Taylored Trips – Old year/New year – 2017/18Initially we weren’t planning on going away over the festive season but after an invitation to spend New Years Eve in Mossel Bay, we decided to make a trip of it.

From Wellington, we took Du Toit’s Kloof Pass over to Worcester, Robertson and Ashton, through the roadworks at Kogmanskloof to Montagu.

Old English Fort at Kogmanskloof Roadworks and rock formation, Kogmanskloof

Lovely farm stalls and classic churches on Route 62 – Montagu

Route 62 did its usual trick of dishing out more things to do than the average travelling man can deal with,

offering mouth-watering fun and entertainment virtually every step of the way, enticing weak willed mortals to stop, eat, drink and buy buy buy.

We were strong willed though and pressed on until we reached Cousin Mark’s home away from

home on a farm called K’Buku in the Klein Langkloof.

Mark's home away from home - Lower K'Buku

K’Buku, which means a place to lie and rest, is

a working farm owned by Pierre and Val and they have accommodation, a pub and grill and lots more. Mark has renovated a house on the farm and he calls his retreat Lower K’Buku. We went for a quad ride around the farm to check things out.

The views around here are amazing.

This being a working farm, every now and then things have to get done too.

And after work time comes play time.

On the last day of the old year we said our goodbyes and headed for Mossel Bay. Decisions, decisions. Which road to

take? Out of a choice of Prince Alfred’s Pass, Robinson’s Pass, Outeniqua Pass or Montagu Pass, we chose Montagu Pass.Part of the N9 has just been refurbished and it made for plain sailing heading west towards the Montagu Pass. When we arrived a few days earlier we had noticed a cluster of

storks in a field and we saw them again on our way out. Maybe they are hanging around for the new-born 2018 babies to be delivered.

N9 west These are sheep and not storks though

We have done the Montagu Pass a few times but had never stopped in Herold at the

north end of the pass, so this time we pulled in to have a look. There isn’t much to see but it looks very pleasant and it was busy at 8.30 on a Sunday morning as quite a few people were making there way to church for the last service of the year.

Herold church and Over the Mountain Guest Farm and Tea Garden

The amazing Montagu Pass begins soon after Herold and hats off to an Australian Henry Fancour

t White for building such a masterpiece way back in 1847. White based himself at the southern foot of the pass where a village sprang up around all the activity. The village was originally called Whitesville but it was later changed to Blanco at the request of the Australian engineer. The Montagu Pass is the oldest

unchanged pass in the country.

In this picture above, three of the four passes can be seen. The Montagu Pass starts off above the railway line on the extreme

left but they cross at the arched bridge (pictured below). In the middle of the picture, the train line is above the road. The tar Outeniqua Pass can be seen on the opposite mountain slope. The fourth pass, Cradock Kloof Pass cannot be seen from here but on the Outeniqua Pass all four passes can be seen at a

viewpoint/picnic spot. Note; the railway line is also classified as a pass.

Beautiful arched bridge where the road and the train cross The toll house where Lorraine’s great-grandfathe

r was toll-master

From George it was a hop, skip and jump and we were in Mossel Bay but not before checking out the Klipheuwel farm stall, beer house and MTB trail just outside Klein Brakrivier.

Klipheuwel farm stall and Salty River beer house

Mossel Bay was stunning as usual and the epitome of a sea-side resort. Holiday makers everywhere and everyone

having fun. We were down at the Santos beach area with Ronald and Christemari and we had first-class access to everything that was going on. The weather wasn’t perfect but in true Mossel Bay tradition, it was moderate and that actually made it perfect, not too hot, not too cold.

Packed restaurants and full beaches

As the afternoon drew to a close and the beach-goers started dispersing, the New Year’s Eve party slowly

started hotting up.

Party, party everywhere

New Years day dawned bright and sunny as Verine and I greeted 2018 over a coffee and rusk.

1st January 2018

Ronald and Christemari took us on an amazing Ronald Trip to some places that I have never seen before. Having grown up in the area, Ronald knows the

back roads like the back of his hand and we were entranced with the natural beauty and serenity that was out there, just beyond the congested hi-ways and bi-ways. We did an impressive negotiation around the Groot Brak area and then climbed a steep gravel road overlooking the Brak

River as we headed north-east and ended up in the Blanco (Whitesville) region right where the famous Fancourt Golf Club is.

The plan was to go up Montagu Pass and pizzarise at a farm stall on the Oudtshoorn road but as we had just

done that trip Ronald opted for the Seven Passes Road. This was a super idea because it has been years that we have done the entire Seven Passes Road from beginning to end. This is the kind of road Verine and I travel far and wide to find so it was a real treat for us.

Also known as the Seven Passes Road

This road served as the main route between George and Knysna for about 70 years until the new N2 national road was built in 1952. On a notice board at the

Kaaimans Bridge they mention that Thomas Bain built the road but it is strange that no mention is made of his brother-in-law Adam de Smidt who, it is said, was as good if not a better road builder than Thomas Bain himself. Adam was very much involved in this road and he took charge when Thomas was

away on other projects, namely Nuwekloof Pass and Tradouw Pass. Legend has it that they had such an argument about the path that a certain section of road should take that they never spoke a word to each other after that.About 75kms long, this road was a huge undertaking and not to take

anything away from the road builders but the Great Fire of the 1860’s helped immensely with the plotting of the road due to the fact that the trees were burnt down and they had more visibility than they would normally have had.

The Seven Passes Road spits you out on the tar N2 at the Belvidere turn-off where the Lightley’s holiday

boats used to be. Here we turned left and headed into to Knysna. Well to say the least it was busy. We managed to commandeer a parking at the Waterfront and we were off on foot looking for a restaurant. The waiting list was anything between ¾ hour to 1½ hours throughout the Waterfront so we decided to give

that a miss and head back to George and Mossel Bay and see what we could find on the way back.In Sedgefield we found exactly what we were looking for. I can’t remember the name of the restaurant though! It’s on the right going through town with a wooden deck above. The wind was

very strong so we opted to sit inside and we were treated like royalty. We will definitely stop here again.

From Sedgefield we stopped off at the George Country Resort for a family visit and then we

were off to Mossel Bay. A wonderful day was ended off with a super braai and a relatively early night, not before I spoilt it all by loosing the key to our car. After a nightmarish hour or so, we eventually found it under the back seat of Ronald’s car and we all unwound on the stoep with a lekker sundowner. The

bay was on its best behaviour and we had an amazing full moon greet us on the first evening of 2018.

Absolute paradise

In the morning we walked across to the Diaz museum to see what we missed last time we visited there. Old Bartholomew was half covered by the bush last time but I was glad to see they had opened up things a bit so that he could gaze out over his domain again.

Bartholomew Diaz

Isn’t it amazing how accurate this old sun dial is?

Sun dial

We took a walk around the lesser visited area of the museum property and checked out the Malay graves, Munrohoek houses and the Diaz Cross.

Malay graves Munrohoek houses

Diaz Cross

From up here there is a nice view of the bay and the Santos Express Train Lodge and the Fork & Train

restaurant.

Santos Express Train Lodge My kind of Fork & place

There was just enough time to indulge in a world where one

should not indulge too often and then we hit the N2 bound for home.

Ice cream world Cape St Blaze

N2! Whatever

possessed me to do that? We made it as far as Riversdale and then I could take it no more.

N2! N2!

A right turn, a short detour through town and then we were peacefully meandering our way up the Garcia’s

Pass with hardly any traffic at all.

Glorious sweeping mountain passes, amazing farm stalls, gravel travel and tucked away towns. Ahhhh, that’s

much better.Barrydale has remodelled itself from a has-been many years ago to a vibrant must-stop-town. It is unbelievable how much there is to see in such a small place and it just keeps snow-balling itself bigger and bigger. Not in size but in attractions.One of the things I like which

probably goes unnoticed most of the time is the slate walls wherever you look. There are some very gifted craftsmen in this town that ply their trade in a very impressive fashion.

Amazing wall art

Of course, the two main characters in most small towns are the churches and the people and Barrydal

e rises to the occasion every time.

Classics!

So, after a lovely break that wasn’t going to be a break, we were home

again, safe and sound, with batteries fully charged and ready for another year.Until next time, “Keep on Tripping!”