On Route to Strydenburg

We are all so familiar with the phrase …. all roads lead to Rome …. During our KAROO TRAVELS  all roads lead to CALVINIA…
After spending some time in this amazing town, enjoying the hospitality of the locals and incredible beauty that only mother nature can offer, we were on our way…

entrance to nature reserve

entrance to nature reserve

We woke up early, with the sun shining brightly. We were back on track and the next stop…. Williston! On our way out we decided to stop, once more, at AKKERENDAM NATURE RESERVE, situated just north of Calvinia.

a mirror view of the Hantam Mountains

a mirror view of the Hantam Mountains

My favorite attraction in the reserve, is the dam with the mirror view of the Hantam Mountains lying in the back ground.

water stream

water stream from the mountains

During the rainy season, water streams down from the mountains into the dam.

A panoramic view of Calvinia

A panoramic view of Calvinia

From the high ground towards the mountains, the amazing panoramic view of the town down below, will leave you speechless…
Once we filled up the motor home with fuel and water, we were ready to continue on our journey…

R27 to Williston

R27 to Williston

We traveled along the R27 towards Williston. The road felt long and after traveling a distance of 122 km, we eventually arrived in WILLISTON. Here we stopped, stretched our legs and browsed around a bit before we continued to Carnarvon…

pitstop

pitstop

After a good night’s rest, a hot shower and huge breakfast, we were ready to hit the road again…

a farmstead close to Carnarvon

a farmstead close to Carnarvon

On our way to Carnarvon we saw a few farmsteads, interesting rock formations in unusual dark colours and a prickly pear bush here and there…

interesting rock formations

interesting rock formations

CARNARVON is a well established, small, town and we managed to purchase a few necessary items needed for our trip.

Almost a disaster!

Almost a disaster!

We spend the night in CARNARVON CARAVAN PARK where we were woken up by the crashing sound of a tree that fell over…thank goodness, it missed the motor home … Just, Just!

Chevrolet 1930-Phaeton Convertible in Carnarvon

Chevrolet 1930-Phaeton Convertible in Carnarvon

As always, we first went to explore the town before continuing on our journey…
LOXTON was the next stop! I’ve heard so much about the beauty of this little town, that I could not wait to see it for myself!

A road in Loxton

A road in Loxton

Oh! Were we surprised?! A little paradise….trees and more trees…tall and green…everywhere!

standing proud!

standing proud!

Instead of an old car or truck body decorating a large open space (as normally found in Karoo towns) this old tractor & implement caught my eye…

Different architecture

Different architecture

The town is like a painting -a canvas of green, filled with different architecture styles, some dating back to the 1900’s.

Restored look...

Restored history…

The church in Loxton

The church in Loxton

The church in Loxton forms the center point in town. The roads are wide with decorative street lamps.
After a morning of pure delight we had to say good-bye to LOXTON and we made our way towards VICTORIA WEST.

...down the main road...

…down the main road…

We drove down the main road… bordered with typical KAROO houses, build in different styles and a church right at the end…
I could imagine, how years ago, one could hear the sound of horses hooves tapping on the road as the old fokes were passing through…

An interesting way of advertising.

An interesting way of advertising.

Everything in VICTORIA WEST has a historical feel…even this advertising medium.
Further up north on the N12, about 200 km from VICTORIA WEST, lies STRYDENBURG. It was late afternoon and we were heading towards our next destination….

time for a Pitstop

Ideal  for a Pitstop

A quick stop at these thatched umbrellas was a absolute MUST!
When we arrived in STRYDENBURG it was almost dark and after supper, we prepared for a good nights rest…
Early the next morning, we started preparing the rig for the next shift. Before leaving town we did some site seeing and although the town is very small, it was worth our while to explore the unknown…

an old hand build dam

an old hand build dam

At the far end of town this dam decorated a stretch of farmland.

enormous ant-hill

enormous ant-hill

delishes prickly pears

delishes prickly pears

With a huge ant hill on the one side and a prickly pear bush on the other the picture was complete…
It was time to say good-bye …

our animal friends...

our animal friends…