The small Karoo town of Hofmeyr is located about 63km northeast of Cradock and was founded in 1873. One of the town’s landmarks is its pink church built in 1933.
The first Dutch Reformed congregation (and also the first church) in Cradock was established back in 1824, 10 years after the town received its name. The present Dutch Reformed Mother Church building, situated on the upper end of Church Street, was completed on the original site as the first church in 1868 at an apparent cost of some £24,500. The building’s design was based on St. Martins-in-the-Field on Trafalgar Square in London. At the opening ceremony, the builder refused to hand over the door…
Whenever I visit Nieu-Bethesda I just seem to be attracted to the historic Dutch Reformed Church (Nederduits Gereformeerde Kerk or NG Kerk). There is just something to this beautiful building in this tiny village that has me going back to it time and time again. Also, the fact that there are so many different angles to look at it and then add to it the time of day and different weather conditions. I did a post on the church last…
The historic Dutch Reformed Church is probably the biggest landmark in Nieu-Bethesda. It's perhaps not as famous as the Owl House or interesting as the Kitching Fossil Centre, but if it comes to landmarks, it stands out in town. I'm always in awe of the fact that such a magnificent building was constructed in such a small place and like to pop around when visiting the village. The village of Nieu Bethesda was established in 1875 on the farm Uitkijk…
History buffs totally love Graaff-Reinet, what with it being the oldest town in the Eastern Cape (fourth oldest in South Africa) with about 220 listed historical buildings. Best of all, you can see just about all the best ones on a relatively short walk around town. And obviously, that is what we did otherwise I wouldn't be writing about it. We parked our car in front of the Graaff-Reinet Tourism office, grabbed a map from the friendly staff in the…
Graaff-Reinet in the Karoo Heartland is often referred to as the Gem of the Karoo. Spending a long weekend in the town just again proved to me that this gem isn't one buried deep under ground somewhere but rather has been unearthed and is mesmerizing those that get to visit it. Located in a horseshoe created by the Sundays River and totally surrounded by the Camdeboo National Park, Graaff-Reinet is situated about three hours north of Port Elizabeth and the…
The last two months have been an absolute blur. Don't ask me where it went, I just know it's gone and I am exhausted. But things are getting back to normal and hopefully I will get my blogging mojo back as well. The pictures from our Graaff-Reinet weekend is lined up and just waiting for the words to be added. In the meantime here is one I took of the Groot Kerk at the top of the main drag into…
I'm not much of a drinker preferring to do the sacrilegious thing of making beer shandy by throwing lemonade into a perfectly good beer. But I am known to enjoy a good beer or wine tasting so it shouldn't come as a huge surprise that I'm doing a post on a place where you can do a spot of whiskey tasting. As long as I only need to taste. But this isn't sommer any place, it's a whiskey bar inside a…
Most Karoo towns have a historic church with a church tower that keeps an eye out over it. The Karoo Heartland town of Hofmeyr is no different... or perhaps it is. Why? Because it has a pink church tower standing out above the town. The Dutch Reformed Church in Hofmeyr was built in 1875 and at some stage went pink. It definitely didn't go pink for breast cancer awareness because it happened way before that but whatever the reason it…
Somerset East's historic Dutch Reformed Church stand on the main drag through town at the intersection with Beaufort Road. After the village of Somerset (with the East only being added 30 years later) was established, a need started to arise for a church. The corner stone of the church was laid in 1830 and it was completed in 1833. The church in it's current form is the result of extensions made in 1870 with only a few of the…