Water streaming down to the Kromme River from the White River channel. The photo was taken from the bridge over Gawie se Water
Nearly 200 years ago, a channel was cut through a small rocky ridge in the foothills of Wellington’s Limietberg mountains to allow a constantly flowing diversion of some of the water in the White River westward into the Kromme (windy) River, both of which flow through our Doolhof Valley.
The White River flows east into the Breede River and finally the Indian Ocean and the Kromme River flows west into the Berg River, and onward into the Atlantic Ocean.
The diversion allows an adventurous spirit to row, swim or walk in water all of the way from the Indian to the Atlantic, or vice versa. To my knowledge, no one has ever done it.
This flowing water isolates a large part of the Western Cape from the rest of Africa.
It puts Cape Town, Paarl, Stellenbosch and Wellington on an island, with water all around. To get to the African mainland, we have to cross bridges over the Berg, the Breede, the White or Kromme Rivers or over the Gawies se Water diversion (the Bain’s Kloof pass).