19/08/2026
Vaal River Rats South Africa Vaal Explorer
Meet some of the People of the Vaal River 💙
Celebrating the Vaal River
What is it really like to live on the banks of the Vaal River?
We'd like to introduce you to some of the people who are lucky enough to call the Vaal River home - and share their stories about how living beside the river has changed their lives for the better.
For some, it meant swapping traffic and city pressures - for boats, bare feet and sunsets. For others, it gave their children a childhood spent outdoors - learning to ski, fish, paddle and explore instead of spending weekends in front of screens.
And for many, something unexpected happened along the way: neighbours became friends, friends became family, and the river became far more than simply somewhere they lived.
They're real stories from real people who live on the Vaal River - about why they came, why they stayed and why, in many cases, they wouldn't swap their river lifestyle for anywhere else.
Perhaps their stories might just make you wonder...
Could life on the Vaal River change yours too? 💙
And there's no better time to come and experience this wonderful community for yourself than Saturday, 5 September 2026, when hundreds of boats come together for the Official Opening of the Vaal River's Boating Season. 🇿🇦🚤
Come and discover the Vaal. You may arrive as a visitor... and leave wanting to stay.
PETRA STUART
I’m fortunate enough to live on the Vaal River myself, and through my work in property I’ve met so many people who have chosen to make the river their home.
Over the years, they’ve shared wonderful stories with me - not so much about the houses they bought, but about how their lives changed once they got here. New friendships, children growing up outdoors, weekends spent on the water, a slower pace of life and, quite simply, being happier.
Interestingly, they seldom talk first about the house they bought. They talk about what happened to their lives afterwards.
Stories people have shared with me about living on the Vaal… I thought some of these very personal stories were worth sharing. Because sometimes you don't realise how much where you live can change how you live.
One gentleman said to me:
"I bought my first boat at 62... I just wish I'd done it 20 years earlier."
He wasn't really talking about the boat. He was talking about discovering a completely different way of spending his weekends.
Another couple told me:
"The best decision we ever made was moving to the Vaal."
They originally came looking for a weekend place. Eventually, they realised they'd rather be here than anywhere else.
Then there are the young families...
One of the things parents tell me they love most is seeing their children outside again.
Bare foot happiest running around outside. Learning to ski. Fishing off the jetty. Kayaking. Riding bicycles. Tubing behind the boat. Making friends with the children next door.
One mother laughingly told me the biggest change was that her children stopped asking:
"Can I have more screen time?"..and started asking:
"Can we go out on the canoe now?"
That's quite a lifestyle upgrade!
And then there are the friendships.
I've watched people arrive here knowing absolutely nobody.
Someone chats to them on a jetty.
Another person invites them for a braai.
The children become friends.
Before they know it, they're spending birthdays, Christmases and weekends together.
One couple described it beautifully:
"We bought a house. We didn't realise we were also buying a whole new group of friends."
It's also not all about boats.
Some people's happiest Vaal moments are incredibly simple.
Coffee on the banks of the river listening to waterbirds early morning chatchup.
Fishing as the sun comes up.
Walking the dogs beside the river.
Reading under a willow tree -on the river banks.
Watching a Fish Eagle overhead.
Or sitting with a glass of wine while the sun sets over the river and wondering why on earth you ever spent Saturday afternoon in a shopping mall.
And age really doesn't seem to matter.
I've seen young couples begin their lives here, families raise their children here and people retire here.
Some buy a big boat.
Some buy a little canoe.
Some don't buy either.
They simply love being beside the water.
Perhaps my favourite comment came from someone who moved here later in life:
"My only regret is that I didn't raise my children here."
I hear versions of that surprisingly often.
And perhaps that's what all these stories have taught me.
People may initially come to the Vaal because they like the river, the boating or the property.
But that's seldom what they eventually tell me they treasure most.
They talk about time.
More time with their children.
More time outdoors.
More time with friends.
More time doing things they actually enjoy.
And very often, they'll finish the conversation with almost exactly the same words:
"I just wish we'd come sooner."
Petra Stuart
Vaal River Property Practitioner
Hamiltons River Property Portfolio
083 390 2945
WE SELL A LIFESTYLE - OWN IT!
