'KERK BAZAAR'
Once again town is buzzing to the beat of the Kokkedoor. The contestants have put on a 'kerk bazaar' for the town today and we were all asked to go along and support them. We bought tickets at the door for R5.00 each, as many as you liked, and then everything there was on sale for R5.00. Gorgeous cakes, cookies, meringues, suckers and lollipops, peanut brittle, homemade granadilla juice, and all things simply sweet and delicious.
The cameras were out, the sound men at the ready, the clapper board clapping, people laughing all having fun. I didn't think it appropriate to take my camera with, although I would love to have got that on stills to post here.
At the end of the day, all the proceeds are going to the old age home. Thank you Kokkedoor for your contributions to our community.
FARM VISIT
Something I really do enjoy here in the
Until recently I too was under the impression
that the Karoo was nothing but a large dust bowl. My, my, how pleasantly surprised I have
been. I had no idea that I would find
fields of oats and Lucerne Natal
Forests of poplar trees are another
beauty that grace these landscapes. They
are quite magnificent, especially in the autumn when their leaves turn to a
multitude of shades of yellow and orange.
I met the Le Riches of Vonkfontein at
the Fraserburg Show Dance, and the three of us hit it off right away. I had been in Fraserburg for almost ten
months, and had never ventured down their part of the world. I was so taken aback by the sheer beauty of
the entire drive and regretted not having had my camera with me, but soon
realized that the trip with the camera would have to be a day on it’s own as
there is so much to stop and photograph.
One needs a lot of time to appreciate their magnificent farm of 25 000
ha. It is quite incredible just how much
beauty there is all around. The history
of the area is fascinating, and they, as with many of the farmers in the area
know of all the battles fought way back in the late 1890’s and early 1900’s in the
Anglo Boer War. They have collected all
sorts of memorabilia found lying around from those days. Their farm falls into
the Central Karoo and lies between Fraserburg , Loxton and Beaufort West, approximately an hour from each town.
I left the farm Vonkfontein in a
state of euphoria the following morning, already two hours later than scheduled
for my trip to Beaufort West. Due to the fact that my head was in the clouds, I
took a wrong turn off and headed off into the middle of nowhere. It took me half an hour to realize that I
had been going in the wrong direction!
No problem, I thought, I’d stop at the next farm and ask for directions.
Hmmmm, in the Karoo the next farm is a very long way away! I cautiously looked at my petrol gauge and released
a sigh of relief knowing that I had filled up before leaving Fraserburg the day
before. I was rather hoping that the homestead
I came across would belong to someone that did not know the Le Riches, then
just perhaps I could pretend that this incident had never happened and they
would never get to hear about it. I knew
I would never live it down!
Finally I came across a farm. I could see the staff cottages and what
looked like a house, so I pulled off the district road and stopped to call out
to anyone who might hear me. No
response. I opened a farm gate, and proceeded
through, hoping that there would be a place big enough for me to turn the car
with the trailer. Upon reaching the
‘house’ I saw that it was just a very smart shed. Again I hollered and called, and once more,
nothing, but for a barking dog and some clucking hens. Back in the car I managed a tight squeeze of
a circle and back down the road I went. I
continued on until I found the farm house, and looked around carefully to see
if I could see any man eating Anatolian or other hounds before climbing out and
knocking on the door to ask for help.
Before I made it up the steps a small dog gave the alarm call and the
front door was opened. A little Jack
Russell rushed out and greeted me with his rather large farmer owner right
behind him. As it turned out, I ended up
at the farm of the very good friends of the Le Riches, whom I had also met at
the dance, and in true Karoo style, I was ushered in and could not rush off rudely
without going through the whole welcoming ritual. Finally I was able to excuse myself, by which
time I was now hours behind schedule, and still had to retrace my path all the
way back down the road to where I had begun in the first place.
Off I went once more. This time I was in a serious hurry, another
very silly move, especially when you are writing the next chapter of your book
in your head instead of concentrating on the road. I hit a pothole with such force, trailer still
in tow, that I was amazed for one, that the car and trailer still remained on
the road, two, I did not have a flat tyre, and three, that I had not ripped out
the sump. Besides some new very annoying
rattles, all seemed to be fine. The only
damage done was that I was sporting a very sore shoulder, and I now had a
trailer with a lid that had been half ripped off. Both could be fixed. That mighty jolt bought me back to earth, and
the rest of the journey was taken at a very leisurely pace. Instead of being so busy in my head, I took
the time to appreciate the scenery. To
get to Beaufort West from this area, one has a choice of three routes, each
down a different pass. Our first choice from
Fraserburg is the tarred road that takes us down the Theekloof Pass Oukloof Pass Molteno Pass. Molteno Pass
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