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CXPRESS
News & Views
27 August 2014
This prince of a Karoo town is truly worth a visit... CXPRESS received this travel tale from long-time Plett resident RITA HARDAKER (née Van Rensburg), who said she thought readers may benefit from a reminder that many worthwhile destinations in our region could be reached without having to spend extensive hours on the road
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Our 10 000 free copies are distributed every Wednesday to a multitude of outlets along the Garden Route, with emphasis on Knysna and Plett and drop-offs at *Sedgefield Tourism *Caltex StarMart in Wilderness *Lynn Schroeder, Build It and other select outlets in George *Storms River Village and Bridge in Tsitsikamma - phone 044 533 1004 (o/h) with distribution queries.
If you’ve missed out on a hard copy, read the electronic version online at www.cxpress.co.za
AVING decided to take a short break that was within a few hours’ drive of Plett, my husband Mike and I opted for Prince Albert. And what a delightful trip it was! Breaking for lunch in Oudtshoorn, we partook of a superb meal at Jemima’s - which is certainly worth the stop with its homely, olde-worlde atmosphere and crackling fire. Then it was on through the awesome grandeur of Meiringspoort to our destination. “Mein Himmel, Victor, they named a town after me!” read an inscription on one of the many enterprising, painted tip-up bins in the main street of Prince Albert. A hive of activity with coffee shops and restaurants galore and numerous art galleries, a winter school was also in progress with a multitude of choices. Many of your readers are sure to remember Di van der Riet, who was giving a course on jewellery design at the time of our visit, and is still very active in the town. What a pleasure it was to catch up after all these years! We found Prince Albert to be exceptionally clean and the old-fashioned homes with their high-beamed ceilings and ‘broekie-lace’ verandas brought back memories of an era that was both gracious and stately. Talent abounds: one of our hosts was a world-class photographer from Switzerland who had made his home in Prince Albert, and after having a meal at his restaurant
DOUBLE CELEBRATION: Mike and Rita celebrated their first wedding anniversary as well as his birthday in Prince Albert
HOLIDAY SNAPS: ‘These photos were taken for fun and the family,’ says Rita - ‘the magnificent mountains, an awesome tree, and pics of the lodge where we stayed that was very old-fashioned and spacious with its high ceilings and loos from another era, the quaint and useful boxes at left were stacked against the wall of a local restaurant and offered for sale to diners’
cum gallery, we wandered around admiring his work. Some images are quaint, while in other quarters he managed to capture the mag-
nificence of his surrounds. We also had the best rösti ever, not to mention the Karoo lamb loin. Wherever we went there
was warmth and a friendly welcome. This prince of a town is certainly to be visited when planning a short getaway from the Garden Route.