The de Villiers Hike: New Friends and More Muscles

Sir JH de Villiers

‘Who was this chap, de Villiers, who everyone goes on about? ‘ said Tristan Russell to me as he collapsed onto the wall near the drinking fountain near the top of Nursery Gorge on the first Saturday of the school year. ‘I would like to meet him….  This is the most challenging thing I have done in my life.’

I would also like to meet  that chap de Villiers – but probably not for the same reasons as that Grade 8.  The school probably owes more to Sir JH de Villiers, later the first Baron de Villiers of Wynberg, than any other resident of our suburb.  As Chairman of the Board of Governors in 1881 and residing in Wynberg House (now the site of the Jacques Kallis Oval), he saw the need for a quality school in the area and sold considerable parts of his estate ‘Oude Wijnberg’ to the school trustees and personally raised the funds for the building of the ‘new’ school which opened its doors in 1892 with Edward Littlewood, latterly of Cambridge University, as Headmaster.  This school, with its Herbert Baker Hall, is now the site of Wynberg Boys’ Junior School.

It is interesting to note that Lord de Villiers was an old SACS boy – so Wynberg owes a big debt to its traditional rivals!

This year was the 6th annual ‘de Villiers Walk’.  All new boys, accompanied by their matric buddies and anyone else who wishes to go, walk from de Villiers Road running alongside the school, over the M5 pedestrian bridge to Cecilia Forest.  From there, they cut back to Nursery Gorge, up the Mountain where they meet me next to the tap.  ‘The Headmaster walks the Old Man’s route up the back of the mountain to meet the boys,’ said the Grade 8 Head, Daniel Ramage, scornfully to the parents,  a few days later at the Blazer Ceremony.  Let the record show, that Daniel Ramage has accompanied me for the last five years up the Old Man’s route…..

Grade 8 Sleep Over in the Clegg Hall

The Grade 8’s had slept at school the night before and were woken by their matrics at 5.00am. The mountain was clear of cloud and a great day for walking and looking at the view had dawned.  During the next hour, those who were accompanying the walk arrived.  Darryn Thomas, a Wellington matric from the previous year,  also appeared announcing that he regretted missing the hike in his matric year and now he wanted to make amends….

I waited at Cecilia Forest for the troops to arrive.  ‘Oh, no!  Does this mean Wynberg  is up the mountain again?’ said one early morning hiker who recognised me.

‘I am afraid so,’ I said.  ‘Steer well clear of Nursery Gorge if you want a peaceful and quiet walk.’

‘Is this it?’ asked one red-faced Grade 8 Lorie boy who were the first house group to arrive at the Cecilia Forest parking lot.  ‘Well nearly,’ I wanted to say,  ‘only five hours to go.’

Sameer Isaacs was indignant.  ‘You cheated, Sir,’ he said to me accusingly.  ‘You drove here by car.’

‘Headmasters are allowed to,’ I informed him. ‘It is written in the Headmaster’s Handbook.’

‘Can I see it?’ he persisted.  I told him to carry on hiking.  I can spot the troublesome ones early on!

One after the other the houses arrived and after receiving a final safety briefing from their house prefects, set off up the mountain.  When Littlewood set off, they saw Rhodes House in the distance.  ‘That house is red,’ they warbled untunefully,’ they should have stayed in bed.’

Barry Emms, Housemaster of de Waal House, was half way up Nursery Gorge when he received an SMS from his old classmate from 1998, Sean Alborough.  ‘What is going on?’  he asked.  ‘We are having a picnic on the Kirstenbosch lawns and all we can hear is the Wynberg school song echoing from the mountain….’.

Good thing he wasn’t up at the top of Nursery Gorge a few hours later when the various houses arrived.  Lorie arrived first and let the other houses know that they had made it. ‘My Grade 8’s cheered their guts out,’ said House Prefect, Luthando Siboya.   ’I was so proud of them, that I almost cried.’

Van Riebeeck House were not so lucky. Rogan Wiget-Beattie was not impressed that his House Prefect, Lyle Rogers, took the wrong route and they had to walk further.  ‘We were laughing at him though – because he was so cross because we were stuck behind de Villiers up Nursery Gorge and they were going so slowly.’

Larry Moser, who was with Lorie House, kept flagging spirits up by telling him all those around him that there was a restaurant at the top with a beautiful view where Mr Richardson was waiting for them with glasses of coke with ice.

Daniel Ramage was regaling his Littlewood group about an African wedding to which he had been invited. Koketso Mamabolo was impressed and spent the rest of the hike teaching him African wedding songs.  Daniel should now be a hit at that wedding.

The hike soon took its toll on Daniel which enabled Koketso to enthuse his men by saying:  ‘Come on chaps, if Mr Ramage can do it, then anyone can….’

'There is a house in blue ... '

At the top of Nursery Gorge,  every house chanted their war cry or sang the school song on making it up the ‘devil steps’.  Littlewood were still at it.  ‘There is a house in blue,  they don’t know what to do,’ they shouted provocatively at Wellington further down the mountain.

‘I shook all the de Villiers guys’ hands,’ said their House Prefect, Dylan Consentino when they reached the end of the ‘devil steps’. ‘It was an amazing feeling of togetherness which we all shared by getting to the top.’

He went on to say, ‘ It was a great moment for me when my best mate, Andrew Nicholls made it to the top.  He is a true inspiration for me and I will never forget the congratulatory chest bump we gave each other.’

It must be a boy thing.

I was waiting for all the houses  at the tap at one of the rangers’ cottages about twenty minutes walk from the top of Nursery Gorge.  ‘Where is the restaurant?’ Lorie house demanded of me.

‘Huh??’

‘Talk your way out of that one,’ said Larry Moser to me. ‘Isn’t there a restaurant at the top of every mountain?’

‘I will never complain about Elephant’s Eye again,’ said Jordan Kruger emphatically as he flopped down. Riaz Orrie expressed a similar sentiment.  ‘Next time, I will stick to the cablecar!’

Michael Rousseau: '... to sleep, perchance to dream ..'

Michael Rousseau of Rhodes House didn’t say a word.  He just took off his pack and lay down on the concrete road and promptly went to sleep.  A group of German tourists who had hiked up the concrete road (the Old Man’s route…!)  stopped for a drink at the tap.  ‘Is that boy okay?’ one of them asked me.

‘He is fine,’ I said airily.  They were unconvinced and gave me a look which said volumes.  I had the feeling that I was lucky that I was not in Germany otherwise I would have had child abuse charges against me.   Or a firing squad.

I was still way up the mountain, when the sounds of Littlewood arriving at the Cecilia car park wafted up the mountain.  ‘There is a house in black and we are going to give them a smack…’.   McNaughton were behind me and fortunately didn’t hear the challenge.  In any event, they were nursing a few slow ones, so they wouldn’t have had to strength to react.

Aidan Mulholland, also from Rhodes House, turned his ankle over on the way down.   Fortunately they only had about an hour to go down the mountain – so the Damian Commons carried him on his back.  ‘Can he come with you in the car?’  Brandon Coetzee the House Prefect asked me hopefully when they arrived back at the car park.

‘Sure,’ I said, ‘but then he cannot ring the school bell as he has not completed the hike.’  Without a word, Damian Commins put him back on his shoulders and they carried on walking the final two kilometres.

Back at school, reactions varied.  ‘I was so pleased to see the school,’ said Storme Conradie. ‘It is my home from home.’

‘I came back with 15 new friends and 15mm more muscle,’ boasted Ewin Landers.

The indefatigable Littlewood were still at it: ‘There is a house in yellow and they are far too mellow….’

A new ‘tradition’ was started this year, in that on their successful return, the Grade 8 boys, supported by  their buddies,  were allowed to toll the school bell symbolising the start of their Wynberg careers.  It was probably the last thing on their minds, but the next time they ring that school bell will be at their Valedictory  service  in five years time signifying the end of their school careers.

Ringing in the new ...

‘The view was amazing on the way down,’ said Brandon Taylor. ‘Not even words can describe it. And boy! when I got back, did I ring that bell with honour and pride.’

‘When I rang that bell, it gave me goose bumps,’ said Michael Rousseau, obviously invigorated by his sleep on the mountain  – a fact which would have brought relief to the German tourists if they had known.

Matthew Bell probably summed up what every Grade 8 was feeling.  ‘When I arrived back at school and rang that bell, I finally felt that I was part of the school and a Wynberg Man.’  Dane Heidman echoed this sentiment: ‘I am now officially part of the school  and my new journey is just beginning.’

View the Grade 8s ringing the bell: Our Facebook Album

I took the opportunity at the Blazer Ceremony a few days later to explain to parents why we went on the hike. 

‘This hike symbolizes so many of the good characteristics which this school stands for:

•             Life IS a challenge and we have to face up to many of life’s challenges like we faced up to that steep gorge up Table Mountain. That is the Aiming High part of our Brand.
•             Some of them struggled – which is no problem.  No-one ever promised them  that life would be easy.  What was evident, though, is the number of matrics who walked with them – helping them, encouraging them, supporting them.  That is the Friendship part of our Brand.
•             We met a group of hikers  at the top who had passed one of the houses .  They told me that every boy without exception, tired as they were, stood up and said ‘Morning, Sir.’  One of them made the comment to me :  ‘I see Wynberg are back up the mountain again!’  So now they have learnt the key component of our Brand which makes us stand out among the schools of Cape Town :  Manners
•             Finally, many of the boys told me it was the longest hike of their lives.  When I walked the school  fields on Athletics Day, I remarked to many of the Grade 8’s to look at where they went. I am proud of what they achieved – and I know that they are too.  Pride in performance is a vital part of growing to Manhood and the central to our Brand.

• Once they were in that gorge, there was no turning back and they had to grit their teeth and tackle it head-on.  There was certainly no giving up.  That is the Supera Moras of our Brand.

I am often asked by prospective parents to Wynberg what the ultimate goal with our boys is.  Let me state it now quite unequivocally for everyone:  it is through the five points of our school Brand that we show our school culture and our ethos.  The purpose of our Brand is to build up confidence in our young men so that they one day can go forth into society and look anyone in the eye.’

That is what the de Villiers Hike is all about.