Roadside camping my 10 year old lightbulb moment

Warren there are many stop over parks spread throughout  the country already, some very nice and some very basic. Most of them situated on a farm just outside a town.

I for one will not sleep over at a one stop, can you imagine the noise when big trucks pull in there at night, and the noise from cars and trucks passing on the highway.

We became friends with an elderly couple who has been camping full time, both in their 80 ties who sleep over at the normal parking areas at One Stops, they have never been asked to pack up and go. But they do admit the noise is terrible.

So to answer your question, I do not think much of your light bulb moment, sorry

Warren what you suggested i put in a tread earlier that is what i do .Okay the noise of the trucks and cars do make for a sleepness night but i am save and as you mentioned most of these places have 24h shops so easy peazy hot coffee when you wake up even a crusty pie that ends with a severe heartburn for the rest of the trip . I just wonder how many people will make use of this kind of facility should it become a reality . I will give 8/10 for the suggestion Warren

Warren i am with you on this one .Like i said i have been doing this Ultra City stops for the last few years now and touch wood have never been chased away or harrassed .I usually talk with the main dude there and ask him to show me where to stop and give him some cold drink money and ask to keep an eye out for me .The plus side they have ablutions ,a 24 hour shop with foods and hot coffee . I wonder how long it will take before these Ultra City garages will realize that there is money to be made from this venture .

Warren, I think that could work, provided they don't over charge. Why don't you try the idea with eg Shell, or Caltex. 

I am sure, if the dapital outlay isn't to high, they might just considder it.

This reminded me of my overnight stop @ one of these 24H roadside garages in 1993 when I moved from Durban to Pretoria.

Loaded some stuff in the kombi and hit the road at about 10 pm. The kombi had a back-yard 3.0 litre ford engine conversion done resulting in some overheating when working hard over long periods. Travelling at night was my solution for this problem.

Going was slow and around 3 am I pulled over at the garage to rest. I think it was around Villiers somewhere and it was getting cold. The 2nd row passenger seats were turned around facing the 3rd row creating a very comfortable bed at the back. All I could find to use to keep warm while trying to sleep in the back were 2 kudu hides.

I soon fell asleep and only woke up after sunrise with other travellers already arriving for a break. It was quite funny to see the look on their faces when i got out of the kombi and rolled my “blankets” carefully before getting back in the driver`s seat. I always wonder what they were thinking about this weird guy sleeping in his kombi and using hides -from animals which he probably hunted himself at some stage- for blankets. I must have looked like some modern bushman to them.

Kombi sold long ago but i still dream of traveling through SA like that again one day......

Hi Pieter, your story reminds me of my wife and I, shortly after we got engaged on a trip to the West Coast.

Our overnight stop was also in the back of my VW van where we made a bed and stopped at the shell stop just before Kimberley.  

Hopelik eendag sal ek en sy weer so 'n light weigt road trip doen 

PS. Welkom by kampforum 

Welkom hier Pieter C

Dankie vir die deel, my Pa het ook 'n Kombi gehad wat se deure soos kas deure oop gemaak het, sit was 'n 1600 motor.  My pa het een tyd 2 koeie daar in vervoer.