DAY 23 : 21 MARCH 2011 : GRAAFF-REINET TO MOUNTAIN ZEBRA PARK, CRADOCK

In garden of The Owl House with figurine

We went via Nieu Bethesda to Cradock.   I had heard about the Owl House, but hadn’t realized how fascinating it would be – what a sad story about Helen Martins.  

Reflections in window of The Owl House

We had coffee in the Village Inn run by an old couple who sold their sheep and cattle farms and now run the coffee shop.   Dog thinks he must be about 80 years old.  He told us quite a bit about the town – about 60 white people left in the village, and there nearest town is Graaff Reinet about 40 km away.   It is off the beaten track, although it now boasts a brand new tarred road to the N9 which makes the trip to Graaff Reinet much quicker.   It is a fascinating little village which has been really put on the map by the Owl House – and virtually every house or cottage displays one of the Owl House cement sculptures outside the front door.

 The village is in a rugged little village very close to Towerberg which is the highest mountain in the Cape.  Once again there was evidence of flood damage with the brand new bridge over the river, almost being washed away.

We had a picnic lunch in one of the many well maintained picnic spots along the road and arrived at the Mountain Zebra Park in the early afternoon.

Caravan Park at Mountain Zebra National Park - Kewley's in middle of picture on right



It is nice to be back in the ‘bush’ and we are being serenaded this evening by jackals instead of dogs and crowing roosters.

DAY 21 and 22 : 19/20 MARCH 2011 : PRINCE ALBERT TO GRAAFF-REINET

This was quite a long haul – 406 km – longer than we have been doing.   We went via Meirings Poort, De Rust, and Aberdeen.  

Meirings poort

Meiringspoort was spectacular with the road following the river gorge through the heart of the Swartberg range with towering cliffs on either side of the road.   The trip through the Karoo was also an eye opener.   We had always thought that the Karoo was flat and dry and uninteresting, but this road was fantastic, with mountain ranges visible on either side for most of the route and all dams full to the brim and water lying in every depression.   The veld itself was very green with lots of tall grasses.   It was very lush – not what we had expected.   We were now on the N9 but there was virtually no traffic.  

Jesa - Graaff-Reinet caravan park

The one and only caravan park in Graaff Reinet was very strange – it was out of town at the back of a trading store on a small holding.   We were very dubious about it as the sites were all in a row under shade cloth and there was a lot of building material lying around.   The positives though, were that it was all enclosed in a security fence and you had your own bathroom with a key.   There were 8 sites, however there was only one other caravan there.   Once we got used it, it wasn’t too bad.

The Valley of Desolation in the Camdeboo National Park was incredible.



Valley of Desolation



Camdeboo National Park

Vanryneveldpass Dam overflowing

The whole park was also very good, however they have had such phenomenal rains that all the rivers were in flood and the Van Ryneveld Pass Dam was overflowing, something that is most unusual.  This hadn’t happened for the last 20 years or so, and this was evidenced by the crowds that were viewing the event.

Large herds of Eland in the Camdeboo Park

There were many roads that we closed due to flooding but we really enjoyed the park, very different to what we are used to.   It is 8000 ha and virtually surrounds Graaff Reinet on 3 sides.   The high vantage points in the park gave us great views of the town.

Graaff Reinet was a very neat and tidy town with lots of old Cape Style buildings, wide streets and a peaceful atmosphere.

DAY 20 : 18 MARCH 2011 : SCHOEMANSPOORT TO PRINCE ALBERT

Explaining to Doggy where the farm was

There was still quite a bit of mist around when we ascended Swartberg Pass which overlooks the Oude Muragie Valley, with me trying to identify the ancestral farm – not very successfully, I might add.   I am sure that the farm has been incorporated into other farms, and the houses have long been demolished.

Klipspringer on way up pass

Protea spp



Protea spp



Tea on Swartberg Pass

It was very misty, but as we climbed the pass, we once again got into fynbos vegetation – lots of proteas, ericas, leucadendrons, etc.   Absolutely gorgeous.

Swartberg Pass

As we peaked, the mist cleared and we had a clear view over towards the Karoo.   We thought that Mr Baine’s efforts were mediocre on the way up, but the descent was spectacular and has been compared to the Khyber Pass in the Himalayas.   Unfortunately there had been heavy rains and there was some bad wash on the road.   They have already had 145mm of their annual 200mm rainfall this year.

Swartberg pass - on way to Prince Albert

The rugged scenery on the way down was spectacular, and as we went down, we got back into succulent Karoo vegetation.  
We stayed at the Olienhof Caravan Park on a small holding just outside Prince Albert – probably 8 sites and a couple of self catering bungalows.   We went out to visit the Renu Karoo nursery project that Mike  Cameron had suggested – run by Richard Deane and Sue Milton.  Richard was one of the three authors of the  big Roberts Bird book and he arranged to meet Doggy at 6.30 the following morning to go birding.   Sue is a professor in botany who lectures at Cape Town, Stellenbosch and Saasveld.   The work covers the rehabilitation of Karoo vegetation and it was a very interesting indigenous nursery.

DAY 19 : 17 MARCH 2011 : CANGO MOUNTAIN RESORT, SCHOEMANSPOORT

Red Mountains near Calitzdorp



Oude Muragie Road



We decided on a circular drive, to De Rust to visit Hillary Schutte, Craig’s mother.    After tea with Hillary at her wonderful home, we headed for Oudtshoorn, and then towards Calitzdorp.  We turned off before Calitzdorp because a huge storm was approaching and we decided not to go right into the eye of the storm.   The road to Schoemanspoort went along the foot of the Swartberg mountains, a truly beautiful drive, but unfortunately the storm caught up with us and there were many sites that we unable to be seen because of the rain and mist.

But we did see the Red Mountains as we got onto this road, and the road that we were on turned out to be the Oude Muragie road, which was perhaps the road that led to my father’s mothers’ brothers farm which I visited as a young girl.   When I was there last there were no irrigated lands, but now the whole valley is under irrigation with olive trees, lucerne and grapes, absolutely beautiful.  

We got back to the Cango Mountain Resort to find the two other lots of campers had left and we had the whole place to ourselves – great –except that it was pouring with rain and my washing that I had hung out early in the morning, was dripping wet again.   We got on to the bed and slept which it poured with rain.   The storm passed at about 5pm and the sun came out and we had a beautiful evening even though it was wet underfoot – and very chilly.

DAY 18 : 16 MARCH 2011 : KNYSNA

After 5 nights at Knysna, we packed our camp up for an early start to Prince Albert.   We saw Sedgefield and Wilderness in daylight.   What a beautiful drive.

 

Erica spp on Montagu Pass



Montagu Pass





Campsite at Cango Mountain Resort

Once through George, we took the Montagu Pass to Oudtshoorn and basically repeated our trip of the previous day by road, rather that rail.   From Oudtshoorn, we took the Cango Cave road through Schoemanspoort, stopping in the poort for lunch.   Virtually opposite was the road to De Rust and a signpost to the Cango Mountain Oord which we decided to investigate.   It turned out to be a really nice place in a valley below the municipal dam, the Koos Raubenheimer Dam, which supplies Oudtshoorn with water.

DAY 17 : 15 MARCH 2011 : KNYSNA

Doggy with Mike at Saasveld

We went to George via the Seven Passes Road , all designed and built by Thomas Baines for ox wagons and they are still in use today.   It was a very interesting and beautiful drive.   The road goes past Saasveld and we popped in to see Mike, have a cup of coffee with him and a quick tour of the campus.   What a super place this is.  Really beautifully laid out and situated in indigenous forest



View from Power Van



We rushed into town to be in time to catch the Power Van which is two of the inspection railway vans  which are used by Spoornet for moving staff and inspecting lines.   This ventures is privately run and was a super outing.   It cost R100 per person for a 2½ hour trip up the railway line to the top of the Outeniqua Pass.   From the Power Van you could see the Outeniqua Pass finished in 1951 and the Montagu Pass built before Thomas Baines started – complete in 1813?   The line is still in use today for goods trains between Cape Town and PE.   The wagon trail which predates this route was also clear – the Cradock Pass.   It took the oxen wagons three days to reach the top of the pass and another two days to reach Outshoorn which can now be done in two hours by car.

Power Van showing railway line and Montagu Pass

View of George and the Power Vans

Before Mike and Nita took us out for supper, we popped into their house and  witnessed Mike’s racing pigeons going for their evening flight.   We were very ignorant when it came to pigeon racing, and were pleasantly surprised at what actually is involved.   We rounded off the evening with a meal with the Camerons at the new George mall, before driving home via Wilderness and Sedgefield.

DAY 16 : 14 MARCH 2011 : KNYSNA

Once again fine weather and we took the opportunity to borrow the McConnachie’s  two mountain bikes while they departed for work.  We cycled around Leisure Isle for 1½ hours.   What a super place to live.   Following on the Japanese earthquake and tsunami disaster, we had a few concerns about living on an island a few metres above water!   We popped into their local harbor/yacht club and it looks as though each family on the island owns at least two or three boats – Jock and Helen own 15 sailing craft ranging from fishing ski’s to yachts’

Doggy on beach at Natures Valley

After breakfast we packed a picnic lunch and headed for Natures Valley where Carolyn, Doggy’s sister, has spent many holidays.   We had tea on the beach, where the waves were enormous!   The whole area is a conservancy, and many gardens are fenced to keep the bushbuck out rather than to keep animals in!

We got back to Knysna early afternoon and went to see Jock and Helen’s business, ‘The Timber Village’ where they make all sorts of furniture and many different small items crafted out of beautiful indigenous wood.   My mouth watered!   They employ 8 craftsmen including a carver from Malawi who produces some wonderful work.

The McConnachie’s joined us that evening for our first whole chicken cooked in the Cobb.   It was a tremendous success.   Another great evening and some more good wine.