A Gonubie affair – Stories from the road by Ruan Smit

Honestly, before I ended up in Gonubie during this cycle tour I was never aware of its existence… let alone that I would be forever smiling after this extraordinary visit.  The first of the three whoop whoop girls I meet is Maureen, I’m staying over at her B&B called Porkys. Funny how I ended up here, Michelle who I wrote about in my previous article referred me and from there another story starts.

Porky was Maureen’s nickname since school because she used to be chubby, she smiles. And everyone still knows her by this name so it was the obvious choice. No pretences…

Her energy is contagious as she helps me get my cycle into her car. And from here on in she never stops bubbling. She is absolutely proud of the fact that she’s the first cyclist I’m staying with. Continued

Nieu Bethesda – why it’s worth a visit

Nieu Bethesda

These days, Nieu Bethesda is described as a charming alternative to Graaff-Reinet. But back when I first paid the little town a visit, it was still ‘in the middle of nowhere’, rather off the beaten track. You went there primarily to visit Helen Martin’s Owl House.

In fairness, things were starting to happen even then. There was a little restaurant I remember, called something like the ‘wild fig’ or ‘burning brinjal’, or an equally creative name, on the sleepy main road in town (there are but two, main roads that is), the pretty Village Inn was already serving as an information / accommodation / coffee shop / tea garden as it continues to do today, and Egbert’s Coffee shop next to the Ibis Gallery (which I believe has also since closed) functioned as the town’s watering hole of the nonalcoholic kind … Continued

I ♥ Barkly East because …

I ♥ Barkly East

Hi, I’m Kate Nelson from Rosstrevor Guest Farm in Barkly East in the Eastern Cape.

BARKLY EAST IS BEST KNOW FOR tranquil guest farms, spectacular mountain scenery, snow in the winter and fly-fishing in the summer.
GET YOUR PICTURE TAKEN having a snowball fight during winter, or bathing in a mountain jacuzzi in the summer.
THE BEST SCENERY PICTURES CAN BE TAKEN AT the top of any of our 8 mountain passes, especially Lundean’s Nek, Joubert’s Pass, Bastervoetpad and Naudés Nek.
OTHER HAPPY SNAPS AT at Rhodes Village and Lady Grey. Continued

From Corporate Strife to an African Life

“Life should not be measured by the number of breaths you take, but by the number of times you are left breathless” – Anon.

When I came across this quotation nearly four years ago, it helped me to realise that I needed to make some changes to my hectic and stressful world. Little did I know then the huge impact that this inspirational maxim would have on my life … Continued

Middle Earth explored – what they’re getting up to in Hogsback

There was something about Middle Earth being sign posted as an organic nursery that had us driving down a little obscure driveway whilst in Hogsback recently. Besides, we couldn’t let the Tolkienesque name of ‘Middle Earth’ go unexplored, and so it was, on a rather hot morning (the warmest we’d experienced so far) we found ourselves falling out of our car in a rather ramshackle driveway to clasp the firm handshake of Dennis … Continued

Just what they’re getting up to in Hogsback

Starways pottery and the Rose theatre – You don’t expect to find a theatre in Hogsback. Not only is it a theatre, albeit a little one, but it’s open air, in the middle of a glade of pine trees, and named after the Elizabethan theatre of the same name. The Rose was London’s most historic theatre, built in 1587 by Philip Henslowe on Bankside in Southwark and home to many of Shakespeare’s productions.

The Rose at Starways is similarly built mainly of timber, with earth for the walls and, although I would imagine this version is a lot smaller, it is anchored securely by two pine trees conveniently set on either side of the theatre’s entrance. It’s all really rather quaint. There is lighting, a sound system and a series of tables and chairs hewn from logs of wood … Continued

Oh I do want to be beside the seaside of St Francis Bay

St Francis Bay

Set on the shores of the Indian Ocean, just south of Jeffreys Bay in the Eastern Cape, St Francis Bay has to be one of the most beautiful spaces on this part of the coast. We arrived there on a wind-swept afternoon knowing little about the pretty resort but that we had managed to nab ourselves a cottage with sea views within walking distance of the beach!

We arrived in the village in the late afternoon, tired from our journey and gasping for a day or so of sun-filled beach time, as we had just descended from the Amatola Mountains and the little town of Hogsback, where it had been rather chilly to say the least … Continued

Sunrise beach walk in Cintsa (photograph)

Photograph taken of the sunrise on the beach in Cintsa on the Wild Coast, Eastern Cape. This part of the coast is reminiscent of all things wild, and the beauty of the surrounds is the reason so many seek out this peaceful spot that claims its name from the river on which it lies, meaning ‘crumbling banks’ in Xhosa … Continued

Hogsback’s eco shrine – a voice for the Earth

Eco Shrine Avenue

There is something of the sacred in Hogsback in the Eastern Cape. Perhaps it is the ethereal proximity of dense, indigenous forests that hint at faery folk, or its remoteness that make it so. But few people leave here without some element of reparation, even if it is simply their faith in the beauty of nature that is restored.

The approach to the eco shrine, which the artist Diana Graham calls the ‘Voice of the Earth Eco shrine’, does much to reinforce this impression. It is a tunnel formed by lean, leafy Hazelnut trees that create a vortex through which one moves from one time into another. Or so it seems … Continued

Hogsback’s labyrinth – travelling within whilst staying in the same place

I was overawed by the labyrinth set in the gardens at The Edge in Hogsback in the Eastern Cape. I’ve subsequently read someone else’s unimpressed comments and am struck anew by how two people, looking at exactly the same object, can have two such opposing experiences, despite the obvious beauty of a place.

The labyrinth is set virtually on the edge of a cliff with the most spectacular views of the valley below, the Amatola Mountains, and an expanse of sky that together have a formidable visual impact. Even if you know nothing about labyrinths, and do not intend travelling its pathways, its setting alone resounds with an intangible quality that is immediately calming, and yet exhilarating. It celebrates life, the universe and everything – to quote Douglas Adams … Continued

Wild Coast Sunset (photograph)

This fabulous photograph of  a Wild Coast Sunset taken last night in Coffee Bay was sent to us by a friend who is currently on a short break, “surfing the wild coast”. The village of Coffee Bay, just 8 km down the road from the Hole-in-the-wall, is real beachcomber country with rustic lodges and bars, gorgeous swimming beaches, excellent fishing and breathtaking hikes. Coffee Bay is the only coastal resort, other than Port St Johns, to sport a tarred road to its door from the N2. The surrounding countryside is rugged with high cliffs and peppered with distinctive round, thatched, traditional huts made largely from car tyres and coloured bottles … Continued

Hogsback – a town of pure magic and mystical atmosphere

Madonna & Child Falls

Not many people know much about Hogsback, or where it is, for that matter, which perhaps is just as well given that its charm is something one might want to protect, and because the very essence of Hogsback is its almost otherworldly silence, where it lies high up in the Amatola Mountains, surrounded by centuries old indigenous forest.

All I knew about Hogsback, as we wound our way up the steep mountain roads covered in  fine mist and rain at the beginning of December, was that I had read and heard enough to want to visit, and that we were probably in for a far colder week than my suitcase full of summer clothes was going to allow – despite our kind landlady’s good intentions at having emailed us to say that summer had eventually arrived in the village! Continued