Recently Amore Bekker from RSG asked who knows where Rietbron is.  I could reply with an answer that I have twice been to this populated area (population approximately 1 184 in 2011).  I think with our revisit eight years later in 2021 the population even declined further as it was noticeable that also the only guesthouse closed down since then.

With an early start from our base in George we crossed the Outeniqua mountains into the Klein Karoo.  First we made a quick stop at Karoo Lusern Slaghuis, one of the best kept secrets in the Klein Karoo, to stock up on some prime goodies for the road – biltong!  Stocked with padkos we were ready to explore some less travelled roads.

The road via Oudtshoorn and Meiringspoort (N12) to Rietbron is 226 km long and Google Maps say it will take you about 3 hours and 7 minutes.  Being on a solo women’s trip we were not in a hurry and stopped a gazillion times to take pictures of the desolate feeling that you experience and wind pumps and flowers…… longer travel time for us!

Rietbron reminds me of those small towns that you always see in cowboy movies – dry and dusty.  We arrived during midday on a Saturday.  It was either siesta time or everyone went shopping in Willowmore.  We parked right in front of the church in the shade of the steeplechase to enjoy our padkos.  The only movement we noticed was at a spaza shop and with COVID going around we opted to steer clear.

We took a drive through the town, and like the little museum, we noticed that the school and police station is exceptionally neat and the grounds well kept.  It warmed my heart to see that although this town is on the outskirts of the Dr Beyers Naude Municipality it was very clean. 

Our return trip for the day was via the N9 and Willowmore with only 64 kilometres of gravel and lots of tar which makes travel time a bit faster.   

What could we tick of our travel list today? A church tower with a springbokkie at the top!

GPS coordinates:  32.8642° S, 23.1561° E

oOo

Note to fellow travellers: 

Take care when driving to Rietbron, the local farmers are friendly but they are flying on those gravel roads!

oOo

The post THE ROAD TO RIETBRON appeared first on TRAVELBUCKET.

 As everyone was heading for the coast the roads were busy, but luckily we were heading in the opposite direction to Rietbron – never been there before, so we did not know what to expect!

Our first break was in the beautiful Meiringspoort.  It was hot.  Time for a drinks and smoke break while taking a short breather.  Soon after exiting the poort  we turned right and were on the back roads of the Karoo.  No traffic and only silence.  A 100 kilometers of gravel roads lay ahead of us before we reached Rietbron.

It started off with a nice gravel ride with views over the wide open veld .  Further into the ride the shadows were getting taller and the road narrowed considerably making it a bit of a tense ride towards the end.  But after a nice ride we reached the settlement of Rietbron  with a few houses, a church, school,  police station and our accommodation for the night  Karoo Hof.  In the early days of Rietbron Karoo Hof originally housed the police station with its holding cells and the court.

I think we were more or less the only guests in Rietbron (the locals probably still enjoying their holiday somewhere else) so we spend New Year’s eve with the host family of the B&B and enjoyed supper with them on their stoep chatting like old friends and admiring the bright stars in the dark night sky.  Real Karoo  hospitality.

 After a hearty breakfast it was time to hit the gravel roads eastwards in the direction of Willowmore. From there we will venture even further into the Great Karoo to take the cement road via Steytlerville to Jeffreys Bay on the coast.

Our aim for the day was to stay over with friends at Oesterbaai near Humansdorp in the Tsitsikamma.  (A distance of about +- 300km for the day).  When we arrived in Steytlerville the midday temperature was already at 40˚C and soaring.  Time for a well deserved Coke (or two) on the stoep of the popular Steytlerville Hotel!

1 January 2014 we spend with our dear friends that farm in the Tstisikamma and also welcomed some new arrivals for 2014 (see the picture below).

 Our round trip was coming to an end.  It was time to take on the tar road and mad holiday traffic to get home.  Arriving at our usual half way stop at Stormsriver it was a bit of a madhouse with people popping out of cars, buses and taxis.  We opted for just a short smoke break and a sip of water as the queues were way to long to buy a cold drink.  From here it was slow going with all the traffic, but we arrived safe and sound at home with my four legged friends out of control from happiness to see me again.

oOo

The post LONG AND WINDING ROADS appeared first on TRAVELBUCKET.