December 2023

You may remember that we wrote a week ago that we were driving the longest wine route in the world, namely Route 62 (read here). We interrupted our journey by spending the night in Oudtshoorn. The next day we only had 490km (304 miles) to drive to our home town, Langebaan on the West Coast.

We witnessed a beautiful sunrise from our wooden chalet at Soetdoring. There was time for a cup of tea and coffee and some of our beloved Ouma rusks before we hit the road again.

Sunrise at Soetdoring

Hot drinks and Ouma rusks

Just after leaving Soetdoring, we saw ostriches on a farm next to the road. No surprise here, because Oudtshoorn is the ostrich capital of the world after all.

Ostrich on a farm next to the road

We were very happy to continue the last part of our road trip in sunny weather – hopefully an indication of what lies ahead of us for the next few weeks.

Blue sky and open road

Calitzdorp, the Port wine capital of South Africa was next on our road trip. Unfortunately, there was no time to taste some of their best port, but at least we enjoyed the scenery.

  • We corrected this, because on our return trip three weeks later, we stopped at Boplaas Winery and Distillery to taste wine and port. You can read about that here.

Driving through Calitzdorp – still on Route 62

The Huisrivier Pass lies between the two towns of Calitzdorp and Ladismith in a valley. The pass is 13.4km long and is spectacular with its 39 turns, corners and curves.

Start of the Huisrivier Pass

We were now ready for a nice breakfast and quickly covered the next 80km to Barrydale.

The road to Barrydale

Barrydale

The small village of Barrydale is located on the border of the Overberg and Klein Karoo regions and is still part of Route 62. One of our favourite breakfast spots in Barrydale is The Country Pumpkin and we arrived just as they opened their doors for the day.

Entrance at The Country Pumpkin

The Country Pumpkin on Route 62

The French toast topped with bacon, banana, sweet potato shavings and maple syrup along with a cup of cappuccino was just what we needed to take us to the end of our journey.

Breakfast

For us, the road between Barrydale and Montagu is one of the most beautiful parts of this route. The 16km long Tradouw Pass offers stunning views and the town of Montagu with its hot mineral springs and scenic mountains is exceptionally beautiful.

Route 62 between Barrydale and Montagu

Driving through the mountains at Montagu

As soon as we drive through Ashton, Robertson and Worcester, I know we are now close to our hometown. This is when the road starts to get just a tad too long – we are now ready to see the Atlantic Ocean on the West Coast.

Ashton’s signature bridge

We are now past Robertson

When the Huguenot Tunnel suddenly appears in front of us, we can almost smell the sea (well, not really, but now we are very close to our final destination).

On the way to the Huguenot Tunnel through the Du Toitskloof Mountains

In and out of the Huguenot Tunnel

We are now back on the busy N1 main road, which means we have technically reached the end of Route 62. (Although some experts reckon the route still extends to Cape Town).

On the busy N1 and at the exit of the tunnel road

After driving through the tree-lined streets of the lovely town of Paarl, it is only the open wheat fields between Malmesbury and Hopefield that stand between us and the sea.

Tree-lined streets of Paarl

Harvested wheat fields between Malmesbury and Hopefield

And then, 1100km (683 miles) later with a dirty windscreen and two wonderful days on the lovely Route 62, we drive into the beautiful town of Langebaan.

Langebaan on the West Coast

We headed straight for the Langebaan lagoon and as we watched the kite surfers we knew we were home and ready for a great summer holiday.

Kite surfers on the beach at Langebaan lagoon

We wish our blogging friends a blessed Christmas – may you be surrounded by your loved ones during this joyful time.

  • If you want to see what other lovely places we visited on Route 62 on our return road trip three weeks later, click here.