Road Trip to the Mother City #9: Boland visit

On Saturday, our last day in the Cape, we decided to actually NOT spend it in the Cape, or at least not in Cape Town itself, but headed inland to Worcester, to an old friend of mine who has moved there this year.

Rather than taking the Huguenot Tunnel on the journey up, I took the old duToit’s Kloof pass – something I have not done for many years. The weather was clear and warm and we enjoyed spectacular views of Table Mountain and the Paarl Valley as we travelled. I say the day was clear – and it was – but the lack of wind meant that there was a rather nasty smog cloud across the peninsula. Still, despite the black smear, the mountain looked beautiful.

It’s when you look out over that kind of landscape that you understand just why people flock from all over the world to spend just a few days here in South Africa, and more particularly the Cape. And sometimes those of us who live here every day take that for granted.

Having negotiated the pass, and taken untold number of photographs, Ulricha and I stopped for a coffee at the du Toits Kloof lodge, where we sat next to the Molenaars river, flowing forcibly after the recent (lengthy) rainy season in the Cape.

The day was rounded out with an amazing afternoon spent catching up with old friends and reminiscing and swapping blogging hints and tips. Arthur writes his own blog too, Online Trek, and so it was fun to exchange blogging stories with him.

Our trip back to Cape Town in the evening was uneventful. But that didn’t matter – we had truly had a wonderful day out in Worcester, and a dull drive back was just what the doctor had ordered!