 Feeling energetic? Hike the Oorlogskloof where fish eagles can be seen and with luck Clivia mirabilis.
Walk or drive to the ruins at Groenrivier where Thunberg stayed in 1774. We have a map of this site. Sit in the doorway of one of the old houses and try to imagine the scene of a 100 years ago. In many respects it will be the same as today. I have sat in a doorway and seen farmers in the distance plow with a tractor. Then it would have been with horses. In some respect so little has changed. They understood how bread comes from wheat. Do we when we buy our bread…?
Sit yourself down at the waterfall and look down the gorge. At different times of the year you will see Aloe mitriformis and Crinum variabile in flower. Eagles circle the gorge and you will hear rock pigeons calling from their nests in the crags. You will also see the thick roots of a Ficus snake across the rock faces to anchor its precarious position.
Test your arm and see whether you can make a ripple in the pool below the falls.Visit the falls when it is in flood. I have been there at night in a raging storm and heard the water thunder over the falls. It was awe-inspiring!
A braai or barbeque - morning, noon or night. Why not? We have some of the finest mutton in the world. Have a juicy lamb chop for breakfast and briefly forget about dieting. Buy it from our excellent butcher at Nieuwoudtville and ask for A2 lamb.You are on holiday. Indulge yourself.
And in the evening? Have the rib of the lamb. A hint. Braai the rib slowly. Take your time. It must be crispy and all that this requires is patience. While waiting for the rib drink the wines from the lower Olifantsriver valley and braai some wors to still the hunger pangs.
The view from the escarpment at the top of Van Rhyns Pass at dawn and sunset. This view across the Knersvlakte is much like it has been for thousands of years.
Visit the Church which towers over Nieuwoudtville. Admire the stone masonry around the windows and doors which was done by a Swedish stonemason at a time when all conveyance was by horse or oxen. A time when lamps and candles lit the tables and toilets were little structures set well away from the houses. You can still see them.
As a group walk the streets of Nieuwoudtville. If you are lucky at night you may see the ghosts of the British soldiers and the Boer Burgers on horseback involved in a fracas outside the old stone rectory. Ask me about it.
In Kerkstraat West, up the road from my Guest House Hendrikshof, is a well. Until 1962 this road was the main road to Upington and from there on to Johannesburg. Before the advent of the internal combustion engine oxen pulling wagons were watered from this well.
Further up to the same road is a monument erected in memory of a young man who fell from his wagon and was trampled to death. A beautiful dedication by parents to a child.
Walk Neethling Street at night and you will hear and find the owls nesting in the trees opposite the church.
Have you seen a full moon rise across the African veld? When last did you see the Southern Cross, Orion's Belt or Gemini? The Milky Way could hardly be clearer.
When you awake in the early morn listen for the trademark crows of cocks, some distant some closer, as they herald the break of day.
Count the animals in town - we humans, dogs, cats, geese, ducks, chickens, the od donkey, goats of different sizes and colors and of course the many sheep that outnumber the town folk by almost ten to one. Their presence is a great bone of contention!!!
Most afternoons a westerly will blow moderating the day. This is the time to stroll through Nieuwoudtville.
Nieuwoudtville is a hamlet. For you a visit to Nieuwoudtville can be a journey both back and forward into time. The ticket for these journeys is your imagination.
And there is so much more to do. Just ask me. |
