Groot Toren 4x4 16th July 2006 Rendezvous was at the N1 One Stop. George & Susan arrived early with their folks for breakfast and were soon joined by Andrew & Anna. We met Konrad & Madri and Roger & Niall outside. The other 2 vehicles were going to meet us at the start of the trail, so we left promptly at 07h00. It was an uneventful trip to the trail, via Worcester and Robertson and we arrived at Groot Toren at 08h45. A short while later Jacie Oosthuizen, the owner of Groot Toren arrived and we started sorting out the paperwork. The group all deflated their tyres and then once Doug & Teresa and Sean & Natasha arrived, we had a quick briefing about the trail. The weather conditions were not perfect, it was quite misty and then we also had patches of light rain. This only spoilt the view and had no other effect on the trail. At one stop, it was spooky to see the "Klipspringer Lodge" suddenly appear out of the mist, only disappear again soon after. After about an hours driving, we came to the first split and decided to do the "Red" route. It didn't look bad at all, but after driving through, I still walked back just to make sure everyone made it ok. After about 2 hours on the trail, we stopped at the lookout point at Aasvoelkrans for a coffee break. This is when it started to drizzle, so the break was kept short and we were soon on the way again. It was about another hour to the next view point at Goudgat. As the rain was fairly steady by now, we didn't stay too long, the views were all hidden by cloud anyway. A few of us followed the short path to see the "hole" - supposedly where somebody had been digging for gold. By now, there were a few comments about a lunch stop. Jacie had told me where the key to the cottage could be found, but the folks that had spent the weekend there must have taken it with them. We couldn't get inside and it was pretty miserable to sit in the rain and try and have lunch. At this stage, some of us decided to go complete the trail and get back to the campsite where there was some shelter, so we could have lunch. 3 vehicles stayed at the cottage for their lunch and they joined us a bit later. After lunch, we inflated tyres and then it was goodbye to everyone. I needed to go into McGregor on the way home and didn't think I should make everyone follow me around. All in all, the trail is not difficult at all - quite safe for novices. The fynbos was fantastic. I think if the weather is good, there will be some stunning views. The cottage looks great - would be wonderful for a romantic weekend getaway (you don't have to complete the trail to get to the cottage - there is a shortcut)