Karoo

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Karoo Heartland Churches

Looking through everything I have that still needs to be posted I decided to take three Karoo churches and make up one Random... Karoo churches post.  Just about every small town in the Karoo Heartland of the Eastern Cape has a remarkable church of some sort.  Cradock must have one of the most memorable Karoo Heartland churches there are.  It stands at the top of Church Street and is known as the ``Mother" Church.  The church was completed in 1868 on the same site as the…

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19/09/2014
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Koffiebus and Teebus

 The Karoo has a beauty that some admire in awe while others tend to just want to pass through as quickly as possible.  I love the Karoo landscape with its big skies, Karoo koppies, windpumps, sheep, karoo vegetation and its interesting people.  Returning home after a trip to Johannesburg I decided to drive via the Gariep Dam, Steysnburg and Hofmeyer before the last stretch from Cradock.  Outside Steysnburg are two very well know Karoo landmarks.  Teebus and Koffiebus, two Karoo…

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14/09/2014
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Karoo sunrise

A 4am departure on a road trip to Johannesburg meant that I was just south of the Karoo town of Cradock when the sun started to lick at the horizon.  It wasn't long for the clouds to be on fire and I couldn't help but to pull over to take a picture with my phone which I Instagrammed immediately.  The Karoo always has something breathtaking to offer visitors on a plate.

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12/09/2014
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Roesemaat

Nieu-Bethesda in the Karoo is one of those interesting little towns that one just can't afford to miss.  Home to the Owl House, Kitching Fossil Centre, guesthouses, restaurants, a micro brewery and so much more yet the town (or should I perhaps call it a village?) doesn't have a petrol station, atm or even a tar road.  Every corner offers something new or interesting or, in this case, old and interesting.

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04/09/2014
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Karoo hotel – a bit of a thorny issue

A trip up to Nieu-Bethesda a week or so ago gave me the opportunity to detour into the little village of Wolwefontein between Uitenhage and Jansenville.  There really wasn't that much to see but the old hotel sign behind a sweet thorn tree made for an interesting photograph. 

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30/08/2014
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Schreiner House in Cradock

Olive Schreiner (24 March 1855 – 11 December 1920) was a world renown South African writer and is best remembered for her novel The Story of an African Farm which has been highly acclaimed ever since its first publication in 1883.  She was born in Wittebergen and grew up Healdtown from the age of six.  Between 1868 and 1870 she lived in Cradock with her brother who was the headmaster of the local school and two other siblings.  Although Schreiner only lived in Cradock for…

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09/06/2014
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The Slagtersnek Monument near Cookhouse

Driving along the N10 between Port Elizabeth and Cradock there is a memorial next to the road near the town of Cookhouse.  Driving back from Cradock the other day I decided to stop and have a closer look.  The Slagtersnek Monument remembers the Slagtersnek Rebellion and the subsequent hanging of 5 of the rebels, an event that changed the area forever and possibly had a big role to play in the start of the Great Trek.  The museum in Somerset East has…

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30/05/2014
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Blue head lizard

Spending the weekend at Ann's Villa just north of the Zuurberg Mountains in the southern Karoo, I discovered this little dude enjoying the afternoon sun.  He allowed me to take out my camera and snap a couple of pictures of him, even lifting up his head for a better pose.  Now I'm not a lizard expert but I'm sure it's a Agama.  Whether it's a Southern rock agama or a Blue headed tree agama I'm not too sure.  Going by pictures I have…

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10/04/2014
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27 miles to Cradock

Back in the old days distance stones were used to indicate to travellers how far they had to go to the next town.  These days there aren't a lot of them around and often they are found on old and back roads.  But trust Geocaching to take me to one of them on the N10 on a trip to Cradock.  This stone indicates 27 miles to Cradock and 80 miles to Grahamstown.   

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22/03/2014