S31 51.956 E24 33.282
We went to Nieu Bethesda for three things. The Owl House, Kitching Fossil Exploration Centre and the brewery. My personal favourite is the brewery but then I am not as cultured as what I like to think that I am. The most famous part of Nieu Bethesda is the Owl House, people come from all over the world to see it.
There are two ways to get to Nieu Bethesda from Hanover, the normal way on the highway and the sand road route. The highway route is about 180km long and there is a stretch of 28km on sand roads. The sand road route is 120km long but it is not nessesarily quicker than the highway. We took both. On the way there we took the highway and did one of the geocaches mentioned below. The Lootsberg Pass is the highest point on the N9 highway in the Northern Cape, or at least that is what the geocache says. On the way back there was another cache but on the sand road, unfortunately there were 11 other people in our bus that just wanted to get home so the two geocachers were out voted. Democracy is not that great for minorities.
The first place we went to was Helen Martin’s Owl House and Camel Gardens which is what actually brings people to the town. Her glass and cement statues are something quite unbelievable. It is not everyone’s cup of tea but really worthwhile going to see. I found the house a little macabre and I would not put anything that she did in my house but you cannot say that she doesn’t have imagination and that she doesn’t think out of the box when it comes to her art and the décor in her house. I would go back just to see her house again. For more information about her go to http://www.owlhouse.co.za and read all about her life. Entrance is R25.
I have attached pictures of her Camel garden which has a religious connotation to it with most of the characters facing east. The characters take on different forms and shapes, at first glance they seem like normal statues of people but then you see that some of them have contorted parts of their bodies.
Her house is macabre for today's day. If I had to live there I would have nightmares. Even though she looked for colour and joy from the colours that she used in the house, the house is very dark. The crushed different colour bottles and stuck the glass pieces to her walls in amazing patterns and added her art to all of the rooms. She was also fascinated with female forms and some of the pictures could have been considered pornography in those days. Her life was very lonely and I believe that you can see that in her house.
Next we went to Kitching’s Fossil Exploration Centre is
interesting but I would not go out of my
way to see the place. The entrance is R15 but if you also go to the owl house you pay R35 for both. There is a small museum where you can see copies of some of the fossils that they found. The best part of the museum is the display where they explain 7 steps on how to become a fossil. According to my friends I am at step 3. Nice friends … ;-) Once you have finished in the museum a guide takes you on a 5 min walk into a riverbed where he shows you a couple of fossils.
interesting but I would not go out of my
way to see the place. The entrance is R15 but if you also go to the owl house you pay R35 for both. There is a small museum where you can see copies of some of the fossils that they found. The best part of the museum is the display where they explain 7 steps on how to become a fossil. According to my friends I am at step 3. Nice friends … ;-) Once you have finished in the museum a guide takes you on a 5 min walk into a riverbed where he shows you a couple of fossils.
There are a couple of places to eat and drink but I would give them all a
skip and go to Sneeuberg Microbrewery, Cheese Farm and Coffee Roastery. This
guy, according to me, is bridging legendary status. As a guy I have to say that
there are certain things in life that makes me happy, a brewery, home made
bread, home made cheeses, home made cold meats, … sigh. There are three beers
that they make, the Karoo Ale (my favourite), the Honey Ale (pure honey taste)
and the Roasted Ale (not my favourite but still good). Try them all, they are
worth it. Don’t bother ordering anything else but the cheese platter. There are
cheeses, preserves and cold meats that will suit most people. They serve it with
their home made breads. Good food for a social and relaxed lunch.
skip and go to Sneeuberg Microbrewery, Cheese Farm and Coffee Roastery. This
guy, according to me, is bridging legendary status. As a guy I have to say that
there are certain things in life that makes me happy, a brewery, home made
bread, home made cheeses, home made cold meats, … sigh. There are three beers
that they make, the Karoo Ale (my favourite), the Honey Ale (pure honey taste)
and the Roasted Ale (not my favourite but still good). Try them all, they are
worth it. Don’t bother ordering anything else but the cheese platter. There are
cheeses, preserves and cold meats that will suit most people. They serve it with
their home made breads. Good food for a social and relaxed lunch.
There are a couple of other things that you can do there that we didn’t have
time to do so we will have to pop past sometime in the future.
Geocache in town
Nieu Bethesda: GCRYPG
Uncle Jimmy's Bones: GC243AQ
Geocache on route
Loodsberg Pass (1781m): GC22MVN
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