I ♥ Greyton Because ...

I ♥ Greyton

Hi, I’m Gemma Downing from The Farmhouse in Greyton.

Greyton IS BEST KNOWN FOR its oak tree lined streets and mag­ni­fi­cent Riviersonderend Mountains.

GET YOUR PICTURE TAKEN whilst bob­bing about in the Gobos River — so refreshing.

THE BEST still life PICTURES CAN BE TAKEN in the sur­round­ing moun­tains early in the morn­ing when the spider webs are drip­ping with dew. Its magical!

OTHER HAPPY SNAPS all over the vil­lage ... includ­ing the Saturday morn­ing mar­ket. Continued

I ♥ Gansbaai Because ...

I ♥ Gansbaai

Hi, I’m Roelof from Aire del Mar Guest House in Gansbaai in the Cape Overberg.

Gansbaai IS BEST KNOWN FOR shark-diving, whale-watching and fishing.

GET YOUR PICTURE TAKEN IN the cage, while view­ing the great white shark.

THE BEST under water PICTURES CAN BE TAKEN with a ren­ted under water cam­era on a shark diving trip.
OTHER HAPPY SNAPS FROM the deck of the boat.

WHEN THE WEATHER'S GOOD, I LIKE TO be out­side and enjoy the kilo­met­ers of unspoilt coast­line. Continued

Elgin Open Gardens Photographs

We spent the night in Elgin on Saturday and on the way home used the oppor­tun­ity to pop into one of the open gar­dens.  For those who don’t know, gar­dens are opened to the pub­lic every year (this year over the week­ends of October 29^th and 30^th and November 5^th and 6^th) in the Elgin, Vyeboom and Bot River Districts.  The gar­dens range from coun­try gar­dens that are well estab­lished (some are over 50 years old) to smal­ler gar­dens in vil­lages that have been recently planted but most are no more than a sixty minute drive from Cape Town and are so worth vis­it­ing. Many gar­dens have plants for sale and also offer tea and light meals.  There are also art and sculp­ture events on in the dis­trict and some local wine cel­lars are offer­ing tastings.

There are five dif­fer­ent routes.  Route 1 incor­por­ates Grabouw and its environs, Route 2 is the Viljoenshoop Road, Route 3 cov­ers the Highlands and Valley Road while Route 4 involves Villersdorp Road and Vyeboom and finally Route 5 looks after Houw Hoek and Bot River.  The dif­fer­ent farms and prop­er­ties are loc­ated along the vari­ous routes so you just need to decide on your route of choice and fol­low the map!

We vis­ited Boesmansrug which was part of Route 4. The gar­dens incor­por­ated rose and herb gar­dens, a secret garden, gor­geous green pas­tures and majestic oaks.  Plants and tea were on sale and money went to the chosen char­ity which was Kirstenbosch Environmental Education. Although some of the gar­dens offer free entry, some charge an entry fee of between R5 to R20 (entry to Oak Valley is R50 but pre-booking is essen­tial) so make sure you have cash on you.

It really is a lovely day out – I wish we’d planned the day bet­ter and spent more time vis­it­ing more gar­dens.  Continued

Stanford Photographs

Stanford is a quaint, sleepy vil­lage that is found on the other side of Hermanus in the Cape Overberg.  Sheltered by the Klein River Mountains it’s a peace­ful vil­lage that has a healthy mix of art gal­ler­ies, antique and second hand shops, res­taur­ants, side­walk cafes and pubs.  Originally a farm, de Kleine Riveirs Valey and the his­tor­ical build­ings on tree-lined streets are ref­er­ence to the English influ­ence on the vil­lage and why its now the third most his­tor­ic­ally import­ant vil­lage in the Western Cape.

If vis­it­ing Stanford a must see is the Birkenhead Brewery which is a boutique brew­ery open for beer tast­ing and lunches and the Stanford Walking Trail which meanders its way along the Klein River, through the town and offers walk­ers great bird­ing oppor­tun­it­ies, includ­ing sight­ing the endangered Blue Crane.

Stanford is a won­der­ful week­end venue; per­fect to take in the sights or just as per­fect to laze around the garden and do noth­ing! Continued

I ♥ Bettys Bay Because ...

I ♥ Bettys Bay

Hi, I’m Louise from The Orange House Seaside Cottage in Bettys Bay, in the Cape Overberg.

Bettys Bay IS BEST KNOWN FOR its beau­ti­ful beaches amaz­ing moun­tain and pristine fynbos.

GET YOUR PICTURE TAKEN any­where in Bettys Bay with either the moun­tain behind you or the sea.
THE BEST pen­guin PICTURES CAN BE TAKEN AT Stony Point pen­guin colony.
OTHER HAPPY SNAPS AT Main Beach or swim­ming in Bass Lake. Continued

Gorgeous Greyton — Photographs

The gor­geous vil­lage of Greyton, loc­ated in the Cape Overberg and sur­roun­ded by farm­lands and the Riviersondered Mountains is a very man­age­able 90 minute drive from Cape Town and is just per­fect for a week­end get­away.  The vil­lage has a num­ber of super res­taur­ants and delis so a decent cof­fee and a loaf of artisan bread is easy to find … if that is what you are look­ing for.  The Greyton Market takes place every Saturday from 10am to mid­day; thing to try would be the lemon curd pan­cakes, the homemade lem­on­ade, the heavy with meat pies, the pes­tos – actu­ally the list is endless.

The oak lined streets, beau­ti­fully restored cot­tages and pretty gar­dens make Greyton pic­ture per­fect. There is loads to do; from walk­ing or cyc­ling in the moun­tains, ambling the streets, eat­ing at the many eat­er­ies, hik­ing to McGregor, vis­it­ing his­tor­ical build­ings or hunt­ing for antiques – the list is end­less.  Or of course you can just relax in the sun­shine and enjoy the views! Continued

A Day Visit to Vermont — Photographs

Last week­end my fam­ily headed off to Vermont in the Cape Overberg (just before Hermanus) to say a fond farewell to my grand­father. He had lived in Vermont for more than 25 years and we thought it fit­ting to scat­ter his ashes in the town he called home. Although his house is quite lit­er­ally fall­ing apart Spangereid (as he called it) has an amaz­ing loc­a­tion and it just a short walk to the tidal pool.

The tidal pool is always a hive of activ­ity, not only does it boast gor­geous views but you will always find people sit­ting on the beach gaz­ing out into the ocean, chil­dren swim­ming (mostly in sum­mer), fam­il­ies play­ing soc­cer on the grass, eager fish­er­men try­ing their luck for the day and more. If you haven't been to Vermont it is well worth your time, enjoy the still­ness and beauty this sea­side town has to offer ... Continued

Top spots in the Overberg — 10 days just isn't long enough

"Do" the Overberg

I thought ten days would be more than enough to take in a few of the towns and high­lights of the Overberg, but I couldn't have been more wrong. Ten days is but a dress rehearsal for the per­form­ance, and we could eas­ily return for another two weeks and still not have cap­tured the essence of the Overberg. The best part about trav­el­ling through this part of the Western Cape, other than the incred­ible scenery, is that get­ting there from Cape Town is really easy (bar the N2 bottle-neck through Somerset West, but even that is man­age­able if you time it prop­erly). And yet, two and a half hours later, one feels as though one is in another part of the world ... Continued

Baardskeerdersbos — a visit uncovers a hamlet full of artists

Baardskeerdersbos

I have to admit to a cer­tain fas­cin­a­tion with Baardskeerdersbos even before my visit. I mean, what kind of town names itself after a tiny spider that cuts human hair to make its nest? And appar­ently this all began way back in the 1660s when an exped­i­tion of five men, sent by Jan van Riebeeck, gave a report on the val­ley, its Khoikhoi res­id­ents, and its spiders.

So it's no sur­prise that the loc­als have inform­ally renamed the town B'bos – ima­gine say­ing 'Baardskeerdersbos' every time someone asks you where you live? I believe that there are very few run-ins with said spider nowadays, even if the little ham­let remains small and the sur­rounds largely undis­turbed ... Continued

Wading out to Waenhuiskrans Cave — all it's cut out to be

Waenhuiskrans Cave

An almost sur­real exper­i­ence, a visit to Waenhuiskrans Cave is best done at low tide through the swells, along the edge of the lime­stone cliffs of Waenhuiskrans Nature Reserve.

Whilst some do it with their shoes on, I found walk­ing on the barnacle covered boulders a far bet­ter idea – at least I had dry shoes at the end of it all. Well, almost, give or take a freak wave or two.

The boulders along the edge of the beau­ti­ful lime­stone cliffs lead to a huge cave. The cav­ernous space is such that those who ini­tially dis­covered it named it to describe its capa­city to allow for the turn­ing of a wagon — should you man­age to get your horse-drawn wagon down there (hello! Not in a month of Sundays). Continued

Bredasdorp — the fulcrum of the Overberg

Bredasdorp

A few too many people dis­miss Bredasdorp. It is a com­mer­cial centre and is fairly big, hence it does not have the cutesy-pie look that most trav­el­lers have come to expect from hol­i­day towns in the Western Cape. But scratch a little beneath the sur­face and Bredasdorp has more than a few sur­prises, and a won­der­ful sense of com­munity that is worth a closer look. If you visit the Overberg, and travel around a bit you will soon appre­ci­ate that Bredasdorp sees a fair bit of traffic, given that it's on the way to quite a few places. If you're intent on avoid­ing dirt roads, that is. Continued

I ♥ Kleinmond Because ...

I ♥ Kleinmond

Hi, I’m Chris Docking from Perazim B&B in Kleinmond in the Cape Overberg.

Kleinmond IS BEST KNOWN FOR the fyn­bos that abounds in the area. It could be named as the Fynbos Capital of the world as it lies in the UNESCO declared Kogelberg Biosphere Reserve.

GET YOUR PICTURE TAKEN AT Sandown Bay with either the lagoon & moun­tains or the ocean in the background.

THE BEST sun­set PICTURES CAN BE TAKEN AT Harbour Road while enjoy­ing a glass of wine & watch­ing the last rays of the sun slip into the ocean along with the cares of the world.
OTHER HAPPY SNAPS AT Palmiet lagoon…yes we do have 2 lagoons!! Continued

In search of Horatio Blair Adams at the southern-most tip of Africa

L'Agulhas

I am sur­prised. Pleasantly. As L'Agulhas is a lot more beau­ti­ful than I had anti­cip­ated. To my mind's eye the beach­side town that also serves as the southern-most tip of Africa would be awash with gar­gan­tuan hol­i­day homes, guest houses and pre­ten­tious restaurants.

In real­ity, L'Agulhas has man­aged to retain its unpre­ten­tious beach­side hol­i­day feel with barely a look-in from the usual second-homer sus­pects that move in and build double-storeys right infront of the best views in South Africa. Continued

I ♥ Swellendam Because ...

I ♥ Swellendam

Hi, I’m Jenny from Kippe Rivier Country House in Swellendam in the Cape Overberg.

Swellendam IS BEST KNOWN FOR Youngberries (brame), Marloth Nature Reserve, Drostdy Museum one of the best in the coun­try, it depicts the life of Swellendam in the early days, the archi­tec­ture and its people.

GET YOUR PICTURE TAKEN AT The Faerie Sanctuary or pick­ing young­ber­ries at Wildebraam Berry Farm.
THE BEST scenery PICTURES CAN BE TAKEN AT the stoep of our coun­try house Klippe Rivier, the view of the dam and the mag­ni­fi­cent Langeberg Mountains in the back­ground or at the lovely Swellendam Golf Club.

OTHER HAPPY SNAPS in front of the Moederkerk, affec­tion­ately called the Gothic Wedding cake, the mag­ni­fi­cent NGK Church in the main road. Continued

Elim — a town with twelve fountains and seventy palm trees

Elim, Cape Overberg

They've only just tarred the gravel road that takes one from Bredasdorp to Elim. So it is only in the last three years that the little mis­sion town has become more access­ible for vis­it­ors to the Cape Overberg. Now an ordin­ary sedan like ours can make it to the vil­lage without a bat­ter­ing, and those with hired vehicles can even arrive unscathed in town (hired cars are not sup­posed to travel on dirt roads).

Which means someone like Emile is slowly exper­i­en­cing what in Elim's terms can only be described as a busi­ness boom. Emile is the local tour guide. You don't have to worry about find­ing Emile. Simply park at the mis­sion church — you can't miss it upon arrival in the quaint little vil­lage — and wait for him to find you. Continued