When you get your hands on a new Land Rover Defender, you leave the city. Oliver Keohane took the Defender 130 First Edition up through Porterville and into the mountains for a quiet weekend of camping at Beaverlac.
It seemed slightly criminal that Land Rover’s latest, eight-seater behemoth would be transporting only my girlfriend and me on the N1, via the R44, up to Beaverlac. Those extra three seats being, after all, the main differentiator between the new 130 and it smaller siblings – the Defender 90 and 110.
In older editions, these numbers referred to the length of the wheel base. Not quite the case in the newest Defender, which makes space for its extra seating with a massive overhang that takes the car to just under 5,4 meters long.
More on how we utilised our extra six seats later…
Beaverlac is not a far drive drive from Cape Town, but is is far enough to get a good sense of the car that you’re driving, and the feeling that you have substantially from the city.
We were behind the wheel of the D300 First Edition, the top diesel iteration of the new Defender 130, which thanks to its First Edition genetics wears a unique “Sedona Red” paint-job. There is a also a slightly less powerful D250 diesel engine, while Land Rover has made sure to make petrol motors available in the 130 with the P300 and P400 (there exists a P500 V8 too), while also making using of Mild-Hybrid Electrical Vehicle technology.
The 3,0 -litre, six-cylinder turbo-diesel is a powerful engine. It needs to be in order to move over two and half tonnes of car, and on the open road is where you really feel the engineering quality of Land Rovers Ingenium diesel engine. 221kW and 650 N.m at our disposal was more than enough for a two hour journey. Paired to the ever-smooth 8-speed automatic ZF transmission and benefiting from Land Rover’s Electronic Air Suspension, the new Defender 130 makes for an incredibly comfortable drive. The same can not be said of any of the Defender ancestors! Whether it be the 90, 110 or 130, all the new Defenders represent a stunning combination of off-road capability and contemporary comfort.
Related: Land Rover reportedly birthing ‘baby’ Defender
You could feel that the Defender was far more at home on open stretches of road than the small streets of the city, and it was equally at home crawling down the final stretch of dirt road to Beaverlac’s camping facilities – Hill Descent Control engaged, All Terrain Response doing its thing.
Inside the car you’ve got all the luxuries you could ask for on a road trip. A beautifully configured 11.4 inch infotainment system which is integrated with the what3words global location platform for precise navigation, which is brilliant for travelling in remote locations. Land Rover’s Pivi Pro touchscreen is also one of the nicest systems I’ve used to date. You ears are blessed by a Meridian speaker system, and other comforts include leather seats, four-way climate control, a panoramic sunroof and Land Rover’s Cabin Air Purification system which monitors and improves air quality in the car. Your money also gets you a little fridge, where most cars have a storage box…
I’ve been to Beaverlac a few times, and I have seen old Chicos and Fiat 500s driven up the mountain road and down the dirt road to the camping area. I have never seen the under-carriage nor the aftermath of any of these cars, but evidence would suggest it is possible to get to the camping spot in a little hatchback.
But, ideally you wouldn’t want to. It was such a luxury to float down in the Defender 130, and we were equally fortunate to have so much room in the car that we were able to build a hybrid campsite where our small tent was for sleeping only, and the Land Rover acted as a closet, laundry, bar and kitchen while also allowing us some privacy.
We set up our home for the weekend in a far corner of the campsite, stringing a hammock between two trees, and erecting the tent underneath the shade of the one. We parked the Defender with its boot towards the tent, shielding the it from other potential campers, though there would only end up being two in our area over the whole weekend.
It was the perfect set up; our fire pit stationed on the edge of grass, before the terrain turns to brush. The hammock stretched with ratchet straps between two tall tress, and our little two-person tent. All set against the backdrop of the brilliant Olifants mountains.
Quaint in every way.
Except for the mammoth Land Rover that marked our territory.
So here’s what happens if you are not transporting an entire family in the Land Rover Defender 130, and for some reason you find yourself with just your partner, your two bags and six extra seats:
Front seats playing home to big puffer jackets and the “miscellaneous bag”. Middle chairs folded down to make space for our clothes, little laundry bags hung off the front seats. Back seats folded down to reveal the Defender 130’s enormous boot and provide both a scullery and halfway station for meal prep.
Perhaps it was criminal to not take six people camping in the 130, I think we made up for it by using the stationary car as a make shift hut.
I have such a soft spot for Beaverlac, a mountainous haven blessed by the Ratel and Olifants River. It is one of the first places I went camping and remains as endearing, and as easy to get to many years later. I think its one of the things I love most about Beaverlac; it offers you a such serenity and beauty but it is so accessible.
If you are travelling from Cape Town, it shouldn’t take you more than two and half hours (just under two hours with an inline six Ingenium Diesel engine). If you are camping in a tent, you pay a ridiculously low fee of R80 per person, per night and a R40 car fee for the weekend. There is almost always space, and all you have to do is submit a booking inquiry, fill in the form that you are sent, and rock up with cash. That’s an important one though, you have to bring cash to pay at reception and to buy anything from the shop.
The shop at Beaverlac is also just wonderful and despite being tucked away in a 5000 hectar valley, somehow seems to stay with the times and stock everything you may need when camping, be it ice, wood, batteries, oil, meat or booze. Bring your own Tabard though. I was also happy to see that they now stock the Yakitori Chicken Lays, arguably the best flavour released in recent years.
We were blessed with afternoon sun on Friday, and then a cool and cloudy climate come Saturday. It is still winter, and while some sun would have been welcome the weather made for perfect hiking conditions. We took Saturday to hike up the Totem Pools, where we took an icy dip and then cooked a late breakfast next to a thundering stream that added to the waterfalls of the Totem Pools.
Sunday was reserved for a slightly less strenuous walk to the secret pools, perhaps not as magnificent as the previous day’s hike, though possessing an air of calm that the Totem Pools, with their rushing water and imposing rock formations, will never have.
The secret pools won’t take more than 20 minutes to get to from the campsite, and they provide a great space to set up for the day, especially in the summer where it is a bit easier to stay in the water. The Totem Pools offer a proper hike, and you can get to them with just over an hour of brisk walking, but I feel the scenery begs a leisurely walk and a few stops along the way.
Oh, and you must visit the main pool (a ten minute walk from the campsite). Let its popularity not detract from its appeal, it is a special and iconic spot in the South African camping scene.
Beaverlac, unlike our means of transport, is simple and bare bones its beauty. But it is a banker. You don’t need a lot of money and you don’t have to budget for a lot of travel time to get an authentic camping experience for a weekend. You also don’t need to really plan it… Beaverlac, in its accessibility, offers you the luxury of spontaneity.
You do need a lot of money for Land Rover Defender 130, but if it is within your means and you intend to spend a lot of time out of the city with your family, what a truly wonderful and capable vehicle. It was a privilege to spend some time between dirt and tar in the latest of the Defender lineage.
If you are interested in more details on the Land Rover Defender 130 First Edition, visit CAR Magazine for my full review.
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