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…
Looking into the ruins of the St Peter's Church above the St Mary's Cemetery in South End
Driving through the Karoo Heartland town of Cradock the other day I just couldn't help but to stop and snap a few pics of the "Moederkerk" in town. I've played around with a couple of effects and this is what I came up with. Oh yes, and what is a post without a little bit of interesting historic info? The first Dutch Reformed congregation (and also the first church) in Cradock was established in 1824. The present building was completed on the original site…
A quick detour from the N2 between Nanaga and Grahamstown to Kenton-on-Sea took me through the village of Salem for the first time in ages last week. I didn't have time to explore much but I did stop for a quick photo of the front of the church while parked next to the cricket field. Salem was founded by the Sephton party who formed part of the 1820 British Settlers who settled in this district. The name comes from the bible and means "peace" with…
Spending a night in Graaff-Reinet recently I made sure I popped by the Dutch Reformed Church (Groot Kerk) on the Monday morning to see if I could actually get into the church. The cornerstone of the church was laid on 12 April 1886 and it cost what was then a staggering 7,500 pounds. The inaugural service took place on 11 of September 1887 with 2 000 people attended the service. People must have come from far and wide to attend. I wonder how many…
The view of the Groot Kerk at the top of Graaff-Reinet's main drag is something you don't sommer forget that easily if you've ever visited this Karoo Heartland town. As you enter the town from the south the church slowly becomes visible at the top of the main road. It looms out above the surrounding buildings as you get closer and suddenly it looks like you're going to drive right into it till the road swings left and circles behind it. The Dutch…
I love the bright red flowers vs blue sky colour contrasts in this photo I took of the historic Dutch Reformed Church in Kareedouw in the Langkloof.
Kareedouw is the first town you encounter when you travel into the Langkloof on Route 62 from the Port Elizabeth side. The name is thought to come from the KhoiSan word !karegadaob which means "A road past many Karee Trees".Kareedouw was established in 1905 as a Dutch Reformed Church congregation and I am assuming that is also the year that the church was built. If not then in the few years just after. I say assuming because I just can't seem to…