Day 3 Barrydale to Cape Town

Sitting down for breakfast in the large lounge and breakfast table of the Tradouw guest house. I am initially disappointed that my lust for meat will not be satisfied because we were now out of the Karoo and in Barrydale. However, some good eggs, muesli and filter coffee did the trick. It turned into an even finer breakfast when Leon put on some Arik Einstein for us (given to him by Israelis who had stayed there). After breakfast, Leon gave us some expert advice and took us through his Indian Medicine Wheel garden on their property across the road from the Tradouw. We bid farewell to a fine establishment run by two very caring and attentive hosts and made our way back up towards Ladismith. I had dozed off in the car and we had missed some of the attractions of the R62.

We turned off to the Warmwatersberg Spa. It was a very cold morning, and the idea of an outdoor spa did not appeal to me, however the price and setting was unbeatable. Surrounded by 5 mountain ranges and the hot water spring at 42 °, at the cost of a mere R20 (£1,42). It was incredibly refreshing and often I behaved liked an adventurous kid running between the freezing cold pool and the hot baths.

Back onto the R62 and you pass a sign which would make any unsuspecting traveller, particularly those sleep-eyed, male travellers who are not enamoured by the scenery, which will no doubt make you screech on your brakes and think that what you read simply can not be true. Ronnie’s Sex Shop, painted in red on to a wall of a property with little else near it seems to be the oddest place imaginable for a sex shop. It was amazing to see the amount of cars which had stopped there. This place was a landmark of the R62.
Oh yes, the only think Ronnie Price’s shop has to do with sex is that it’s curios shop sells cheap lingerie and bra’s adorn the bar. I briefly met Ronnie Price. long curly hair, barely held together in a pony tail with a very friendly face.

Ronnie had little do with the name, it used to be called Ronnie’s Shop, then one night his friend’s added in the word “Sex” and proceeded to underline this. His friends prank has turned Ronnie Price into a very well known tourist personality and with a much healthier bank account. I had some carrot cake from the Road Kill Café, run by the lady we sat next to for dinner the night before. She and Ronnie’s wife pass the time by playing many games of scrabble, Ronnie’s son, who seemingly models himself on a quasi-alpha male version of Freddie Mercury.

We tried to find the pagoda-The South African Peace Pagoda. We followed the directions of the map but felt that we had missed it. We drove back and saw Peter and Nora Frazer’s farm-“The Manger”. You drive on a dirt road and there in between some trees and bushes is this very large pagoda, the only official Buddhist pagoda from Cape Town to Cairo…. Quite astonishing, the pagoda was built by a 90 year old Burmese monk and some volunteers. It was unveiled in 2000 and I am sure thousands of people drive past here each month with little knowledge of what stands amongst the trees.


The Frazer’s farm also hosts “The Labyrinth” and a baboon rehabilitation centre.

Back down the valley towards Barrydale and one last stop there at the Country Pumpkin restaurant and farm stall to get some dried fruit and cheese.

Leon told us to go on the Tradouw Pass instead of continuing on the R62 to Cape Town. This mountainous pass bedeck with lush greenery and waterfalls is another one of the many little known detours in South Africa. Tradouw is derived from the Khoisan word, tradau" which means "Way of the Woman". I was very thankful to that master road builder Thomas Bain and his band of convicts who completed this road in 1873. It was closed in the 1900’s and a tarred, safer version was reopened in 1980. We came to the end of the pass and turned right to Suurbrak, a mission station village. As we turned off, I noticed a stream at the bottom of the road and had it not been freezing cold, I would have stopped the car and climbed down the hill and swam…next time.

Suurbrak has a very ornate old church which serves as the central attraction to this close knit, almost exclusively coloured community. We were told of Paradise Organic, a relatively new restaurant run by a former male model from Kimberley. The design of the restaurant does not really fit in with its surroundings, but all the vegetables and fruit grow in the garden, seen through the doors of the restaurant. The owner also is implementing projects with the local community to teach them how to grow food organically. We had a very healthy lunch in the most beautiful setting in the shadow of the mountain and the rain started falling softly. The grey clouds were brewing.

We set off for Swellendam and it poured down. The typical Western Cape weather had finally arrived, we took a detour to Stanford as we were visiting family friends in Onrus. The rain slowed down as we neared Standford but then picked up again and stopped when we hit Onrus and saw our close family friends the Rohloff’s. In a house, overlooking the sea, we had a braai, and caught up.

It was dark and we needed to get to Cape Town, not a nice drive at night, 30 Km’s out from Onrus, a torrential downpour occurred, without a shadow of a doubt, the worst driving experiences I had ever experienced, cars driving at breakneck speeds up your tail, with little space to move, no place to turn around, just hoping that nothing stray enters the road, it was over by the time we hit Sir Lowry’s Pass.

An amazing trip, great to catch up with mom, and wonderful to know that I had seen many places I had not seen before and still refreshing to know that there is so much for me to still see and experience in the beautiful Western Cape province.

I used the following sources to help me research this blog.

http://www.warmwatersbergspa.co.za
http://www.barrydale.co.za
http://www.overberg.co.za


Pics

1) Leon Riley and I outside- The Tradouw in Barrydale
2) Ronnie's Sex Shop
3) The South African Peace Pagoda
4) Tradouw Pass
5) The Garden of Paradise Organic in Suurbrak

Day 2 Prince Albert to Barrydale

I woke up ready to go but the town was sleeping, even the roosters had not begun crowing, I wanted to get Wimbledon results and set off. The day started with a typical boere (farmers) breakfast, lamb boerewors (farmers sausage), tomato, poached eggs and a koppie koffie (cup of coffee). As per the two meals before, I was bloated, but still felt good after such a hearty breakfast.

After a slow, leisurely drive to look at some of the streets we missed the day before we headed into the Swartberg Pass. The pass was opened in 1888, although it is only 27 km’s, it feels much longer. The road was built by one of the greatest road engineers Thomas Bain. Soon after you enter the pass you are left agog by the spectacular views. The fynbos is incredible, we also some klipspringers. The road was very empty. I did this pass a few years ago and would love to have had time to hike through some of the trails, and also had a 4X4 to turn off to “Die Hel” Gamkaskloof. The 57 km’s from the turnoff on the Swartberg Pass take a cool four hours to do as you descend down this zig-zagged shaped road into the valley. Here a small community lived in isolation for many years. I look forward to returning to the pass to visit “Die Hel".

We made our way to Outshoorn, the capital of the Klein Karoo, however, after possing some ostriches and entering the town, my lust for exploration subsided. I had not visited the town since I was small, but I think it was because the town was too big a town, and I would not do it justice, after a “ kerrie jaffle “ (round, sealed toasted sandwich with curry mince) we got onto the well publicized R62, to be honest, I was very disappointed with the drive from Oudtshoorn to Calitzdorp. Got to Calitzdorp, a lot of people were milling about, I don’t know if it was because it was nearing the weekend, or because of the seasonal unemployment, I fear the latter, this is Port wine and fruit country and many workers only find employment during harvest season.

Calitzdorp at first reminded me of one those thoroughfare towns in the North West, where one just passes through. However, this is the Port wine capital of SA, we visited Boplaas. I am no wine connoisseur, but it was good, and the self described experts next to me concurred. After stocking up on it and some dried fruit, we went looking for St. Marks Church, the supposed 2nd smallest church in the world, we found it, it was small, but I wonder how they can be so sure that there are so smaller churches… The outskirts of the town lends it self to some fine views.

The R62 gets much better from Calitzdorp to Ladismith, and here again, I made a cardinal error when we drove past a sign to Seweweekspoort (Seven Weeks Gorge), I thought our car would not be able to handle it, This 17 km drive is supposed to be in the same league as the Swartberg Pass.

The terrain had become more mountainous and we arrived in Ladismith. The Towerkop (spell head), with a split peak is the defining landmark of the town. This is also a big farming area, but Ladismith is more well known for its cheese. Ladismith, is not a spelling mistake, but named after Sir Harry Smith’s wife Juana Smith, and to prevent confusion with Ladysmith in Natal, the y became an i. I also wondered whether Free State captain and Springbok flanker Juan Smith was named after her?
We wanted to get something to eat, and founded a friendly home run establishment called Kanna Kombuis, run by former Prince Albert residents Kevin and Barbie Ellison. At first Barbie’s over friendly attitude irritated me, but she and her husband are genuinely warm people who like all the other places we had eaten have a real interest in their customers. The venison was great, well accompanied by apricot stew. We then went in search of the Ladismith shul, just before finding the shul, a thin, disheveled lady too advantage of the mid afternoon warmth and proceeded to take off her top and flash me, at first I thought I was imagining this but she just stood there. Strange things happen in small towns.

Like Oudtshoorn, Ladismith had a booming ostrich feather industry and this attracted many Jews, and a synagogue was built. I don’t think there are any Jews left in the town, but the building still stands and is looked after by the municipality. We had left the town when we remembered we had forgotten about the cheese factory and we drove towards Barrydale-the destination for the day. Barrydale lies in a lush valley and one really feels that you are out of the Klein Karoo. The small dorp is not as aesthetically charming at first like Prince Albert, it lacks the order, and some of the planning seems haphazard. We found the Tradouw Guest House, run by Leon Riley and Denis Mclintock. The room was a bit smaller, but the décor was amazing. We walked around Barrydale, it had a much busier feel than Prince Albert, the place grew on me a lot, we stopped off at the Barrydale Hotel, this hotel and indeed the town has a wonderful reputation as a gay friendly place, and it was special to see the overall working farm labourers enjoying a drink next to a gay couple. I later asked Leon how the farmers responded to the influx of gay people who settled in the town and built up businesses, and Leon said that the conservative farmers had no problem with it as it had led to an economic boon in the town.

I soon deferred to Leon on all things to do with the area, where to eat, what to do the next day etc. Leon sent us to A Place In Time, run by Mike and Beverley Loy. We had no sooner made our way through the door which could not be opened from the outside when Mike started speaking to us, and again, there was nothing irksome about it, it was wonderful, in between serving the meals his wife was cooking, Mike would entertain us and tell us stories of the town, and almost address the 3 different tables at once. I had Impala potjiekos (pot food, food prepared on a 3 legged cast iron pot), it was the first time I had Impala and it was excellent, my mother could not finish her Karoo Lamb shank and I assisted her in clearing her plate. For desert I had an Amarula laced crème brule.

The person sitting next to us ran the café at a place I would return to tomorrow, she sold it to me. I left the restaurant glowing, beaming. It was not just the brilliant food, but it was Mike’s manner, not hearing his wife’s calls or taking a few extra seconds to do his job, wonderful to see.

I dropped my mother off, and set off to explore the Barrydale nightlife. The hotel had closed and the town was still, 15 minutes later I was sitting in the cold lounge reading my book, covered in a thin blanket and thought who comes

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I used information from the following sources

http://www.centralkaroo.co.za/princealbertarea.htm#Swartberg
http://www.patourism.co.za/gamkaskloof.htm
Calitzdorp Publicity Bureau
Ladismith Publicity Bureau

I highly recommend you use all the places we frequented.

Prince Albert

Kambro Guestrooms- Christine and James Van Zyl-+27(0) 23 541 1554

Calitzdorp

Boplaas- +27(0)44 213 3326/7

Ladismith
Kanna Kombuis- Kevin and Barbie Ellison, +27 (0) 28 551 2216 , +27 (0) 82 738 2200 or 1kevinellison@telkomsa.net, 44 Queen Street

Barrydale

Tradouw Guest House-Leon Riley and Denis Mclintock, +27 (0) 28 572 1434, tradouw@intekom.co.za, 46 Van Riebeeck Street
A Place in Time- Mike and Beverley Loy, +27 (0)28 572 1393

Pics

1) Swartberg Pass
2) Near the summit of Swartberg Pass
3) The Ladismith Shul
4)Barrydale Hotel
5) Mike Loy telling his tales in A Place in Time

The R62 between Barrydale and Ladismith is a beautiful drive, but just off the R62 on a dirt gravel road is a gift given to Africa, a gift which is supposed to symbolise the promotion of peace and harmony on every continent on the world. It is quite astonishing to find a pagoda- The South African Peace Pagoda near Barrydale, more well known for its conservative farming community and thriving gay community.

June Roadtrip- Day 1- Cape Town to Prince Albert

This 7 metre tall gold structure is beautiful, but the setting is strange, I don’t think the august, nonagerian Burmese monk Sayadaw U Thila Wunta minded much that the Buddhist population is quite small in South Africa, especially on the R62.

I had done quite a few road trips across the Karoo over the last few years, often with friends, once by myself, I had not driven through the Karoo with my mother since I was an impossible 12 year old passenger. I had driven with her and my brother and his wife a few years ago, but this was different. She drives too slowly, and she claims I drive recklessly, my predictions were dire, from the outset I saw this as a chance to catch up and spend some good family time together, however, just before I left, I wondered how long it would take before the person in the passenger seat would force the driver to turn around.

It had been bitterly cold and there had been an incessant downpour leading up to our departure, so much so that we feared that the beloved Swartberg Pass would be blocked off.

The weather had cleared up and we left mid morning, instead of heading through the impressive Huguenot Tunnel, the alternative Du Toits Kloof Pass was used, a road which is only slightly longer than the tunnel but the breathtaking views make up for that short loss of time. We wanted to get to Matjiesfontein for lunch. It was amazing to see that some of the mountains had attracted snow, testimony to the cold weather experienced the days before, there were many new natural waterfalls flowing down the mountain at the Hex River Valley.

Even, when I was an impossible twelve year old, I would tell you that Matjiesfontein is one of my favourite places in South Africa. The entire village is a national monument. Most people who live their have never left the area and are third and fourth generation. It is wonderful to walk through the shady gardens of the Lord Milner hotel and imagine the courting which went on in days gone by. However it was not only courting which must have gone on here, but also recovering, as the hotel was used as a military hospital during the Anglo Boer War.

The air is cool, and clean here and there is much wide open space, that is the lure of the Karoo, another distinct lure is the ¬kos-¬food. We had lamb curry in the Laird's Arms Bar. The food was really good, as it always is at Matjiesfontein. We walked off our heavy meal and set off for Prince Albert. The drive between Laingsburg and Beaufort West is definitely one of the more straighter and flatter drives in South Africa, quite tedious, so it was good to turn off to Prince Albert, however, here I made an error which will have to corrected the next time I am near the area and that is to visit Oom Lappies-AKA Jan Schoeman, a former Western Cape Tourist Personality of the Year, based by Prince Albert Road, Oom Lappies collects trash from the side of the road and reuses it in creating curios…

This was my second time in Prince Albert, sheltered from the busy highways, the small town is very green and the locals are very friendly, there is a certain easy manner to the way the locals go about their business. After popping into the publicity bureau we checked in at Kambro B+B, run by a second generation local Christina Van Zyl and her husband James. They had lived in Grootfontein in Namibia but were spending most of their time here now. A sundowner walk was in store as it is only by walking through Prince Albert that one gets to see why so many people come here and return. The slow pace, the natural surroundings, the architecture- Karoo, Cape Dutch and Victorian is truly special. We asked the publicity bureau to book us into the Karoo Kombuis, a restaurant we had eaten in over 6 years ago. Alas, there was no reply. We walked past the house cum restaurant and bumped into Theunis, one of the owners, who informed us that only one other couple had pre-booked and that unless they got one more table, we would have to go elsewhere.

There were no more bookings, but our desires to eat there swayed Theunis and after a drink at the quaint Swartberg Hotel we headed for dinner.

Theuns, Michael and Denise (she was not there), all worked at stewards at SAA, but took the package and settled here and opened up this restaurant in their house.

From the moment you walk in you are made to feel at home, Michael addresses you by your name and you get to know him, the other couple came in a few minutes later, and we were introduced by Michael to them, and although we sat at different tables we had soon broken the ice, and like us, they had a passion for dorpe-small towns, and a passion for road trips. We spoke out the best and worst dorpe to travel to and of course the magic of the Karoo etc, but one experiences this magic when you eat in the Karoo Kombuis. The menu is simple and it is practically always the same. Hoender Pasty¬-chicken pie, Bobotie- a Cape Malay dish which is beef mince with an egg topping, and roast lamb. No doubt- I chose all three. It was as good as it was six years, and it was great to be back at my favourite restaurant.

For desert, one had a choice of lemon tart and Cape Malva pudding drenched in custard.

I dropped my mom at Kambro and decided to sample the pre weekend nightlife. After stopping in at the Swartberg Hotel bar, and driving around for a few minutes, I soon found myself snug in bed planning the next day.

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http://www.barrydale.co.za/activitiesframe.htm- My info on the pagoda was advanced through this site.

http://www.onserus.co.za/princealbert.htm- This is where I got my info on Oom Lappies.

I highly recommend

Prince Albert
Karoo Kombuis- Theuns Botha- +27 (0) 23 5411110 18 Deurdrift Street-You have to prebook
Kambro Guestrooms- Christine and James Van Zyl-+27(0) 23 541 1554

Pics

1) Matjiesfontein,sitting on the pool wall
2) The Lord Milner Hotel
3) Enjoying the Hoender Pasty, Bobotie and roast lamb
4) Theuns and Michael outside the Karoo Kombuis