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Nippy nights in Oudtshoorn

28 – 29 AUGUST 2020

On Friday, 28 August 2020, after a quick coffee and some rusks, I finally became a real digital nomad. Whilst Andre went into town in search of the correct electrical fitting, I sat down in my beautiful outdoor office and did the month-end accounts for our rental properties and paid our accounts.

With business taken care of, we decided to explore Oudtshoorn. We visited some of the tourist attractions with our kids a few years back, but Andre has never visited the Cango Caves as an adult, so that is where we headed (R328). What a disappointment – due to Covid-19, they had not re-opened yet. Andre tried his best to find an entrance, but to no avail.

Since we were already on that side of town, we decided to change our plans a bit. Andre phoned his friend Mayday in Prince Albert, and we set off over the Swartberg Mountains to visit them. We made a quick pitstop at Kobus se Gat (www.swartbergexperience.co.za) for their renowned roosterkoek with bean soup – just what the doctor ordered on such a cold day! Oh, and don’t miss out on their biltong either!

Driving the Swartberg Pass is not for the faint-hearted! But it is so worth it! The views on both sides of the mountain are breath-taking, the rock formations will leave you in awe, and the craftmanship of the stone walls is something to behold.

We even stopped at the ruins of the old jail (Blikstasie) to recreate photos which we took there of the kids years ago.

It was lovely catching up with Andre’s old friend, Mayday, over coffee at Lah-di-dah (1 Church Street, Prince Albert, Cell: 082 516 6146 or find them on Facebook) and later also with his wife, Jeni, and their kids when they joined us for dinner. I can recommend their ribs and pizza.

Inside Lah-di-dah, there is a sign that says, “DO NOT TOUCH THE CAT!” When I was paying our bill, this beautiful light ginger cat climbed onto the counter and started nudging me and rubbing his head against me. In my family, I am known as the Queen of Cats, and I could not resist stroking him. The manager was still telling me how aggressive this cat is, when he decided to climb right on top of my shoulder and there he wanted to stay. The manager was totally flabbergasted, because she could not believe how loving he was being towards me!

We made it back to Oudtshoorn, through Meiringspoort in the dark, just in time before curfew. It was freezing, freezing cold and it took me some time and a few layers of clothes to finally feel warm inside Miss Daisy.

After a bit of a sleep-in the next morning, we set off on a gravel road off the N12 South to do some beer tasting at the rustic Thorny Creek Brewery (Cell: 072 273 1926 or find them on Facebook). We were pleasantly surprised by the small craft market which they ran there for the first time that Saturday morning. We had excellent crepes with our IPA Beer and Belgian Stout. When the rain came down heavily, we drove slowly through the Kleinpoort back to Oudtshoorn.

Andre decided that he needed a nap after his 9% alcohol Belgian Stout, so I went to visit an old friend from when the kids were small, Paula Hancke. That evening, we holed up inside Miss Daisy with warm drinks and cheese and biscuits for dinner, before settling down for our last freezing night in Oudtshoorn.

PS: Check out my new page with reports about the caravan parks that we visit.

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Comments

  1. My kind! Jy sal dat ‘n mens met heel nuwe oë na Oudtshoorn kyk – van alle kante af!! Baie dankie, dit was regtig insiggewend.

  2. Really enjoying your journey and your blog is great!! The silver surfer has to be the dude you got driving you around with that silver beard 😈does he turn into Santa in December 🤭

    1. Actually, we are both silver surfers (50+ and surfing the internet) I am just under-cover!! Thanks for your positive comments!

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