Mzanzitravel Magazine - Issue 9

Old ruin in Baviaanskloof Wilderness Area
De Rust itself is a Victorian village where many of its old homes and shops have
been perfectly preserved. A variety of good accommodation, restaurants and
activities are available. Activities include hiking trails, cycling, bird watching,
fresh water fishing and water sport on the nearby Stompdrift Dam. The town has
a Donkey Awareness Project and visitors can enjoy a ride on unique and rebuilt
traditional donkey carts through the town.
Contact Info:
De Rust Tourism Bureau Tel +27 (0)44 241 2109, email derusttoer@xsinet.co.za.
Detour to the Garden Route
If you are coming from anywhere along the Garden Route and wish to join Route
62, the ideal place to do so is from George via the spectacular Outeniqua Pass. Or,
if you are already on Route 62 and have some time on hand, a quick detour over
the mountain at this point to George and the Garden Route is ideal.
Towns and attractions that are all within easy reach from here, include Mossel Bay,
Great Brak River, Heralds Bay, Victoria Bay, George, Wilderness, Sedgefield,
Knysna, the Wilderness lakes region, the Knysna Forest, the Heads at Knysna,
the castles at Noetzie, many superb beaches and mountain hikes and much more.
Uniondale
A town still under siege of the Anglo Boer War. No fewer than five British military
forts built as defences during that war still surround the town. Two have been
restored and one declared a national monument. There is also a memorial on the
site of one of the Anglo Boer War battles. Visiting a fort high up on a koppie behind
the town, provides one with panoramic views of the town, mountains and the
Karoo plains. Uniondale was founded through the joining of two towns Hopedale
and Lyon in 1856.
The town is something of an architectural jewel. It boasts the largest watermill in
the Southern Hemisphere, built in 1852 and operational until the 1950s. It has
been fully restored with all working parts inside and outside intact, and now serves
as an art gallery and restaurant. South Africa’s first woman architect, Sophie Gray,
wife of the Bishop of Cape Town, designed the Anglican Church on Voortrekker
Street. The Dutch Reformed church is another beautiful old sandstone building set
in a rose garden with palm trees guarding its entrance. Its 100-years old bells and
three tower clocks still work perfectly. The older, original Dutch Reformed Church,
now called the Voortrekkersaal, also still stands. A beautiful old Synagogue is also
well-maintained.
The Nagmaal huisies (Communion homes) on Hood Street, with their horse stables
on the mountain side, were built in the previous century by the local farmers who
came into town once a month for the church service. Well-preserved homes in all
the Karoo styles – Victorian, Karoo, Georgian, Cape Dutch and mixtures of these
– abound throughout the small town. The classical Victorian-colonial building of
the police station and court house was built in 1891. Next to that is the Apostolic
(Pinkster) Protestant Church, built in 1843 which is one of the seven national
monuments in Uniondale. The school building on the property now houses the
Little Theatre Café and tourism office. The Salvation Army Hall which was built in
1887 now houses Penny Lane coffee shop.
No visit to Uniondale is complete without hearing about the legend of its resident
ghost. Once a year, on the anniversary of her wedding and tragic death in a car
accident, a young woman dressed in her wedding dress waits by the road outside
the town, and gets into passing cars without them stopping, giving unsuspecting
drivers the fright of their lives. But she doesn’t stay long and disappears again after
a short while. Regular encounters with this ghost are reported every few years. In
the 1970s, one such a traveller came racing into town one night after meeting the
ghost bride and asked police to escort him safely past the site where she stood.
Less than fifteen minutes later the traveller and the police who escorted him were
back in town: all ashen and trembling with shock.
74 |ISSUE 9|www.mzanzitravel.co.za | MZANZITRAVEL
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