Spring is sprung, da grass is riz.......as my dear old late Dad used to love reciting, it's springtime on the western cape and this year the flowers are back. Last year was a disaster because of the drought, there was virtually nothing to see and people usually come from all over the country and some from different parts of the world to see the colourful natural displays.
We have been living in Saldanha Bay for the past 31 years and I have never bothered to take a trip up into the Karoo, I have always thought that we can see enough of the flowers around here anyway. This year because we are both now retired and we don't have to wait for a weekend when all of the accommodation places are fully booked, I suggested a trip to Janet and managed to secure a self catering room in Nieuwvoudtville for the Friday night.
We left home at 09h00 traveling in our bakkie (ute/pick-up) because I wanted to do some dirt road and our beloved RT does not like dirt roads.
175 kilometres through familiar countryside with not much to see brought us into Clanwilliam at around 11h00 and we stopped for a light lunch and some wine.
From there we drove up across the magnificent "Pakhuis Pass", the tar continues for about twenty kms and then the road changes to dirt and it's not that good, quite bad corrugations so I took it rather slow.
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| Weavers nesting in a thorn tree |
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| The reason why we weren't on the bike |
It was an interesting drive but there was very little to see, almost no flowers except for small isolated patches and it's a long drive, around 130kms until we rose up onto the plateau and got nearer to our destination., then we started seeing the lovely roadside splashes of brilliant colour.
Sixteen kms before Nieuwvoudtville is the farm "Maatjiesfontein" (pr: My-keys-fon-tane) and for R25 per peson you can spend as long as you like driving around, the flowers there are amazing, Janet was in her element.
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| I think flowers make women feel good, Janet was certainly happy |
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| Selfie time! |
We spent a good amount of time driving around and taking photos in that beautifully picturesque spot on the planet and then headed into the little town to find our accomms. We were met and shown into our comfortable, clean and well-appointed self-catering unit, a hostel converted into flats which cost a very reasonable R350 per person. Call Debbie on 0837291501.
Dinner that night was at the restaurant "Neddersetting" a surprisingly up-market place in that dusty little town, the food was outstanding!
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| Karoo lamb platter |
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| Lamb offal curry |
I had the Karoo lamb platter, I was determined to eat lamb up there, it consisted of lamb spring rolls which I've never had before, lamb ribs, a tail, a "Skilpaatjie" (pr: skill-pie-key) which is a piece of the liver wrapped in spleen fat and several chops. It was absolutely delicious, a carnivore's delight. Janet had lamb curry offal which she also really enjoyed, this was washed down with copious quantities of local wine.
The next morning we stopped at the local butchery and bought some of the lamb leg chops, I had in mind a braai for Sunday, we also bought some beef dry sausage and some Kudu biltong. The drive home along the N7 was uneventful, no flowers to be seen there. We didn't bother to stop for lunch, choosing rather to munch on our dry wors and biltong.
We broke our trip and stopped for a cold beer at "Vensterklip" just outside of Eland's Bay, we both needed to walk around a bit and use the loo. we arrived home mid afternoon after a very enjoyable trip.
What better way to spend a quiet, sunny Sunday than with a braai? I cooked up two of the leg chops that I had bought along with potatoes, onion and gem squash and some boerewors (literally "Farmer sausage) that I had bought in Moorreesburg.
What a great weekend! Click on the photos to see them full size, some of them are worth it. Now's the time to do a flower trip, they're not going to be out for too much longer.
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