De Hoop Collection & Rijks Country House. First published in 48 Hours.
THE mainly limestone coastline of the 36 000 hectares World Heritage Site that is De Hoop Nature reserve faces the Agulhas bank. The beautiful, but windswept coastal reserve called Koppie Alleen, forms part of the Whale Trail Hike and is as wild and rugged as you’d imagine the salty crew in Moby-Dick to be. I had the feeling I was standing at the very edge of the earth, as the wind blasted us and we saw whales in the distance.
While travelling from the historic OpStal homestead and surrounding accommodation you’ll see around 300 Bontebok and 50 Cape Mountain Zebra, which are rare elsewhere. De Hoop also has around 70 of the total 4800 African Black oystercatcher population which are surprisingly tame. Pods of Southern Right Whale are also common here as is the Cape Griffon Vulture which makes De Hoop its home.
Best is to stay over for a few days in a wide range of self-catering accommodations that will suit most pockets. These are The Opstal, The Melkkamer and Koppie Alleen, each offering a different experience. We stayed in one of the three comfortable Opstal Houses, accommodating six people in three large bedrooms. The gourmet kitchen is almost as well fitted as my own and with staff on clean-up detail daily, it is a pleasure to cook there. A possible downside is having only one bathroom, but at least there is a separate loo. We loved our very large and private stone-encircled braai area in a Milkwood clearing.
There is no mobile phone reception and neither TV’s nor radios but there is an unexpectedly good restaurant, the Fig Tree, serving country fare like butternut soup, rack of lamb, grilled snoek and delicious malva pudding if you’d rather eat out. There are trails around the 19km vlei as well as a tennis court and a small pool if you need to be more active. For me, however, the appeal of the De Hoop Collection is to be in near, absolute quiet, unspoiled surroundings, brilliantly bright stars and to braai or cook together with friends.
www.dehoopcollection.co.za
Anyone over 40 will remember the Ceres/Tulbagh earthquake. Amazingly it took me 42 years to visit Tulbagh for the first time. Aside from Church Street which is the largest collection of National Monuments in one place (famously restored after the quake), it is wonderfully inviting, cradled by the Obiqua and Winterhoek mountains. The Rijk’s Country House is situated on Rijk’s Private Cellar wine farm. We were overwhelmed by the thousands of Iceberg roses, all in bloom when we arrived. The visual contrast of the white-washed Cape Dutch-style units, the green lawns and the brilliant white Icebergs is arresting, not to mention the intoxicating scent (which surprisingly didn’t give me hay-fever) .
Interiors are elegant and unfussy with flat-screen TVs and fabulous double-headed showers. This is the kind of place where you’d be comfortable for longer than just a weekend. We loved looking out over the river and mountains beyond from our bedroom window. I’ll go back in the dead of winter to enjoy the snow-capped mountains.
Tulbagh CBD (such as it is) is less than 5km away. We had a delicious lunch (and good coffee) at Things I Love deli and décor shop in the centre of town and toyed with going to the local cheese and chocolate makers but decided instead just to enjoy the natural beauty of Rijk’s and their warm country hospitality and value-for-money restaurant.
Rijk’s Country House, Tulbagh. 023 230 1006.
[11-Dec-09]
Brian Berkman
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