Caledon, Western Cape
The lizards in Caledon had blue heads and they were faster than expected. The grasshoppers wore green and gold, like rugby supporters. It was a lazy Sunday late morning and the frogs in the lily pond were in full song.
We did not set out to find small, exotic-looking wildlife. We just wanted a day trip.
Cape Town is made for day trips. A day trip to Caledon is exactly short and long enough. At just over 100km from Cape Town, about 90 minutes normal driving, there is time to stop and explore.
There is plenty of variety too. The route is divided into three distinct landscape types. From Cape Town to the foot of Sir Lowry’s pass is pretty much industrial sprawl and sprawling townships. The mountains in front and to the left of you keep things interesting, as do the sailing ships moored on the Cape Flats. You can buy the most unusual things at the robots in Somerset West – on Sunday it was cycling helmets painted like ladybirds.
Nice junk
We stopped at the lookout point on top of Sir Lowry’s to gaze at the hazy non-view of Table Mountain. There we found the most delightful Kenyan entrepreneur and artist called Benjamin. He sold carved African curios such as masks, animals and little tables – not my thing – but he had a much more interesting side-line in the junk. A box of coins, old South African, British, Chinese, Bolivian, you name it. A letter-opener shaped like a sabre, a lighter like a clip of bullets. Old tools. Junk, but nice junk.
The importance of a good pie
Once over the pass the landscape dramatically changed and kept changing for the next 30km to the end of the Houwhoek pass. It started as a strange alien landscape, hills twisted and gnarled, dotted with oddly shaped rocks. Then pine plantations giving way to orchards. The road between the two passes was punctuated by two great farm stalls. Just past the Grabouw road, we found the queen of the N2 farm stalls, the Peregrine, home to the best springbok pie in history. And don’t forget the mosbolletjies. Twelve kilometres on at the foot of the Houwhoek pass were the ever-popular Houw Hoek farm stall on the right and hotel of the same name on the left. The Houw Hoek hotel was an ever-popular stop for tea, lunch or supper in a relaxed, beautiful setting.
Big sky country
After the rump of the Houwhoek pass we started to see the landscape we would traverse between Botrivier and Caledon. A majestic undulating expanse of young wheat and some canola that stretched to the blue mountains in the distance. The Americans speak of big sky country, and I knew then what they meant. It certainly made me feel just a touch small.
Near Caledon, close to the road to trendy Greyton, were seven or eight giant wind turbines on a hill, white and elegant, with their toes hidden in fields.
Wildflower garden
It was getting late morning and we decided to stop for tea and scones at the restaurant at the Wildflower Garden, on the left of the N2 opposite the exit to the casino. The restaurant was closed, so we took a stroll and found the hidden delight of the garden. The garden is also called Venster Kloof Garden, as it leads into a valley of the same name. It was there we found the blue-headed lizards and rugby grasshoppers.
The garden was a joy, a mixture of a formal garden, stunning wildflowers and indigenous veldt. There were winding pathways, stone ponds, bridges and pergolas. The pathways stretched enticingly up and over the hill, apparently becoming a ten-kilometre hike.
But that was where the difference between a day trip and a destination trip became apparent. We found this garden because we were exploring. But we were not dressed or equipped for a hike, and it was too late for much of a walk. So we wandered around for about forty minutes before fleeing back to the superb Datsun GO and onto the fireplace at home.
Image source: Wikipedia
Tags: Datsun
