Read Part 1 by going to the last blog post or click – here.
Saturday morning we raced out to make sure we didn’t miss the “short’
market. Our city mentality meant we over budgeted time-wise and had
LOADS of time to kill. The first marketer pitched long after us. We hid
around the corner and waited for the market to start. A whole six
stalls happened. We bought at nearly every one. But it was over so fast
that we can’t be sure it was in fact a market! We bought spinach pies,
ginger beer, quiche, milk tart, pea shoots and fresh spinach. While we
were waiting for things to happen we got chatting to a local about
property prices. OMG!!! A house in Mc Gregor STARTS at just below R1
million. Prices go up to R3 million. Hello! This is a village in the
middle of nowhere.
We collected our ethically sourced raw honey
from Deli Girls
Donkey sanctuary Mc Gregor
and had a quick cup of tea. Quick because ESKOM power
was about to fail and they had to make sure they had hot water. A
friendly American joined us and regaled us with tales of his life as a
pilot and global traveler. He had decided he wanted to make Mc Gregor
his home. He prophesied that Las Vegas and Austin in Texas had a bleak
future as water was fast becoming scarce in America. He saw South Africa
as a better option to the United States of America. Who knew?
After
our tea and conversation we headed off on a
Mc Gregor Winery
wine tour. At Mc Gregor
Winery we bought a bargain Ruby Cabernet (R19 per bottle) and a Pinotage
(R38 per bottle). No discount for bulk at Mc Gregor Winery. Sigh. Then
we went to Tanagra down the road. Prices were a bit steep there (R70 a
bottle). We tasted Grappa. Hated it. Not for us. The price (R200 a tiny
bottle) didn’t help.
We also stopped in at Esseltjerus, a donkey
sanctuary. They let you pat the friendly donkeys and you can have a bite
to eat. We picked prickly pears off the cacti with a piece of paper.
They are yummy but a mission as they have long fine thorns that get
stuck in your fingers and are a nightmare to remove.
Came
home and soaked up the 35’C sun. Snoozed. Bathed and then went on a
village historical walk. There
Greenie at the Saturday market
are four walks to choose from. Mill Walk.
Gaol Walk. Graveyard Walk. Church Walk. We did the Mill Walk. After our
walk we had a quick drink at the Old Post Office Pub. Then headed back
to Temenos for supper. I had a veg curry and my other half had hake en papillote. And yet more Mc Gregor wine. We tried again to see the Temenos gardens but again we were not allowed. Sigh! Staggered home and slept like logs.
We
had a slow start to the day. Late brekka and a very late lunch. Lots of
snoozing and reading in between. Around 14.30pm we ventured out to do
Kleinberg hiking trail
the The Kleinberg Hike. We found a sign off Voortrekker Street saying
1.5 kilometres. We thought that was the start of the hike. But no. That
was – to the start – of the start of the hike.
And we managed to miss the start. We
saw a sign saying Kingfisher River but walked on. Luckily a bakkie (pick-up truck) came past and directed us to the start. When we went back, we saw below in much
smaller letters, it said Kleinberg Hike. We finally got
going with the hike.
The lady at Deli Girls
recommended we do the Heron Trail at the Vrolijkheid Nature Reserve. I
wish we had
Sign depicting Old Mill historical walk
taken her advice. Apparently they have two hides to
observe wildlife. I was not thrilled to see a big baboon sitting at
a brick works on the side of the road. Turns out there are lots of
baboons around. And they have been known to be violent.
We
hotfooted it up the hill but sadly we never got to the top. The signs
dried up and we kept getting lost so we gave up and went home.
On the
way back we passed the town brass band. I was
Mc Gregor brass band
clapping enthusiastically
only to find out later they march at funerals. Major oops. Sunday was a
quiet night with home cooking and scrabble.
The next day,
Monday, we had a long lie in before we packed up to head back home. We
visited the free museum hoping to see the original king James bible with
Rob Roy’s signature but it was out on loan. It’s hardly a big museum. One
room, but I could have spent hours reading all the history and looking
at the exhibits. Then we set off to have a last lunch en route at Bon
Cap organic wine farm. Yummy lunch and nice to be able to get some
Bon Cap wine estate
seriously good
organic wines.
Then came the anti climax as we headed back home. I would love to go back to Mc Gregor but I fear many of the other fabulous places we have yet to see in South Africa may take priority. Will keep you posted.
Greenie.
Go to – My Holidays and Trips – at the top of this page to read about other places we have visited. Or just click on – this link.
Travel in Mc Gregor Klein Karoo South Africa in 2014
Fireplace Plum Cottage
This was the first South African break we had taken in a while, 2013 was a helluva year for us. We bought a boat in 2012 in The Netherlands and had to sort out a whole bunch of stuff. We made the decision to scale back and let go of our house. It was far too big for the two of us. Which meant we had to de-clutter, fix up, sell, pack up, store and find another home. And once we found another home, of course our furniture no longer fitted, our new home needed some fixing up and phew! At one point I was homeless. At another point I was living in our empty house surrounded by boxes.
Plum Cottage Mc Gregor
Our new lock up and go home meant we could pop off for a weekend breaks. Yay! We get to see a lot of Europe but we want to see more of South Africa. Everyone ALWAYS raves about a little town in the Klein Karoo called Mc Gregor. I’ve been past the place, but am ashamed to say, never been there. We booked a long weekend at one of the self catering cottages managed by Fountain Place. And looked forward to a break.
The first thing you want to know about Mc Gregor is that it is safe and tranquil. The kind of place you can go to kick back and catch up on rest and relaxation. Not that there aren’t things to do. You
Road in Mc Gregor
can hike in the Krans or Vrolijkheid Nature Reserves, go 4 x 4-ing on the Groot Toren trail or try your hand at mountain biking on one of many biking routes. The helpful people at the Tourism Office will ply you with brochures and issue permits if required.
If that all feels a bit too energetic you can visit one of myriad wine estates in the Robertson Wine Valley. Many have restaurants, so you can squeeze in a lunch while you are stocking up on vino. Some offer unusual things such as vertical wine tasting at Estona, blend your own wine at
Sitting on our patio
Excelsior or have a picnic on a river boat at Viljoensdrift.
A little bit of history about Mc Gregor. Of course like ALL places in Southern Africa, the Bushmen were the very first people wandering around. People don’t realise that Africans migrated south from central Africa and are NOT indigenous to Southern Africa. The Bushmen unfortunately kept no records. The earliest mention of Mc Gregor is in 1838. Documentation mentions two brothers Alewyn and Johannes Smit being granted a farm called Over Den Berg in that year. (Over Den Berg means – over the mountain – and the village is surrounded by mountains) A Mr. J.S. Naude is recorded as the next owner of the farm in 1861. But Mr Naude had already written a letter in 1856 applying
Deli Girls Mc Gregor
for permission to start a village on his farm, he was most likely the owner a few years prior. No one is sure why he wanted the village, possibly because he wanted shops and provisions closer as Cape Town is almost 200 kilometres away.
Mc Gregor was originally called Lady Grey, after the wife of the British governor of the Cape. Not that she had ever been there. Someone else had also tried to ingratiate themselves with Lord and Lady Grey and there was another village called Lady Grey. This caused much confusion with the postal services. Mc Gregor was commonly
Looking at the lunch menu at Temenos
referred to as “Mc Gregor’s Parish” after a much loved Scottish minister who regularly visited the area. It was eventually decided to formally name the village after Reverend Andrew Mc Gregor. A few Mc Gregors lived in the area. The chap who ran the mill and his brother who made whip stocks both lived at the top of Long Street back then. The Mc Gregors came from the West Scottish Highlands. An authentic King James bible can be seen at the museum at inside Tourism Office with what is believed to be Rob Roy Mc Gregor’s signature.
By 1919 the population of Mc Gregor was 1000.
Prickly pears grow in abundance
A century later that figure doubled. That’s hardly a lot of people. And that is exactly what attracts people to Mc Gregor. They say it lies on the road to nowhere. People come to Mc Gregor to get away from it all. The sort of people who live in Mc Gregor are artists, writers, musicians, healers, yoga and pilates instructors, carpenters, garagistes (garage wine makers), artisan food makers, etc . . Some say Mc Gregor is built on top of ley lines. What are ley lines? Apparently mystical alignments of land forms. It certainly is a peaceful and crime free community.
We arrived Thursday 14.55pm and checked into our cottage, (Plum Cottage) then went up the road to check out the area. We found a Tourism Office. The woman gave us heaps of info, so we came back to cottage and had a big fat read-up. That evening we made a huge salad with veggies we brought with us from home. I had texted organic food producers to find out how
Feasting on prickly pears
we could obtain fresh produce. The lady at the Tourism Office kindly gave us the local fresh organic producers contact details.
Friday morning we had a mini lie-in and got going later than planned. Mad dash to Tourism office for directions to Langwater Farm. Found it after much confusion and got organic veg. Came back to Villagers shop and bought home made soap, olives and other items. Went to Deli Girls across the road and ordered ethical raw honey. Went all the way to Robertson to do a mini shop-up and headed off to the wine farms. Van Loveren’s restaurant Christina’s had been highly recommended. Their entire menu had ONE vegetarian pizza. Nothing
Neighbour’s cottage
else and certainly nothing vegan. Every salad had meat. Gave up and went back to Mc Gregor and found a vegan burger at Tabaldi’s Restaurant Temenos. Hoped to see the special garden and shrines, but no such luck. Temenos was having an “international detox” and locals weren’t able to see their famous gardens. Came home and did our own yoga workout and baked a bunch of the organic veggies we bought earlier.
