Pack the padkos, we’re going adventuring. Wallflowers beware.
Written by Peter Frost
According to Sunet Stander on the Wildflower Hotline out of Clanwilliam (067 0886969), now is an excellent time to head out and hunt for flowers. If you’re thinking of doing just that and have a decent dirt road vehicle, take this route. We just got back and the experience was magic. A word of warning though – this is not your average pootle up the N7, this is wild, wild Tankwa, if not 4×4 then at least lionheart windgat and a lot of moedswil.
Cape Town to Clanwilliam
The rule of thumb is that the further north you can go, the better the flowers. That said, the West Coast National Park is a riot at the moment, easy to reach from Cape Town and … eina, full of tourists. So instead we suggest you power up the beautifully engineered N7 from Cape Town to Clanwilliam, loving the canola and ripening wheat. There are roadworks between Malmesbury and Piketberg but nothing to ruin the uitstappie.
Beyond Piketberg stop at any one of three excellent padstalle on glorious Piekenierskloof Pass; Kardoesie for the farm produce, De Tol Farm Deli for Cecilia Wine tasting or Hebron for their fantastic pizza.
Clanwilliam – things get interesting
The town has just had its wildflower festival, but not to worry, there’s plenty to do. Buy vellies at Strassbergers, shoot down to the – happily almost full – dam, have tea on the stoep at The Yellow Aloe or have a posh lunch at Cederberg Ridge, just outside town.
The Yellow Aloe is at the end of the main drag, a total find, Cheryl, Megan and Joseph the best hosts. The stoep, the tea, the garden, the laughs. Magic. And if you need any local information, pop in and speak to the town’s info sponge and raconteur, Linda Steel at Clanwilliam Hotel by Country Hotels, also in the main road. She’s about as connected as it’s possible to be, whether you need to sort a rooibos factory tour, the best place to buy droe wors, who just arrived in town, what’s going on with the new (non-existent) major, when to catch the best light on Pakhuis Pass.
Clanwilliam to Calvinia
Take the backroad R364 from Clanwilliam to Calvinia and just after Bushmanskloof you lose the tar. And signal. But you gain a landscape of superlatives, yoh and f** most often employed. Parts of the 100-kilometre stretch are challenging, especially up and down the three memorable passes, Pakhuis (which is tar), Klipfonteinrant and Botterkloof. Grand, empty, nothing and everything. Botterkloof is the most astonishing with its near-vertical drop-offs (without guard rails) and abundance of currently flowering kankerbos.
Once at the top it’s a mostly flat, entirely spectacular drive through flower fields to the tar R27. First lesson in flower hunting – look behind you, they follow the sun; often what’s best is in the rear view mirror. Once on the R27 keep a camera ready – the stretch from Nieuwoudtville to Calvinia is a riot. Just outside of Calvinia stop at the airstrip – you’ve come a long way, but the fields of orange, gold, pink and white there are your reward.
Calvina
Check in here on the return of the Hantam Vleisfees here. The Northern Cape town is at its best right now.
The return to Cape Town
Taking the tar R27 back to Nieuwoudtville, then down Vanrhys Pass to the N7 is highly recommended at this time of year, despite the increased traffic. The wild flowers along the route are excellent, the view of the Knersvlakte from the top of Vanrhyns Pass is epic and the succulent nursery in Vanrhynsdorp is worth the drive alone.
Make sure you stop at Baghdad Cafe at the bottom of Vanrhyns Pass and have the bobotie roosterkoek and melktert pancakes. You may never need to eat again but you’ll remember you last meal.
Still here? Time is fleeting…
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