June 2025

Camping in late Autumn & introducing our Metalian Parthian trailer

It is true that we have already written a few posts about a previous camping weekend at Kromrivier in the spectacular Cederberg Mountains (read here, here, here and here). But there are five very good reasons why this was our first camping destination upon our return to the Western Cape Province.

  • The Cederberg Mountains are one of the most beautiful mountain ranges in the Western Cape,
  • We wanted to see what this campsite, with its many trees, looked like during the late autumn season (spoiler alert: it was incredibly beautiful),
  • With our previous camp weekend, there was no time to visit Truitjieskraal, a short but fascinating hike through fantastic Cederberg rock scenery – we had to rectify that (more about that in our next post – click here),
  • It was time to camp with our friends (this, after we had camped on our own in the Eastern Cape Province for three years),
  • And we wanted to test our new addition to our camping collection (another spoiler alert: this is by far the best piece of camping gear we have ever bought).

But as always, I will not let the opportunity pass to show you the beautiful road to our campsite in the Cederberg Mountains.

There is no better way to start a camping weekend than to drive one of the oldest and most scenic mountain passes in South Africa. Bainskloof Pass is located between Wellington and Ceres and was built in the 1850s by the Scottish master road builder Andrew Geddes Bain (using prison labour).

At the start of Bainskloof Pass

There are a few picnic areas and viewpoints along the pass

The pass, stretching over the Limiet Mountains, was originally built for horse-drawn traffic, but later tarred. Some people say the pass is 18km/11 miles long, while others reckon that from the very start on the outskirts of Wellington to the bridge over the Breede River (on Ceres’ side) the pass is officially 26km/16 miles. At the top of the pass is a stunning view over Wellington and the Cape Winelands.

At the steepest part and nearing the top of the pass

Magnificent view over the Cape Winelands

Once you’ve reached the highest point of the pass at 594m/1949ft, the road joins the Witte River, which descends on the northern side of the mountains. At some places the road is quite narrow, but the views are absolutely amazing so there’s no need to rush through this section.

Descending Bainskloof Pass

The famous Dacre’s Pulpit

Note: There is a dedicated post on Bainskloof Pass in our Throwback Thursday series (Throwback Thursday #17 – read here).

With the beautiful Bainskloof Pass behind us, we still had 124km/77 miles to drive to get to Kromrivier in the Cederberg Mountains. This meant we could do one of our favourite road trip activities – stopping along the way to enjoy lunch.

Stop for lunch (here you can see our new camping companion)

Time for coffee and tea

Berto prepared chicken and orzo salad before we left

The dirt road winds through the mountains for several kilometers until we reached the official sign that indicates we have reached the Cederberg Conservancy (also home to the Cape Leopard).

Dirt road on our way to Kromrivier

We are now in the Cederberg Conservancy

Kromrivier Cederberg Park:

As we expected, Kromrivier was adorned in the most beautiful autumn colours. I will not write about our campsite again (as mentioned earlier, we wrote a comprehensive story about our camping weekend here in 2022). Today we will just show you how incredibly beautiful this campsite can look during Autumn.

Our campsite at Kromrivier

The campsites under Autumn-coloured oak trees

Beautiful camping spot

Sunset and time for a campfire

Sunrise at Kromrivier

Our friends, Frans & Fiela on the pedestrian bridge over the Krom River

Late Autumn is a beautiful season for camping at Kromrivier

Metalian Parthian Trailer:

Now, let’s get to the star of this camping weekend … our new Metalian Parthian Trailer. It’s currently one of the best off-road options in South Africa and a perfect fit for anyone who wants to explore the outdoors – like us!

After we camped in the Eastern Cape and saw that it is quite a hassle to set up a ground tent with a kitchen tent for just a weekend, we began to look at other alternatives. After months of research (on Berto’s side), we decided to buy the Metalian Parthian trailer.

The Metalian Parthian Trailer with our rooftop tent (the one we had on our Namibia trip)

The Metalian Parthian is very compact and has everything to meet our needs. Most of you know how much we love to prepare food while camping, and with the Metalian, it is now very easy.

We bought the off-road trailer from 4Matt Campers in Bellville (a suburb of Cape Town) while we still lived 1400km away in East London. It required a lot of calls and emails, but in the end, great service from 4Matt Campers – and their patience to answer all Berto’s questions – ensured that we could pick up the Metalian Parthian trailer at their premises without any problems when we arrived in Cape Town in April.

The next part of our post has been written by Berto. The technical details may sound a bit strange (and over the top) to some of our readers, but for those of you who know something about off-road trailers (or want to know more), this information can be very useful.

Over to Berto:

When we bought the trailer from 4Matt Campers, it already had a fully self-sufficient 12v electrical system built in for off grid camping for extended periods. This system provides 12v power to the camping fridge, lights and to charge cell phones.

The 12v electrical system includes:

  • Victron BMV700 Shunt and monitor to monitor the state of charge of the battery.
  • Victron BlueSolar Charge Controller MPPT 100/20 to charge the battery from a solar panel.
  • Victron Orion-Tr Smart 12/12-30A (360W) DC-DC Charger to charge the battery from the vehicle while driving.
  • Victron BlueSmart IP65 Charger 12V 15A to charge the battery when you have 220V power available or charging at home.
  • LiFePO4 Battery 105Ah with Bluetooth
  • 8x LEDs to provide light at each of the doors
  • 120W foldable Solar Panel

The fridge/freezer and the lights consume about 15% of the battery power per day. The solar panel can charge the battery to 100% in reasonable time depending on the weather. In South Africa we have clear weather most of the time (even in winter).

Built in electrical system

Another addition that the trailer already had was a complete water system. There are 2 x 68 liter tanks, a tap, a pump, and a filter, with a total water capacity of 136 liters of water.

The 2 x 68 liter water tanks

To add the additional items we needed, I took the trailer directly to Metalian 4×4 Trailers & Canopies in Kuils River (another suburb of Cape Town). Again, we received excellent service from the team and here is what they installed:

  • Hot water system (Gas water heater 5.5 liter) – yes, we can take a hot shower in the wilderness.
  • Mixer tap in kitchen area for washing of the dishes
  • Two Burner Gas Stove with Stainless Steel Worktop Kitchen Drop Down Door Hinged
  • Cadac 5kg gas bottle to provide gas to the stove top and the hot water system.
  • Canvas Caddie Complete set in all the doors to store cutlery and other items.

Gas water heater

Mixer tap & two burner gas stove

Cadac gas bottle

Canvas caddies for storage

Our toiletry bags

Pull-out drawers and more canvas caddies for storage

The back of the trailer

More storage – clothes, bedding, etc.

I also plan more electrical upgrades, which include the following:

  • A second LiFePO4 Battery 105Ah with Bluetooth to increase the capacity to 210 Ah. The second battery is required to provide 220V power to the ice maker and other 220V equipment like a coffee machine.
  • Victron 1200W Invertor to provide 220V when off grid.
  • The current DC-DC Charger will be upgraded to a Victron Orion XS 12/12-50A DC-DC Charger.
  • Solar panel with 220W capacity.

New electrical equipment that was not included on this trip (but we bought these in the meantime and will show them to you in our next camping post):

  • National Luna 60 liter S/S Fridge/Freezer Combo with separate fridge and freezer compartments.
  • National Luna 12kg Ice Maker (makes 12kg ice in 24 hours). The ice maker works from a 220V power supply and require an inverter to supply the 220V electricity from the battery.

That’s it, over and out from Berto.

If you didn’t understand everything, don’t feel alone – I struggle with all the terminology too. The most important thing (for me) is to know that I can take a hot shower when we go wild camping and that I have now more than enough space for everything I always want to bring along on a camping trip!

We enjoyed camping at Kromrivier again. The evenings around the fire while we listen to the sounds of nature are always the best part of camping. And it was great to do this with our friends again.

Kromrivier looks stunning during Autumn

We took a beautiful road out of the Cederberg Mountains. At the low-water bridge where the Olifants River flows, we paused for a while and enjoyed breakfast – French loaf with smoked chicken pâté and a warm cup of coffee and tea. That my friends, is how one wraps up a camping weekend.

Breakfast at the low-water bridge

Olifants River

Preparing drinks and breakfast

Breakfast in nature

In our next post, we’ll take you on a short hike through the amazing rock formations at Truitjieskraal – click here.