WE’LL ALWAYS HAVE PARYS
WHENEVER I hear the word Parys, I think of the lottery advert that aired many years ago, where a group of domestic workers sat on a street verge during their break and discussed what they would do if they ever won the lottery.
One said she’d go to Parys. She was ridiculed. Her peers heard Parys, but she meant Paris.
Parys was named after the French capital by a German surveyor, a Mr Schilbach, who had participated in the Siege of Paris during the Franco-Prussian War. The location of the Vaal River reminded him of Paris on the River Seine. Unlike Paris, though, not much development happened in Parys, and today it keeps its smalltown charm. Nothing dominates the skyline in this town, with most buildings being three storeys high.
We checked in at the SunWa River Lodge, situated on the banks of the Vaal River and just 10km outside Parys. The lodge and area around it should be used to market South Africa, it’s that beautiful.
Accommodation at the lodge includes Canadian log cabins, some of which are called executive and others are single storey, all sharing. My colleague and I shared an executive cabin. If single beds aren’t your thing, be prepared, as SunWa has only single beds, but executive cabins can have double beds, on request.
Our first stop was the Vredefort Crater, the largest verified impact crater on Earth. According to our tour guide, Jan Fourie, the Vredefort Dome was added to the list of Unesco World Heritage sites for its geological interest in 2005.
The original crater was estimated to have a diameter of roughly 300km and is estimated to be 2.023 billion years old. Although the crater itself has eroded, the geological structures around it are still beautiful and worth the visit.
There are four towns around the Dome, namely Parys, Vredefort, Koppies and Venterskroon.
Next it was off to lunch at the Old Imperial Inn in North West, just outside the Free State border. Dinner was served at the awardwinning Dog and Fig Brewery in Parys. They serve some exciting brews here.
You would think that there isn’t much to do in small towns like Parys, but thanks to Real Adventures, this wasn’t the case. It started with quadbiking through the rough and very bumpy terrain. It’s fun doing this as a group – just be careful of those around you who forget to concentrate and hit a tree.
I then decided to abseil, something I have done before, so I was done within three minutes. My colleague opted to do archery, and she was pretty good at it too.
If you’re planning a trip to the Free State in winter, pack warm clothes. I found myself layering every day, especially at night.
The next day I tackled river rafting with my colleague on the Vaal River. We opted for the shorter route, about 2km long. It was smooth sailing until we got to a 4m drop, but thankfully neither of us went overboard.
Afterwards it was back to the lodge to sip wine by the pool and then to devour the delicious pizza I ordered at O’s restaurant.
Visit Parys. It has something for everyone.