SPRING FLOWER TOUR - REPORT
Sixteen of us
set out on a cold and overcast Tuesday
morning, destination Nieuwoudtville, to view
the annual wild flower display. Rain had
been forecast for later today and for
Thursday and Friday. Forecasts could be
wrong!?
Our entry into the
West Coast
National Park
had us hoping
for some sunshine in the
Postberg
Flower Reserve.
There were plenty of flowers in the area,
but sadly we couldn’t get the full benefit
of their beauty without the help of the sun.
We were fortunate though to see a lot of
game.
After a hearty lunch at Geelbek restaurant
we exited the Park and headed for our
overnight stop in
Paternoster.
Ah Guesthouse
helped to raise
our spirits by presenting a superb and
unusual dinner. Thanks Arnold!
We left Paternoster in the rain and
travelled the coastal road through
Dwarskersbos,
with a stop at
Draaihoek
Lodge
and then through
Elandsbaai
to
Clanwilliam,
where we had a lunch break. The local dam
had two sluice gates open, which was
testament to the amount of rain they had in
the area.
Our final leg of 123km saw us arriving in
Nieuwoudtville
late afternoon on Wednesday. Twelve of the
group were “home” for the next 3 nights,
whilst four of us headed out to
Cloudskraal,
our farm
accommodation, 11 km out of town on a gravel
road. Our driver Sabrie was staying at
Kromvlei,
another farm 4km away, where we planned to
have dinner on Thursday evening.
We had rain overnight which saw the gravel
roads deteriorate and it was decided to
postpone our farm dinner to Friday with the
hope that the weather would improve.
We were able to visit
Papkuilsfontein
on Thursday, but the tour was curtailed due
to inaccessible roads. Lunch was of their
normal high standard though.
On Friday morning we awoke to a heavy
snowfall and had no option but to cancel the
farm dinner. Passenger safety was the first
priority. Our hosts in Nieuwoudtville,
Margie & Chris of
Swiss Villa came to our rescue by
taking on the cancelled dinner!
Our
Hantam
Botanical Gardens
tour was
cancelled due to a water logged property,
but we visited
Loeriesfontein
as well as the
Quiver Tree
forest.
Overall, a stressful tour, held together by
a fantastic, happy and understanding group.
(No
we didn’t charge extra for the snow).
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