trail near Balfour opened last year, thanks to Johan Havenga’s love of off-road driving. Johan has been involved with the Bridgestone Challenge for years and has also been a marshall at this wellknown 4x4 competition. Sakkie Coetzee, another familiar face at the Challenge, lent a hand with some of the obstacles. And if you’ve ever driven the Bridgestone Challenge, or even just been a spectator, you’ll know that Sakkie’s obstacles have caused many an experienced 4x4 driver to eat humble pie, swallowing it down with some words you couldn’t write in a magazine. For this reason, you can only drive the trail under Johan’s guidance. It’s a great relief at times to see Johan’s experienced hands in the air in front of your vehicle in an obstacle, because he knows his driving and his trail. Johan explains very well what sort of challenge each obstacle will be (for example how you need to recognise and approach a side slope or choose your line over rocks or down a hill). He guides you carefully through each one, and although the obstacles can be very tough, he also knows which ones to avoid if they’re not suitable to your vehicle. The trail is laid out more or less in a circle around the farm, and you can expect anything from mud to water, rocky steps and loose sand. Spookspruit tests all your driving capabilities (and those of your vehicle) in a controlled environment. There are also escape routes at most obstacles, however, so the trail is suitable for 4x4 drivers and owners who are less experienced, too. As you drive, you pass scores of pro-

The trail and this farm are my passions. I work on it almost every weekend of the year.” Johan Havenga designed the Spookspruit 4x4 trail

teas, soft, grassy hills and rocky koppies, and in summer the area is green and wet with deep water obstacles. Towards the end of the trail there’s a spacious campsite on green grass, with a big pool, electricity and a neat ablution block.There’s also a small entertainment hall further down where the team serves coffee and rusks in the morning before taking their groups on the trail.

EXAM TIME. Spookspruit 4x4’s obstacles will test you and your vehicle thoroughly, especially after some good rains in the area.

HOLD ON. During the drive, Johan puts you through some serious off-camber driving to make you used to negotiating hard angles.

LET’S ROCK (middle and right). A lot of the trail is on rocky paths like these, where you have to drive slowly and exercise lots of control.

TAKING A BREATHER. As tough as the trail are, as laid back is the campsite. There’s a pool, soft grass and even flower gardens!