Van Zijl Guesthouses and Restaurant/Nieuwoudtville Experiences

More Fun Nieuwoudtville Experiences

1. Sit in the Aloe Forest surrounded by these ancient giants. Some of these denizens were around when the Drommedaris put into Table Bay.
2. Feeling energetic? Hike the Oorlogskloof where fish eagles can be seen - and with luck Clivia mirabilis.
3. Walk or drive to the ruins at Groenrivier where Thurmburg stayed in 1774. We have a map of this site. Sit in the doorway of one of the old houses and try to imagine the scene a 100 years ago. In many respects it will be the same as today. I have sat in a doorway and seen farmers in the distance plow with a tractor. Then it would have been with horses. They understood how bread is derived from wheat. Do we when we buy our bread?
4. Sit yourself down at the waterfall and look down the gorge. At different times of the year you will see Aloe mitriformis and Crinum variabile in flower. Eagles circle the gorge and you will hear rock pigeons calling from their nests in the crags. You will also see the thick roots of a Ficus snake across the rock faces to anchor its precarious position.
5. Test your arm and see whether you can make a ripple in the pool below the falls. Visit the falls when it is in flood. I have been there at night in a raging storm and heard the water thunder over the falls. It was awe-inspiring!
6. A braai or barbeque - morning, noon or night. Why not? We have some of the finest mutton in the world. Have a juicy lamb chop for breakfast and briefly forget about dieting. Buy it from our excellent butcher in Nieuwoudtville and ask for "A2 lamb". You are on holiday. Indulge yourself.
7. And in the evening? Have the rib of the lamb. A hint: Braai the rib slowly. Take your time. It must be crispy and all that this requires is patience. While waiting for the rib drink the wines from the lower Olifantsriver valley and braai some wors to still the hunger pangs.
8. The view from the escarpment at the top of Van Rhyns Pass at dawn and sunset. This view across the Knersvlakte is much like it has been for thousands of years.
9. Visit the Church which towers over Nieuwoudtville. Admire the stone masonry around the windows and doors which was done by a Swedish stonemason at a time when all conveyance was by horse or oxen. A time when lamps and candles lit the tables, and toilets were little structures set well away from the houses. You can still see them.
10. As a group walk the streets of Nieuwoudtville. If you are lucky at night you may see the ghosts of the British soldiers and the Boer Burgers on horseback involved in a fracas outside the old stone rectory. Ask me about it.
11. In Kerkstraat West, up the road from my Guest House Hendrikshof, is a well. Until 1962 this road was the main road to Upington and from there on to Johannesburg. Before the advent of the internal combustion engine oxen pulling wagons were watered from this well.
12. Further up to the same road is a monument erected in memory of a young man who fell from his wagon and was trampled to death. A beautiful dedication by parents to a child.
13. Walk Neethling Street at night and you will hear and find the owls nesting in the trees opposite the church.
14. Have you seen a full moon rise across the African veld? When last did you see the Southern Cross, Orion's Belt or Gemini? The Milky Way could hardly be brighter.
15. When you awake in the early morning listen for the trademark crows of cocks, some distant, some closer, as they herald the break of day.
16. Count the animals in town - us humans, dogs, cats, geese, ducks, chickens, bantams, the odd donkey, goats of different sizes and colors and of course the many sheep that outnumber the town folk by almost ten to one.
17. Most afternoons a westerly wind will blow moderating the day. This is the time to stroll through Nieuwoudtville.
18. Nieuwoudtville is a hamlet. For you a visit to Nieuwoudtville can be a journey both back and forward into time. The ticket to these journeys is your imagination.
19. The road to Hell and Back. This is for the adventurous with a vehicle that can take the rugged roads. Take the Grasberg road which winds Northwards - at times close to the escarpment; the vegetation either Fynbos or Renosterveld. At the end of the Bokkeveld Peninsula you will descend down a rutted gravel pass called "Die Hel". At the bottom of the pass you will reach the white quartzite plain called the Knersvlakte. This is the habitat for many diminutive succulents endemic to the Knersvlakte. Use the escarpment as a landmark (you will be hugging it as you travel) and you will join the tarred road at Grootdrift. There you turn left and follow the road back to Nieuwoudtville. This is a great outing at any time of the year and in summer requires cold beers and some chilled wine. Pick up a map from us and we will direct you.
20. Visit my friend Tinus Coetzer, the owner of the only garage in Nieuwoudtville. He owns an enormous collection of vintage cars and motorcycles for which he is renowned throughout South Africa. Take your sons with you for Tinus has an collection of model cars enough to wow any child.
21. Buy a beautiful goose down pillow or duvet. Ask us and we will direct you to a farm just outside town where there is a enormous flock of geese and you can make your purchase.