Ladismith and the R62

A quick post with some recommendations based on what we did and where we stayed on our 30 hour overnighter into the Klein Karoo.

Stay: Mymering Guest & Wine Farm
A chilled, tranquil, beautiful place with friendly people, homegrown wine readily available and some lovely chalets. Nice hiking on the doorstep, nature everywhere, and some stunning night skies.

Eat & Drink: Gypsy’s Gin Bar
More of an experience than a drink and meal. Masood (from Liverpool) and Letitia (Cape Town) settled in Ladismith after wandering the globe together. They’ve created a weird and wonderful place in “a town that doesn’t like change”. Over 150 different gins to try, and then Masood’s home cooked curries to enjoy. It felt like a meal at a friends’ house more than at a restaurant. An amazing place.

Eat & Drink: Diesel and Crème
American themed diner (and motel) in Barrydale that does the best milkshakes and burgers around. Instagram heaven (I resisted) with all the vintage signs, stained glass and roadhouse-themed décor. Part of a touristy strip on the edge of Barrydale, which also features some pretty tacky places peddling overpriced Africana to the buses passing through.

Go: We had business in Buffelsdrift (not a euphemism), and so literally took a Sho’t Left off the R62 about 20km before Ladismith. There’s nothing actually to do here, but there is the Buffelsdrift Conservancy:

Buffelsdrift Conservancy is a 1,600 hectare privately-owned cluster of properties, guided by a land use policy intended to preserve the indigenous flora and fauna of the area. The conservancy has invested in small herds of hartebeeste and zebras and hopes to introduce other species in the future.

It’s a beautiful place to drive through: we saw kingfishers, herons, Namaqua doves, weavers, sunbirds, bishops, baboons, ostriches, mousebirds, springbok and a booted eagle, and we weren’t even trying.

Do: Platform 62 Market
The second biggest thing in sleepy Ashton, after their new, unfeasibly large bridge.
Lots of art, local produce, LOADS of wine. Gin and brandy tasting, a pig called Fanie, and a big stream train outside.

Obviously, there is a lot more to see and do along Route 62, and on the way there. The stunning Dutoitskloof, the Nuy Valley, Robertson, Montagu and Barrydale, and beyond that, on towards Oudtshoorn. It’s an incredible road to drive with some amazing scenery, and we were reminded again of just how lucky we are to have all this “just up the road”.

Making tracks

We’re taking the kids on a bit of a road trip and so you should expect more photos and less writing as the blog becomes a bit tumblr-y for the next few days. There’s even a new category to reflect that and to keep the posts neatly together.

Since tomorrow (which is actually today if you’re reading this) may be a little busy with finishing off and getting going, this post is being done today (yesterday for you) and – as is traditional – features a quota photo, thus:

In a way, this kind of indicates what we’re hoping for. A pretty road, with no traffic, heading down towards a picturesque ocean. However, we are expecting the road we’re on to be quite a bit longer.

See you on the other side, with words and everything. 🙂

Oudtshoorn flashback

Oudtshoorn (roughly pronounced Oats-Horn) is a small town in the Western Cape which claims to be the ostrich capital of the world. And that might not sound like much of a pull, but if you want to do anything to do with ostriches, visit ostrich-related attractions and buy ostrich-related merchandise, Oudtshoorn is your number one destination of choice. It’s a couple of years since I was last there, but I don’t think it will have changed much, based on the fact that when I was there it didn’t appear to have changed much since colonial times.
I got into a spot of bother with my traveling companions on that particular visit, due to a comment I left in the guest book at the excellent Jemima’s restaurant. Having enjoyed all that Oudtshoorn had to offer during the day, I felt compelled to sample the speciality dish – ostrich – for my dinner. Then, perhaps buoyed by a sense of a day completed in fine style, together with some (or more) decent Cabernet Sauvignon, I reached for the visitor’s book on the way out and wrote:

Saw one.
Fed one.
Rode one.
Ate one.

Which, despite being absolutely true, was considered – in stark contrast to dinner – to be in rather poor taste and invoked the spirit of the Derbyshire butcher specialising in game meats who had the display of rabbits hung outside his shop next to the sign:

Watership Down.
You’ve read the book.
You’ve seen the film.
Now eat the cast.

All of which meandering brings me to EatBabe.co.uk and its startlingly similar tagline:

Choose pig.
Name pig.
Visit pig.
Eat pig.

Personally, I think they lose it slightly with the extra syllable on the third line, but it’s still a good effort. And yes, you adopt a piglet, they lovingly care for it, nurture it and feed it; and then slaughter it, chop it all up and deliver it (vacuum packed, nogal) to your door.

A whole pig weighs in at about 40-50kg of meat. This usually works out between £280 and £350, though never more than £380. For this price you get all of the meat back from your pig, butchered, vacuum packed, weighed, labelled and priced ~ just how you would like to find it. In terms of cost, you are paying about £100 more than in a supermarket, the same as in a good butchers, and £160 less than London prices. Any offal you choose to have from your pig is free of charge.

The advantages of this system? You know exactly where your pig came from, where it has been and what it has been eating: “From field to fork, from pasture to plate – tracking your food every step of the way”.

I can already imagine the Oudtshoorn farmers planning the South African equivalent. If only there was some tear-jerking family film about a talking baby ostrich which they could use the name from. 

Perhaps that’s all that’s holding them back.