At 1589 m ASL Victoria Peak is the highest summit in the Jonkershoek range. From the grassy dome one can see Table Mountain beyond Stellenbosch Mountain and Haelkop, south over the Groenland mountains above Grabouw and Elgin, the blue – and once more spreading – expanse of Theewaterskloof dam, east beyond Emerald Dome, Assegaaiboschkloof and Bushmans Castle to Franschhoek, and north to Simonsberg over the Peaks, Cathedral and Banghoek Peak. From above, Victoria Peak curiously seems to radiate concentric countour ridges, almost as if it was once farmland – but it couldn’t have been.
On the peak a solar-powered weather station futilely takes its regular measurements because the dipole antenna has sheared off, lying useless on the ground. In winter the peak will be the first to be topped by snow, often fairly deep and something I have experienced before. The wind very often screams up there, but on this day it was dead calm – great weather for flying a drone to shoot aerial video and photos. My companions from MCSA Stellenbosch Section, whose permission I had sought, tolerated the drone for a while and I tried to keep the flight short and efficient. The results can be viewed in the video.
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