Seven Days in the Cedarberg

After leaving Kruistementvlei Farm (see the previous post) in March, we drove to the stunningly situated Algeria campsite in the Cedarberg (sometimes spelled Cederberg) mountains for a week long retreat. The Cedarberg mountain range is named after an endangered tree found only in the area (the Clanwilliam Cedar), and the mountains are rather famous for strange, dramatic rock formations and San rock art. Our grandparents 'ouma' and 'oupa' Venter joined us for a few days as well, and on the 21st of March we celebrated mom's 45th birthday! Dad did some work, but thankfully we had no school to do so we just relaxed, read books, hiked some really cool trails, camped, and visited with ouma and oupa.

Exploring the mountain stream running through the campsite. 

Glued to the pencil. Gran taught the boys (especially Maarten) to draw 3D objects. Here, they are drawing the Land Rover. 

For mom's birthday, we hiked the 2-3 hour waterfall trail near a big crack ('skeur') in the mountains. With chocolate, mountain champagne, and then real champagne later, it was a fabulous way to celebrate for her and we really enjoyed it.

Imagine the forces which tore this mountain apart...

At the waterfall. Granted, there were more algae and plants than water, but oh well. 

Fascination with frogs and tadpoles never cease. 

We love you, mom. 

A longer but very impressive hike we did another day is the Wolfberg (literally, 'wolf mountain') Arch which took us about 6 hours. It was absolutely worth it, not just because of the Arch, but also because of the rocks and boulder formations along the way.

First sighting. 

Revived by lunch after 3 hours of walking. 

Smile! Not that anyone can see if you don't...

 Strange rocks.

Swartland and Surroundings

Porterville is a little town in an area called Swartland, amidst rolling fields of wheat (and here and there vineyards) at the foot of the Groot Winterhoek Mountains. We've seen some interesting places in and around it, including 22 Waterfalls Farm, the Jan Danckaert Museum (named after an explorer in 1660), and some magnificent scenery in the Groot Winterhoek Nature Reserve.

After a cooldrink in Porterville itself, we checked out the Jan Danckaert Museum. The Museum is not very big, but we were quite impressed by the San (Bushmen) Rock Art exhibition. The mountains in this area contain a lot of well preserved San art, but because it is risky to expose these paintings to people, some good pictures were taken of the paintings and these are now exhibited in the Museum.

Drinks in Porterville. 

The San Art exhibition. 

"Bulldog" tractor, of course I had to take a picture. 

 Porterville also has a rather impressive church (for such a small town anyway). 

It has competition from its neighbouring town Piketberg though – some more dramatic religious architecture awaits.

On the 22 Waterfall Farm (which lie just outside Porterville) there runs a stream down a rather steep 'kloof' of the Olifants River Mountains. There are 22 waterfalls, big and small, up the 'kloof' and to see all of them is approximately a 9-hour hike. We only had an hour and so we saw just a few of them, but it was worth it - we even had a swim!

Some rock climbing in between the waterfalls. 

Vergelegen and a Mountain Cabin

Combining a visit to a historical wine estate and a sleepover with friends in a mountain hut makes a pretty good weekend - at least that's our opinion. Last weekend we checked out Vergelegen, and then stayed at the Mountain Club Hut in the Hottentots Holland mountains with friends from Kuils River for one night.

Vergelegen is a beautiful wine estate in Somerset West, with a big Cape Dutch house and extensive gardens, situated at the foot of the Hottentots Holland mountains. It was established by Willem Adriaan van der Stel in the 1700's, the son and successor of Simon van der Stel (governor of the Cape Colony in the late 1600's).

Unfortunately Willem Adriaan's best interests did not lie with the welfare of the Cape Colony, and he used the Dutch East Indian Company's extensive resources to build up his own private estate and wealth, as well as passing grossly unfair laws concerning the free burghers (independent farmers). He was corrupt, and dismissed from his post and exiled to the Netherlands by the Company in 1707.

The original estate was divided into four farms (Vergelegen, Lourensford, Morgenster and Cloetenburg) and sold off. Vergelegen is now a productive wine estate owned by a mining company, and is definitely worth a visit (even if you skip the wine tasting).

The maize-like herb garden. 

Beautiful, historic camphor trees in the gardens, believed to have been planted in 1700. 

All the buildings had the same Cape Dutch style. 

 The 'Royal' Oak, planted in 1928. This tree's acorn came from one of the last of King Alfred's oak trees at Blenheim Palace in England. Plenty of royalty has also come to see it, including King George VI and Queen Elisabeth II.

I figured a thousand or more people must have taken this picture before me, but not one that has these two boys staring at the pond like they're seeing a giant tadpole with three tails. 

All that remained of the old Water Mill was one barely-standing wall. 

Crossing a natural stream. 

A stroll in the Yellowwood forest. 

More big, dramatic trees. 

The rose garden. 

After Vergelegen, we drove to the mountain hut with our friends. After a short hike with all our stuff awkwardly over shoulders and arms, we were relaxing with great views of False Bay, the mountains in mist behind us, and the laughing sound of a mountain stream in the background.
We were soon joined by two other members of the Mountain Club and had a great time with them, playing cards, chatting, and braaiing (in the fireplace, because the wind would have blown the fire, person trying to braai, and 'wors' (sausage) away outside). Thanks for the 'kuier' everyone!

On the way to the hut. 

Already at home. 

A Garden, some Big Rocks and a Monument

Last Saturday we visited Babylonstoren, one of the oldest Cape Dutch farms and now rather famous for its big, well planned and interesting garden (see some good aerial pictures of the garden here on their website). We also checked out Paarl Rock and climbed Bretagna Rock in the Paarl Mountain Nature Reserve, then had a lovely full moon picnic at the Afrikaans Language Monument ('Die Taal Monument') with friends.

Babylonstoren farm dates as far back as 1692, and with its eight acre garden as a focus point it is now a venue with two restaurants, a Hotel and Spa, a Farm Shop, etc. The gardens are divided into 15 sections whch contain different fruits, berries, plants and lawns, with interesting features such as a prickly pear maze, a hanging pumpkin tunnel and a Mulberry Meditation corner.

Patterns of lettuce. 

The prickly pear maize - we doubt anyone would try to cheat in here.  

Mom got some inspiration for her future garden. 

And I got some photography inspiration. 

A tiny sleeping hedgehog found in the 'Almonds and Bees' section. 

Family picture with the hanging pumpkins (it really is pumpkins). 

The 'Puffadder', just an interesting shadow tunnel. 

The enclosed Mulberry Meditation corner. 

'Kalkoene en pampoene' (turkeys and pumpkins). 

Then we drove to the Paarl Mountain Nature Reserve, where we had a good view of the Paarl from suitably named Paarl Rock.

(Click to view large). 

 Maarten with a canon they used in the old Cape signalling system. 

Looking up at Bretagna Rock. 

My two 'Supermen'. 

Then came the topmost Bretagna Rock and Gordon's Rock. It was a very short but slippery walk up, and we only realized the size of these solid granite rocks when we got there.

Table Mountain, a Castle, and Camps Bay

Last Saturday we once again donned our tourist hats, and set out to explore some of the most popular tourist destinations in South Africa. We climbed up Table Mountain, took the Cable Car down, checked out the Castle of Good Hope, visited the old Company Gardens and even tried swimming in the freezing (but beautiful blue) Benguela ocean current at Camps Bay. 

The most popular tourist destination city in South Africa is Cape Town, but what makes Cape Town so special is Table Mountain, the curiously flat 'Guardian of the South'.

There are many hiking trails on top of the mountain itself, but one first has to get up there... Most people take the easy way out and ride the Cable Car up and down the mountain, but we decided to hike up Platteklip Gorge instead, and only take the Cable Car down. We were very glad about the Cable Car once we were on top though - the climb was only about 3 km, but it took us an exhausting 2 hours! 

Just started. 

About halfway up the gorge. 

The view was fantastic. 

We were very fortunate with the weather; there was barely a breeze, which is unusual for the Cape (and mountains). 

Headed down on the Cable Car, we had a good view of Lion's Head (on the left of the picture) and Signal Hill (which is supposed to be the rump of the lion). We also heard the Noon Gun firing at 12:00 pm from Signal Hill, which it has been doing every day for 110 years (since 1806). 

The mechanics of the Cable Car, imported from Switzerland. 

We made a quick stop at Signal Hill for some pictures. 

Next up was the Castle of Good Hope. Built in the 17th century by the Dutch East India Company, it is the oldest colonial building in South Africa, and is still serving as a military building today.  

This bell tower was added by Simon van der Stel (Governor of the Cape) in 1684 (made from yellow, imported Dutch bricks).