Just to get your attention there. This last week a buddy and I snuck two days on a 'work trip' and went bouldering in ROcklnads. I had heard about the new campsite manager and having met him can safely say he is an asshole. We arrived late in the pm and not seeing anyone headed out for about 2 hours bouldering at the campground boulders only to return and receive a royal kakking on by Kobus about our lack of respect for the rules etc etc. There is not a pleasant vibe at Pakhuis anymore and the chilled atmosphere that made it so special has been replaced by a nazi with low self esteem. Once we had settled down and collected some fallen pine branches for a small fire we received another kakking on... Another gripe is that the fees really are pretty steep... R90 a site regardless of numbers of people (not so cool for lonesome foreigners who want to stay for a couple of weeks.) On top of that there is now a R30 fee for climbing at the camground boulders which used to be part of the camping fee. So 2 hours climbing was a cool R30 and he wanted to charge us another R30 for the next mornings climbing... So we cruised over to the new Alpha farm area... very nice people who are keen to prmote their boulders and build a campsite... its a no brainer where I will be staying in the future. On the plus side the new area is awesome... Plateuax Boulders and Arch Valley for me are the best two areas at rocklands!

Ja Bru... Kobus is asshole!!!!

Long story short:

A friend and myself went up to the landz the other weekend and planned on only staying for one night (as we were going up the coast). So to save the R45 each for the campsite our plan was to vist \"De Kelder\" for Saturday night...
Anyway we took a drive past the dam's campsite, in a futile attemp to find ladies in Clanwilliam
Obviously Non were found
But we did find out that their campsites are R60 a night.... Ok so you are goinr to have to drive in everyday. But all things considered we will be staying at the Dam for any further weekend trips....

Just an idea: use it or lose it

Posting griping messages on the forum is unproductive. The Kliphuis campsite is (if i understand correctly) being run as a private business on a one-year servitude basis for CNC by a private individual. If it is being badly run then our best option IMHO is to let CNC know, so that they can deal with it.

You can contact them at

Media and public relations enquiries:
Natasha Rockman
(021)659 3449
nrockman@pgwc.gov.za

trust me Carl these guys are being nice about the situation. Try sitting around your fire at night with the local idiot shouting at the top of his lungs in your face. Not only will this place go out of business when Alpha farms gets their campsite up and running but I'm really surprised he has not been flattened by some foreigner. Climbers are generally passive but this guy is nuts.

Ya, your probably right about going straight to cnc... thanks for the email address. The problem is that cnc probably wont do anything about it becuase Kobus is actually making the campsite profitable again albeit in a totally draconian manner. THe only way they will get the message is if we stop going to the campsite to avoid feeling like you are back at work with some asshole breathing down your neck and generally making what used to be a chilled campsite into a concentration camp.

In response to all the complaining about the Kliphuis campsite, I am a foreign climber (at least, I am a foreigner, and I try to climb!) and me and some buddies have just spent an excellent weekend at the Kliphuis campsite.
Regarding the prices, I do not know what they used to be, and as we were with seven people, R 90 for a campsite ain't too bad!
Regarding good old Kobus, he was very helpful and sold us huge amounts of wood at R 10 a bushel (pretty good price if you ask me) and as he was doing his rounds in the evening we invited him over for a dop and a chop, and he joined us at our campfire for an hour or so.
He was very pleasant and as we were leaving yesterday (Sunday) afternoon he came by to wish us a good trip, saying he really hoped to see us again etc. etc.

All in all, a very cool weekend with a fantastic atmosphere and a nice, if somewhat quaint camp manager.
The moral of the story: If you're nice to people, they are nice to you!

I fully agree with you Howard, it was a great weekend for the second time at this place and the owner/manger is great and friendly, maybe the people are taking advantage for the place and are disrespect ful and there for they deserve what ever Kobus gave them - good for you Kobus, you are in charge.

Just popping in to agree with Howard and Guy.

A friend and I recently went down there and found Kobus to be a pretty cool dude. What goes around comes around, it's amazing how much people complain when they are caught breaking the rules

_________________
At the chaaaaains boet!!

No doubt some people have had pleasant experiences with olde Kobie, but let the record show that there are three different people who found the guy to be an asshole on this forum not just one individual griping...

Kobus is cool! 4-3

Surely the four people that thought Cobus to be cool, are also asshole's because he really isn't!

Allright! enough already! We'll put a poll up next week so everyone can vote (late next week that is)

Lets hope Kobus doesn't have internet acsess or try googling his name. He would be fairly pissed at being called an ass on a public forum....wether he is or isn't.

Have to stop

I have to say, I thought climbers were laid-back, easy-going, fun and generally just cool people who enjoyed the outdoors... So why is everyone nit-picking about paying a few extra Rands to stay at a beautiful place that is worth more than any amount of money. We are so privileged that climbing takes us to these amazing places. Why is there this attitude that these places belong to climbers?

I really don't think it's fair to attack Kobus' character either.. he is just doing his job and yes he takes it seriously, but I think his enthusiasm is somewhat admirable and if you just put your holier-than-though attitudes aside and gave the guy some respect, you'd realise he isn't half bad and actually enjoys having us there (geez, the guy must be lonely!)

So why not stop all the whining.. take a breath of fresh mountain air and appreciate all that climbing offers!

Some times its not what you say..... its how you say it???

I must say, I agree with fool. enforcing the rules is one thing, but nobody gets a chance to be laid back when accosted by a bitter asshole. where's the signage (at the campground or the parking) for anyone to know whats going on? his approach should be appologetic until its clear to all.

i too had the experience recently and was in awe of just how beligerent and pointless his demeanor is. and someone is going to level the prick soon if he continues this way.

the klein kliphuis 5km toward clanwilliam is a sweet option thats often overlooked. nicest camping around and cheap too. putting the prick out of business is the best way forward.

I was starting to think that maybe my approach to old Kobus was wrong but he surely has a knack for pissing people off regardless of how nice they are to him. The people who defend Kobus do so with good intentions and possibly more tolerant attitudes than some, but the fact remains that many people are choosing not to camp at Pakhuis, myself included.

Signage is the first step followed by a change in attitude. Also, why the fuck does the gate get locked at night? Its not like people can't just jump over it and steal stuff.... We wanted to go into ClanWilliam for a few well deserved cold ones on bleeding tips but had to settle for luke-warm tassies as we were locked in the campgroud.... again no signage saying \"To be let out contact Kobus...\"

I'm not saying Kobus has to go, but it would be unwise to ignore people's opinions based on the assumption that they are just punk climbers who break the rules and deserve a royal kakking on!!! But hey, thats just my opinion...

I was starting to think that maybe my approach to old Kobus was wrong but he surely has a knack for pissing people off regardless of how nice they are to him. The people who defend Kobus do so with good intentions and possibly more tolerant attitudes than some, but the fact remains that many people are choosing not to camp at Pakhuis, myself included.

Signage is the first step followed by a change in attitude. Also, why the fuck does the gate get locked at night? Its not like people can't just jump over it and steal stuff.... We wanted to go into ClanWilliam for a few well deserved cold ones on bleeding tips but had to settle for luke-warm tassies as we were locked in the campgroud.... again no signage saying \"To be let out contact Kobus...\"

I'm not saying Kobus has to go, but it would be unwise to ignore people's opinions based on the assumption that they are just punk climbers who break the rules and deserve a royal kakking on!!! But hey, thats just my opinion...

I was starting to think that maybe my approach to old Kobus was wrong but he surely has a knack for pissing people off regardless of how nice they are to him. The people who defend Kobus do so with good intentions and possibly more tolerant attitudes than some, but the fact remains that many people are choosing not to camp at Pakhuis, myself included.

Signage is the first step followed by a change in attitude. Also, why the fuck does the gate get locked at night? Its not like people can't just jump over it and steal stuff.... We wanted to go into ClanWilliam for a few well deserved cold ones on bleeding tips but had to settle for luke-warm tassies as we were locked in the campgroud.... again no signage saying \"To be let out contact Kobus...\"

I'm not saying Kobus has to go, but it would be unwise to ignore people's opinions based on the assumption that they are just punk climbers who break the rules and deserve a royal kakking on!!! But hey, thats just my opinion...

I was starting to think that maybe my approach to old Kobus was wrong but he surely has a knack for pissing people off regardless of how nice they are to him. The people who defend Kobus do so with good intentions and possibly more tolerant attitudes than some, but the fact remains that many people are choosing not to camp at Pakhuis, myself included.

Signage is the first step followed by a change in attitude. Also, why the fuck does the gate get locked at night? Its not like people can't just jump over it and steal stuff.... We wanted to go into ClanWilliam for a few well deserved cold ones on bleeding tips but had to settle for luke-warm tassies as we were locked in the campgroud.... again no signage saying \"To be let out contact Kobus...\"

I'm not saying Kobus has to go, but it would be unwise to ignore people's opinions based on the assumption that they are just punk climbers who break the rules and deserve a royal kakking on!!! But hey, thats just my opinion...

I was starting to think that maybe my approach to old Kobus was wrong but he surely has a knack for pissing people off regardless of how nice they are to him. The people who defend Kobus do so with good intentions and possibly more tolerant attitudes than some, but the fact remains that many people are choosing not to camp at Pakhuis, myself included.

Signage is the first step followed by a change in attitude. Also, why the F does the gate get locked at night? Its not like people can't just jump over it and steal stuff.... We wanted to go into ClanWilliam for a few well deserved cold ones on bleeding tips but had to settle for luke-warm tassies as we were locked in the campgroud.... again no signage saying \"To be let out contact Kobus...\"

I'm not saying Kobus has to go, but it would be unwise to ignore people's opinions based on the assumption that they are just punk climbers who break the rules and deserve a royal kakking on!!! But hey, thats just my opinion...

Hi - I don't have the time to read through all the postings but its necessary that I state my opinion:

1) If you break the rules - deal with the consequences - including ruining access for all the other climbers.
2) Climbers do not have unlimited access to public and private land. If you are going to tarnish our image with slander then you will make it more difficult for us to secure access. Please be diplomatic, even plaas japies have access to the internet.

Happy cranking

_________________
AndyDavies

I found a better place to climb..... while going through the forums it has come to my attention that climbing gyms are the new \"in thing\" Haha

this is just speculation but: i think that an unnamed person locks the gates at night to stop the influx on climbers sneeking in at night....???? and then sneeking away in the morning with out paying.

There is a lot of whining going on here – with very little chance of anything being changed. Why not take a more constructive approach and draft a letter expressing the concerns of climbers in an adult manner. This could be sent to someone like Andy Davies, who could put it on an MCSA letterhead and send it to CapeNature (so that they can make Kliphuis campground into a better facility). This might actually get things changed for the better. Bitching in a forum will never achieve anything!