Railway line sunset

Picture this.  The R60 between Robertson and Worcester in the Western Cape.  Kinda in the middle of nowhere.  Nothing in sight other than the remains of an old railway station  Two guys park next to the road and dash across, climb through an old fence, hop over the railway line and run of into the bushes and fynbos.  Moments later they emerge and start walking back to the car.  What do you make of this?  For most regular folk it would probably be a very suspicious sight.  Confusing at least.  Not if you were a Geocacher though.  This was exactly what happened on the way to Cape Town recently.  Our last cache for the day before the last stretch to the Mother City had us do exactly that.  On the way back to the car the sun started to set behind the mountains on the horizon and I whipped out my phone to snap this picture.  My favorite pic from the trip.

Ashton locomotive at sunset

The town of Ashton is situated on the Robertson Valley close to the start of Route 62.  As one drives along this road between Worcester and the Klein Karoo there is a steam locomotive on the left about halfway through town.  Heading down to Cape Town I made a quick stop to have a look and with the sun heading to the horizon I snapped this picture.

 

 The locomotive is a No 2010 class 14 CRB and was designed and built by the Montreal Locomotive Works Canada - a division of the American Locomotive Company.  The Class 14 CRB locomotives were built between 1910 and 1922 to specifications of Mr D. A. Hendrie Chief Mechanical Engineer of the South African Railways.  No 2010 was commissioned in 1919 and used on the Worcester / Mosselbay rail section until 1983.  This Cape Gauge locomotive weighs 84.1 tons and the 10 ton / 4250 gallon capacity tender 50.9 tons.  The tractive effort of the locomotive is 35400 pounds at 75% boiler pressure with a boiler capacity of 180 pounds per square inch.  Yeah yeah, I know its useless info to most of us but there are some train nuts out there who would find it very interesting.

Robertson Dutch Reformed Church

 

Most small towns around South Africa's histories are very closely woven into that of the church and often these towns got started because of a church.  In this case the town of Robertson in the Western Cape is no different.  In 1728 a large piece of land which fell within the very large boundaries of Swellendam district, was let to a Mr. P Joubert.  Soon farmers requiring grazing for their sheep started moving into the area, many purchasing land from the government by 1800. 

The farm Roodezand in the district belonged to Johannes W van Zijl in the 1840's and church services were held in his home every three months when Dr William Robertson, the Dutch Reformed Church Minister at Swellendam, visited the area.  In 1852 it was decided that a town needed to be established in the area and Mr. Van Zijl’s farm was purchased for that purpose.  The town was named after Dr Robertson and plots were laid out.  A well-situated block in the centre of town was selected for the Dutch Reformed Church to be laid out with the corner stone of the original church being laid in 1853.  

The original church was pulled down in 1905 and a larger, more imposing church was erected above the old foundations.

Angel weather vane

Usually you would see a chicken, and in particular one who doesn't lay eggs, on top of a church spire.  Every now and then you do encounter a different one and that was the case with this angel weather vane on top of the Dutch Reformed Church in Robertson in the Western Cape.

 

Visit Skywatch for some more neck cranking pictures of the sky from all over the world

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

Orchards and Kannas

Driving along the wine farms between Robertson and Bonnievale recently there were a lot of orchards with Kanna flowers growing between it and the road.  I know in some areas they plant roses next to the orchards to warn the farmer of deceases but I'm not sure if the Kannas are for the same purpose or just to look beautiful.  Because they did look beautiful if nothing else.

Bonnievale landscape

Most international visitors to South Africa know and get to visit the wine routes around Stellenbosch, Franschhoek and Paarl, yet there are others as well.  One such wine route, which the locals indeed know of, is situated around the towns of Robertson and Bonnievale with some super wine estates along the Breede River.  The picture was taken on the R317 between the two towns.

Straw People at Affie Plaas

Anybody who has driven along the R60 between Swellendam and Worcester cannot in good faith claim that they haven't seen the family of straw people next to the road just outside Robertson.  I put it like that cause there is just no way that you can miss the 3 meter high Mr and Mrs Straw with their kids next to the road.  So what are they doing there?  They're a gimmick to draw attention to the Affie Plaas farm stall.

Affie Plaas is a very popular spot along the road and here you will find anything from home made eats to handmade craft and wines.  This is a wine producing region after all.  There is fresh bread, farm butter, pies, milk tarts, goat's milk fudge and many other yummy things on sale.  Unfortunately they don't allow visitors to take photos inside the shop (which you are reminded of by signs on the shelves every two steps) so I can't really show you any of these goodies. 

Cruising the Breede River at Viljoensdrift

There is probably no better way to enjoy the Viljoensdrift wines than leisurely cruising along the Breede River on a sunny day.  The Viljoensdrift wine estate offers one hour cruises up and down the river from their shop and tasting area on the farm and although we're not wine lovers (and you don't have to actually drink wine to go on the cruise), we decided to go for the outing.

The boat seats about 40 people and most of our fellow passengers bought wine from the estate before the cruise to take along.  Ours was a nice hot sunny day with no wind and it was ideal for cruising.  Just to show how laid back it was, Chaos Boy who doesn't sit still for long on the best of days were up and down the steps and literally hung from the rafters next to the boat's captain... and nobody even batted a eye lit. 

I think the most innovative idea that goes along with the cruise is the fact that passengers get given a "Create a picnic basket" menu containing items from the deli on check-in at the wine estate.  As you board you get given your picnic basket and wine to take on board.  As we were going for lunch after the cruise we didn't order anything to eat, but the family next to us did I got the opportunity to take a snap of them tucking in.

Viljoensdrift Wine Tasting

While visiting the town of Montagu we didn't really venture through Cogmanskloof into the Robertson Valley area and rather explored our immediate surroundings.  One morning we did decided to venture through the kloof with our camping neighbours and ended up at Viljoensdrift Wine Estate near Bonneyvale for a river cruise on the Breede River. 

We had about an hour or so to wait (or waste, which ever word rocks your boat) before the cruise departed so while the women and children sat out on the deck, Bertie (the neighbour) and myself decided to have a closer look at the wines that the estate has on offer.

I'm not a big wine drinker, not by a long shot, but I really enjoy wine tastings.  Sometimes I can pick up the fruity (or chocolate or chili or whatever else) fragrances and tastes that they say you are supposed to taste in your mouth, but being somebody who prefers a sweet wine I often just try not too pull my face.  Viljoensdrift has a couple of very nice wines with my favorite being, surprise surprise, their dessert wine.