A steel pony

Posted on March 17, 2011 by Barbara Castle

For years horses, and riding them, have been my abiding passion. My earliest memories are of a thrill of excitement at hearing a carthorse’s hooves on the road outside.

From when I was first ambulatory that sound would see me crawling as fast as possible… over patio gravel, down steps, across lawn, through flower beds to the front gate. There I would pull my little self up on the bars and stand, hand stretched out hopefully through the gaps towards the horse clip-clopping past.

And I have owned, ridden and competed all sorts of fabulous horses since the age of seven.

But a few years ago I swopped my flesh and blood horse for a steel pony.

Why?

Because I don’t bounce so well anymore. And after taking some bone-crushing falls from a loopy Saddler cross Boerperd called, aptly enough, Shazam I decided to hang up my boots. (And probably doubled my life expectancy at the same time.)

But then, living here in the semi-desert and deserted region of the Great Karoo I was always hankering to explore the many inviting paths leading up onto koppies or through gorges, or into the great big nowhere.

Just walking those intriguing trails was really no fun at all. It was that feeling of being in the saddle. Of looking down on the world. Of feeling that powerhouse beneath me, that I missed.

And so I got 125 horses in the form of a motorbike. It didn’t spook when kudu ran across the veld in front of us. It didn’t do its damndest to rush off with me when it got a fright. And it didn’t rear up in defiance when it was faced with something it didn’t want to do.

Equally importantly it didn’t need drying off and rubbing down when I got back home. It didn’t eat up half my pay packet and it didn’t rack up exorbitant vet’s bills.

It takes under R20 to fill the tank. Bounces happily along gravel roads and stone paths. And I can just put it in the garage and forget about it afterwards.

And what trails my Vuka and I have ridden… without a fall or a skid or a blowout! Together we have traversed these ver verlate vlakte that I call home and thrilled to its sights and sounds.

But oh what I’d give to be ten years younger and be able to see it all from the back of a horse… with furry ears pricked in front of me, mane tangled in my hand and the soothing rhythm of hooves on stone.

Posted in Rural life | Tagged , | Leave a comment

Voter registration…farm-style

Posted on March 10, 2011 by Barbara Castle

A few years ago I was so infused with a burgeoning sense of patriotism that I volunteered my services to the Independent Electoral Commission (I.E.C.). After a number of interviews I was offered the position of Deputy Presiding Officer at Drie Riviera Farm Shed one of about eight voting stations in the Prince Albert district.

Training included a number of workshops, loads of manuals, textbooks and requisition forms all of which we were admonished to familiarise ourselves with. Training was conducted in Afrikaans, the mother tongue of all the delegates except me — mine was the only white face there. I got myself into a muck sweat trying to keep up. Until I saw that all the manuals were in English.

My assigned station was Drie Riviere Farm Shed on the Luttig’s farm Drie Riviere about 13km along a dirt road out of Prince Albert. We had around 300 registered voters, most of whom were farm workers from the surrounding area. (A team of seven IEC officials was required for this little station on Voting Day.)

The Luttig’s already had one of the farm sheds cleaned out for us. It was comfortable, with a cement floor, ostrich egg light fittings, farm implements stacked neatly in one corner, sturdy tables, riempie-seated chairs, an ancient Dover-stove and leather harnesses along one wall.

A far, far, far cry from city voting stations.

Anyway… infused these days by a burgeoning sense of hopelessness at the plundering of our Municipality’s resources I volunteered my services to the I.E.C. again. This time for the upcoming local government elections with the voting date now set of 18th May.

So for the last two Voter Registration weekends from seven in the morning until five in the evening you would have found me at Drie Riviere Farm Shed voting station.

Every third farm-worker who came to check if she was on the Voters’ Roll had a babe in arms. There were no fat cats among our labouring voters. And there was little hope for a better future in their eyes.

It was a humbling tour of duty indeed.

IEC placard announces the farm shed voting station

Posted in Rural life | Tagged | Leave a comment

A farmer at my gate

Posted on September 25, 2010 by Barbara Castle

There are loads of wonderful advantages to living in a small country community. One is that you know most everyone, at least by sight. After a while you begin to feel that you are part of an extended family and you care about your neighbours.

But the real advantage of being in a farming community is the availability of fresh produce. And talk about knowing most everyone… you also probably know the hen that lays your free-range eggs and the cow that provides your milk.

When we need any dairy products we walk down to the local dairy, usually with a litre glass bottle. There, with cows mooing in the background, we get our unpasteurised milk, guaranteed free of hormones, antibiotics, colouring, additives and preservatives.

We also have a choice of the most delicious yogurts from Bulgarian to Strawberry, and any number of unique cheeses. In the cheese room you can taste some of the popular cheeses whose names reflect the local heritage from Prince Albert Royal, Prince Albert Regal to Queen Victoria.

Christelene Kammies' excellent cheese tastings

And when we need poultry products I SMS the farmer himself with my order. Then later in the day our dogs will start barking a welcome and there’ll be a farmer at my gate… with our chicken pieces, eggs, large whole chicken and sometimes a bag of potatoes thrown in for good measure.

We simply don’t do “from the freezer to the table” here. No… we are lucky enough to do it “from the farm to the table” which is a whole lot fresher and you can’t believe how much better fresh farm produce tastes!

Posted in Uncategorized | Leave a comment

Wonderful Winter Days

Posted on July 28, 2010 by Barbara Castle

We’ve had a spate of visitors from Cape Town and even further afield in July. This in spite of my warnings that winter in the Karoo is indeed cold… very cold.

But, to give the lie to my caution the weather has been dazzlingly kind to our guests. During the day we have all been in t-shirts and shorts, just donning a fleecy and exchanging shorts for longs in the evening.

Waterkop

Yesterday there was not one cloud, not even a wisp or trace of one, when we walked with Jenny and Derek (visiting from Betty’s Bay) on Waterkop. This vast tract of land to the east of Prince Albert is where we, and a few fortunate others, each own a couple of untouched hectares of pure Karoo.

There are only three homes to be seen from the three kilometre-long gravel road that bisects Waterkop. And each is set far back giving an almost never-ending perspective to the view. Often the only visible boundary in the Great Karoo is the horizon. “I am like an eagle,” wrote Lawrence Green of an old farmer in his book Karoo. “I look all round and see no one, not even the smoke of a neighbour’s chimney. That is why I love the Great Karoo.”

Temperatures have been in the twenties by midday and we already have a taste of spring in the air. The Wagtails in our garden have started collecting sticks – pruned from the vines – with a view to nesting and the Robins are already fortifying their messy bunch of twigs with bits of fluffy string.

Our next visitors are due on the week-end and hopefully it stays ‘winter’ for them too.

Posted in Uncategorized | Leave a comment

Winter in the Great Karoo

Posted on July 6, 2010 by Barbara Castle

Snow in the Swartberg Pass

Well it’s been a few weeks since I wrote about the bitterly cold weather we were experiencing. And shortly after that we had a snowfall in both the Swartberg and Kredouw Passes. In fact the Swartberg Pass was closed for some time because of it.

But now, in the very heart of mid-winter there is nothing bleak about it.

The past week has been absolutely beautiful. Cloudless blue skies, warm sunny days and a thick milky way of stars at night. Walking the dogs in the late afternoon has found me in t-shirt, shorts and sun-hat. And at night the electric blanket is turned down to ‘1’ instead of up to ‘3’

Perfect, perfect weather.

I’m quite sure that some bright spark will write about winter in the Karoo being a “best kept secret.” Which is certain to make it a secret no longer. Because this is indeed a wonderful time to visit. And here, in Prince Albert, we have a busy week ahead of us…

The Garden Club holds its monthly meeting on Wednesday at the home of Ken and Ione Auerswald. Ken has many years experience in the testing of water, soil and plant samples and we look forward to his talk with interest. As usual everyone is welcome and there is no charge for members while non-members will pay a nominal R10.00. The talk will be followed by tea and a lucky draw.

Then on Thursday the Prince Albert’s Cultural Foundation together with the Prince Albert Gallery will be hosting celebrated editor, author and political analyst Allister Sparks. Allister, a part-time resident of our town, will introduce his latest book: “First Drafts: South Africa in the Making” and talk on “A critical time: where our country is now.”

Allister served as correspondent for The Economist, The Washington Post and The Observer. And for the past 11 years has worked as a political analyst, serving the investment community.

So you see, there’s more to us Prince Alberters than ostriches, olives and award-winning cheeses!

Posted in Uncategorized | 1 Comment

World Cup Fever Comes To Prince Albert

Posted on June 10, 2010 by Barbara Castle

Those overheated days and searing blue heavens are now things of the past. And winter has ridden determinedly into town… bringing along lowering skies, a bracing cold and log-fire nights.

But excitement rings the town and the strident blast of vuvazelas can be heard over the sound of the church bells. World Cup Soccer fever has reached our town and the main street is beginning to take on a festive air.

Great soccer balls adorn the much-maligned gum-tree carvings and flags of all shapes and sizes – but mostly South African – flutter from windows, flagpoles, shop fronts and cars. The ‘flag police’ in the form of local Tourist Guide Rudy van der Ley is constantly on the look out for those that have been incorrectly displayed. And clutching a printout from the Government Gazette he quickly ensures that our town, at least, displays the flag in all its glory and not upside down which means surrender.

Well so much for the flag.

Now onto more important matters like soccer itself… Prince Albert Primer School kicked off its five-week holiday with a ‘2010 Soccer Festival’. Learners dressed up in the different teams’ colours and painted their faces or hand-made flags for each of the countries represented.

It was a freezing cold morning but hundreds of learners, parents, teachers and interested observers gathered together to get into the spirit of the World Cup. Vuvazelas were blasted, the diski dance was done, and we all sang the national anthem with hands on hearts.

But before the first teams kicked off, the learners were subjected to a ten-minute talk (that seemed like ten hours in the bracing cold) on sexual molestation. Now I know that crimes against children are on the increase and that sex crimes are particular violent. But please, to try and get a message across, while kids are geared up for a fun day, shivering in the cold wind and waiting to get their chance to play a game of soccer in front of a huge audience… well, I thought that was most inappropriate.

The Inspector in question was supposed to have given the talk at the school earlier in the week he said. But apparently, for one reason or another, hadn’t been able to make it. Nobody clapped at the end of his speech, there was just a mournful blast from a lone vuvazela.

Then 20 little chaps ran onto the field and the first game began. Horns blasted, whistles shrilled, parents shouted instructions… and the tantalising smell of curried meat and vetkoek drifted in the air.

Soccer fever has come to the Karoo!

Soccer fever reaches a Karoo pitch

Posted in Festivals | 1 Comment

Prince Albert’s Olive Festival

Posted on May 1, 2010 by admin

Every year about this time our town brushes off the dust, closes streets, sets up stalls and showcases that fabulous fruit… the olive! Prince Albert is home to a number of farms specialising in fruit-producing olive trees.

The fertile microclimate of the surrounding valleys, although part of the semi-desert Great Karoo, seems to favour the growing of this versatile fruit. And more and more Karoo veld is playing hospitable host to olive trees these days… from the popular imported Mission, Mananzilla, Frantoio, Favalosa, and Nocellara del Belice to
the local Leccino.

Visitors to Prince Albert during the festival are introduced to a variety of olive oil blends, on sale in glamorous bottles and decorative cans. Plus there are plenty of “tasting” stalls from which to select the perfect table olive… with a lemon, herb or garlic twist. There are also a variety of olive pastes on sale, from the smooth olive and garlic blend (a terrific snack on toast-points) to the spicy olive and chilli paste that puts a fabulous finish on grilled chicken.

Hand-painted tin signs around the town point the way to stalls, homes & gardens, Gay’s famous Guernsey dairy (where you can taste international prize winning cheeses and dairy products), witblitz ‘stoking’, roosterkoek, boerewors, and more.

Visitors are invited to visit SoetKaroo Wine Estate, a small wine farm right in Prince Albert’s main road that produces award winning dessert wines. There are also all sorts of outings… from Karoo Birding Safaris with Japie Claassen, Nature Walks with the Deans of RenuKaroo Veld Restoration, Ghost Walks by the town’s “Story Weaver” as well as fascinating Stargazing with Astro Tours.

Runners in the Prince Albert Half Marathon will set off on Saturday morning for one of the most unique running routes in the country; at the same time there’s a jampacked (no pun intended) Saturday Morning Market in the Markie.

For rugby fanatics the local high school U19 first and second teams and the U15 team will play Beaufort West “for glory!” And Prince Albert Olives invites visitors to bring along a container, see their new olive press in action and fill up with fresh pressed olive oil.

And then there’s one of the festival highlights… the Olive Pip Spitting Competition where contestants try to break the late Clive Van Hasselt’s record of 11.2 metres. There’s a glitzy floating trophy up for grabs and plenty of super prizes to be won.

All in all this popular annual festival offers something for everyone… and visiting city slickers will, again, be tempted to buy a little slice of our Karoo paradise real estate!

Posted in Festivals | Tagged | Leave a comment

Earth Hour in the Karoo

Posted on April 3, 2010 by admin

It had been a toss up between a demonstration of witblits stoking – at the still behind the museum – followed by an oxtail potjie and witblits tasting for just R50 a person. Or a stargazing session scheduled to take place “during Earth Hour on the school rugby field” for just R5.

And the stargazing won.

Mainly because we had spent the previous evening in our courtyard under a brilliant ‘milky way’. And as we tried to identify various stars and planets two hours had passed… and we were not much the wiser.

So hoping for some enlightenment, we gathered on the rugby field, in the moonlight, with the rest of the stargazers. Hans and Tilanie Daehne of Astro Tours had their powerful telescope all set up and it was “tracking the moon,” Hans told us.

As the witblits tasters rolled onto the rugby field and joined our quiet little mob things began to liven up. And then someone mentioned ‘Earth Hour’ and to our collective surprise, the street lights went off as if by magic.

It was only later that I discovered how much Earth Hour had done to raise awareness of climate change issues throughout the world. According to organizers WWF, there’s more to it than simply “switching off lights for one hour once a year. It’s all about giving people a voice on the future of our planet and working together to create a sustainable low carbon future for our planet.”

If only I’d known all that on Saturday night I’d have been a bit more in awe of the occasion. As it was I was still pretty much fixated on discovering which stars were twinkling in the night sky overhead. And when Hans let us look through the telescope and I could actually see the craters on the moon’s surface and the rings around Saturn…well that was me done for.

It was only the next day that, being the information junkie that I am, I Googled ‘Earth Hour’ and discovered a whole lot of fascinating stuff!

For instance there are 214 Earth Hour ambassadors supporting their message of “One simple act. One huge message.” And they include our own Archbishop Desmond Tutu, along with Nguyễn Minh Triết  (President of Vietnam), Boris Johnson (Mayor of London) and many others.

The headline on the WWF website read: The day the Earth went dark. And followed with, “For one hour, on Saturday 27 March 2010, an estimated billion people, along with 1000s of cities and 100s of globally famous monuments switched off their lights around the world in a symbolic show of support for our one and only planet.”

Indeed most if not all of the world’s best-known icons were plunged into darkness as “Earth Hour” (8.30pm to 9.30pm) came and went. These included the Acropolis, Arc de Triomphe, Leaning Tower of Pisa, Pyramids of Giza, Taj Mahal, Times square and the Empire State Building, St. Peter’s Basilica in Vatican City, Sydney’s Harbour Bridge and Opera House, the London Eye, Niagara Falls, the Hollywood Sign above Los Angeles, the Grand Mosque in Mecca, the Eiffel Tower, Big Ben and many others… including the street lights of Prince Albert!

Because thanks to our switched on Municipal Manager, Juanita Fortuin, Prince Albert switched off. And in so doing took its place on the world stage in a symbolic show of support for our one and only planet.

Now that was really something!

Posted in Environment | Leave a comment

The Olive Branch

Posted on March 16, 2010 by admin

Prince Albert’s Tourism Office puts together a jam-packed eNewsletter every month. It’s called The Olive Branch and here is the March issue:

The Human Rights’ Day long weekend of 20 – 22 March will give you an ideal opportunity to enjoy our balmy ‘not quite summer but not yet autumn’ weather and relax in Prince Albert.

The weekly Saturday Market kicks off the weekend, Hans and Tilanie Daehne of Astro Tours will be available for stargazing (for bookings, please contact Tilanie on 072 732 2950) and on Monday 22nd the Prince Albert Tennis Club offer you the opportunity to exercise your right to play Tennis! Bring you own ‘tekkies’, a tennis racket and a sense of humour.

Other activities you might want to investigate and enjoy this month are…

The Deep South, another of Peter McEwan and Chrisna Smit’s popular music evenings on Saturday 13 March at St John’s Church. Tickets (R50 each) are available from Peter at 023 5411 076.

Hoërskool Zwartberg will host an Easter Bazaar on Friday 26 March in the ‘markie‘ next to the Museum. Join locals to buy curry vetkoek, bazaar pudding, cakes, sweets, fresh veggies, jams & preserves, pancakes, homemade bread… and find loot at the jumble stall.

The Prince Albert Community Festival, organised to raise funds for our Municipal Bursary Fund and built around our children’s performances with Jazz Art, was a great success and we know that the energy and vibrancy will be carried forward into our Prince Albert Olive Festival at the end of April! Speaking of which…

The countdown has started! Entertainment plans include Open Garden visits arranged by the Garden Club; Lydia will once again take guests on historical walks and open her mineral collection to the public. The Cultural Foundation plan to screen ‘antique films.’ Patchwork Theatre will be telling children’s stories, the Ghost Walker will be abroad at night, Zwartberg Runners are organising the half marathon and a 10km walk/run and African Relish is offering a cooking course and has invited Dave Ferguson, blues harmonica player, to perform once again this year. One of the highlights will be our celebrated local production of “Dinner for One”!

An application form is available on-line for stallholders wishing to sell their wares at the Olive Festival.

So, although we might appear to simply slumber away the hot summer months, there’s always something happening here and we look forward to welcoming you to the ‘Prins-dorp’ of the Great Karoo.

For more information & accommodation bookings contact Zelia, Chantelle or Annelien in the Tourism Office on 023 5411 366 or email at princealberttourism@intekom.co.za. Or visit us online at www.patourism.co.za and www.princealbert.org.za.

eNewsletters are written for distribution by the Prince Albert Tourism Association by The Story Weaver.

Bijlia cana a Mesembryanthemum unique to Prince Albert


Posted in Uncategorized | Leave a comment

It rained last night

Posted on March 10, 2010 by barbara castle

What a relief after four days of staggering heat with the mercury well above 40ºC in the shade.

It began on Saturday with a hot dry heat and not a breath of wind. Still, we got some great books out of the library, closed all the shutters and turned the fans on.

It was a wonderfully relaxing day… but we were bracing ourselves for the morrow because worse was to come.

How did we know?

We’d had a note from the Municipality saying that power would be interrupted from eight in the morning until six in the evening on Sunday. Major electrical repair/maintenance work was to be carried out and our town along with those of nearby Leeu Gamka and Beaufort West were to be affected.

The fact that there’d be no power for the day wasn’t, in itself, so bad. We use gas to heat our hot water and to cook with. And knowing about the outage in advance one is always better prepared.

But no electricity to power our fans on a day that was forecast to hit 39ºC well, that was pretty bad.

So Sunday dawned… hot, breathless and not a leaf stirring. And it just got hotter and hotter as the day wore on. At one point we thought about getting the car out and sitting in it with the air conditioner going. But the ordeal of getting from the house to the garage and into the car – all under the glare of the noonday sun – stopped us in our tracks.

And that wasn’t the worst of it.

That evening when I went to close the kitchen door I was accosted by bunch of grasshoppers that had, I’m told, come inside in search of food. The drought in the Karoo has been hard on every thing and every one it would seem. And these little fellows aren’t my favourite insects at the best of times. They seem to have no ‘system’ to their jumping and can go straight up into the air… straight forward… backwards… sideways… in fact in any direction at all.

One of them is enough to deal with. But a swarm is something else. They were everywhere in the kitchen. On my priceless heirloomed dinner plates, my crystal glasses, my spiffy silver cutlery… and underfoot. And there were more tick-tick-ticking against the windows trying to find a way in.

It was going to be a losing battle. So we simply turned off the light. Shut the inside kitchen door and went to bed.

Next morning the whole lot were gone.

Monday and Tuesday were just as hot but at least we had power to drive our fans.

And then it rained.

Great big drops that you could count individually.

And the fragrance as the water hit the parched earth was exquisite. You just haven’t breathed in a more beautiful perfume than that which is given off when a ‘drought’ is broken.

A scant five minutes’ later the rain was gone and we were left behind beneath a cloudless sky, a thousand stars shimmering and breathing in the coolest, sweetest air.

Posted in Uncategorized | Leave a comment