Hart Cottage at Glen Avon Farm

I told you a little bit of the history of Glen Avon Farm and the historic Glen Avon Watermill outside Somerset East in my previous post.  Glen Avon has a number of other old buildings on the property with the oldest being Hart Cottage.  Built around 1817, Hart Cottage is the only remaining of three of the original cottages built on the farm.  It's was painstakingly renovated and is being used as self catering accommodation for visitors to the farm.  In the background on…

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The historic Glen Avon Watermill

A week or two three ago I got to spend an evening on the historic Glen Avon Farm at the foot of the Bosberg Mountains outside Somerset East.  A stay at Glen Avon consist of true farm hospitality like you can only get in the Karoo and the B&B's surroundings is just what you need to get away from the city and take in farm life.  The highlight of my stay though, which was way too short, was a visit to the historic Glen…

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Visiting a cumcumber farm of all places

Visiting a cucumber farm probably isn't very high on anybody's list when you talk agritourism, but I'm always up for something new.  I  was in the Gamtoos Valley as part of a media tour recently and Gamtoos Tourism organized for us to visit Malan Cucumbers.  This isn't a technical post so I just want to tell you about the experience.  We were met by the farmer and his daughter who took us on a walk around the facilities situated just outside…

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Sweet juicy red strawberries at Mooihoek Farm

Sweet juicy red strawberries.... I don't need to use any more fancy words to get your mouth watering.  Actually, you just need to have a look at the pictures in this post and not read anything at all.It's always great to get an exclusive behind the scenes look at something and in this case it was a tour around the Mooihoek Boerdery strawberry farm. Mooihoek is situated next to the Gamtoos River outside the town of Hankey in the Eastern Cape.  Back in…

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Regyne – the biggest commercial protea farm in the world

The Tsitsikamma is more than just indigenous forests, rugged coastlines and adrenalin filled adventure activities.  I'm going to lie if I say I didn't know it, but its always great to spread the word.  Our Sho't Left in the Tsitsikamma and Eersterivier area included a visit to Regyne, the biggest commercial protea farm in the world.  Tours of the farm is organised by Oudebosch Farm Stall who does a tour and lunch as well as a tour and afternoon tea and cake option…

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The Sir Percy FitzPatrick Lookout in Sunland

Sir Percy FitzPatrick, (24 July 1862 – 24 January 1931) is probably best known for writing the book Jock of the Bushveld, but also played a big role in the early development of the Sundays River Valley.  In his younger years he was involved in gold and diamond prospecting in Mpumalanga where Jock of the Bushveld also plays off.   In 1895 FitzPatrick became the secretary of the Reform Committee in Johannesburg which conspired to overthrow Paul Kruger's South African Republic. At the outbreak…

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A Tsitsikamma Sho’t Left

We really don't need much motivation to pack our bags and head somewhere for a Sho't Left weekend.  Not at all.  Even more so when the invitation for that Sho't Left comes from the Tsitsikamma which is only an hour and a half from our home base in Port Elizabeth. A call from Penny of Tsitsikamma Seaside Accommodation along with an earlier invitation by Anneline of Storms River Adventures had us planning a weekend that included some beach time, nature time, family time and ultimately,…

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Odd one out

I recently spent a night at the highly recommended Ganora Guest Farm near Nieu-Bethesda.  Early morning before breakfast I went for a walk around the farm and down to the river.  On my way back I found this interesting scene of a calf having breakfast with the sheep.  A case of mistaken identity?

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Citrus orchids in the Gamtoos Valley

The Gamtoos Valley in the Eastern Cape is prime citrus growing country and for city folk the rows and rows of citrus trees are always a sight to behold.  This picture was taken outside of Hankey in the valley.The citrus range from different types of oranges and easy peelers to naartjies and, in this case, lemons

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Canola flowers in the Overberg

I've always wanted to take a couple of pictures of the canola fields in the Overberg to post but I always seem to travel through the area in summer or winter and never in spring.  Attending the e-Tourism Africa Summit in Cape Town and having driven up via the Klein Karoo I didn't even think of canola fields until we dropped over into the Overberg at Botrivier and there is was down below.  Patches of canola field flowers in all…

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