Montagu view

For the last two summers we spent part of our December holidays in Montagu on both occasions and the town has crept deep into my heart.  This year we're not heading that far west and I already miss this beautiful place.  On our last visit I actually said that if I could find something there in my line of work I would really consider moving there.  So as you can gather, this is a "I miss Montague" post,

The picture was taken from Kanonkop looking across Montague West.  This is the part of town the river flows through and where the caravan park where we camped is situated.  Thanks to the Leidam and irrigation canals there is a lot more water on this side of town and thus greener gardens and more trees.  I really wouldn't mind a little place somewhere around there to escape to if I could.  Unfortunately it's just a tad too far for a quick visit, but looking forward to the next opportunity to pass through and spend a little time.

Potjiekos 101

In South Africa a braai (and please note how I say braai and not barbecue as barbecue is a chips flavour) is as part of the nation's heritage as ice is part of the North Pole.  In my opinion a braai is also just a proper braai when you start with burning wood to create coals.  But that is a discussion for a whole other day.  Something that is very much part of the braai culture is potjiekos.  Potjiekos literally translates as "small pot food" and is a stew prepared outdoors and traditionally cooked in a round, three-legged cast iron pot.  

 

When the Dutch first came to the Cape they brought with them their ways of cooking food in heavy cast iron pots. These pots would hang from the kitchen hearth above the fire and was used to cook and heat water. The black people of South Africa also used cast iron pots to cook in, something they learned from Middle Eastern traders and later Portuguese colonists.

 

During the Great Trek in the 1800's the Voortrekkers hung their pots from their wagons and when they got to their over night stops they would put the pots straight onto the fire to cook or heat their food in. The beauty of cast iron pots is that they are able to retain heat well and only a few coals are needed to keep the food simmering for hours as the heat and steam doesn't escape from the lid. 

  

This post isn't about the origins about potjiekos though but rather to show you more about making a potjie and also what a potjiekos competition is.  The pictures were taken at a potjiekos competition I was part of a little while ago. A potjiekos competition is something like Ultimate Braaimaster or Master Chef where groups of people prepare meals in potjies to be judged. In this case its just not for television but rather done during festive weekends and often in plattelandse dorpies. Ok, not just little towns as you get to see it in the cities as well.



The most popular pot to use is the no 3 pot which makes enough for about 4 to 6 people to eat from. and what you make with it is only limited by your own imagination. Let me explain why. Well, you can make just about anything in the pot. I normally have a small pot on the side in which I make chicken livers while another favorite is making pot bread to eat with the potjiekos. The potjiekos itself range from meat potjies to vegetable, seafood to chicken and pasta to desserts.

 

The way to make your potjiekos is to start off with some oil in the bottom of your pot.  Remember how Shrek said that ogres have layers like onions? Well, potjiekos is also made up of layers.  You start off with your meat in the bottom of the pot, browning it on both side to seal in the flavour.  Cook the meat for a little while longer and then add the onions followed by the vegetables which get placed in the order it takes them to be cooked.  Start off with potato and carrots followed by pumpkin, mushroom, peas and tomatoes right at the top.  This is obviously just a suggestion as you add whatever tickles your fancy.  Some people add their sauce or wine straight after their meat.  I like to add mine after the veg.  A watery potjie is never good so don't add to much water.  Importantly, and this is the main difference between a potjie and a stew, don't stir until right at the end.

 

One of the best parts of being at a potjiekos competition is taking a walk around past the competitiors to see what they are preparing and to get some ideas for your own future creations.  The competition in question was at the Montagu Caravan Park in the Western Cape and there were probably about 20 entries with a huge veriety of pots and side dishes on offer.

 



The judges really had their jobs cut out for them moving from pot to pot tasting everything, taking notes and deliberating.  Even though there were some outstanding dishes there could only be one winner.  

The lamb shank pot close to where I was sitting smelled and looked outstanding but eventually it had to bend the knee to a couple of guys from the West Coast with their Abelone (yes they had a permit for it) pot and it's side dishes which included crayfish tails.  Yum yum yum...  South African cultural food at it's best.

Egret nesting ground

Ornithologists, or just plain bird lovers for those who don't know the big word, visiting the town of Montagu in the Western Cape gets drawn to the Leidam like a mouse to cheese.  For the last two years we spent a week in Montagu during our summer holiday and during both visits I spent some time just watching the birds in the trees around the dam.  The Leidam was originally built to supply water to the town via canals with each house having an allocated time in the day during which they could draw water from the canal.  This system is still in places today although the town has grown quite a bit since those days and the area covered by the canals are basically in the western part of town.  The trees around the dam has become home to 18 species of birds (including Sacred Ibis, Herons, Cormorants, Egrets, Shrikes and Weavers) that use it as their breeding ground with more than 52 visiting species also having been identified.  One word of warning though.  If you have a very sensitive nose you should rather stay away.

Campsite after dark

Everybody likes to stay in hotels and guesthouses if they could and I'm no different, but when we go away on family holidays we like to camp.  It brings us closer to nature and gives the kids a lot more freedom to roam.  I love sitting in my camp chair by the fire with chops sizzling over the coals, a drink in my hand and chatting with my neighbour. Once its gets quiet you hear the night sounds all around and it feels like you've been transported to a whole different world.  Its not a world where everybody feels comfortable, sleeping on blow-up mattresses in a tent, but its a world I love to experience a couple of times a year. 

Clock towers

I haven't done a Random ... post for ages and these two church towers have cropped up, ideal for a Random Church Towers post.

 

Roberston Dutch Reformed Church tower 

Montagu Dutch Reformed Church tower

Calm waters

Late afternoon on a windless summers day in Montagu in the Western Cape...

... paddle boating on the Montagu Caravan Park's dam

Fort succulents

Succulents on top of Cogmans Kloof with the British Fort in the background

The road through Cogmans Kloof

The view of the road through Cogmans Kloof outside Montagu from on top of the tunnel

British Fort at Cogmans Kloof

On top of the Cogmans Kloof tunnel outside Montagu stands an old English fort built by the British in 1899 during the Anglo Boer War.  The fort has a great view of the approaching road and kloof through the mountains and one can immediately see why the British chose the spot.  To get to the top there is a steep little path from across the road from the parking area and after a couple of minutes of huffing and puffing you get to the top and that awesome view.

Cogmans Kloof

Cogmans Kloof outside Montagu is one of the famous landmarks on Route 62 through the Klein Karoo.  The Cogmans Kloof Pass passes through a poort (a poort being defined as a path through a mountain range) which runs through the Langeberg between Ashton and Montagu.  The first white farmers in the area were allocated farms from 1725 onwards and the original road through the poort was a dangerous one alongside the Kingna River which incorporates eight hazardous drifts.  To get around Kalkoenkrantz the wagons had to actually travel in the riverbed itself.  This route was very susceptible to flooding.  Authorisation was given to built a road in 1861 with work only starting in 1867, stopping again in 1870.  Thomas Bain, son of Andrew Geddes Bain, surveyed the pass and work was restarted in 1873 with the biggest job being to blast a tunnel through Kalkoenkrantz.  Up to that time blasting was generally done with gunpowder, but the Cogmanskloof tunnel, which is 16 metres long and had a 5 metre high roof, became the first time in South Africa that a tunnel was blasted using dynamite.

Montagu's Cannon Hill

Kanonkop (or Cannon Hill) above the town of Montagu has a beautiful view across the town with this angle looking out over Montagu West.  The story goes that the original cannon which stood on this spot and dated from the 1800 was used at some stage for a salute of honor which went horribly wrong and caused a young man from the town to loose both his arms. The farmers then pushed the cannon over the edge of the hill. 20 years later it was retrieved to be fired again, but this time the whole cannon exploded and its spot stood empty until it was replaced by the present one. This cannon was taken out of the sea in Simon's Town in 1988 after spending over 200 years on the ocean floor.

Montagu Museum

Montagu op Route 62 in the Klein Karoo het twee fantastiese museum wat besoekers aan die dorp by kan gaan inloer.  Die Montagu Museum is geleë in die ou Sendingkerk wat in 1907 gebou is en konsentreer op die dorp se kultuur-historiese skatte.  Die museum het verskeie uitstallings met die kerk se preekstoel and ander kerk items wat sentraal hieraan is.  'n Belangrike deel van die museum is die medisinale plantnavorsing wat hier plaasvind en ook uitgestal word.  Agter die museum is ook 'n pragtige roostuin wat dateer uit die dorp se vroeë jare.  Die ander museum op die dorp wat die moeite werd is om te besoek is Jouberthuis so bietjie verder af in die straat.

Montagu Church

The Dutch Reformed Church in Montagu is one of the towns most prominent buildings and was built in 1862.  A very interesting fact that few people in the town probably know is that the church was originally painted white but after various complaints that the sun reflecting off it was blinding people too much it was painted creamy yellow.  

I wanted to try something else with the picture and applied a HDR effect to it.  What do you think?

Sacred Ibis

The Leidam in Montagu in the Western Cape must be one of the best places in the area to do bird watching.  From the bird hide next to the road one can get great views and photographs of particularly sacred ibis and egrets with herons and weavers also around.  Due to the big amount of birds around the dam there is a bit of an ... odor in the air, but the quality of the sightings makes more than up for it.

 

The African Sacred Ibis (Threskiornis aethiopicus) is a wading bird of the ibis family and breeds in sub-Saharan Africa, southeastern Iraq, and formerly in Egypt.  In Egypt it was venerated and often mummified as a symbol of the god Thoth.  The sacred ibis normally occurs in marshy wetlands and mud flats, both inland and on the coast, and that is why they thrive next to the Leidam with the river flowing by about a block away. 

 

This bird is usually silent, but occasionally makes some croaking noises, unlike its vocal relative, the Hadeda Ibis.

Waar ruwe rotse

Die berge buite Montagu soos jy deur die poort ry is absoluut asemrowend.  In die Jouberthuis Museum op die dorp hang 'n ou foto van dieslefde berg as in die foto hierbo.  Die vrou wat daar werk het gesien dat ek na die foto staan en kyk en vra toe of ek die gedig "Waar ruwe rotse" ken.  Die digter, C M van den Heever (1902-1957), was oorspronlik ‘n Vrystater en het blykbaar op 'n stadium ook in Montagu gewoon. 

 

Die gedig verwys na die tragiese verhaal van ‘n pa wie se seun in ’n klipskeur val en hoe daar dae lank te vergeefs gepoog is om die seun te red.  Die seun smeek uiteindelik sy pa om hom te skiet. Dit word in die algemeen aanvaar dat die gedig gebasseer is op 'n ware verhaal wat op die plaas Aasvogelkop naby Smithfield in die Vrystaat afgespeel het, maar daar is ander mense wat sê dit kom uit die Weskaap êrens.

 

Waar ruwe rotse   Waar ruwe rotse teen die hemel klim, waar morerooi se eerste traanglans glim, waar aasvoëls hoog in sirkelbane sweef, hul rou gekras in afgronde laat leef; waar grou-wit kranse na die klowe val, gekeep-hou tot spelonke bo 'n dal; waar oopgeskeurde klippekake wag met draketande wat daar grynsend lag – daar knal opeens geweerskoot bo die kruin en eggo’s antwoord hard met skelbasuin. Die dassies wip verskrik oor gladde krans, patryse saai vlerktrillend uit hul skans. Skuins glip 'n voet en drillend val 'n roer... 'n skerp geskuur – 'n pad wat afwaarts voer. Twee hande gryp 'n bos, die angs oorstelp, benoud klink uit die diepte: “Here, help!” Twee vader-oë kyk verward...sy seun, die afgrond lag oor wilde skuurgedreun. Die kruit en stof vlek oor die lug se blou, die vader bly sy hand oor sy oë hou. En dan gewaar hy in die skemering sy kind, deur rotseskouers vasgedring. 'n Riem rol na die seun daaronder neer, “Bind vas, my kind...en Pa die sal probeer.” Maar dis vergeefs...die kransedraak hou vas, die riem bly stukkend breek, kry las op las. En hulp snel by...die rotsetande gryns, hier moet die mensverstand terug voor deins. Dan klaag daar uit die diepte, sag en flou: “Ek smeek dat Pa my skiet...en nou...” 'n Roer die bewe in die growwe hand, sag sif in skemerafgrond korrels sand. Vas lê die kolf teen vaderskouer aan, en langs die sneller glans 'n afloop-traan. “Vergeef my, God!”...’n skoot gedemp en dof... en bo die bergegraf styg kruit en stof. Nog skuur iets rog’lend in die diepte daar, dis stil...die aasvoëls kras...’n vader staar.

 

© Kopiereg - C.M. van den Heever hou die kopiereg van die gedigte op hierdie bladsy

Montagu Church roses

Whenever I find a beautiful historic building I like to take at least two kinds of photos.  One straight on to show the building itself and a second one with something in the foreground so that the building forms the background of the picture.  I would have preferred the white roses in front of the Montagu Dutch Reformed Church in the Western Cape to have been red as was the case with the Old Mission Church in Montagu, but I'm not complaining.

Old Mission Church rose

The Montagu Museum in the Klein Karoo town of Montagu is housed in the town's Neo-Gothic style Old Mission Church which was built in 1907.  At the end of 2011 we spent 10 days in the town and decided to return at the end of 2012.  After our 2011 visit I did a blog post about the museum so I don't really want to do a similar one this time around.  I did look for a nice angle to photograph the building and found it from the rose garden in front of the museum.  

Avalon Springs

When we went to Montagu at the end of last year the first thing people asked was if we were going to go to the hot water springs.  The hot water springs at Avalon Springs is probably the best known attraction in Montagu and it gets thousands of visitors every year.  We weren't particularly planning to but decided to check it out.  The pools at complex are fed by a 43ºC thermal spring originating roughly 2km's under ground and pumped to the various pools in such a way that they all differ in temperature, thus catering for everyone's needs.

There are various Khoi (Bushman) drawings on rocks and in caves around Montagu so its probably safe to say that the springs were known to the early inhabitants of the area for a long time.  The springs were "discovered" by white farmers in the late 1700's and after a farmer's injured hand was healed after repeatedly bathing in the water the word started to spread.  People started coming from all over the country (and world) to experience this natural wonder for themselves.

Since 1982, the springs have been part of the Avalon Springs Spa Resort Hotel and whilst the process of getting here, as well as the levels of luxury enjoyed by visitors from far and wide, are much improved since 200 years ago, the springs are as natural and perfect as they have always been.

The Kidz really enjoyed the pools and especially Drama Princess had a ball on the slides and super tube.  We are going back to Montagu at the end of the year for another 10 day holiday and the kids are already asking if we will be visiting the hot springs again.

Montagu Museum



During a visit to the beautiful Klein Karoo town of Montagu I discovered two very interesting and equally historic museums on Long Street, the town's main drag.  The first one was the fascinating Joubert House while the second was the Montagu Museum.  The Montagu Museum is housed in the Neo-Gothic style Old Mission Church which was built in 1907 and its main aim is the research of the cultural-historic heritage of Montagu.

The museum has a large and diverse collection and frequently changes its temporary exhibitions.  It's collection of pulpit Bibles and church artifacts including old wedding dresses form the focal point of the church with the original pulpit, pulpit cloth and wall text taking pride of place. Other important permanent exhibitions are the Indigenous Medicinal Plant research project displayed in one wing, the Françoise Krige collection of paintings and memorabilia and the T.O. Honiball (he of Oom Kaspaas, Jakkals En Wolf and Adoons-Hulle fame) collection of cartoons.  The museum also has its own oval date stamp which is a replica of the first postmark to be used in Montagu in1858.

Behind the church is a magnificent rose garden which was beautifully in bloom on my visit while the archive which adjoins the church is an important research centre containing a comprehensive collection of historical documents and photos relating to Montagu, the district and people as well as the museum library.  Unfortunately my visits to both museums were done at a bit of a rush as I didn't really gave myself much time going there but we have already booked a return visit to Montagu for the end of the year and this time around I'm going to be spending a lot more time in the two museums.

Joubert House

Most people probably find town museums quite boring, but I love what they have to offer.  Its usually the best place to learn more about a town's history and there is always something, usually more than one thing, new to discover in these museums.  One such small town museum which I have discovered is Joubert House in the Klein Karoo town of Montagu.  My timing wasn't the best and I walked into the museum about 20 minuted before closing time on a Saturday afternoon.  Even though I was the only person in the museum it didn't stop curator Annette Cilliers from sharing her very extensive knowledge with me on a personal tour of the museum.  Even though closing time was nearly on us she didn't leave out anything and told and showed me ever bit of detail there was to be seen.  She even offered to stay open a bit longer while I walked around to take a couple of photos after the tour.  Ms Cilliers really deserves some kind of tourism award for what she does at Joubert House.

Joubert House was built in 1853 by 22-year old Pieter Gideon Joubert for his par­ents and is thought to be the oldest dwelling in Montagu.  After the devastating floods of January 1981 the building, which was built from sun­baked bricks and clay, was on the verge of collapsing and the municipality decided to have it demolished.  Luckily it was saved from demolition by the Montagu Museum Board of Trustees who had it restored to its former glory.  Joubert House was opened as a museum in 1983 and celebrated its 150th anniversary in 2003.

Joubert House is a house museum and portrays the typical country lifestyle of the 1850’s.  Each room has been meticulously recreated and each one had a unique appeal.  The lounge contains the pictures of historical figures who visited the family back in the days while there is also a piece of the original wall paper.  The kitchen is normally my favorite room in this kind of museum while there is also an exceptional collection of toys and individually numbered handmade porcelain dolls.

Next to the house visitors will find the town's first jail right next to the ori­ginal privy.  Pieter Gideon Joubert senior was also the town's first Justice of the Peace and any­one found dis­turb­ing the peace found themselves locked up here for a little while.

Behind the museum is an indigenous medicinal garden.  Over the last 22 years the Montagu Museum has been researching the traditional uses of medicinal plants in the Montagu district as used by the Khoi, San and settler farmers from Europe.  The garden contains most of the more than 120 plants that have been researched and published by the museum.