According to my rough calculations, we had 4 days to cross the country from Stellenbosch, on the west coast to Umngazi River Bungalows on the east coast, a 14 ½ hour trip. We are two nights in, have travelled for 12 hours and still have 11 hours to go. So I guess we have not taken the most direct routes but we have been to and seen new and beautifully places along the way.
This morning Sally gave us a tour of her wonderful art studio and showed us some of her pieces of work. We explored the town and visited an olive farm, where we bought lots of their delicious olive oil.
Then we retraced our steps along the stunning Meiringspoort drive to De Rust. We would loved to have taken the Swartberg Pass, which apparently has mind blowing views but it was closed due to flooding earlier in the year. We will just have to come back… The clouds rolled over the hills at Kredouw and we went through a section of heavy mist. I love the feeling of being shrouded in clouds and mist. The mist lifted as we entered the valley and the rest of the day was warm and sunny.
We were on the N9 when we crossed from Western to Eastern Cape in the Sarah Baartman district and drove along the Camdeboo Route through the dry Karoo.
We stopped for lunch at another quirky padstal in Aberdeen, the Kamdebo Stall.
The scenery into Graaff-Reinet was brown-grey Karoo scrub with lots of newly established game reserves. One of the interesting sights along the way was an abnormal load convoy carrying wind turbine blades.
We arrived in Graaff-Reinet around 3pm and booked into the Drostdy Hotel. What a treat, I highly recommend this luxury boutique hotel to anyone travelled through this area. The Cape Dutch façade was built in 1806 and designed by the French Architect, Louis Thibault, as the ‘Drostdy’ or magistrates court of the area. It was restored in 1977 by the Rupert’s De Oudemeester group and is host to many of the groups priceless antiques and paintings, including the original Robert’s bird collection, which are displayed in the dining room.
I took a stroll around the town, the spectacular centre-piece is the Dutch Reformed Church, constructed in 1887, it is loosely modeled on Salisbury Cathedral in England.
The town is clean and neat, certainly bigger and more commercial than Prins Albert but hosts magnificent examples of Cape Dutch, Victorian and Karoo architecture – 220 of which are heritage sites, more than any other town in S.A. The town was established in 1786 by the Dutch East India Company and is South Africa’s forth oldest town. It is named after Cornelis van de Graaff, governor of the Cape Colony and his wife, whose maiden name was Reinet.
We had a room fit for a king and a delicious dinner at the De Camdeboo restaurant to match. My favourite was the biltong sushi starter.
What a treat !!!
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