Stone man Rob Dempster Stone man

*** Welcome to my blog ***

Clarens, Hanover
and Nieu-Bethesda

October/November 2022



Recently Edith's brother William and his wife Waveney (WnW) spent a week visiting us in Howick. Beside meeting up with them again the visit also afforded Edith and I the opportunity to repay them for the time we had spent with them in Frankfurt in Germany. Also for the two bike tours we undertook along the Lan and Maine Rivers, and in this context William would get the opportunity to ride the oldest road classic cycle race in South Africa, the Amashova Durban Classic. He did so in style.

When I asked Edith where WnW would be headed after the Shova, she said it was Bloemfontein. As I was born and schooled in Bloemfontein, I suggested that we drive WnW to Bloemfontein. It then turned out that the really wanted to reach Hanover in the Karoo as their next stop would be a farm in the Karoo where Waveney's sister would be celebrating her 70th birthday. Given that good friends of Edith and I lived in Nieu-Bethesda, Hanover became our destination.

To get there we first stopped off in Clarens where we stayed in a wonderful BnB known as the "Die Ou Kliphuis". The home was beautifully renovated by Bruce Fordyce's sister for their mother. She hailed from Johannesburg where she had been a successful gardener. The garden of the "Ou Kliphuis" was delightful. While we were in Clarens we also walked to the top of the Titanic Rock and visited the game drives and caves at Golden Gate.

After dropping WnW off at Noupoort, Edith and I headed for Nieu-Bethesda to visit our friends John and Jacqui (JnJ). As always it was great to be with them and while we were there we were treated to two walks. One to see the Rock Men, and the other to a cave containing San and Koi paintings. As to be expected, John and Edith spent some time looking at plants for longer than it typically took me to photograph them. JnJ's hospitality was once more greatly appreciated. So to was the opportunity to finally see their Green Home (Sans Eishkom) completed. Very impressive and the no doubt the envy of the locals when Load Shedding strikes.

The photographs:

The photographs were mostly taken with my phone. However I did drag my Canon SX700 for its zoom capabilities.

Some Comments:

Finally I should say that driving in South Africa has always been a dangerous pass time. Now it is at times insane. Unfortunately until the Rule of Law is re-established in the country, we the people who were promised a better life for all, will be fighting a losing battle.

Within that context I would like to apologise for any anxiety or discomfort experienced by passengers whilst negotiating the N3 either side of Town Hill. Also whilst on the diversion between Trompsburg and Colesberg that took southbound traffic off the N1 and onto the old road.


To view a larger image on a PC screen, click on the corresponding thumb-nail. Click the blue background in order to remove it. If you are using your phone, speak to Siri, Sorry or Whoever :-)


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Money can't buy happiness, but it can buy a bicycle.

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