Irenenenene

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!!!) o...

Well, I noticed that I forgot my double adapter at the dodgy B&B (that wasn't one), so had to borrow one from the friendly receptionist at the Kloof Lodge. This meant that after a good night's sleep and lots and lots of rain (the foyer was flooded) we had to go on a shopping spree in the City of Roses. We also just had to visit the Hobbit House (a bit too pricey for our pockets, but beautifully done. Each room is named after one of the characters in Lord of the Rings, and decorated with the most awesome wall papers and linens). We then did some shopping, so did not take any pictures. At around mid-day we departed towards the Golden Gate National Park, since we had a day to spare. We took the route towards Lesotho and then just past the border post to Fochville and Ficksburg and on to Fouriesburg. Because it was getting late, and I did not want to drive to Clarens (CLAAAAAARENCE), we decided to take a tiny detour to Camelroc guest farm. We got a whole bungalow to ourse...

After a night we'd rather have spent in more agreeable accommodations, we packed our bags, headed off into Graaff-Reinet and did our internet thingies. Then we hit the road again to Nieu Bethesda. Well, I can call it "hitting" the road, since the dirt road was not very good and after all that rain probably even worse... Anyway, there is only one thing to see in Nieu Bethesda , and that is the OWL HOUSE . Everything centres on the house and if you want to do anything more, you need to ge tout of town. The surrounding areas are very Karoo-like, but the mountains are stunning!!! Me, myself and Irene out front K greeting the hostess :) Other parts of the garden.....    And just a few things that stood out for me inside the house.... The rest of the town is TINY - sorry tiny .....  They do have a post-office, though, and I'm wondering whether that postcard found its way to Germany?? Hmmmm K?  The church is beautiful,   and since it is an arty tow...

I forgot to mention the amazing food we had at the end of leg 5. Yummy lamb-rack with strawberry-mint sauce and Springbok steak with cranberry and Camembert sauce. AND our first not so amazing accommodation. Pokey and dark, three beds squeezed into the tiniest room. We could not even open the cupboard. the swimming pool was green and murky. At least there was parking at the back. We did not take a picture of Uncle Heini's place, because we blocked it from our memory. So, for this one, no pictures. Back next time with leg 7,8,9,10 or so....