A Journey into the
past in darkest Africa To Matjiesfontein we go.
We were invited by Michael Pownall of PMR Group to
stay at the famous Lord Milner Hotel in Matjiesfontein. It is in the deep
Karoo, straight up the N1 motorway - direction Johannesburg - and while it
seems further because the countryside keeps changing, is a really reachable two
and a half hour drive from Cape Town, through some of the most beautiful
scenery of the Western Cape. OK, the Karoo, which you reach after about one and
a half hours, is very dry scrubland which can only sustain some sheep farming
but it is high, the air is clean and pure and the nights sparkle with stars. Even
on a wintry day, there was much to see and enjoy. In summer it will be hot. As one of John's family friends used to say, "Once you leave the Cape, its miles and miles of bloody Africa". He lived in Kenya, so he knew the continent very well. But driving long distances in the
past was very tedious in the slow transport they had then
There are not many places to
stop for lunch on the way up once you have left the winelands, so we made a
quick stop at Steers for a burger and chips outside the little town of Touwsrivier,
which used to be a junction for steam trains
The road off the N1 into Matjiesfontein
This is a classic Karoo Kopje (aka
mesa) with a stand of gum trees which the trekkers planted for some shade. And
the ubiquitous round water reservoir
Bright orange Spring gazanea daisies
on the side of the railway line and on some of the roads. But, in our drought this
year, they are sparse and are only growing where there is dew. It hasn't rained
here for a while
We reach Matjiesfontein
(meaning Friends’ fountain)
The Lord Milner Hotel was built
by James Logan from Scotland, who stopped here in the 1880s and spotted the
fact that the trains which had just begun to run to the North of the country
and stopped at the small station here to take on water, did not offer food or
drink to the passengers, so he decided to supply them, first with a small pub
and later with this large and imposing hotel. He picked up a lot of trade from
the gold and diamond rushes and during the South African War there was a large
encampment of British across the way. He became rather rich. And a tiny village
was born around the hotel for his staff, his friends and his guests
The very helpful and friendly
receptionist Stephanie Appolis
We were given room 19
initially, right in the middle on the front, with our own terrace
Light and well decorated, with
its own bathroom
The front hallway from the landing
One of the public rooms
The back terrace with a
fountain and Peruvian Pepper trees, full of noisy male weaver birds making
their spring nests for the wives. He weaves, she looks, if she doesn't like it,
she tears it apart and he has to make it again. Happy wife, happy life
A side entrance to the terrace
Leafy and cool
There is a larger pond in the
back gardens
Many rooms are on the garden
side
There is a tiny chapel for
weddings, and they do get quite a few as they have many rooms
Inside the chapel
George Rawdon and his son David owned
Matjiesfontein for many years and made it what it is today. It was and still is
famous. If you travel down from the north, it makes a very good overnight stop
The dry Matjies riverbed
A Cape robin-chat (Cossypha caffra) in the garden
One of the side roads next to
the hotel, with some cottages
The old Court House
The Transport Museum which has two
Royal Daimlers from King George VI’s 1947 tour of South Africa, which he
undertook accompanied by the Princesses Elizabeth (now Queen Elizabeth II) and Margaret
There are lots of bygones
everywhere
The very short main street
which has the train station on the left and the hotel on the right. Hotel
parking is in the middle of the square
This was the old coffin wagon
And the trains do stop at
Matjiesfontein
This was the Shosholoza Meyl, a
passenger train which travels between Cape Town and Johannesburg - supposedly a
regular train, but with the chaotic state of our state run railway, it is
somewhat erratic. It has some sleeper cars and some seated carriages
The hotel is full of beautiful
old antiques and several of these alabaster busts, all from the period when the
hotel was built at the end of the 19th Century
Antiques on the first floor landing
The imposing stairway to the
upper floors. The dining room door is on the right hand side
Lovely to sit and have some tea
on the terrace
Right next door is the small
pub, The Laird's Arms, where in the evening you will find Johnnie Theunissen entertaining guests on the
piano with a sing song, He does very good impressions of our past presidents.
And perhaps one of the present incumbent?
Patricia Lacoton of PMR Group management company with Eugene McKeet, the Laird's Arms barman
Eugene, the very friendly barman
Inside the pub, it does feel
very authentically British
The dining room being set for
dinner. We were given a table near the fireplace and were very glad of it, as
the nights are quite cold in the Karoo in winter. That impressive cast iron barley
sugar pillar seems to hold up the dark wood vaulted ceiling. Lynne grew up in
some old Victorian hotels and this has exactly the same feel.
The dinner menu for Sunday 27th
August
Linda Louw, one of our
waitresses, she was so friendly and helpful
As was this lovely lady, Sharon Ackerman, with her lovely
smile. They are very well trained
Teresa, one of the hotel cats,
loves to come and sit on your bed, if you let her
We were moved before dinner as
we had found our original room rather noisy; it was directly above the dining
room and its loudspeaker which plays monotonous muzac. The hotel manager was
very accommodating and offered us three different luxury rooms. This is the one
we chose, at the back of the hotel and very quiet
We had a small dressing room. We
should mention that the bed linen at the Lord Milner is top quality percale, it
crackles and is lovely to sleep under. The hotel has three stars, so there is
not a hospitality fridge in each room, nor are there TVs. But the beds are
excellent, the bathrooms spacious and we were very, very comfortable
Candle lit dinner. The hotel
was nice and busy for a Sunday night
Lynne chose the Avocado and shrimp
salad for her starter, nice and fresh, very small prawns, but a good dressing
John had the Avocado gazpacho
with two rather cremated prawns on top. We both ordered a glass of the House
white wine at R30. It was from Rooiberg and was rather ordinary. We think they might need
a new supplier of house wine
For mains John had the seared
Springbok which came with a vanilla
and butternut purée, (very sweet), a potato fondant and a good red wine jus.
It was nicely pink inside and tender
Lynne had the Grilled Laingsburg
lamb chops. Three on the plate, cut a bit thin but tender with good flavour, as
Karoo wild herb fed lamb should be. This had a purée of potato and pumpkin, a
light ratatouille, fresh baby carrots and some lamb jus
Oh, they do make very good chips
We ordered a bottle of the Spier
1692 Cabernet Sauvignon at R154 a bottle to drink with the main courses. It is
a classic cassis driven cabernet, lightly oaked, juicy and absolutely made for juicy
meat dishes
The hotel at night
We popped into the bar briefly
to see what was going on
And so up to the room to do a
little work on our computers; we have to try and produce MENU before Thursday and we have a
lot to cover this week. However the Wifi was rather weak
One of us worked at this table
The other at this small marble
topped table
The hallway in our suite; bathroom first after the small table; dressing room, the nearest door
Another bedroom, with its bathroom down a short staircase
After a good night's sleep, we
wandered down to breakfast at 9
We will continue this story next
week, we have so much more to show and tell
© John & Lynne Ford, Adamastor & Bacchus 2017
