Weather warnings of extremely cold weather, snow in the mountains of the Eastern Cape, as well as heavy rainfall, contextualised our planned trip to the Western Cape – this time via the Eastern Cape.
We finally left at 6am after a close shave with both Inky (having been captured all night) and Jango (taking his time to get home before dawn).
Geoff proclaimed the car to have “the best packing ever” having carefully ensured that we were fully loaded the night before. Despite this it took a full hour before we were ready to depart.
Jimmy got up early to see us off and was very sad: “Goodbye my Family – travel safely!” We hoped that the project to paint the house after a visit to Nelspruit would keep him focused.
Amazed as always by how hungry road trips make us, our egg mayo pitas and flask of coffee kept us going.
It was a frosty 3 degrees til 8am when we stopped with the dogs.
Popped in at the Fat Butcher who was full of cheer and persuaded us to buy all sorts of tasty treats. We got away lightly with biltong, koeksisters and 3 types of pies
Rio had been given a motion sickness tab and it seemed to work its usual magic.
I was worried for poor Inky who hadn’t peed since the previous afternoon. He hates to use a sandbox.
The time passed quickly and we used it talking through Geoff’s early life story (for a blog).
Before we knew it we took the N9 towards PE. It is always exciting to leave the boring N1 highway
We were blessed with very mild traffic, pleasant weather and we made good time towards Nieu Bethesda. We recalled that it had been 10 years since our last visit! Stopped to admire a herd of alpacas. They are so cute in their fluffy onesies. We cruised into Nieu Bethesda by 3pm along the Owl Route dirt road.
Quirky Nieu-Bethesda
We were met by owner Galina who showed us the delightful Onion Cottage, where we’d booked in for 3 nights.
The cats went exploring immediately leaving us half trusting and half terrified. They were so tired of being trapped in the car for hours. Fortunately the roads around the property were reasonably quiet.
We settled every one down and lit a fire to warm up our cosy little house. It is tiny but so well designed and with quality Smeg and le Creuset appliances. A spacious King sized bed on one end with a bathroom off to the side and then a large open-plan kitchen/lounge area with an enormous fireplace.
Charming and unique, Nieu Bethesda is a mountain village, 55km outside Graaff Reinet, nestled in a valley with the towering Compassberg Peak as a backdrop. The Compassberg, at over 2500m above sea level, is South Africa’s highest free-standing mountain. Established by the Dutch Reformed Church in 1875, Nieu Bethesda is best known for Helen Maartins’ iconic Owl House and some of the most memorable fossil discoveries of the last hundred years. We’d visited the Owl House 🦉 some years ago so selected not to go this time.
Being a Monday, most restaurants appeared to be closed. Galina phoned the “Waenhuis”, famous for its Karoo lamb and we were told it was ok to bring the dogs. We were starving so we headed out around 4 only to learn that the restaurant only opens at 5. To pass the time we wandered around the streets admiring the beautiful NG Kerk and the lovely village buildings. The imposing church building was consecrated in 1905 and can seat 700 people. Unfortunately we weren’t able to go inside to see the magnificent church organ that was commissioned in June 1914 and built by Price and Sons in Cape Town. It consists of 16 registers and more than 624 pipes. The church is still lit by gas-powered chandeliers that pre-date the arrival of electricity in the village.
We were at the door of the restaurant at 4:55 pm. We enjoyed the most delicious lamb neck – juicy and tender, falling off the bone. It was served with a little butternut muffin, roast potatoes and salad. A lovely bottle of red simply disappeared without any effort!
Overnight temperatures plummeted to just above freezing and we had some gentle rain. Both cats were present and correct when we got back from the restaurant, to our relief. We even had the privilege of them taking turns to sleep with us during the night.
We set off in search of breakfast. Not much open on a Tuesday morning. (We found out later that those that do open – only open by 10am)
We were intrigued by the Padstal “Tot hier toe”, serving only roosterkoek (bread rolls cooked over the fire) with a variety of traditional fillings. The garden area looked like it would be nice in summer but otherwise there was nowhere warm and dry to sit. The serving ladies, cleared a table that had been loaded with their homemade preserves and jams which allowed us to sit inside with the dogs. We were served moerkoffee and condensed milk, which hit the spot on this chilly morning. For breakfast we had roosterkoek with savoury mince and veg topped with melted cheese and oozy eggs. Not pretty to look at, but very filling and delicious!
We spent the afternoon lazing around with our pets. Later we headed out for a drive near the padstal. We parked the car and then let the dogs run riot in the water furrow system. Nieu-Bethesda uses an ancient, gravity-fed network of open water furrows known locally as leivore or sloot systems, supplied daily by a perennial mountain spring on the plateau above the village. Residents who have leivore running past their properties pay a minimal amount for water rights annually and channel water into their gardens using smaller gated funnels on the days when the water flows in that part of town.
Well, the dogs were in their element, racing along the canals and leaping in and across endlessly. We took some photos. Everything is so pretty in the cool misty conditions. We then drove back to town, parked near the river and crossed the two suspension bridges.
Well at least Geoff and I and Zinzan did. Rio was excited to see water far below and tore down the bank, across the shallow river, under the bridge to a deeper section and then galloped up the hill on the other side ahead of us!
The Sir Frederic Bridge (also called Jubileum Bridge) creates a quick shortcut over the Gats River between the two sides of the village. Interesting to learn that the spring has not dried up in living history and is captured high up the valley and fed into the intricate system of furrows that are then led into the village.
We walked further along a charming road with some beautifully restored buildings.
The old watermill was erected in 1860, put back into operation in the 1980s by replacing the original wooden waterwheel with a metal wheel.
We enjoyed our stroll, went home, fed everyone, perked up the fire and then set off for Zalig’s, noted for their excellent pizzas.
The pizzas certainly lived up to their reputation. Super thin and crispy bases. We had one with apple, blue cheese and quince jam (a Bianco) and one with pulled lamb, caramelised onions and mint. So tasty. However, the restaurant was freezing despite the enormous pizza oven – mainly because the front and back door remained open the entire time. In retrospect we should have just asked if it could be closed…
We returned home and listened to the recording of the Fish Hoek Photo club meeting, where Geoff excelled getting two “Pic of the Month” nominations.
Our plan for the last day was to start off with a visit to the Stone Folk of Ongeluksloot. 7km out of town we located the farm where life-sized rock sculptures bound in wire frames, have been strategically positioned to create a striking interplay between the natural surroundings and human artistry. The landscape is rocky and dramatic and the river below, which was only barely flowing in some places, was a piece of heaven for the dogs. The weather was perfect for us, splashes of sun and fascinating clouds.
We had fun spotting the figures, one contemplating the world from a lofty height on a ridge, another doing a crazy handstand – legs kicking back into the sky. Something so unique and completely free to enjoy.
Time for breakfast, and as it was after 10, we thought we’d have more choice. We located the Tower restaurant. However the waitress explained that breakfast had ended at 11 am. A very short window to eat around here!😜 We decided to go back to the padstal as we’d had such a nice meal the day before. Geoff had his roosterkoek and I tried a filled pancake. Perfect!
Back home to chill, work on blogs and relax with the cats in front of the fire until late afternoon.
We took as stroll to the old NG Kerk graveyard. With graves dating back hundreds of years, many of them now unmarked save for their beautiful local stone covers; this is a peaceful and pretty place to wander around. There was a thick blanket of Autumn leaves 🍂 and the graves were neatly and simply laid out. Some of the graves date back to the late 1700s and the Anglo-Boer War. A number of old graves have tombstones made from local rock slabs. The oldest that we saw was dated 1797 (see middle pic below).
There were also several little graves belonging to very young children. Always heart-breaking to contemplate these.
We are friendly with Nicola and Gregg who moved from Johannesburg to Simon’s Town. Gregg who makes beautiful sculptures and clay work, opened the Gregg Price Art Gallery in Nieu-Bethesda in December 2018. Sadly they decided to sell last year. In the garden, is a magnificent stone labyrinth based on the design of the Chartres Cathedral in France and it was created to honour the life of Gregg’s late son, William.
The Chartres labyrinth was built from limestone in the early 13th century and evokes Greek mythology of the maze built by architect Daedalus that housed the Minotaur who ate the children of Athens. It is surrounded by some of Gregg’s beautiful sculptures that really look at home in the dramatic landscape.
It was pretty freezing once it got late and we were walking around in 3 layers with scarves, gloves and beanies. We established later that it was snowing heavily in Barkly East.
For supper we returned to Zaligs. We opted for the tomato bredie and lamb tagine, which were both very tasty.
Back at home we boosted the fire and sat around writing blogs and playing with photos. Even the cats were burrowing down into the blankets.
We woke to a frosty morning and struggled to get out of bed. Decided against going on a walk to the furrows and to get on the road to Graaff Reinet.
We picked up some supplies in GR at a home industry set up recommended by Tanya, our hostess from the Camdeboo area, famous for her duck pies. Sadly her pies had sold out, but we made up for it indulging our sweet tooth in the well stocked bakery.
Heading onwards, we were amazed at how the usually drab and dry Karoo was lush with plant life and surprisingly green. Almost unrecognisable! There were frequent patches of water and most rivers were flowing well.
We stopped at the Beervlei Dam which was full again and overflowing. The dogs were delighted to get covered in mud and have a lengthy swim. In the photo below you can see them heading towards the waterfall, making me super nervous!
In some areas that we drove through there was damage and erosion from the extreme rainstorms in April. The town of Uitenhage was particularly bad with the through road still completely closed.
In ostrich country we stopped at a lovely mall with a Woolies where we got some salad ingredients and dog cans.
Lovely Ladismith
We reached The Place just before 4:30pm. On this stay we decided to try Red Rock cottage which was just delightful. It was still lovely and sunny and Lizelle had left us some still-warm, olive bread. Geoff lit the braai fire and we climbed up the Red Rock, marvelling at the dense plant life and the gorgeous yellow flowers everywhere. Such a gorgeous view of the farm from the top and we were delighted that the cats joined us for the exploration.
Geoff braaied us some cheese grillers and rump steak. I made a salad and braai-broodjies. As soon as the sun went down it was icy cold. Luckily we were able to make a fire inside which made the lounge quite cosy. It was too cold to leave a window open for the cats so once they came in, we sealed up for the night. We even lit a fire in the bedroom hearth, although we were almost asphyxiated from the smoke wafting into the room.
Despite the smoke and the cold and despite sharing the bed with both cats and Rio, we managed to sleep well and late!
We wandered down to the main house to say hi to Lizelle and Joseph and then took the dogs down to the river. So nice to see how full it was. They raced around swimming, leaping from rocks and fetching sticks. Rio teasing Zinzan, dancing out of his reach and causing him to attack her with a vengeance.
Returning to Red Rock we lazed around enjoying ourselves. The day was warm and sunny and the cats found a spot on the patio in the shade.
Later, we took a stroll to the nearby dam that we recalled from our previous trip. It was lovely to see it so full! The dogs took full advantage of being able to have a lengthy swim (which may have started as an attempt to chase the ducks.)
We decided to get our fire going before the sun set which was a good idea as it was once again freezing cold. We also learnt from the previous night’s experience and had our showers early too. This meant that we were in our pyjamas by 6pm, warm and cosy. We couldn’t resist starting a rather ambitious puzzle, even though we knew we’d be unlikely to complete it before departing in the morning. We made a delicious pasta with our left over wors and a can of tomatoes. Quite delicious!
We were up fairly early but took time packing gradually so as not to alarm the cats Luckily they decided to hunker down under the blankets. Inky got wind of the plan to leave and crawled under the duvet. Poor thing was not at all happy when we hauled him out and popped him into the car.
The route down south took us along the familiar Route 62 via Barrydale and we were happy to see that the canola fields were in full bloom. We stopped a couple of times to take pictures and to let the dogs stretch their legs. The yellow was quite dazzling!
Just in time for lunch, we discovered a new Padstal called Dassiesfontein, shortly before you hit the more famous Houw Hoek and Peregrine farm stalls. Wow. These guys certainly impressed us with their tasty, meaty pies. A delightful new discovery!
We reached Simonstown safely by 2pm, slowed down by the influx of tourist traffic in the Kalk Bay/St James area.
Definitely voted one of our most fun road trips to date!
