The aerial view of T Koperfontein on Google Earth's summer-bronzed satellite image - and Mapcarta's green winter image shows a cluster of silos and a smattering of houses, crammed in between the railway line and the R45 provincial route that connects Saldanha with Villiersdorp via Vredenburg, Malmesbury and Paarl.
It resembles one of those one-horse towns, perhaps a ramshackle railway station, that you'd miss if you sneezed as you drove past. And that was indeed the case for yonks, especially after the modern R45 was built that no longer ran through Koperfontein (or its larger neighbouring town, Hopefield).
Now look a bit closer at those satellite images and see whether you can spot a strange group of fine little white lines that lie roughly in the shape of a horseshoe from west to east, on either side of the road, above this small hamlet. In December 2012, construction began on 37 enormous Vestas wind turbine generators, and just more than a year later it started to supply green electricity to the national grid. Known as Umoya Energy Wind Farm, it achieved its commercial operations date on 1 February 2014, the first commercial wind farm in the country to reach this milestone.
They may not look like much on Google Earth, but these wind turbines absolutely dominate the landscape around Koperfontein.
この記事は go! Platteland の Winter 2022 版に掲載されています。
7 日間の Magzter GOLD 無料トライアルを開始して、何千もの厳選されたプレミアム ストーリー、9,000 以上の雑誌や新聞にアクセスしてください。
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この記事は go! Platteland の Winter 2022 版に掲載されています。
7 日間の Magzter GOLD 無料トライアルを開始して、何千もの厳選されたプレミアム ストーリー、9,000 以上の雑誌や新聞にアクセスしてください。
すでに購読者です? サインイン
There are few secrets in Verlorenvallei
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Make magic with winter's abundance
This winter menu is our invitation to look beyond the bewildered herb garden, move out of your comfort zone and bake a loaf of bread, appreciate the beauty of a head of cabbage, and invite the rain gods to the table to feast with you on venison pie, pudding and cake.
It takes a family
Christian Fry and his fiancé, Pippa de Lange, arrived at Dombeya with just a day to spare before the Covid-19 hard lockdown commenced in 2020. Their purpose was to save the Fry family farm from being sold. They've settled into life in their Elands River Valley haven now but continue to dream big and work hard.
For the love of birds...
They may be called birdwatchers but they are in fact using their ears. As Johan van Zyl discovered on his maiden outing as an \"avian tourist\" with BirdLife South Africa to find the 450 bird species that live in the Garden Route and Little Karoo.
To the babbling brooks of Sabie
Roughly every five years, Jaco and Jens Reverchon get itchy feet. They hopped around Cape Town, moved up north to the Greater Kruger and then, recently, put down roots next to the Sabie River where they live a peaceful life with their animals.
Creativity & community in Dinokeng
The driving force behind the successful Makers Village in Irene has now implemented the same concept in Cullinan, creating an incubator and exhibition space for entrepreneurs and artists. Platteland dropped in at this budding creative hub to find out what it's all about and came away impressed.
Willie Strauss Never an idle moment
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To die for
How do you avoid the tourist avalanche if you live in an Afromontane forest where holidaymakers descend in December? You drive to lonely outposts in the mountains of the Cape, says photographer Obie Oberholzer, and you make pictures rather than take them.
1 Fiat 500 2ha 4 boys...19000 miles!
When the go-cart that an engineer father had built for his four sons couldn't handle the tufty terrain on their 2-hectare plot in Montana, Pretoria, they hunted down a Fiat 500 in a salvage yard. They only wanted its suspension system, but Mom intervened, the car was saved, and those little daredevils clocked up an impressive 19000 miles - all without leaving the plot.
SUTHERLAND Cold town, warm hearts
Life in Sutherland in the Northern Cape isn't always easy, but even those who leave tend to return. Come with us to find out why.