Nieuwoudtville
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Checklist – What To See and Do in Nieuwoudtville and surrounds.
This is a cryptic list of what you should see and do in and around Nieuwoudtville and the list is not restricted to the flower season.
- Aloe dichotoma (Kokerboom) Forest at Gannabos
- Hantam National Botanical Gardens
- The Windmill Museum at Loeriesfontein
- The Waterfall 7 kilometres from Nieuwoudtville on the way to Loeriesfontein
- The drive to Hell and Back (quite something)
- The Rondekop drive particularly in the flower season
- Dutch Reformed Stone Church built after the Boer War. Beautiful
- Glacier Pavement
- The Ruins at Groenrivier
- The Ruins at Ouplaas on the Grasberg Road
- Nieuwoudtville town with its beautiful stone buildings.
- The view from the top of Vanrynspass
- Oorlogskloof Hiking Trail
- The farm Biekoes for Bulbs in Spring
- Other farms open to the public in the flower season. Details will be provided.
- Succulent rich Knersvlakte below Vanrynspass just 22 kilometres from Nieuwoudtville
- Municipal Flower Gardens
And on the day we will be able to tell you much more. Greater details of the selection above can be found on this website. Please Surf our website.
Suggested Books and Maps when planning your trip
On arrival at the Smidswinkel Restaurant we will provide you with a detailed map of the area.
We will then indicate to you which places you should visit. In the Restaurant we have a very large collection of books which will greatly assist us in answering your questions.
Too often guests arrive with no adequate Maps of the Western Part of South Africa. For your travels it is important that you have a Map of the Greater Namaqualand which should also show the distances between the towns.
There are an enormous number of botanical and historical books on the greater Namaqualand. For your travels in our area we recommend that you consider acquiring at least two books at no great expense. The first is the South African Wild Flower Guide 9 on the flora of Nieuwoudtville, Bokkeveld Plateau and Hantam. Massive number of photographs with both the botanical and common names of the flowers. The 2nd book is the South African Wild Flower Guide Number 1 on Namaqualand.
You are always welcome to call us for further information on both Nieuwoudtville and Greater Namaqualand.
Ruins Grootdrif
The ruins at Grootdrif are of particular interests for architects and historians. Approximately 5 km from the foot of Vanrhyns Pass traveling northwards you will pass Grootdrif.
Early in the 20th century this was a thriving little community with a school, post office and shop. The architect Gabriel Fagan recently published a book titled “Brakdak, Flatroofs in the Karoo”. From pages 94 to 109 there are 27 photographs of Grootdrif. The photographs we have posted were taken 2011/2012. These ruins as well as the many other ruins around Nieuwoudtville tell their story. Pick a map up from us and we will mark up all the ruins that can be visited within a short distance from Nieuwoudtville. I have books in my library from which you will be able to weave your own tale of the past.
Click here to view the photo album.
Call me at (+027) (027) 2181535 or e-mail me at info@nieuwoudtville.co.za to book your accommodation.
Waterfall flash flood
On a Sunday afternoon driving the Rondekop Route I came across this amazing sight. A flash downpour resulted in muddy almost orange colored water cascading over the fall. An occurrence possibly only once in 50 years, but the fall itself has been there for thousands of years. There is always something unique happening around Nieuwoudtville.
Click here to view the photo album.
Call me at (+027) (027) 2181535 or e-mail me at info@nieuwoudtville.co.za to book your accommodation.
Ruins at Ouplaas
These ruins are to be found North of town on the Grasberg Road. One of the most evocative places on the Bokkeveld Plato.
These photographs were taken over many years at different times and day. Just a few of the old inhabitants can recount the history of these ruins. Worth a visit at any time of the day to paint, sketch, photograph or just to ruminate. Pick up a map from us for directions to these ruins.
Click here to view the photo album.
Call me at (+027) (027) 2181535 or e-mail me at info@nieuwoudtville.co.za to book your accommodation.
Ruins at Groenrivier
These ruins date back to approximately 1750. Urbanization in the 20th century decimated the rural areas worldwide and this process is still continuing. This is my most visited place at Nieuwoudtville. It weaves a tale over the centuries. The photographs posted were taken over the years in different seasons and at different times of the day. These photographs tell it all and reminds of Gray`s beautiful poem “Elegy written in a country church yard”. These ruins are just outside town. When visiting us we will provide you with a map, and where possible accompany you to the ruins to tell you much more.
Click here to view the photo album.
Call me at (+027) (027) 2181535 or e-mail me at info@nieuwoudtville.co.za to book your accommodation.
Route Grasberg road
The farm Willemsrivier is on the Graberg Road. These pictures were taken in August 2007. A magnificent day! Nieuwoudtville at its best. The Grasberg route is one of the most scenic drives around Nieuwoudtville. Collect a map from us and we will explain the route to you. Most evenings during August and September I give a talk in my restaurant The Smidswinkel on what can be seen the following day. A map is also provided.
Click here to view the photo album.
Call me at (+027) (027) 2181535 or e-mail me at info@nieuwoudtville.co.za to book your accommodation.
Rondekop drive
One of the most scenic drives that can be done from Nieuwoudtville in spring is the Rondekop drive. It starts at the aloe forest and ends at the R27 six kilometers north of Nieuwoudtville. I took all these pictures when I drove this route in August 2006. It was particularly a good year. Pick a map up from us and we will explain the route to you.
Click here to view the photo album.
Call me at (+027) (027) 2181535 or e-mail me at info@nieuwoudtville.co.za to book your accommodation.
Gorteria Spectacular
Gorteria in full flower. The Beetle Daisy .The photographs of this annual which flowers in spring is a site to be seen. This is what makes Nieuwoudtville so spectacular in flower season.
Click here to view the photo album.
Call me at (+027) (027) 2181535 or e-mail me at info@nieuwoudtville.co.za to book your accommodation.
Antique Motorcycles
All motorbike enthusiasts should visit Nieuwoudtville to see the splendid collection of antique motorbikes at the Protea Motors Garage in town.
Click here to view the photo album.
Call me at (+027) (027) 2181535 or e-mail me at info@nieuwoudtville.co.za to book your accommodation.
Bulbinellas Katsterte
In spring Katsterte will be found all over the Bokkeveld Plato that surrounds Nieuwoudtville. To see the Orange bulbinella you need to visit Glenlyon now known as Hantam National Botanical Gardens. Pick up a map from us and we will mark up where you will find the different species of Katsterte. Click here to view the photo album.
Call me at (+027) (027) 2181535 or e-mail me at info@nieuwoudtville.co.za to book your accommodation.
Glacial Pavement
The Glacial Pavement is approximately 10km from town. It is on this road that you can also reach the Hantam National Botanical Gardens (Glenlyon).Pick up a map from us and we will mark up what else should be seen on this route. The Glacial grooves at Oorlogskloof were produced by ice flow some 300 million years ago when southern Africa, as part of the Gondwana continent migrated over the South Pole. The debris transported by the glaciers accumulated to form the boulder-sand-clay mixture (tillite, diamictite) of the Dwyka Formation. Rock fragments held in the ice scratched the smooth sandstone floor of the Table Mountain Group, and also gouged deeply into a thin layer of loose sand deposited beneath the glacier. Linear ridges and bulbous bed forms record plastic yielding of sand into cavities at the base of the ice. Guided by the palaeoslope or deflected by an ice lobe coming from the east, the glacier flowed west-northwest at Oorlogskloof, although the much larger ice sheet over Bushmanland moved mainly southward and westward. Click here to see the photo album.
Call me at (+027) (027) 2181535 or e-mail me at info@nieuwoudtville.co.za to book your accommodation.
Rooibos Tea
Nieuwoudtville is a major producer of Rooibos Tea. These pictures will take you from harvesting to the bagging of the tea. The tea is harvested in summer and is now also harvested mechanically. The pictures tell it all. Tea can be bought in town. If you are in Nieuwoudtville in the summer months you can visit the Rooibos Tea factory. Pick up a map from us for the route to the factory. Click here to see the photo album.
Call me at (+027) (027) 2181535 or e-mail me at info@nieuwoudtville.co.za to book your accommodation.
Nieuwoudtville Dutch Reformed Church
This Neo-Gothic church towers over Nieuwoudtville and dwarfs the town. The foundation stone was laid in 1906 just after the devastation of South Africa by the Boere War. The sandstone was mined at Nieuwoudtville and all other material was fetched by ox wagon. An epic task in those days. This church is one of few in South Africa that has not been crowded by urban sprawl. In days gone by the congregation with their ox wagons and tents encamped around the church.
Click here to see the photo album.
Call me at (+027) (027) 2181535 or e-mail me at info@nieuwoudtville.co.za to book your accommodation.
Vanrhyns Pass
Vanrhyns pass was one of the last passes built by Thomas Bains and it is the gateway to and from Nieuwoudtville. At any time of day or year the view will always excite. Much photographed. Click here to see the photo album.
Call me at (+027) (027) 2181535 or e-mail me at info@nieuwoudtville.co.za to book your accommodation.
The Waterfall
The waterfall. It is far more than just watching water cascading over the rocky lip. The pictures were taken at different times of the year. The gorge is always worth a visit even in summer. Look for the raptors, the Ficus cordata with roots that snake across the cliffs, Aloe metriformis and Crenum veriabile which flowers in January/February. Click here to see the photo album.
Call me at (+027) (027) 2181535 or e-mail me at info@nieuwoudtville.co.za to book your accommodation.
D5 Creation