NeighbourGoods Market

So along came Saturday and the weather was not really great, so what to do?  Hum....how about the Neighbourgoods market in Braamfontein!  Yes please!!

So now we don't exactly know where it is, but Braamfontein is not that big so we take a drive.  Driving along we see people with packets and food boxes and figure that they must have come from the market, and yes, we were right.  After finding parking we get directions from the car guard as to where the entrance is and off we go.

Its all part of the urban regeneration within the inner city of Joburg, although the market is in a building, the surrounding area has coffee shops, art galleries, the famous Kitchener's Pub and some interesting sculptures on the pavement of Juta street.

The market is a buzz right from the walk at the entrance, what a vibe!!  Look around, grab something to drink and to eat and go upstairs onto the open rooftop area and chill.  There are loads of food stores and its hard to decide what to eat. We settled for a glass of wine and the Jamaican Delights, burger for him and chicken for me, yum!!  With coconut and lemon cupcakes for after.  Oh and its open on a Saturday between 09h00 and 15h00.

 

 

and just outside

Mountain Zebra National Park

We arrive at the Mountain Zebra National Park on a beautiful hot Octobers day, it's not far from Cradock, along the R61.  The park was proclaimed in 1937 and has an interesting history, you can read all about it on SANParks website. We pay our entrance fees and head out driving slowly in convoy.  The stark landscape opens before us, stretching for miles, yellow sand, thorn bushes everywhere, blue mountains in the background through the haze of the day.  I often ask myself how a countryside can be so harsh and beautiful at the same time, to me that is exactly what the Karoo is all about. We were very fortunate to see some Cape buffalo, Zebra, Buck and Monkey. 

We stop over at the restaurant for a light lunch (really good toasted sandwiches) and browse through the curio shop before heading on back to Cradock.

Karoo Kraal Restaurant

Eating at Karoo Kraal is such a fabulous experience, on the menu is traditional Boerekos, cooked and served outdoors around huge big bonfires.  Tables and benches are grouped around the fires and food is served in tin mugs and tin plates, ah....what an experience. 

 

A group of us make a booking and like all great things, directions are given not by street names, but rather like what to look out for.  "Take the road out of Cradock, go over the river and turn left at the next street, go down this road until you see lights in the trees on the right hand side, there you will find Karoo Kraal."  And yes, we found it!! 

 

We take out cooler boxes and get some tin mugs and a table, smelling the fire and the wonderful aroma of roosterkoek (bread rolls). Every now and again one of us goes to check on the preparations of the the roosterkoek, because by now we are starving! 

 

Now eating the roosterkoek with the boeresop (soup) is delicious but, oh boy, with butter and jam they are something else.  The tip here is not to eat too many or you wont have space for anything else!

 

 





We tuck into the rest of the meal with pure delight, the Kudu fillets are exceptional!  And we have just got enough space to have a koeksister or two.  Oh my....what an evening!!



 

 

The Road Traveled To Cradock

Its rather a long journey to Cradock by car,  taking about 9 hours from Johannesburg and about 10 hours from Durban.  Its usually hot and windy and the road seems to just go on forever.  After much family discussion it was eventually decided that I would fly down to Durban and do the road trip with the oldest daughter to Cradock, meeting up there with the rest of the family coming from Johannesburg. And for the return trip I would travel with the youngest daughter back to Johannesburg. 

Now there are truck strikes going on at the same time and a lot of petrol stations have run out of fuel, as well as "Stop and Go's" on both routes.  So we plan carefully and map out the best routes.  Late Wednesday night I fly down to Durban and in the early hours of Thursday morning we pack the car and set off to Cradock.  Our route starts in Umhlanga and travels to Port Shepstone, Kokstad, Matatielle, Mount Fletcher, Maclear, Elliot, Cala, Lady Frere, Queenstown, Tarkastad and finally into Cradock.  We stop at all the little towns filling up the car as we go and already some of them have no petrol, but we manage to keep the tank almost full the whole way down and only encounter two short "Stop and Go's".  It's single lane road most of the way so slows down the distance we cover per hour. All in all it takes us 10 Hours 50 minutes to travel about 793km. 

The trip is quite picturesque and I take photos from the car on the way....

 

 

And all too soon Sunday arrives, its time to head on back home, gathering all our possessions we load the vehicles, say our goodbyes and get back on the road again.  Now there are plenty of "Stop and Go's" on the main road home and we have got directions to get past them by using the secondary roads.  So leaving Cradock we travel past Hofmeyr, Steynsburg, Venterstad (going past Gariep Dam), Bethulie, Springfontein, Trompsburg, Edenburg and then meeting up with the main highway to Bloemfontein, past Kroonstad and finally Johannesburg.  And yes, we miss all the road works. Its hot!! The temperature gauge in the car registers 35 degrees Centigrade just past Bloemfontein.  It takes us 9 hours and 47 minutes to get home, having covered a distance of about 814 km.

 

Here's some photos form the trip back to Johannesburg.....