I was sad to leave Swellendam – it had been a wonderful few days – but we had our final long drive ahead – 211 kms from Swellendam to Stellenbosch where we were spending our last week in South Africa.
The R60 to Ashton runs alongside the Langeberg Mountains and it is a beautiful drive!
At Ashton the road to Robertson and Worcester is in the Breede River valley.
The views in the Breede River Valley were stunning – the entire drive from Swellendam had been beautiful and I would have loved to linger in Robertson, stray onto the dirt roads, go to Montagu…. However we had a plan for the day and arrived in Worcester ready for coffee and pannekoek at The Teacup!
Suitably fortified we visited the Kleinplasie Open Air Museum where we were guided around the buildings – a Voortrekker ‘tent’, farmhouse, distillery, tannery, wine cellar – and also passed through the museum. You really should spend quite a few hours here, or else return on more than one occasion, as there is just too much to absorb on one visit.
I wanted to visit The Karoo Desert National Park, which is just outside the town, and it was absolutely fascinating – and boiling hot. This is just a taster – I am going to indulge myself on the gardening blog!
We left Worcester with thick smoke drifting across the road and took the old road over Du Toit’s Kloof Pass, initially built by Italian POWs.
And finally we arrived in Stellenbosch.
You may be interested in
Worcester Open Air Museum