Western Cape Archives - TRAVELBUCKET

LAINGSBURG

If you have travelled along the N1 from Cape Town to Johannesburg you probably passed through the Karoo town of Laingsburg, previously known as Nassau. Normally all are in hurry and do not spend a lot of time intown apart from filling up on fuel, visit the loo and get something cold for the road. With the sharp hike in the fuel prices, we started to explore closer to home. The road took as to Laingsburg and Matjiesfontein.The most famous happening that put the town on the map and earned a place in history was probably the disastrous flood on 25 January 1981. With an annual rainfall of only 175 mm per year a flood was for sure not on the minds of this Karoo town when it started raining on 24 January 1981. The Buffalo River burst its bank and with the confluence of the Wilgehout, Baviaans and Buffalo… Read more >

PRINCE ALBERT: A GEM BETWEEN HARD ROCKS

by Inge Triegaardt The Great Karoo with its vast openness and many tumbleweeds, offers beautiful gems in between the hard rocks and dry veld. Prince Albert is certainly one of these diamonds in the making. Prince Albert was established in 1842 with town layout on the De Queekvaleij farm. The farm was granted to Zacharias de Beer as a loan farm and the town was initially called Albertsbrug. It was renamed in 1845 to its current name of prince Albert, after the husband of Queen Victoria. Spending a weekend in the town at the foot of the Heritage Site, which is the Swartberg Mountains, recharges the soul. The many accommodation options, such as Skrywerskop, offer a country feel stay and the opportunity to stroll through the town from wherever you lay your head down at night. Nothing is too far from the main road in this little town. Referring to… Read more >

A DRIVE THROUGH SEWEWEEKSPOORT

A magical place if you love to be impressed by mountains. This is also the place to go if you love geology and geography – both are interesting to me and I get lost when visiting this poort – as these mountain range is part of the Cape Fold Belt and you will observe some contorted rock strata along the route. This is also an area rich in flora. Not only aloes are noticeable on the slopes and along the road, but you will also find some rare indigenous plant species like the Aristata protea. Go prepared with binocular and camera and something warm in winter as you might encounter snow covered mountain tops which creates a bit of a chill factor. The original construction of the road started in 1859 with convict labour and lasted for three years. On final completion in 1862 it was also accessible for wagon… Read more >

A LONDON RED BUS IN MOSSEL BAY?

A ride on a red London bus is still on my bucket list, but I was not really expecting to find a red London bus parked in the Garden Route. This was a leisurely Saturday outing on a winter’s day in August in search for some good old-fashioned, value-for-money food. And this is just what we found here. This no frills-no-fuss fish and chips take away is located on the water’s edge in Mossel Bay Harbour. Things work simple here – decide what you want from the minimalistic menu, place your order, pay at the window, get your order slip and go on the top deck until your food is served in a white Styrofoam dish. That’s it. With the smell of sea and fresh fish in your nostrils you have a fantastic view over the glistening water of the bay towards the Outeniqua Mountains, which also forms the back… Read more >