Friday, November 12, 2021

MENU visits the Karoo and the Garden Route 7. Prince Albert

Prince Albert is at the bottom of the phenomenal Swartberg Pass, built in the Victorian era – and the town is named for Victoria's husband. We checked into our very smart self-catering apartment at Koppie Cottage and discovered that we could sit outside at the back and so we braaied for the first time. Even the front entrance had some seating

We have to say we were SO impressed with Koppie Cottage, it is one of the very best self catering places we have ever stayed at anywhere, including overseas. Our landlady has such a good sense of style, it is very comfortable and spacious and she had not forgotten to supply everything we could want while overnighting. And the price was very reasonable

The bed and linen were great, we could sit and relax on the sofa,
or in the outside area at the back, where we found the braai. And we were not disturbed at all

The small, functional kitchen and a table large enough for laptops and work

Lovely antique furniture mixed with modern, and much appreciated, mosquito nets
Yes we do have mosquitoes in here in the summer, but no malaria this far South

A small but perfectly arranged bathroom

The spacious outside area; we had brought our own wood and good boerewors from Calitzdorp

We did go and investigate the local restaurants and shops for a while

but decided that, after the long day's travelling, we preferred a night in, relaxing

The town of Prince Albert is charming, neat and clean
and so many of the buildings have been preserved and restored to an excellent standard

Friends had recommended this restaurant as being very good, and said that the Chef had been charming!

His menu is tempting, especially the Karoo lamb, which is fed on the scrub bush in the Karoo which adds to the flavour

How do people get their geraniums to look so good and abundant?
In our neck of the woods they are lanky with few flowers, perhaps they don't like sea air

An easy braai of boerewors and two salads and some very good wine, then an early night with our books

Out of our great accommodation in Prince Albert by 9.30 am and we had a little more time to explore this lovely town

A quiet residential street

The gap in the hills behind is where the road leads to the Swartberg Pass

It was Monday morning, when things are open. We visited two antique shops, one deli and took lots of photographs,
then visited Gay's Cheese shop before we left for Graaff-Reinet, which is 3½ hours away

This is the historic church

A Nash and a bike - A derelict late 1940s Nash car outside an antique shop with a man passing by on a bicycle

and, tucked under the pepper tree, there is an old cart

Now, that wheel is hand-made craftsmanship

A "barn treasure" ripe for restoration

John loves old cars, so we had to go in and ask about it
It's a 1946/7 Nash Ambassador Streamline. A prestige vehicle when new
It needs an upholsterer and a paint job. We're not informed about the state of the engine

Oh hell, exactly the wingback armchair we have been looking for,
in such good condition, but not an inch of space in the car to transport it back home


and a Kerkorrel - a small church organ from the Edwardian era. And lots of great antiques and bygones

Wow, an impressive preservation of the totally correct old Art Deco cinema. The venue can be used as a theatre, cinema, gallery, seminar venue and, in the future, a film school. The list of possibilities for this establishment is endless. “The Showroom” boasts state-of-the-art theatre and cinema equipment, making it suitable to facilitate and attract some of the countries top performers

We like that they have preserved these four old tree stumps and made them individually different

Some of the buildings are even older

and these have been preserved as well

A feature of the town is the famous Swartberg Hotel; a bit pricy for our budget, but it did look lovely

We went exploring to see the shop and the restaurant

It was Monday and the sign for the famous Sunday lunch was still on show
Had we arrived in Prince Albert in time, we would have gone for this; amazing value

Dinner in the Victoria Room does sound tempting too; well, next time

The day's specials

Dappled shade under the Latte roofs (long poles of similar width, often pine, reeds or bamboo)

Some other well preserved houses in Prince Albert

and in the back streets too

This was once a hotel

We explored a couple of other antique shops. prices are high but the quality is good. "When it was once your job, you can't resist a look", says Lynne, who worked for Phillips Auctioneers and an antique gallery for several years in London

Lovely things,

and great signs

We had seen the sign for the dairy, so headed there and at the entrance found this old cart. John's grandparents, with his mother as a baby, travelled from Nieu Bethesda to Graaff-Reinet in one of these, when the roads were more primitive

Gay's Guernsey Dairy is a feature of the town

They make several different cheeses and here are some drying on a rack

The prices are not bad and you can have a tasting before you buy

So we did. You get a very generous tasting of most of the cheeses from marvellous Clive. We bought four cheeses including two hard cheeses, their feta and mozzarella and could have bought more if we had not been constrained by space in our cold boxes

The shop also has great things to buy, like fresh eggs and preserves

and, hanging from the ceiling, there are drying hams and sausages

Time to head off for the drive to Graaff-Reinet

This is Prince Albert's main road. We headed down it thinking we were going the right way, NO! we found out when we saw the road signs further out of town it was the wrong road, so we had to come back into town. This goes to Oudtshoorn and the coast, an easier route to get to Prince Albert if you don't want to take the Swartberg Pass. They were in the middle of a two hour power cut (yes they have them too in the Karoo, probably more than we have in Cape Town) so we had no Wi-Fi facility to dial up Drive or Google maps on our phones. The petrol station attendant put us on the right track and using our rather old map book (who said we wouldn’t need them again?) we headed out of town towards our destination, Graaff-Reinet. We would like to come back to Prince Albert one day; it’s a great place

Click here to see our drive through the Karoo to Graaff-Reinet


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