25 May 2025
We always joked the people at Riverbend were a bit bent — now it turns out the land is too…
The past weeks hit hard.
While I was chasing dust, dreams and hope in the Namibian desert with the Rough & Tough Rally (which was a massive success — check it out here), https://www.facebook.com/roughtoughrally ,nature had her own rally back home. A raw, relentless one. One that didn’t check in or ask permission.
The riverbed at Riverbend is still moving — 25 to 30cm per day.
And so did the land.
70% of Riverbend is damaged.
The wall’s cracked. The jetty’s shifted.
And worst of all — our beloved Mara, one of the three Wheeping Willow sister trees, is splitting down the middle.
You may remember the plaque we put up about those sisters:
“Bound not by blood, but by roots…”
Well, those roots are still fighting — but even they’re not immune to a force this wild.
It’s emotional. It’s symbolic. And for me, deeply personal — almost as if this river came to reclaim not just the soil, but close off a chapter that started with my old man.
But Riverbend doesn’t go down quietly.
We rebuild. We restart. We rise.
From 6 June 2025, Riverbend will gently reopen — not for events yet, not for big crowds, not for glamour — but for the soul-searchers. The curious. The real. The river-listeners.
1 campsite.
2 Glamping tents.
Clean. Safe. Honest.
And you’re invited to come witness this chapter as it unfolds —
Come walk the riverbank.
Come feel the cracks.
Come stand next to old Mara and hear her whisper.
It’s not every day you get to watch a force of nature claim and reclaim — while we rebuild around it. This is something raw. And real. And powerful.
Thank you to everyone who’s followed the journey.
We’ll keep sharing. Because Riverbend still has stories to tell.
With mud on our boots and hope in our chest —
Riverbend lives on.
