mzanzi addition 6 digital text2

Road Travel
Wine route & vineyardsToscanini / Shutterstock
Platform 62, Ashton Grobler du Preez / Shutterstock
Hole through the mountain, Montagu Grobler du Preez / Shutterstock
Street (1904), the Victorian-style house at 59 Van Reenen Street (1914) and
the Powder House (which was used as a store for gunpowder).
Situated in the fertile Robertson Valley, known also as the valley of wine
and roses, it originally owed its existence to farming and a wagon-building
industry. Today wine and fruit farming, race-horse breeding, and tourism
form the mainstay of the town’s economy. The town also has interesting
little shops, eateries, pubs, a vibrant art route, a number of resident artists,
galleries, museums and much more.
Other attractions include hiking trails, water skiing, river rafting, kayaking,
the 2-day 20km Arangieskop hiking trail, or if you are brave enough, you
can engage in some tandem skydiving at the local skydiving club, the oldest
existing one in South Africa.
Ashton
Next stop is Ashton. Upon leaving Robertson, follow the R60 to Ashton
where, a short distance on the other side of the town, the R62 proper
begins. The town nestles at the foot of the Langeberg mountain range
within the Breede River Valley and is renowned for its wine and fruit.
Ashton is also home to rose nurseries, two large fruit canneries and
number of wineries, and is one of the main wine-producing districts on the
Roberston Wine Route.
Wine tasting can be done at the Ashton Cellars or any one of a number of
well-known wine estates. Or you can visit the restaurant at Platform 62,
the beehives at Farmer Redbeard, or stop at the Mabrin Olive Farm. Hikers
can enjoy the abundance of fynbos in the foothills of the Langeberg, or the
more adventurous can try their hand at rock climbing or a hiking trail, both
in the Kogmanskloof, just 2 km out of Ashton. In the Kogmanskloof gorge
you can marvel at the strange and ancient rock formations that are also
found further along the route, formations that were deposited, folded and
faulted over 500 million years ago.
There are plenty of quaint and cosy B&B cottages, guest houses and
hotels in and around Ashton for those wanting to overnight here. The
town also has a variety of shopping, cultural, culinary, historical and other
experiences to offer.
Montagu
Just outside Ashton the road forks, with Route 62 going to the left and,
through a manmade hole in the mountain, to Montague. It is more hole
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