Leg 8 of an epic journey
We left early in the morning to find breakfast. After waiting for a while for the little shop to open, we then had a simple meal and headed over to Clarens. The road there was spectacular.
However, in Clarens, the road was so bad from all the rain, that pretty much only the main road was drivable. We did have to ask around a little for a place to stay, but eventually found one close to the main road. Rosewood Corner B&B was welcoming, so we dropped our stuff and headed into town. We were told that there is so much to see in this little town, that one day won't be enough to see everything. This was not our experience, and maybe a combination of being a Saturday and holidays we saw all the shops and most of the art galleries by 12h00.
We then had the most scrumptious lunch at, I think, the Old Posthouse. Say pancakes with coriander, dried cranberries and cream cheese, and for dessert Ice Cream with brandied cherries...... (they did not skimp on the cherries either!!!) oh, Yummy, Yummy, Yum.
Somewhere along the way it started to rain, and I mean cats and dogs. We were seated inside by that time and awaited our food. By the time we were done, the rain was too.
Because the best time to go to Golden Gate National Park is at sunset, we drove late afternoon to the park. As usual, the animals were absent, but the water wasn't (yes, my little car drove through this dip!)
The Drakensberg in the background in the photo above.
Our last adventure for the day was at a restaurant that evening. We had ordered drinks, started chatting and the thunderstorm started - and I mean really started. Lightning eventually took out the whole of Clarens' electricity and we had to find our way back to the B&B in the pitch dark. Lucky for us, we were not that far away, but with the dodgy roads we were not sure whether we were going to wind up in the ditches, dongas or puddles. So, the lesson leart was: never leave home without a flash light in a small Freestate town :) We were greeted by the B&B owners with candles and accompanied to our room. There we had an emergency lamp. The electricity only came on during the night, when we were fast asleep.
However, in Clarens, the road was so bad from all the rain, that pretty much only the main road was drivable. We did have to ask around a little for a place to stay, but eventually found one close to the main road. Rosewood Corner B&B was welcoming, so we dropped our stuff and headed into town. We were told that there is so much to see in this little town, that one day won't be enough to see everything. This was not our experience, and maybe a combination of being a Saturday and holidays we saw all the shops and most of the art galleries by 12h00.
We then had the most scrumptious lunch at, I think, the Old Posthouse. Say pancakes with coriander, dried cranberries and cream cheese, and for dessert Ice Cream with brandied cherries...... (they did not skimp on the cherries either!!!) oh, Yummy, Yummy, Yum.
Somewhere along the way it started to rain, and I mean cats and dogs. We were seated inside by that time and awaited our food. By the time we were done, the rain was too.
Because the best time to go to Golden Gate National Park is at sunset, we drove late afternoon to the park. As usual, the animals were absent, but the water wasn't (yes, my little car drove through this dip!)
These ominous looking clouds were lurking in the background, so our hike was cut short :(
Comments