The town of Patensie in the Gamtoos Valley is surrounded by beautiful scenery. Rolling hills, distant mountains, citrus and vegetable farmland, valley thicket, guest farms and some of the friendliest people you will find anywhere.
A couple of weeks ago I spent a couple of days touring around the Eastern Cape with a group of journalists and one of our stops was in the Gamtoos Valley town of Patensie. After a visit at the Malan Cucumber Farm we were taken up to their new cucumber tunnels on a koppie outside town and I snapped these pictures of the view. The Gamtoos Valley truly is a very scenic and undiscovered area with most visitors just heading…
On Saturday we headed into the Gamtoos Valley for the annual Gamtoos Tourism Adventure Drive. This year the event took place around the towns of Loerie and Hankey and it was a heck of a lot of fun, to say the least. The Adventure Drive takes the form of a 60km round trip which gets completed by following directions given at the start of the race. Along the way there are 9 stops with challenges that need to be completed. …
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
Spending time in a place is more than just staying in accommodation establishments, eating in restaurants, visiting attractions end enjoying beautiful scenery. The buzz word these days are experiences and an experience doesn't necessarily have to be an formal one. Sometimes you see something interesting and making a quick stop can turn into a whole experience on its own. Spending a weekend Shot Left in Hankey in the Gamtoos Valley while staying at The Milk House we ventured out on the Saturday…
As visitors approach the town of Hankey in the Gamtoos Valley from the east, they have to pass Vergaderingskop before entering town. This little koppie is the final resting place of Saartjie Baartman and worth a stop even if its just to enjoy a view of the surrounding valley.The town of Hankey was established in 1826 (four years after the founding of the mission station in 1822 under the guidence of Dr John Philip ) and is the Gamtoos Valley's oldest…
Every time I visit the Gamtoos Valley and drive through Hankey, I look up the cliffs on the western side of the town at the Bergvenster (Berg Window) thinking that I must really make a plan to climb up there one day. That opportunity came when we spent a Shot Left weekend in Hankey staying at the The Milk House. I told the Damselfly that I'm heading up there come hell or high water. She asked why and the answer was…
The Gamtoos Valley west of Port Elizabeth is often just seen as the entrance to the Baviaanskloof yet its a tranquil and very scenic farming area. I visit the valley a couple of times a year to participate in the annual Gamtoos Tourism Adventure Drive, the Citrus festival and the Patensie Boere Basaar. This also means that I spend a lot of time in the Patensie area so when Carol Pearson of The Milk House contacted me to invite us…
When the first Dutch farmers arrived in the Kouga and Gamtoos region they had to travel upstream some distance to cross over the Gamtoos River. In the mid 1800's a pontoon was used to convey traffic across the Gamtoos River. The ferry was close to the Gamtoos River Hotel, and was owned by the late Mr. G. D. Smith, of Nocton Farm. The problem was that this very primitive method of crossing a broad tidal river was frequently a source of much annoyance and delay, owing…
Just outside the town of Hankey in the Gamtoos Valley visitors will find the biggest sundial in the Southern Hemisphere. Kids will always be kids and the monkey comes out of them when they see something they can climb. It was no different when Drama Princess decided to see how far she could go up the Hankey Sundial. The sundial was built by local farmer Mr Dirk Schellingerhout in 1989 to commemorate the town's 160th anniversary. It is located at the entrance to…