Breaking Free from Lockdown. Day 43. Gariep to Kleinplaas

We left Forever Resort, Gariep Dam at 07:30.

Goodbye Gariep

On the road again

Our route took us through the towns of Colesberg, Middleberg, Graaff-Reinet and Willowmore to Oudtshoorn where we are spending the night at Kleinplaas Caravan Park. The roads were amazing and we did not have to play Dodge the Pothole or Pass the Truck.

We filled up with fuel at Caltex Colesberg, found their restaurant and shop closed so continued to Shell Ultra City for breakfast at their Steers. The further south we travelled the cooler the weather became. It was lunchtime when we arrived at Willowmore where we filled up at Engen and then went to a quaint little coffee shop called Kapoet. Some of these small town have the loveliest ideas when decorating their shops. This coffee shop sold a variety of crafts, beauty products, confectionery and jams etc. The Earl and Alec went straight over to the confectionery section to see what was on offer. There were so many wonderful things in the shop that the Earl ended up spending more money than he intended on some specialty meats. Finally we sat down to tea/coffee and pancakes – cinnamon for Cathy and Alec and Spinach and Feta for the Earl and me. If you’re travelling through Willowmore with a caravan there is enough room to park in the street outside and Kapoet is well worth a visit.

Kapoet is an Afrikaans word which loosely translated means finished, at the end of your tether, defeated, So here you can refresh yourself

Lots of tempting products on offer

A wonderful place to stop and relax and enjoy a snack

We arrived at Kleinplaas at 16:00. Kleinplaas has lovely well-laid out, shady campsites. At reception they suggested we share a campsite so it cost half of what it would have. You are given a key to the ablution block and they are pristine. Kleinplaas is highly recommended as a stopover place in Oudtshoorn.

It was a little drizzly and cool so we decided not to order pizza and sit outside to eat as we did the last time we stayed here. Instead we went to Nostalgie. Alec was not feeling well so he did not accompany us. Cathy had the lamb shank – delicious. Earl had an ostrich fillet burger – divine and I had the best bobotie I’ve ever eaten. The restaurant is an old 80 year old converted house consisting of different rooms so when one is full they open another. The service was friendly, quick and efficient and you felt you were being entertained in somebody’s home. We just loved it.

Old hats decorating the walls of the room we had at Nostalgie

Tomorrow will be the last leg of our long, wonderful holiday.