The Olive Branch
February 2010
2010 has got off to
a good start for Prince Albert. We have welcomed lots of visitors from far
and near and we look forward to
seeing lots more as the year progresses.
The
next few months promise old favourites – and new delights.
From 5
– 7 March the JazzArt Dance Theatre will entertain young and old as they
run a theatre workshop for our children who will then parade and perform for
the townsfolk. This forms the focus for the Prince
Albert Community Festival with food and craft stalls on the Odendal
Sportsfield, a Variety concert, Fun Run, Rugby and Soccer matches and a Gospel
Choir ‘Fees’ on the Sunday. All proceeds will go to the Municipal Bursary
Fund, so come and join the villagers as they have fun together and support a
good cause.
On Saturday
13 March Peter McEwan and Chrisna Smit will host another of their popular
music evenings of at
St John’s
Church. Tickets for their programme from The Deep South (R50 each) will be available
from Peter at 023 5411 076.
Plans
are in hand for the annual Prince
Albert Olive Festival on 30 April
– 1 May. Experience true
Karoo
hospitality as the villagers and farmers share their enthusiasm for life in
our special town. Details of all that’s on offer will follow in future
newsletters – it’s definitely a date to highlight in your diary. Runners
will want to register for the Prince
Albert Half-marathon, details are available from Terry at 072
331 9354
African
Relish Cookery School recently
featured in Country Life. They have a host of events lined up from now until
the Olive Festival. Their courses
have intriguing titles which hint at the fun which accompanies the learning:
Wine Harvest; Mosbolletjies and Moonshine; Kitchen Cowboys with Pete Goffe-Wood; Escape to Culinary Karoo and Let's get Saucy! with
Jacques Erasmus. Full details can be found at www.africanrelish.com
You
don’t have to wait for festivals or special events to enjoy
Prince Albert
. Our Summer evenings lend themselves to outdoor activities. Villa
Kruger Art Tours at full moon, Astrotours
star gazing and the Story
Weaver’s rambles with local ghost stories are ideal ways to appreciate
Karoo
evenings and magnificent star-filled skies. Every Saturday there’s a
cheerful gathering (and bumper-to-bumper parking!) in Kerkstraat as the Market
springs to life, offering local fare from organically grown veggies to
decadent sugar-laden pancakes. There are handicrafts, health foods and the
Thursday Ladies’ white elephant stall, where you can pick up a bargain and
support local charities.
Then
there is the wonderful countryside which surrounds us. Gwynne Conlyn will be
chatting about Gamkaskloof, the Swartberg and
Prince Albert
on Radio Today (1485AM or DSTV Audio channel 169) just before 1.00pm every
Sunday in February.
So
plan a visit to
Prince Albert
– you’re assured of a warm welcome!
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The Olive Branch
February
2009
February
is always our warmest month – an ideal time to sip cool drinks on wide
verandahs. Our coffee shops, restaurants and farm stalls provide both – and
delicious light lunches, ‘naughty’ cakes and puddings and that old
favourite, a cup of tea. Christmas brought a
Prince Albert
resident a “Royal” gift: a packet of Her Majesty’s Blend tea, blended
especially for Her Gracious Majesty Queen Victoria’s personal use in 1886 by
Ridgways Company in
London
. The result, according to the text on the elegant black box, is a
“masterpiece of the blender’s art: full-bodied Assam tea provides strength
and colour, blended with the full-flavour of high-grown Darjeeling and the
fine character of Sri Lankan teas, semi-fermented Oolong tea from China
provides the final note, with delicate hints of fruit and perfume.”
In days gone by the people of
Prince Albert
used to spend a day at Teeberg in the
Swartberg
Pass
, gathering the local bush tea, laying it on hessian sacking to dry, returning
a few days later to collect their tea for the year. Neither Queen Vic’s brew
nor the Teerberg tea is served locally but all our “tea shops” come highly
recommended! Find out more on the where
to eat page on our website.
Despite
the heat of Summer, local sports fields resound to the enthusiastic shouts of
athletic team supporters, the ‘thunk’ of tennis balls carries from the
courts and two weeks ago hordes of cyclists raced off from Prince Albert into
Gamkaskloof on a “To Hell and Back” ride. Soon it’ll be the turn of road
runners: The Midnight
Hell Run is to be held on the 14 March 2009.
The
event offers the following race distances: 38km, 50km or 80km RUN and To Hell
and Back CYCLE & RUN (57km MTB + 50km run). The event is sponsored by
Cape
Nature
, Montrail, Buff®, Biophys Ltd, AR.co.za, Knog and RAM Mountaineering. Log
onto
www.hellrun.co.za
to register
At 4.00pm on Saturday 21st
March the popular "Words
and Music" programme returns to
St John's
Church
. Join musicians, poets and a story teller for an hour or so of entertainment
around the theme of Gardens.... Tea will be served during the interval. Tickets: R15 for adults,
children accompanied by an adult FREE! This is a fund-raising event for the
Victorian church building and a celebration of the first birthday of their
Karoo Labyrinth, which is available for prayer and meditation every day. For
more information contact Ailsa Tudhope, Phone/Fax: 023 5411 211 or e-mail
story@storyweaver.co.za
Local author Eben Venter has just launched his
website. It was his editor who suggested he first visit the village: “My editor said: why don’t you go to
Prince Albert
in the Great Karoo. There’s a lovely tannie (auntie) who rents houses. I
wrote Ek stamel ek sterwe in 3 months there. Later it was translated as
My beautiful death.” For more about Eben and his work, as well as his
delicious recipe for Slow Roasted Leg of Lamb stuffed with Black Olives,
Thyme, Rosemary & Garlic, visit www.ebenventer.com
Speaking
of olives … preparations are in hand for our annual
Prince Albert
Town
and Olive Festival. Haul out your diary and circle the dates: 1st & 2nd
May – see you there!
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The Olive Branch
January
2009
A very
Happy New Year to all our readers.
We
start the year with a vote of thanks to Zelia
Mullins, who has, sadly, left the Tourism Association office. Her helpful,
relaxed, positively unflappable presence is already sorely missed. Thank you
Zelia, for your friendliness, your innovations, your hard work and efficiency.
We all hope you will enjoy your new job and are very glad to know that we can
call on you whenever we need your guidance!
Chantelle
will now play a senior role in the office and we welcome Rewayne Januarie, as Trainee Tourism Officer.
In
November 2008 the National Geographic magazine ran an article on Darkness -
an increasingly rare phenomenon in our street-light illuminated world. 2009 is
the International Year of Astronomy - visit the South African website at http://www.astronomy2009.org.za:80/
for information on an array of astronomical celebrations.
The
Prince Albert
district is one of those rare 'dark places' and we have a proud history of
star-gazing.
In
1956 the European Southern Observatory was established at Seekoeigat, where
astronomical data was collected for a number of years. In 1962 Alphonse and
Marguerite Florsch came from
France
, accompanied by their two young sons, Bruno and Nicholas, to work at the
Observatory. Alphonse was one of the scientists responsible for taking
photographs which established the depth of two of the neighbouring galaxies we
can see with the naked eye, the Megallanic Clouds. In February 2006 Bruno and
Nicholas returned to visit their old friends Pat and Helena Marincowitz and in
December of 2008 Nicholas brought his children to see where their grandfather
had conducted his research. The family stayed at Grootwaterval Guest Farm before visiting the site of the ESO.
In
July 2004 Albert Jansen's book Star
Maps for Southern
Africa
a Struik publication, (ISBN 177007 005 2) was published. This superb book
is a fantastic tool for anyone wishing to explore the night skies and is
available from the
Fransie
Pienaar
Museum
.
If you would like an expert guided tour of the Southern skies from our
particular 'dark place,' then contact Hans and Tilanie Daehne of Astrotours when you plan a visit to
Prince Albert
. Prior booking is essential. Find
out more about them at www.princealbert.org.za/astrotours.htm
and read their monthly Star report in the Prince Albert Friend on-line: http://princealbertfriend.blogspot.com
The
Bushmen who wandered the
Karoo
plains many moons ago, believed they were children of the stars. We hope that
2009 will bring you to visit their ancient home and view the brilliant night
skies they knew so well.
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The Olive Branch
December
2008
Christmas
is just a few days away and one of our pre-primary schools has encouraged
residents to decorate their homes and enter the Wildekanis
Christmas Light Competition, so Christmas trees have appeared on stoeps,
garlands of glittering sparkles decorate restaurants and the village is
decidedly festive. There’ll
be appropriate prizes, of course the real winners are our children, whose
school will receive an injection of cash for the new year.
You
can support another of our schools by purchasing "The
Best of 10 years" CD by the Prince Albert Primary School Choir. The
CD is available at the Tourism Office for R80 and features well known songs
like "Diamonds are a girl's best friend", "
Scarborough
Fair" and the SA National Anthem among many others. For those of
you visiting the village at the moment, it would make an ideal Christmas gift!
The
Christmas holidays bring many visitors to
Prince Albert
, if you would like to make a booking for Christmas lunch several of our
restaurants have details of their menus on the village website: Where to eat
On
Christmas Eve at 6.00pm the Roman
Catholic congregation will hold their Communion service in their lovely little
chapel, please contact Zelia on 023 5411 366 for details. The Christmas
Day Eucharist with Carols will be celebrated at St John’s Anglican
Church early in the morning, at 5.00am, Ailsa has more details 023 5411 211.
The NG Kerk service takes place at 9.00am on Christmas Day.
We
are already looking forward to 2009
so if you have your diaries to hand you might like to note that the first
event is a cycle race into "die Hel" and back on 31st
January 2009. Preparations are already being made for the annual Prince
Albert Town and Olive Festival – 1st and 2nd May.
Later that month, on the 16th the Zwartberg
Runners will hold their Half-marathon.
You can keep up to date on future events by visiting our website.
Another
year has gently slipped past and now it’s time to say that our Tourism
Officers Zelia and Chantelle and the Tourism Association Management Committee
wish all our readers a joyful Christmas and a peaceful and rewarding 2009,
which, we hope, will bring you to Prince Albert.
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The Olive Branch
November
2008
This
weekend the first African Relish Karoo
Gourmet Weekend will take place. Wonderful cooking experiences in a
country kitchen will be hosted from time to time as an introduction to the
launch of African Relish in May 2009. Celebrity chef Vanie Padayachee is the
host chef for the weekend and will be joined by
Prince Albert
’s own culinary crusader Bokkie Botha at his famous restaurant, The
Olive Branch, to cook up a
Karoo
storm. Watch this space for notice
of future Gourmet Weekends.
On
the 29th of November Peter McEwan and Chrisna Smit (pianist and clarinettist),
have arranged another evening of music: Yes,
I remember it well, which promises a little nostalgia with old favourites
from previous concerts and some new material. The venue is
St John’s
Church
, wine will be served in the hall during the interval. Tickets are available
from Lesley van Heerden 0834566090.
The
following evening Patchwork Theatre will perform their Advent Play at the
annual Karoo Carols by Candlelight
at
St John’s
. Come and join in the traditional Christmas Carols at 7.00pm. Entrance is
free, a collection will be taken up.
Astro
Tours
will be available for star-gazing evenings during the whole of December 2008
which is, except for a few days around full moon, highly suited for
star-gazing, since the best celestial objects appear during summertime.
Contact Hans & Tilanie Daehné daehne@telkomsa.net, Cell: +27 (0)72-732-2950, Cell:
+27 (0)72-641-9657, www.astrotours.co.za
for more information.
On Saturday
the
13th of December our annual Christmas
Market will be
held. The weekly market takes on a special face with stalls selling local arts and crafts and
home-made produce to fill Christmas stockings and hampers. Come and do your last minute Christmas shopping far
away from the city rush and enjoy a
restful Karoo Christmas.
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The Olive Branch
October 2008
After
rain in the Swartberg our furrows are chortling with water flowing from
streams in the mountains. The swallows are swooping for mud to build their
nests, strawberries are glowing in their leafy beds and the apricot and almond
trees are laden with small, green shapes promising delicious fruit and nuts in
the days ahead.
This
weekend brings the 7th Prince Albert
Oktoberfest with a real German oompha band to keep our feet tapping! We
welcome the Blaskapelle Hemslingen, to our beautiful village.
Tickets have sold so well that we have had to move to a larger hall at
the Skougronde in
Jan Louw Street
. See you there on Saturday the 18th of October, at 5.45pm.
The
Flower Festival at
St John’s
Anglican Church opens at 10.00am on Saturday, with Michael Upton providing
music from 11.00am – 12.30pm and again from 2.30pm to 4.00pm. Come and enjoy
the beautiful flowers and music in this lovingly restored Victorian building.
An
exhibition of new works by Carol Eady and Julia Beeton-Kuhlmann opens at the Prince
Albert Gallery that evening. Join Brent and Mary Anne for a glass of wine
at the Prince Albert Gallery to view "Around
We Go" 5:30 for 6:00pm, Saturday
18 October.
A
short stroll down the road from the Gallery will bring you to the Swartberg
Hotel, the proud recipient of a “Fabulous Food Award” presented at the
Tourism Indaba in
Durban
in recognition of their newly established Food
Store and Bakery. Andrea Koch and Orscilla Hitchcock provide delicious
treats for the Hotel Coffee Shop and offer breads, pastries, confectionary and
frozen meals from the Food Store. They plan to expand their range with more
delicacies in the near future.
Just
across the road from the Hotel, SoetKaroo
Wine Estate, is another proud
prize-winner. Herman and Susan Perold’s 2008 Red Muscat d’Alexandrie was
awarded a Silver medal at this year’s Michaelangelo International Wine
Awards in Stellenbosch. The wine scored 86-92 on the 100 point rating system.
Herman cultivates the vineyard of 3000 vines for low yield and maximum quality
fruit. The Red Muscat d’Alexandrie was bottled in July and in September they
bottled their “Mafia wine”, an inky black port-like dessert wine blend of
Touriga Nacional and Petit Verdot.
Henry
is a firm favourite at the Saturday Market and has now taken Henry’s
Boulangerie on-line as a member of the Prince Albert Tourism Association.
View his list of tasty breads and tarts on the Where to eat
page and give him a ring to place an order.
It’s
official, the Karoo Riverine Rabbit,
Africa’s only burrowing rabbit, is living in the
Prince Albert
district. Local farmers and conservation officers have alerted the Endangered
Wildlife Trust to their presence. For more information on how you can help
this critically endangered mammal please visit www.riverinerabbit.co.za
If
you are visiting
Prince Albert
during the last weekend of October please join villagers in the annual
Kankerstappie - Walk for CANSA, when we raise funds for cancer research and
raise awareness on how to detect and treat cancer. The Walk starts at 8.00am
on Saturday 25th October, across the road from the SPAR.
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