History Webs
For the Drakenstein Valley
Oukraal
The Oukraal camp site on Paarl Mountain is about 200m from the road to the FM tower, and surrounded by large granite outcrops. It was a popular camping site until the 1960s Family names associated with this site include: De Villiers, Du Plessis, Garish, Chapman, Page and Grobbelaar.
The waterfall
An
alternative route to Oukraal starts on the Jan Phillips Mountain Road,
up through a narrow kloof and past this waterfall.
References
* Audio Tape No.
96 and various documents at the Drakenstein
Heemkring.
* Oukraal: beroemde kampplek op Paarlberg by Manas de Villiers, Paarl Post, 1951
Quote
"From town we would walk up to Meulwater, through Dronknes, past the waterfall to Oukraal ... early Sunday mornings before church. We had breakfast there. The flat stone was called the breakfast rock and (we) used it as a table. Braai equipment, cutlery and jukskeis were all packed away in crevices in the rocks to that we only had to carry food up the mountain." Hermanus le Roux.
Oukraal-liedjie
Manus de Villiers wrote the lyrics of "Oukraal- liedjie" in 1940. The song was popularised by Groep Twee in the 1960s, and became a national hit.
Jy met jou
mandolientjie
Ek met my banjolientjie
Speel ons die
Oukraal-liedjie saam.
Sing ons van waterstrome
Slange en olienhoutbome
En ribbokke wat teen die
rantjie staan.
Ons sing, ons speel,
Van die Oukraal wat ons
noot nie sal verveel.
Jy met jou mandolientjie
Ek met my banjolientjie
Speel ons die
Oukraal-liedjie saam.
Oukraal - a fading legend
Oukraal
and jukskei Oukraal was another of Paarl Mountain's
popular camping
sites, but unlike Christmas Camp, rarely visited today.
The camping
site is a labyrinth of large granite bolders and wild olive trees that
years ago would have provided shelter against the sun and the wind. One
of the rocks has an indentation on top that fills with water during the
winter months. It is called Africa Rock, because the shape of the
indentation.
The campsite has now evidence of
permanent occupation,
although the
name "oukraal" indicates that herdsmen may also have used it a shelter
while grazing sheep and cattle on the mountain.
Decades ago many families would have trekked up the mountain
slope with bedding, tents and provisions to spend school holidays and
long weekends at Oukraal.
During the day they played jukskei and
cricket and sang
popular songs around campfires at night.
In the 1950s the emblem of the Oukraal
jukskei team was
painted on one of the rocks, and can still be seen today.