Probably one of the most important reasons
why anyone visits Sutherland in the Karoo,
can be found 18km out of the town
on the Fraserberg Road, the largest
telescope in the Southern hemisphere, namely
SALT (Southern African Large Telescope).
Twenty
two of us were up bright and early and ready
to head out to Sutherland.
After the various pick-ups everyone was
ready waiting in our garage and refused
to come in and sit down – such was their
excitement!
A short stop at the N1 garage shop tocollect the Constantia travellers' and we were
ready to be on our way.
First stop was the Matjiesfontein Hotel
where lunch was waiting for us.
We had an appointment with the SALT
telescope for our tour at 14h30 so it
was essential that we left Matjiesfontein by
13h00.
Pity becausethe local piano player
seemed to really get everyone dancing and
singing
Our arrival at the SALT telescope was
just what we imagined – cold and so windy!
The SALT telescope is fascinating - judging by
this photo you can see just what a grey day it
was!
We settled into our accommodation in
Sutherland and boy was it cold.
Dinner was at the Cluster d’Hote
restaurant – and from these photos you
can see some of the ladies never even took
their coats off.
The meal was fabulous – Creamy Garlic or a
Red Bean Soup – followed by Lamb Shanks and
a delicious Souskluitjies dessert.
Good comfort food.
Bright and early, this happy group of ladies
was spotted taking their early morning
walk!
Notice their coats and scarves went for
the walk as well.
One of the ladies, Gillie, decided to greet
the photographer in her gown with a cup of
warm tea in her hand
After breakfast we did a guided tour of the NG Church.
What a fascinating tour Jannie du Plessis
conducted.
He has a wealth of information on the early
British Invasion of the beautiful church.
Meanwhile Chrisna from a local deli delivered
our picnic lunch – all personally packed for us.
We then headed out
of Sutherland bound for Kanariesfontein
where Koos Esterhuyse farms and is very
particular about the grazing with the result
that his farm has the most awesome display of
Spring Flowers! The only problem was that
the roads were really tracks – so our journey
seemed to ‘go-on-and-on’. Meanwhile our flower
viewing was superb.
The warmth of Koos Esterhuyse and his lovely
wife was something you can only experience in
the Karoo. We had arrived with our own picnic
but they immediately invited us into their home
and garden to enjoy our picnic. Hope they
enjoyed the chocolates & wine we left for them.
Our drive back to Sutherland took us over the Escarpment
where the views were nothing short of fantastic. Many photos were taken
A shorter route made the drive back to Sutherland a more
relaxing one, and Jurg had arranged that his donkeys were all saddled up for us.
Nine of us took advantage of the offer of a donkey ride. Annette even put her hand to
leading the donkeys and did an amazing job too!
We had an appointment at 7.00
pm with Jurg out at his private viewing site – however before we did this,
Annemarie from one of the outlying farms and her husband prepared our
potjiekos dinner. Many of us went back for seconds of her delicious lamb and
chicken potjie cooked to perfection. This was followed by mini malva puddings,
custard and cream………….a feast in the bush! Thank you Annemarie.
After our
most amazing star-gazing evening no-one needed ‘rocking to sleep’. The star
gazing at Sterland Boerdery is to be recommended.
Jurg is a specialist in this field and makes it such an interesting evening.
Karoo hospitality at its very best is what we all experienced on this awesome
farm.
On the
Sunday morning we had organized a group breakfast at Cluster d’Hote where
Anelia excelled herself once more. I believe she has many people that
would immediately return to her restaurant when they find themselves in her
‘neck-of-the-woods’
En
route back to the City we encountered the reason why we felt so very
cold all weekend. The mountains around Touws River and De Doorns were
topped with thick snow, and hey its the end of September – what is
happening to our weather!
A buffet lunch at the Damas Restaurant in Worcester completed our trip
away. Their cheese cake is better than Lindy’s in New York – it is
fantastic.
Trips away are special times – so very good for our souls.
The laughter on the coach was infectious – you could not ignore it!
It grew until everyone came back feeling so much better than when they left the
city.
Three days away seemed like three weeks away!
So good was the benefit.
The group comprised 18 ladies and 4 men. We need more males to accompany us as
they definitely add
their 'touch' to our trips-away - thanks to all!
