Worcester to Sutherland

We woke up in our tiny B&B to cold and wet weather. After a quick brekkie we went exploring around Worcester and were delighted to see snow on the Worcester Mountains!

Then it was off to Sutherland. We drove through the Heksriver Valley, enthralled by the incredible views of mountains and the patchwork of vineyards as the different cultivars have differently coloured leaves as they put on their autumn colours. The Heksriver has the longest harvest season in the world and we bought a huge and yummy box of grapes along the way.

We stopped to grab a cache and look at an Anglo-Boer-war memorial near Matjesfontein and were sad and simultaneously impressed at the deep expressions of faith on the tombstones of these soldiers who died aged between 25-35.

Then we took the left turn to Sutherland with great excitement. Theo had already checked out the weather and knew that there wasn't going to be stargazing as it would be completely overcast. So we hope for snow!


The road to Sutherland from the N1 is 100km long and features yet another pass by Thomas Baine (the Verlatenkloof pass.) There is a bike ride up this road sometime in the future! The dorp of Sutherland is very cute! We decided to go straight to the Observatory which is about 10kms from town. We were treated to see a hawk munching on some roadkill (yes, it was a hawk and not a crow!) It was so cold that we didn't criticise him for going for "fast food."

We arrived at the Sutherland gate and drove up the winding road to the station. It was very quiet there and we feared that they had shut early for the Friday afternoon, but we were met by a very friendly guide, Glenda Stoffels, who informed us that the tour had been cancelled for the evening. She must have seen the disappointment on our faces and gave us animpromptu tour of the displays and videos and then even allowed us to go up to the telescope and then drove up there herself to take us inside and let us see the "innards" of the telescope, which one cannot do on the night tour as it is in use. We found a little bit of snow that had fallen on the vehicles and then fallen onto the ground which Caleb collected in a bowl.

There was also a geocache that we grabbed here and then we headed back to town to "Kosmos Annex" where we met Tannie Naomi and Oom Gert and settled into a beautiful old stone house. One of the things that has been striking is the deep faith of people we've met in the smaller towns. Tannie Naomi has seen her fair share of heartache and yet she shines with serenity, peace and gracious hospitality.

In the evening we went to the "Karoo Kombuis" at the hotel and sat around a roaring fire to enjoy the most delicious meal ever! There was even a kitty to cuddle! Caleb had a chicken pie, Brenda had lamb curry and Theo had the best lamb chops ever! It was a fantastic meal and the people were all so friendly!

We haven't mentioned the cold. It was 3 degrees at 15h00 and went down to zero when we went out to eat. The chill factor must have made it even colder as the wind was howling. It is hard to describe such cold! We will not easily complain about Gauteng winter again.

Theo read a little book about the history of the church in the town and found two amazing stories. One was about a dominee who'd been to Cape Town for a "sinode" and had done some shopping. When he got to Verlatenkloof pass, the snow was waist deep but frozen and so he drove his yellow merc up the pass on the ice and when he got home, he drove over his gate, for the snow had piled up so high that he could clear the fence. He parked at the back door and climbed out and went into the door without having to climb the stairs. After a cup of coffee he went to unload the groceries only to find that the hot engine had melted the snow below the car and the car was now buried in the snow!!! He had to dig away the snow to get to the groceries!

The other story was about the shortest church service they had in Sutherland. It went from 10h00 to 10h27. Why? Because the temperature was -12!

We built a big fire and read for a bit and then went to beds with nice electric blankets on them - thankful that there had not been load-shedding!