Kachasu

Despite being almost dead for most of the time and unable to stay vertical for longer than about two hours at a stretch, I had a fine time in Prince Albert. We stayed on an olive farm, in the main farmhouse about 30km out. It was built in 18-something. Really beautiful. The lack of security issues was interesting and the sky extraordinary. The unveiling of My Artist’s tree sculpture was held during the Olive Festival in Prince Albert. Wow what a cool thing that was!

Strange but true they had olive pip spitting competitions. The record is something like 12 metres. On the day we spent hanging around the festival, someone got 11.6 metres. There was a local kid production of the Wizard of Oz, a cabaret etc.

Part of the main street was closed off for stalls and things. I was intrigued by what people were charging money for. One person was charging R5 a time to pet their dog. And getting money for it. Another coloured guy had a picture frame and perched himself outside the gallery. This wizened little creature pulled faces through the frame and people paid R10 a turn to take a pic. Bizarre.

The food was amazing. Karoo lamb is fabulous stuff. So are the figs and the cheese. Oh and they grow all sorts of things. The apricot trees are amazingly beautiful this wild burnt orange in the orchards.

One night we went to a restaurant that is open only sporadically, called The Olive Branch. It is owned and run by the ex-ambassador to Switzerland. We had an 8 course meal of the most incredible food I have ever tasted. For R150 a head. It was very French-style, so tiny portions, but really tasted like heaven. I eat out a lot in Jozi, but have not had food like that before anywhere.

It’s an interesting little town. A real community and by this I mean that everyone talks to everybody else and knows their business. Buying a loaf of bread takes 40 minutes because everybody chats. I would go a little mad there, but My Artist and kids want to buy the olive farm we stayed on. Hmm there is a lot of lemonade to be sold by the girls to raise the 5.8m he wants for it. It’s idyllic and even I was starting to think I could cope with it for six months a year.

Then we drove home via my beautiful city. The city lights were on and the traffic hectic and the taxis going mad and I realized that I love my big city. Jozi is home.

Anyway, I really recommend the festival to anyone. There are divine little places to stay in the town and the farmhouse is one of several that can be rented in their entirety for a period of time. Some are a lot cheaper than ours. But we had horses, tortoises, rivers and kudu wandering across the lawn. The Swartberg mountains and the nature reserve run from the edge of the farm. Well worth it.

It was bitterly cold and wet which I found intriguing. The last time I was there the temperature didn’t drop below 39 degrees. This time we had to turn on the under floor heating and wrap up warm.

It’s really good to be home and I feel a bit stronger than I did when I left.