Monday 22 April 2013

Fort Nottingham & Nottingham Road 2.

Continuing with my Sunday photography trip. From Fort Nottingham I returned to Nottingham Road, and took the road west out of the village towards the mountains and the Kamberg Valley area.

Nottingham Road is a sprawling village, no suburban type yards here, properties are measured  in acres, or rather hectares, and not "x" square meters, a favourite retirement village for the more well to do. It is part of what's known as the Midlands Meander tourism route that straddles the R103 from Howick in the South to almost Mooi River in the north. Along this Meander you will find B & B's Lodges, upmarket hotels, quest farms, craft shops, artists, weavers, potters, leather workers, coffee shops, restaurants, and micro brewers, almost anything you care to mentioned, you name it's there, places with names like the Hobbits Hut, the Far Away Tree, and other strange and wonderful names. 

I read a while ago in one of the local news papers, that the turn-over per anum of the Meander runs into billions, yet even in peak tourist season you don't feel crowded as it is spread over several hundred square kilometers. Every one dreams of getting away from it all and starting some sort of tourist business on the Meander. What they don't realise it's 24/7/365 kind of occupation.



Sign at the gate of one of the properties in the village.



The road west out of the village.


Epitome of a haughty stare, must be the dowager duchess of Kamberg.


Snow covered Drakensberg, from where I was standing the mountains were about 20 km's away.


Snow covered peaks, the average height of the Drakensberg is about 3,300 meters. 


Kamberg, or comb mountain if you translate it. Kam is Afrikaans for comb and berg is mountain.


Another view of the peaks in the fourth photo from a different position.


At the highest point of the road I was on I came across this sign at a farm gate. I kept expecting to see Heathcliff come riding on a horse.


The road back to Nottingham Road, Sunday cyclist and motor cyclist love this road for it's long curves and lack of any real traffic.

PS, don't know what happened to the scrip, suddenly went large and bold.

2 comments:

Jo said...

Lovely spot, NR and the Midlands Meander. Years ago we stayed over at the Nottingham Road Hotel. As they had no secure parking, I asked the receptionist if Grant could bring the Harley into the foyer. She agreed and as he roared into the reception area, all the burly KZN farmers sitting in the pub at the time, ran out to see what was happening. Much bantering afterwards with them saying they want to park their double cabs inside too! Love Jo

Gorges Smythe said...

Great scenery!