Meiringspoort: Refreshing Waters

After two days in Beaufort West and surrounding towns we were heading back home.  After a lovely breakfast at Die Herehuis guesthouse we packed the car and started the 300km drive back home.

Leaving Beaufort west at about 8:50

After driving for about 120km we reached Meiringspoort Pass.   

Entering Meiringsppoort

Meiringspoort Pass was built by Andrew Geddes Bain and his son Thomas Bain and was opened in 1858.  The road has been “verbeter” a lot since then.  In 1996 the pass was closed for repairs after flooding and is now a good road to drive.  It is also beautiful.  The road is surrounded by mountains and beautiful plants
The road crosses the Groot River 25 times.  Each drift has an interesting name and it is a lot of fun to read the names while driving. The names start with Eerste drif (First Drift) and ends with Laaste Drif (Last Drift).  I like Spookdrif (Ghost drift), Uitspandrif (Outspan drift) and Waterval drif (Waterfall drift).  You can read all of the names and the stories behind them here. 

Waterfall Drift

We stopped at the Waterfall Drift.  This is a nice spot for picnics with clean bathrooms.  There are interesting exhibits of how the pass was built and about the plants that grow in the pass. 














We walked to the waterfall.  It is a short and easy walk of about 5 minutes to reach the beautiful waterfall.  There was a lot of rain in the week before and the water was flowing strong.  The water is clean and fresh and I had to taste it.  It was icy cold and very refreshing. 























Soon we were back on the road but there was one more stop to make in Meiringspoort at Herrie’s Klip (Herrie’s stone).  Afrikaans writer CJ Langenhoven (1873-1932) wrote a book about an elephant named Herrie.  CJ Langenhoven carved the name Herrie on a stone in Meiringspoort as a monument.  In 1973 the stone was declared a National Monument.  

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Daar’s ‘n hoender wat ‘n eier nie kan lê

Image
   Weather vane on the VGK Church in Carnarvon    This photo made me think of a song we used to sing as kids.    It is a traditional Afrikaans song about the rooster on top of the church. The words of the song and its translation: Daar’s ‘n hoender wat ‘n eier nie kan lê There is a chicken that cannot lay an egg Daar’s ‘n hoender wat ‘n eier nie kan lê There is a chicken that cannot lay an egg Daar’s ‘n hoender wat ‘n eier nie kan lê There is a chicken that cannot lay an egg Dis die haan wat op die kerktoring staan It’s the rooster standing on the church tower Dis die haan, Dis die haan It’s the rooster, It’s the rooster Dis die haan wat op die kerktoring staan It’s the rooster standing on the church tower More about all the churches and other buildings we saw in Carnarvon in the next post.
Read more

Dutch Reformed Mother Church, George

Image
One of my favourite sights in George is the white Dutch Reformed Mother Church with the beautiful Outeniqua Mountain as background.   I have many memories of visiting this church: On a history class trip when I was about 10, for a art class when I was about 13, for my cousins wedding in 2004, for her baby’s christening a few years later and many other times.   But most of all I like seeing this church every time we drive through town.   The cornerstone for the church was laid on 14 April 1832.   Slaves were used for some of the building work like the digging of the six-foot deep by five-foot wide foundations.   Due to financial problems it took 12 years to complete the church and it was consecrated in 9 October 1842.  The church is a National Heritage Site. On 13 September 1905 disaster struck when the church tower collapsed.   The wood rotted from water damage and lead to the walls weakening.   After a lot of rain for two days the tower collapsed.   The tower was reb
Read more

Eyewitness Travel Guides – A Book Review

Image
  Last month I wrote a book review and I enjoyed it.   Today I want to share some more of my favourite travel books.   DK Eyewitness Travel Guides I bought my first travel guide in 2008. I was planning a trip with my friend Lelanie to London and Europe.   While planning the trip I bought the DK Eyewitness Travel Guide: Europe and I paid R 282.00 for it.   Except for my university textbooks, this was the most expensive book I have ever bought for myself.    We were doing a Contiki Tour and visited 7 countries.   I studied the information in guide the about the cities we would visit.    I made lists of places I want to see and then looked for more information about them.   In the end I did not take the guide with me (the 800 pages was just to heavy to carry along) but packed all my lists to use.  At Departures at Cape Town Airport in 2008 My second guide was for the same trip.   The Eyewitness Travel Top 10 London traveled with us.   We stayed in London for 4 da
Read more