Drostdy Museum, Ronnie's Sexshop & Route 62

Thursday 7.1.2016

It continues to rain. At 9:00 am, we enjoyed the standard breakfast, which was more than abundant with toast, egg, jam, cheese, and coffee. We loaded our suitcases back into the car and briefly drove to a fully booked spa. So we drove into town and visited the quirky church which combines several architectural styles and is quite plain on the inside.

The cemetery surrounding the building displays many German and Dutch names from the 19th century. In a small shopping arcade across the street, we finally found the beach chairs we had been looking for in Cape Town, so that we could sit down for a picnic. At 149 Rand (about 9 EUR), they were as expensive as in Germany. The bakery actually had rolls on display, labeled as such!

Sitting in the supermarket

In the rain, we walked to the Drostdy Museum. This open-air museum consists of Cape Dutch buildings dating back to the 18th and 19th centuries. It used to be the residence of the Drost, something like the county commissioner. There is also a prison cell on the premises. Visitors can explore the living quarters and several craft workshops in the smaller houses on the site, as well as old postal, travel, and coffin carriages!

http://www.drostdy.com/

We drove to Barrydale for lunch and then continued on Route 62, which is considered to be the South African equivalent of Route 66.

We drove through wide valleys with alternating vineyards and mountains on both sides. Of course, we stopped at Ronnie's Sexshop for a milkshake.

This pub stands alone on this country road and has become famous because of its name. It used to be a regular pub, but since people kept driving past it, the owner (or his wife) tried the trick of changing the name to attract more customers. Apparently, it was a complete success. Today, this pub is mentioned in every travel guide and was well visited when we arrived. You can buy all kinds of souvenirs with the name of the pub in a small shop - Ronnie is sitting in all his glory on his freezer and willingly lets himself be photographed (“May I take a picture?” “I don’t care what you do!”).

Next door, you can buy some food and also milkshakes and other drinks at a kiosk. There is also a real pub, the decoration of which consists mainly of hundreds of bras and the walls are covered with thousands of business cards. We also left our business cards there, enjoyed a milkshake, and after 20 minutes we were back in the car.

By now it was dry, but heavily overcast. Around 5:00 pm, we arrived in Oudtshoorn. The accommodation for tonight - the Karoo Sun Guesthouse - is a super modern house run by a young couple and tastefully furnished with a lot of style. The lady of the house apparently has an artistic streak. The only downside is that we had to carry our heavy luggage up the very high staircase to the first floor where all the guest rooms are located. The entrance area offers cozy sofas, complimentary port wine, the breakfast area, and access to the garden with a small swimming pool. This accommodation will be one of the most beautiful ones we had in 3 weeks in South Africa.

After a short break, we walked to Baron van Reede Street and ended up in a grill restaurant after some back and forth. The restaurant has an atmosphere reminiscent of a train station hall or an American diner.

Oudtshoorn

The waitress warned us not to order the Chinese food on the menu, so we decided on something else. The good thing is that the restaurant, like many others in Oudtshoorn, offers a free shuttle to the hotels. We took advantage of that and drove back to the hotel through pitch-black streets. It wouldn't have been very comfortable to walk, especially considering the potholes in the road. We saved our pictures and went to bed.