Three weeks at Kruistementvlei

We worked as volunteers on Kruistementvlei Farm on top of Piketberg Mountain (called Piket-Bo-Berg) for three weeks this March, and it was wonderful. We did all sorts of different jobs on the farm, from improving a hiking trail to picking almonds to website designing, and with our trusty project manager mom to keep it all together (and 'oom' Jeremy to shake up her plans now and then), our stay was satisfactory and fun. Thank you 'oom' Jeremy and 'tannie' Riette Bryant for your hospitality!

Our first task was to help with the Farmers Market held at Kruistementvlei Farm every month. With a live local band in the background, the setting is very relaxed and more about the 'kuier' than anything else. Mom had a stall for her books, I helped at tannie Riette's stall, and the boys very enthusiastically sold their own 'organic firelighters', made from 'slangbos' and kindling the previous day.

Happy girls are pretty girls.

The 'slangbos' contains a lot of oil, thus it makes a good fire starter. 

We improved a short hiking trail around their farm, designed a new map and made signposts for the different cottages and features around the farm.

Newly painted. 

Dad learned to rout (here he's making a sign for the 'Hog House', a quaint open plan cottage where we stayed most of the time).  

Varnishing the signboards. 

Some of the boards also had to be painted. 

I designed a new logo for the farm, which had to replace the current one on some boards. Here Maarten is putting the new logo up with the stapler gun.

We learned a lot from the Bryants, especially from oom Jeremy about soil and soil improvement. They not only walk their talk, but also involve visitors to the farm in the process. By using dry compost toilets, they make compost and return it to the soil instead of polluting their groundwater (which basically every other kind of toilet does, according to The Humanure Handbook, a very interesting read if you ever have time).

Words like 'permaculture', 'hugelkultur' and 'swales' feature here, and during our stay we even worked on artificial swales. We were made aware of movements like The Urban Farming Guys, and watched some very interesting documentaries such as The Man Who Stopped the Desert.

Oom Jeremy is also a big fan of mulching, and have multiple chippers (mulching machines) on the farm. The boys enjoyed it immensely.

Working on the swales. Swales are basically low tracts of land and are designed to manage water runoff, filter pollutants, and increase rainwater infiltration. We layered it with cardboard (to soak up water), and then filled it up with wood and organic material. 

First time mulching with the small chipper. 

The big chipper in action. It's literally chewing up the whole branch. 

Scouting the West Coast

What does Saldanha, Langebaan and Paternoster have in common? Besides being weird names, these three towns are all found in and close to Saldanha Bay, a natural harbor of the West Coast. We've recently had a day-long road trip with fellow German volunteer Dana on the farm, starting through Goedverwacht (good expectations) to the little town of Hopefield around to places like Langebaan, Saldanha, Paternoster, Stompneus Bay, St. Helena Bay, and Aurora (quite a mouthful).

Passing through an area called Sandveld, our first stop was at Kersefontein out of pure curiosity. A beautiful and old guest farm near Hopefield, Kersefontein dates back to 1770 and is still in working order.

Sandveld scenery.  It is literally sand. 

Kersefontein  has been in the possession of the Melck family for 8 generations, and is now a National Monument.

In Hopefield we stopped at a recommended weekly Market for a drink, and then checked out the Simply Bee Center next to the market. It proved rather interesting with a display of a living/working hive behind glass.

At the market everyone was friendly, as so typical of small towns where everybody knows everybody else (and usually what they're doing too).

Watching the bees at work behind the glass. Safe from stings, you learn a lot more this way. 

Big church tower in Hopefield. 

A very old 'hartebees huisie', a specific type of house the first settlers in this region built. 

Onwards to Langebaan, where it's common for people from Cape Town to have a holiday house. We took a short walk on the beach - it felt more like walking on the shore of a lake though, as there were almost no waves (because of the natural harbor shape of the bay).

Just before Saldanha (the town), we drove past the Saldanha Works Steel mine. As a result of the mine everything in the area is reddish (I didn't edit this picture). 

Further on, we had a light lunch in Paternoster, possibly the quaintest fisher's village in the area.

Maarten approved of this sign at the restaurant. 

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. 

So Long, Somerset West

Our seven weeks of renting a garden flat in Somerset West came to an end last week, and it's been great. We've worked hard and our first school term is practically over. Here are a couple of photos taken during our stay.

We've been to the Strand's beach a couple of times, and got to know the neighborhood on our family walks.

Notice the way the wind is blowing the sand. 

The boys preferred to walk on the dry sand in order to collect 'treasures'. 

I prefer the wet sand (thanks for the picture, mom). 

Beach clouds. 

A delightful swing about halfway on our walking route. We stopped almost every time.

The palm tree where we stayed. Palm trees make really cool silhouettes. 

Weekends have been quite busy, and we've ticked a couple of activities and places off our bucket list (see some of the previous posts on these). Overall, it's been a necessary and productive two months. So long, Strand and Somerset!

My personal favorite picture from the Strand. 

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 Weekend in McGregor

What better place to go to for a chilled weekend away than McGregor, the small and picturesque village in the Riviersonderend Mountains? McGregor has recently gained publicity and fame for its beautifully preserved 19th century architecture and relaxed atmosphere among the vineyards (and olive groves). This is where family of ours live, and so we had a nice 'naweek kuier' at the van der Colffs.

In between activities like 'kuier', swimming and braaiing-on-the-cob (and braaiing and braaiing....thanks oom Corrie), we went 'housewatching' on bicycles, drank milkshakes, watched the (absolutely ancient) 1973 classic Jonathan Livingston Seagull movie (I think an older generation will appreciate this), and had a Valentines Day lunch at Rhebokskraal Olive Estate.

The fabulous house at Rhebokskraal. 

Typical McGregor houses. 

The Old Post Office. 

A 'stoep' (porch) is a very South African thing. 

Some people have vineyards in their backyards....

...others have cows. 

Milkshakes!