The colours of Calvinia – Northern Cape
Words & Photos: Kati Auld, Teagan Cunniffe. Article from the Getaway Online Magazine July 2015.
Calvinia is small. It’s a dusty town ringed by copper mountains and creaky windmills. Once a year, its weathered face blossoms with colour as spring flowers and flurried visitors take over.
But what’s it like during the rest of the year? We sent Online Editor Kati Auld to go find out. Teagan Cunniffe snapped the pics.
For the last hundred kilometres, I’ve only seen straight lines and crows. The R27 cuts through the brown corduroy of a late summer Karoo with no meandering. So when the Hantam mountains rear up above my dashboard, it’s not surprising that they too are straight, a second horizon above the first. The town is surrounded on all sides, fitting into the mountains like a nail in a horseshoe. In Calvinia, you are very, very small. A local tells me that she stays here because in the mountains she can hear the voices of the gods.
Read her story about the real characters and colours of Calvinia in the July 2015 issue of Getaway Magazine.
Crisp blue skies mark the days. (Photographers, bring your polarising filter!).
After finding this windmill on one of the oldest farms around Calvinia, I decided to stay for sunset, watching the land turn from burnt orange to dusky pink.
The dry ground throws up dust at the slightest disturbance, so when this horse decided to roll, a plume of dirt haloed around it.
The restaurant at Hantam Huis, and the Calvinia Museum are both worth a visit.
Friendly dogs and their people are found throughout the town. On the outskirts, Owl’s Nest olive grove flourishes under the white sunlight.
Back at the windmill – but this time for sunrise.
| More info on the quaint town of Calvinia | More info on the Hantam Karoo area |
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