Travel and drives in and around Cape Town, South Africa
Be yourself; Everyone else is already taken.
— Oscar Wilde.
I decided to start this blog as we travel a lot and we sometimes find real gems in the towns we visit. This blog will tell you where we have been and what we experienced there. We do not like camping or roughing it so hence the name Hedonistic Travels. This is more for the “I like staying in a five star hotel” crowd.
November 2019
We have not done a road trip in a while and decided on a weekend away to Lambert’s Bay on the West Coast. We took the N7 and turned off at Piketberg towards Lambert’s Bay. Warning!! Do not follow the GPS. It takes you on the shortest route, which is a dirt road instead of a lovely tarred road via Eland’s Bay. But as Travelman says, we never take the wrong road as all roads lead to a new experience. We drove passed a town called Droëryskloof and if we did not take the dirt road we would not have stopped at Leipoldtville.
Leipoldtville is a tiny town a few kilometers from Lambert’s Bay. Can’t really call it a one horse town, more a half a horse town. It does have a Christian private school, but I can’t imagine the school has too many pupils. We saw one shop, a general dealer, with a red and blue flashing neon sign, stating that it was open. The sign was so out of place in this dusty town, that it must have been an unwanted gift from a family member.
We saw a gentleman doing maintenance wearing his son’s old University of Stellenbosch sports shirt and stopped to chat. On Travelman’s question if he could tell us 3 interesting facts about Leipoldtville he said in a very dry tone that we must be very optimistic. The conversation drifted towards the recent victory of the Sprinbok rugby team and he mentioned that they received the good news 3 days later via snail mail. Just loved his dry humour. He also informed us about the tar road, which we took on our way home.
We entered Lambert’s Bay and the first thing I noticed was a rather strong smell of fish. Luckily that soon disappeared. You do get a whiff every now and then if you are close to the harbour area, but it will not disturb your stay.
We drove around town to get the lay of the land, and they have a lovely Spar with everything that you need and a few good restaurants. Unfortunately we only discovered the good restaurants after we had lunch at the Weskus Kombuis restaurant. The food was very disappointing at this establishment. The restaurant is on the harbour, but the view was rather disappointing as it is obstructed by rather dire looking buildings. We shared the Ocean Basket, which contained a few pieces of calamari, 2 prawns, and a piece of hake and chips. The fish was over cooked, the calamari tough and the prawns very gritty. We also though it a bit overpriced, but the beer was cold and good and the waitron very friendly.
We met Willem Coetzee while driving through town. Him and his wife are retirees who decided to make Lambert’s Bay their new home. He talked about the diamond boats that anchor here for maintenance (we saw 2 in the harbour) and the quiet and tranquil life in this town. The people of the West Coast are very down to earth and friendly an calls a spade a spade. Travelman asked him what happens in this town he replied: “ok maar fokkol”. No need to say more.
Saturday morning we decided to visit the graveyard as it was a recommendation in one of the pamphlets. It was somewhat derelict, but you could follow the families who lived, loved and died here. One section had graves of children only. Could there have been an epidemic in those years? Graves dated back to the early 1900’s. You could see that infant mortality was a problem in the earlier years. Probably a result of poor medical knowledge and/or availability. Worthwhile a visit, but take care of the sinkholes or you might become a permanent resident.
Do yourself a favour and go for wine tasting at Teubes. Kathy makes this a wonderful experience and she is very knowledgeable about the cool wines in this region. Teubes is a family wine and they offer Teubes, Malkopbaai and Sir Lambert wines at R20 for 4 tastings. She knows a lot about the history and told us Lambert’s Bay is named after Admiral Lambert of the British Navy who did a marine survey of the bay between 1826 and 1840. Lambert’s Bay was used as a lay-up for British warships during the war of 1900–1902 and in 1901 HMS Sybille was wrecked opposite Steenbokfontein.
We stayed in Arendzicht. These are lovely self-catering 3-bedroom, 2-bathroom flats facing the see. The grass in front of the flats literally go onto the beach. You cannot get closer to the sea. Lovely view. The flats are well stocked with everything you need. Try to ignore all the cleaning instructions and notices stuck up everywhere and just enjoy.
The beach is a good beach for walking and swimming (albeit a bit cold). There are areas close to the Spar for day campers with braai facilities and towards the one end of town there is a fare sized caravan park for the brave ones who can deal with ablution blocks. Every last Saturday of the month there is a Farmer’s market, which we unfortunately missed. They also have craft beer at this market with a Lambert’s Bay label, but produced in Cape Town.
Saturday evening we booked at Muisbosskerm. We had enough seafood to last us a long time. They serve an abundance of fish, calamari, muscles, home made bread and jams, salads, Sandveld potatoes, 3 different potjies, koeksister and coffee. They have well stocked a cash bar. Just a pity they did not stock any of the local Teubes wines. We sat chatting to the manager and her husband for a while. Like many small towns the residents have more than one job to make ends meet. The husband is an artist and owns a printing business, but also helps with deliveries for Muisbosskerm. We often find that as the income to these town are tourist dependent, that residents need to find innovative ways to get the income they need.
We left Sunday and drove the scenic route via Elands Bay. We stopped at a farm stall called “Die Rooi Stoor” and bought cookies for a road snack before heading home.
A weekend away is just what the doctor order to recharge batteries for that last stretch before the December holidays.
Next weekend will be in December at Paternoster.
Sutherland was on our bucket list for a long time and we eventually decided now or never. So Travelman and I packed our suitcases and coolers and off we went (now the coolers was not really required as you will soon understand)
Take the N1 through Worcester, De Doors and Touwsrivier and as you get to the Matjiesfontein turnoff you will find the Sutherland turnoff in the opposite direction.
We have been to Matjiesfontein previously so did not do this quick detour, but I can recommend a visit. The Lord Milner hotel is beautiful and we browsed through the museum at the train station which was very interesting. They also have this old petrol pump sitting in the main road (the only road in town)
The R354 to Sutherland is not bad, but I would not suggest speeding. The colours and different shades are beautiful as can be seen on the photo below.
We stopped at the signage for “Aanstoot”. This word has so many meanings in Afrikaans. It could mean to give offence, but also to move on. I thought the graveyard in the background of the photo was so apt. The last move you will ever make.
The next stop was at a farm stall called Hokaai where the owner gave me great advice on how to perfect my Wild Melon (Makataan) preserve. Never too old to learn something new. She also gave me advice on making sweets from crystalised preserve. Unfortunately they have run out of koeksisters. One of my favourite sweets. A koesister is a traditional Cape Malay confectionery made of fried dough infused in syrup or honey. The koeksister was later appropriated by early Dutch settlers when “one day Slaves were given the day off and madam didn’t know the measurements or timing for baking. Hence the rock hard, over sugared mess” that some now know as koeksisters.
We arrived in Sutherland late afternoon and I thought it was not too bad weather-wise! Why do people complain about the cold? We did a bit of exploring and as usual we took pictures of the church. Another beautiful picture for our collection.
We ended up at Jupiter (https://www.tripadvisor.co.za/Hotel_Review-g1601473-d6514527-Reviews-The_Jupiter_Guesthouse-Sutherland_Northern_Cape.html), which is accommodation, restaurant and pub all in one, and I started chatting to the owner Theo. He told us about the people in the surrounding areas and the farming community. We had a pizza and calamari (yes… calamari in the middle of nowhere and many miles from the sea). The calamari was recommended to us by one of the locals and although skeptical, we really enjoyed that. Good food and good atmosphere.
We stayed in Damara Cottage self-catering (https://www.sleeping-out.co.za/md/Die-Stal/22903). Accommodation was not that easy to book as you have to book well in advance so choices are limited if you book on short notice. For the hedonist the accommodation is a bit small and basic, but all you need is there and the owner gave a homemade banana loaf and lovely homemade truffles which we loved. For the price we paid per night, this was very good accommodation indeed.
And then the sun set… my oh my does it get cold! We were so grateful for the electric blankets on the bed. We would have loved to have a heater too, but alas not.
We booked the evening session for stargazing at Sterland (http://www.discoversutherland.co.za/promo/entry/stargazing_at_sterland/). Great experience. They gave us a lecture on the constellations before you go outside to the telescopes to look at the Southern Cross, Saturn, Jupiter and the Moon. Not even the snow in England had me that cold. I was wearing my whole wardrobe for the weekend and took with the blanket of the accommodation and was still freezing. Poor Travelman never complains, but I saw him getting colder and not bending his knees anymore.
Luckily they warned us that the water pipes freeze during the night so we made sure we had enough water for coffee the next morning as we only had running water at about 10:00 the next morning.
We did a day tour at the South African Astronomical Observatory (https://www.saao.ac.za/). What an informative and fun experience. The office area has stations where you can have interactive experiences and many exhibitions. At one of the stations you can take photos of yourself with the moon or constellations as background and these you can email to yourself. We now have pictures of us on the moon for our album. Who would have thought…
This is also the home of South African Large Telescope (SALT). We had a tour of this magnificent telescope. I only have one word and that is WOW.
We decided to have a late afternoon braai before the South African vs Argentina rugby game. The accommodation we stayed in did not have a TV so we decided to go to Jupiter again as they have a big screen TV, but is was so cold that we rather watched DSTV SuperSport on the cellphone.
Southerland is cold, dry and dotted with windmills and vintage cars all over and has a beauty all of its own. The cars are rusted relics of the past, but fits in so well in this special town. The locals are very friendly and make you feel welcome. I definitely recommend a visit to this town that probably have not changed a bit in the past 30 years.
And then we had a roadblock on the way home…
These are stud ewes on their way for some well-you-know-what
Next stop to be announced.
Travelman and I decided on a road trip in January 2019. We read about a town Patensie and thought it a good idea for a trip along the Garden Route.
We took a leisurely drive via Riviersonderend to Gouritsmond (our first stop). The last time I have been to Gouritsmond was in my youth with my parents in the 70’s and then it was a small seaside village at the mouth of the Gouritz river. It still has the small town feel, but much bigger than I remembered. Gouritsmond (or “Die Mond” as called by the locals) is a popular fishing location. It was a bit too cool and windy for us to swim on the day we arrived, but the beach area is spectacular.
Google maps took us on the coastal road (a dirt road) to our overnight accommodation, but that was not the best idea. We stayed at Gourikwa Nature Reserve and arrived at an unmanned gate. Luckily there was an open pedestrian gate and Travelman was gallant enough to offer to walk to civilization. The second luck was that a good Samaritan saw Travelman and gave him a lift to the reception area to collect a remote to open the gate and back to our vehicle. We later discovered the actual gate is miles away in another direction.
We booked a double room, which consists of a large room with a double bed, couch, coffee table and TV, you also have a tiny kitchenette and large bathroom with bath and shower. The accommodation is perfect for an overnight stay. All you need is in the room. The only problem we had was the many devils thorns outside, but the lovely views of the nature reserve and the sea made up for that. The staff was friendly enough to supply us with a portable braai.
The next morning we carried on our merry way. We booked the first night’s accommodation in advance, but nothing beyond that as we were not sure where we would be by nightfall. We used booking.com and even though it was January and in the holiday season, we always found a place to stay.
We traveled on the N2 as it is such a beautiful drive and then took the R330 to Hanky and from there the R331 to Patensie. The name is Khoi in origin, and means “cattle resting place”. Visit the impressive Kouga Dam built in 1967 – the first double-arched dam engineered in South Africa. Interesting fact – the first oranges were exported in 1907 by Mr Bean (no, not that one!). The area has beautiful rock formations.
We arrived in Patensie late afternoon and had a lovely lunch at Tolbos Country Shop. This is a restaurant and curio shop all in one.
Travelman has this “thing” for an AgriMark so we had to stop there too. We found a room for the night at the Ripple Hotel. Fantastic!!
The hotel was built in 1946 and has an old school charm and character with raised ceilings and wooden floors throughout. We had a few drinks on the stoep and you could imagine yourself in the days of the Charleston and two-toned shoes. Really lovely. The menu was great and affordable, unfortunately we missed dinner as we decided on a nap and slept till the next morning. Driving can be tiring when you are middle aged I suppose! Or could it be the drinks on the stoep….
The next day we had a lovely full English breakfast in the dinning room and left. We decided to head inland and drove to Steytlerville via Uitenhage. Very interesting as we saw many flags painted on the rockface on the side of the road just before Steytlerville.
The local say the silence is so pure you can hear God think, the stars so near you feel you have only to reach out to touch them. On the wide main road the street lamp poles are adorned with the coats of arms of families associated with this town and area.
Interesting to know is that Dr A G Visser, poet and medical doctor lived in Steytlerville for a few years. His house is now a national monument in the main road.
From there we drove to Willowmore and then Uniondale. Uniondale is known for the ghost of a young woman who stands alone alongside the lonely stretch of road between Uniondale and Willowmore. When people stop to offer her a lift, she gets into the car and then vanishes after a few kilometers. I wanted to see the ghost of Uniondale, but alas she only climbs into cars where there is a single male. Travelman will have to do that one on his own…or not.
We then headed for George and a place to stay for the night. We found a lovely place outside Hartenbos called Hartenbos Private Game Lodge (http://hartenbosgamelodge.co.za/). This is a real gem. We had a 2 bedroomed cottage that faces one of the feeding areas for the game. At the time we arrived we were the only guests and was treated like royalty. They have a heated swimming pool and the game came so close to the living area that you feel you can touch them. They have 13 species of Antelope, Giraffe, Zebra and 135 species of birds. Although it was a self-catering cottage we opted to eat at the lodge and the owners prepared a delicious braai for us with salads. We will definitely go back there.
We decided we have travelled enough and came home the next day via Swellendam and Worcester. When driving through Swellendam we decided that we have to include this beautiful town in our next road trip. Till next time…keep your cool box stocked!
South Africans love the sun and the outdoors. Every weekend you will find many of us getting into our cars and head out to the country. You might not know where you will end up, as you do not always plan. The only plan you have is to explore.
Travelman and I will pack a cool box and leave. The cool box came to fruition as we once ended up a long way from home, starving and no restaurants or shops open to buy food or drink. Not to be recommended. You end up eating the sweeties from the bottom of you handbag…you know the ones that you saved from your last few restaurant visits..Yea
On this Sunday we ended up in Philadelphia. This is a small town in the Western Cape, close to Malmesbury, developed from a parish of the Dutch Reformed Church established in 1863. The name means “brotherly love”.
We came into town driving through wheat and cattle farms. This in itself was a beautiful experience. Waves of wheat as far as the eye can see dotted with cattle of all shapes and sizes. Don’t rush. Take a leisurely drive and enjoy the sights.
Now Philadelphia is a true one horse town, but a beautiful horse. It is tiny with only a few houses, a primary school, police station, post office, a few local shops and we found a few eateries. The main road is beautiful with quaint houses like “Die Blikhuisie”.
Die Blikhuisie is typical of the area the town was established in and made of corrugated tin sheets. These houses all had a lovely “stoep” so the owners can sit and have coffee and chat to all who wander past. If you have the time you are invited to join the coffee experience. Sadly this no longer happens as folk no longer make time to relax and chat to fellow humans. I just love the “broekie lace” framing the stoep. Not the traditional ones from that era, but still beautiful.
“Helena se Hoekwinkel” and The General Store are the local shops that sells those items that you forgot to buy during your weekly shopping in Malmesbury or Durbanville.
The photo above is of the main road that end in lush, green wheat fields. Helena se Hoekwinkel is at the bottom of this road. To the right you will find the restaurants. We had coffee at The Deli Shed. They make a decent coffee and sells homemade items and freshly baked bread. Their Moorish Mix is a mixture of sundried tomatoes, olives and feta cheese in an olive oil vinaigrette and is absolutely divine. Another popular restaurant is Pepper Tree Art Stable.
Then you have De Malle Meul. This is a restaurant built in the old mill and very popular. It is recommended that you book your spot for Sunday buffet lunch. They are open Thursday – Saturday 10:00 – 16:00 & Sundays from 12:00.
Go to their website and see what they offer ( https://demallemeul.co.za)
Do browse through Magic Mineral. A very interesting shop that sells anything from stones and minerals to fortune cookies. Note the succulents for sale in front of the shop.
We started collecting photos of old churches as we travel and Philadelphia has a beautiful church. This was the 68th Dutch Reformed church built in South Africa. The building started in 1858 and the congregation was established in 1863.
My grandfather was a policeman and stationed in this small town from 1934 to 1941. My mother was born in 1935 and arrested and jailed at the age of 5 for a minor misdemeanor by said policeman. She was release after a few minutes and a promise to eat her vegetables. No record could be found of this arrest.
The Philadelphians are very friendly and make you feel welcome in their town. Well worth a visit. From Philadelphia you can take a drive to Kalbaskraal (a town with a railway line running through it) , then on to Malmesbury, Wellington and Paarl.
On to the next adventure.
My grandfather had very unusual nicknames for all of his grandchildren and these stuck all through our adult lives. They are all very descriptive of who we are. I love stories and still do. Lokkies in Afrikaans means locks of hair. Twisting and turning a story helped me get out of trouble as a child many a time. I also had very long hair for most of my life (except for the dreadful, rebellic teens)
Travelman and I like to take a drive most weekends. We will get into the car and then just head out. We often don’t have a plan of where we will go. The road leads us.
We have discovered so many areas in and around Cape Town that is worthy of a visit and would like to share these with you.
There is only one rule when going for a drive. Take a cool box with basic supplies. In our case coffee, a sandwich and some dry snack.
Hedonistic travels