Sutherland Part 2

By Karen "I wouldn't mind an electric blanket" Swarts

Saturday saw some of us heading out to SALT: the South African Large
Telescope. The visitor’s centre houses a variety of old fashioned
scientific displays aimed at entertaining the more intellectually
advanced among the visitors. We mere mortals found posing next to
fake dinosaur skeletons much more stimulating…

Back at the farm, Johan had meanwhile cooked up a storm and delivered
once again his “legen…wait for it…dary” potjie. After the best meal
of the weekend the brave among us armed ourselves with flashlights,
beanies and a bottle of muskadel for the “ghost”walk of Sutherland.
Starting out as a walk/talk on the indigenous plants of the area, we
were pleasantly surprised when we arrived at a stone enclosure, fire
crackling and steaming…no wait…lukewarm sweet black coffee and
boereworsrolls awaiting the cold and now slightly tipsy travellers.
But the warm and friendly atmosphere in that little stone enclosure
will surely be remembered by us all.
On our way back (now walking in complete darkness) the “ghost” told us
interesting, if somewhat slightly untrue, tales of hauntings, death
and despair. Usually paralysed by the fear of scary things lurking in
the dark, I found myself mesmerised by the sky: a black canvas covered
with splatters of stars. A truly magnificent display: reminding me
why travellers flock to this little obscure Karoo town.

Sutherland

Brrrrrr, Its June, and its cold in Cape Town. So what would make 13 and a half people think it is a good idea to head to South Africa's coldest little dorpie in the middle of winter??

The stars?, an excuse to drink red wine?, somebodies birthday?, the cycling?, the locals?, a warm fire?, good mates? (Jurg's convincing self promo video?)

Well I suppose it was a little bit of all of the above (except for the video that is......)

After a bit of a party the night before (there were 13 empty bottles of wine next to the bin and I didn't even count the beer cans) we headed in a North Easterly direction up the N1 stopping briefly in Matjiesfontein, for some warming soup and sherry, before making the left hand turn to Sutherland.
The drive up was a spectacular one with rainbows and waterfalls a plenty. The Karoo was anything but dry on this trip and the rivers were pumping (which we would experience first hand a later in the weekend). Johan arrived at Rooikloof (www.roikloof.co.za) a little before us and welcomed us with a warming fire and a open bottle of red wine! The weekend had started!

The first night was not only cold but also wet, so braai'ing was cancelled and Johan came up with what I would describe as a Karoo Goulash that worked brilliantly. Supper, the long drive, the night before, the afternoon wine and an eventful game of 30 seconds sapped the energy and we were soon off to bed. All that and the shot of Akkedis Bult Witblits!!

Day 2 started slowly (not surprisingly) but eventually we jumped on our bikes and headed off on the Oubergpass road in search of the view form the top of the pass. The distance was a little underestimated and the one waterbottle we each took ended up being about 4 to little! but as with those nights where you head out for "just one beer" this ride turned out to be an Epic one and even included a knee deep river crossing in FREEEEZING water. The view was worth it though and next time when we don't have frozen toes we might try riding down and back up the pass! Those that didn't cycle enjoyed a somewhat more relaxed day in and around town.

Another good meal and Great red wine eased the aching body and I was energised enough for a quick trip to the Rooikat bar for slightly less potent shots than the previous evening!

We took advantage of my biggish car, it's offroad ability, an 80's CD and a sub woofer to take a crazy detour off the tar road and head off a bit deeper into the Karoo. There we were all out of the warmth of the car dancing in the middle of nowhere to Kaptein and Special Star. I think half of the Karoo heard us. ;-) We played a few dodgy tunes to throw the locals off our trail before heading back to the warmth (unless you were staying in Koesnaatjie!) of our accommodation.

Another great day in the coldest place in SA!!