Where absence is everything

The beauty of travel is that it doesn't just take your body to another time and place – it also moves your soul, says Antoinette Olivier from Paarl.

- Antoinette Olivier

They've never shied away from a road trip. Whenever the chance comes up, Antoinette and her husband Faan are quick to hit the road in their trusty old Isuzu bakkie. Like recently, when they left Paarl to explore the West Coast and Boesmanland in search of fresh adventures. Antoinette takes us along on their trip...

“Faan and I hit the road and headed through the Swartland, our country's breadbasket, in the direction of the West Coast. Our first stop was Vredendal, where we visited my niece and her husband on their farm.

We followed the N7 to the Klawer turnoff. The Cederberg rose to our right, with the sea somewhere out of sight to the left. We made our way past citrus orchards and stopped at the biltong shop in Trawal. The irrigation canals shimmered in the sun, but the dam wall at Clanwilliam - which was meant to be raised by 13 metres back in 2018 - still hadn't been completed.

All along the roadside we noticed strange, barren patches in the veld. These little mounds were the remnants of enormous termite nests from tens of thousands of years ago. Nothing grows on them; everything was calm and it felt as if time itself had come to a standstill.

On the farm, the tomato harvest was nearly complete: a full 600 tonnes destined for juice and sauce production.

The next day we drove via Strandfontein to Doringbaai for a glass of wine and a bit of exploring. Far out at sea, navy personnel moved up and down on a warship, and the bay was dotted with rubber ducks and fishing boats.

At Fryer's Cove cellar, we watched wine ageing in a glass tank submerged under the cold West Coast water. It was surreal to see the wine bottles - floating among abalone - bobbing up and down in the water, with tiny shells clinging to the bottles and the sides of the glass container. The corks had been sealed with wax. But take note: ageing wine this way is not cheap. It costs a pretty penny.