Paarl to Oudtshoorn

An early start today and we headed out through the attractive town of Paarl on our journey to Oudtshoorn. The initial part of the journey took us north east on the N1 and the vineyards quickly gave way to more semi arid country known locally as Karoo. This vegetation is low and contains a variety of species found in the Fynbos. What was really striking about this part of the journey was the folding and faulting of the sedimentary rock as we crossed a series of small mountains. The chunky texture of the rock was highlighted by different rates of weathering of the various layers of sandstone and shales. It should be noted here that there has ben a significant change in the weather with a big tropical low enveloping the majority of the country. The temperature was quite warm throughout the day but we experienced light rain for much of the morning.

Our lunch break was at the Pumpkin Patch where it was possible to buy a decent light meal and as we keep finding out at much cheaper prices than Australia. There was an interesting trading store opposite  run by a hyperactive expat German. His over-the-top salesmanship was balanced by some quality items at good prices. The shop was known as the House of Skins. (See photo) as we approached the Ostrich Safari stop the heavens opened with a violent but brief thunderstorm and this was followed by warm partially sunny weather. The guide at the Safari was passionate about his birds and gave us a good overview of the industry. A few interesting facts emerged, one being the incredible strength of the eggs and we were invited to stand on them to prove it. The feather industry has gone through many ups and downs (no pun intended) and there is now a big emphasis on leather and meat.

Our accommodation was on the outskirts of Oudtshoorn close to the Cango Caves. The town itself is an eclectic mix of architectural styles with many large ornate houses that belonged to the "feather barons" built to display their wealth before the collapse of the feather industry in 1914. The evening meal at the motel was good and we had ostrich fillets as the main course. Prior to that we tried raw ostrich meat as an entree. The rain started to fall around 7pm and was torrential at times through the night.