What an unforgettable weekend! It was a flyaway adventure, something we hadn’t done in ages. Back in the day, this was our regular gig, but then our boys came along, and we had to swap jet-setting for diaper duty. So, this weekend was extra special.

We took off from Uitenhage Airfield in a Cessna 182, ZS-OFI, with some close friends, with two more aircraft joining the party for the two-night stay at the De Stijl Hotel at Gariep Dam.

The flight to Gariep Dam was smoother than a jazz saxophone solo. We were greeted by the airfield manager and his wife, who rolled out the red carpet for us. There were already some aircraft from Johannesburg there. The East London and Bloemfontein crew joined us a little later. With an early start planned for the following day it was time to refuel before moving on to the hotel. The hotel transport picked us up from the airfield and chauffeured us around like VIPs all weekend.

After a tasty lunch, some of us went on a Dam wall tour, while others checked out the local yacht club.

We all reconvened for a sunset cruise on a barge. When we got back, the yacht club had started a big fire for a braai next to the river. Nothing beats a dam-side fire with so many stories, laughter and catching up with old friends. We didn’t stay up too late, knowing we had an early flight the next morning.

Saturday morning, we headed back to the airfield, and the whole group took off for breakfast at Orania. The flight had us following the Orange River from the Gariep Dam wall and took us over the second largest Dam in South Africa, The Vanderkloof. The extent of this mass of water is very impressive with the highest dam wall at 108 metres high.

Once we landed, a tour bus picked us up to go to the Oewer resort. Most of our group was English, and as many may know, Orania is a very Afrikaans town with its own currency. The locals were incredibly friendly and helpful.

Around lunchtime, we all flew back to Gariep to watch the rugby. The hotel set up a big screen in the dining room, and we watched the Bokke beat New Zealand. Dinner was served, followed by fines and awards for anything you did wrong over the weekend. From making too much dust on takeoff to saying something peculiar, and boy, was that part fun.

The forecast for our return trip was for the weather to deteriorate from mid Sunday Morning. The PE crowd decided to leave at 6 am to make sure we got back to Uitenhage Airfield before this bad weather rolled in. The flight back from Gariep was stunning, with a completely different scenery. It’s amazing how clouds can change everything. After everyone landed, we had some coffee and koekies in the hangar to wrap up a brilliant weekend away.

Wow, what an unforgettable weekend

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