(ie. the there and back again stop overs)
I really should write down stuff as I go... I probably had a lot more to say about these places, but my mind forgets stuff... often...
Ah…Clarens, a lovely little town in the Drakensberg. Planning on going again in the spring for the cherry festival, not to mention all the other fruit trees that will be in bloom. I have memories of when it was just a lovely little town, now it’s a tourist orientated lovely little town, filled with shops selling all sorts of things and galleries. Best shop? The cherry one. CHERRIES! Love them. Oh and the rock shop, I have an obsession with rocks…if I wasn’t such a biologist at heart I probably would’ve done geology (though, looking at my friends who do geology…bio was the better option!). Also the galleries are kinda depressing, seeing how much people sell their works for (I mean, R8000 for a simple outline in watercolour? Seriously?) makes me jealous. Wish I could sell my stuff for that, would solve many problems. Anyways, we stayed at the Courtyard B&B and it was lovely. The owner was very friendly and made us feel right at home. Whole place was well kept and nicely decorated, super comfy beds (with electric blankets for us coastal wooses) and the breakfast was delicious. Though, I was a blonde and ordered an omelette and was unimpressed when it came with mushrooms. I h-a-t-e mushrooms. Had to swop with mom. (Note to self: Omelettes come with mushrooms by definition).
All in all, if you're in the area, make sure to stop by!
A funny town. I’m not sure why but that was the impression I left with. The city is a juxtaposition of architecture; from the frontier-type buildings surrounding the Big Hole, to the Victorian style buildings and right on to modern buildings. We ate supper at the Halfway House, fab atmosphere and great food (mmmm steeeeeeak). We stayed in a guesthouse, was decent enough, but I admit had nothing on the other places we stayed in. Decoration was a tad...tacky, for lack of a better word, and not quite my cup of tea. Me and the parents stayed in the honeymoon suite, which had 3 beds, we still aren't quite sure why. Though the light switched were those long chord ones that hang from the ceiling which were pretty cool. Also, breakfast seemed to be prepared at like 7am and wasn't quite fresh by the time we got to that table...and they were playing Christmas carols... in July... yeah.
We popped into the McGregor Museum. Its collections are housed in a lovely old building, I wanted to steal the staircase... not sure what I’d have done with it after stealing it but... The bottom floor has a zoological component as well as displays showing hominid evolution and the major discoveries in South Africa. These exhibits lead on to modern history, giving details of the interactions between the different races of South Africa and the establishment of towns etc. There is also a military exhibit upstairs as well as reconstructions of Cecil Rhodes's room from when the building was a hotel and a reconstructed classroom from when it was a school.
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| Yeah, the Big Hole is well, big |
The main attraction was naturally the Big Hole and the open air museum around it which we visited the following morning. It was really like stepping back into the early 1900s when it was a bustling mining town, all the place needed was people dressed up in period clothing to complete the picture. It was from this area that the city sprouted as a result of the diamonds (the 'Star of South Africa' and 'Eureka' are the two best known diamonds from Kimberly) found in the region, the mining resulting in the creation of the now-famous Big Hole. Many of the buildings in the museum preserve the appearances from the bygone era and allow you to follow in the footsteps of miners and contractors, including the famous Cecil Rhodes whose company monopolised the world's diamond market. The 'Eureka' diamond as well as a host of other diamond-related exhibits, and an opportunity to walk through some of the mining tunnels also make up the Big Hole experience. Oh! The only tram in South Africa (possibly all of Africa?) is still running in Kimberly...though it is only a single track but...tram! Trams are awesome, wish we had them in Durban.
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| Old town! |
Northern Cape roads
I didn't realise South Africa was so flat. Seriously, I've grown up in Durban and most of my previous travels didn't go beyond the escarpment so I'm used to hilly terrain. Now all of a sudden it's just flat, horizon to horizon filled with shrubby grassland, the road under the clear blue sky only vanishing from sight due to the sheer distance. It was empty save for scattered farm houses and occasional herds of cows (I amused myself by shouting COWS! every time and giving parents a fright...yeah, hours on straight roads do that to your sanity). Ha, I say that, yet there was a mesmerising quality to this vast emptiness. Most of the population leads cluttered lives in cluttered cities, so this was foreign, exciting...slightly terrifying. You forget that places like this still exist in the world.
Also, Orange River Wine cellars. Go wine tasting there, the guys were so friendly and the wine itself is really good. There was a genuine feel about the whole place. We even got taken to the storehouse places (whatever they're called) and were served wine right out the barrels! Nice. When you go to the vineyards around Stellenbosch it's all very commercialised and the people working there look and act as if they'd rather whack you over the head with the bottle than anything.
(Oh and my dad didn't walk on the path and sunk into mud... it was hilarious)
Somewhere outside Groblershoop – Slypsteen Gasteplaas
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| Me admiring the view from just outside my chalet :) |
Honestly, best place we stayed, hands down. All five of us agreed. I would recommend this place to anyone wanting to get away from everything. It's an absolutely beautiful setting overlooking the Orange River valley vineyards and, for what you get, incredibly affordable. The sunset was amazing, the moonrise unforgettable. The owner was very friendly and hospitable, spending time talking to us and making the whole stay a wonderful experience. And the food.. Oh. My. God… the food. Wow. For supper we had biltong soup for starters, then kudu pie, delicious sweet cinnamon-spice pumpkin, salad and some amazing chicken and then some rich chocolate brownie-type thing for desert. Breakfast was equally amazing with a variety of dishes, from an egg salad thing to skewers of sausage and bacon. Yum yum yum!
If I could, I would go there again and again... such a pity it's so far from Durbs
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| Augrabies Waterfall |
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| The Gorge with hyraxes/dassies in the foreground |
The name means ‘place of great noise’ and that it is. Here the Orange River is channelled into the 18km Orange River Gorge via the falls. It is rumoured that there is a rich bed of diamonds at the bottom, and many have lost their lives in attempts to gain wealth… though really, you must be insane to think you could survive. The sheer volume of water that tumbles down 56m the Augrabies Waterfall is mind numbing. I just stood on one of the remaining platforms (many were damaged by the floods earlier this year and haven’t been rebuilt yet) and stared in awe. Despite visiting before (not sure it counts since I was 7) I was moved deeply by the sight. It was just so… overwhelmingly beautiful. Definitely not an experience I will easily forget.
On the cuteness side: baby hyraxes. EEEEEEEEEEEE I want one.
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| Beware: Cuteness overload |
After (somewhat, actually, very reluctantly) leaving the red sands of the Kgalagadi behind, getting rather upset at the number of dead animals along the road and driving along another straight, seemingly endless road and passing through an assortment of completely random but adorable little towns in which we stopped to have a drink at the slightly dodgy bar as an excuse to use the bathroom because there were no other options, we finally arrived in Kuruman. It is often called the ‘Oasis of the Kalahari’ and is one of the main towns in the region. One of the main attractions is the Eye of Kuruman (or in Afrikaans, Die Oog), a natural spring that delivers 20 million litres of freshwater daily in a generally waterless land. The lady at the Mynhuis said the Eye had gone downhill appearance wise and wasn’t well kept so we didn’t go see it. However what we saw of it from behind the fence didn’t look all that bad. Kuruman is also home to the Moffat Mission (no, I didn’t find God as the entrance board said) where the Moffat Church still stands and from where Livingstone started his travels into the heart of Africa and met and proposed to his wife (who is not a very pretty face, but yeah).
Die Mynhuis was very nice (as you'd expect from a four star B&B), food was also top notch (can you tell food is important for me? lol). Also, I got to sleep in a loft room, something I've always wanted!
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| Some part of the Moffat Mission |
The random but adorable little towns
Were just that, random and adorable. Old architectural gems stood amidst the growing low-cost-housing-type buildings. The people seemed to live an awesome life, very few were fenced like we fence in the big cities, some even stood open to world. It was strange to see but instantly created a root of desire. Why is it impossible to feel that safe back home? Now, don’t get me wrong, I don’t live in a house surrounded by electric fences (the only reason we have a 2m fence is to keep our dogs in, damned escape artists) with the latest in high security systems etc., I don’t drive or walk warily eyeing ever black face I come across… It’s not that I’m naïve or ignorant of what goes on out there, hell, our house has been broken into twice, I just don’t like living life in a state of constant fear. Maybe I prefer to believe in the good in people. Anyway, back to the point, reasons for such high security: overpopulation & greed. If people would stop breeding like rabbits the world would be a much better place…there I said it and I’ll probably say it again. On numerous occasions.
The R34
Avoid if at all possible. The signs said beware of potholes… the drive turned out to be a game of dodge the craters and oncoming vehicles on a very very narrow road… Strangely fun yet terrifying, it does give you an opportunity to test your car’s handling.
Somewhere outside Senekal – Biddulphsberg Mountain Resort
More long, straight roads including the R34 led us to our final stay at the Biddulphsberg Mountain Resort, essentially an old farm house. Yes, it instantly awakened my dream of living out on a farm one day. It’s a great pity that the house was so rundown, not that it was falling apart but it looked more like a place the owner stored all sorts of unwanted furniture. The main house could easily sleep like 15 people so it’d be a great get-away with a bunch of friends. The Resort also offers some game viewing opportunities and a walking trail. There was a rather odd forest thing near the house that had like an open air church thing, benches and some other fairly odd concrete objects. It was rather spooky going out into the darkness to try find this animal with a strange bark-like call (I know it’s something unexpected, like I’ve heard the call before and was told what it was and remember being like what? No way it can’t be a ________, seriously?) and then coming across these weird objects in the forest. The sky was breathtaking again yet for some reason lacked something when compared to what I’d seen in the Kgalagadi, yeah, doesn’t make much sense...
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| The Old Farmhouse (I want one) |
And cookies to those who read all that
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