Two weeks ago Barbie and I took a drive to Elgin in the Cape Overberg to visit a few specialist nurseries which are located there. The Elgin Valley, one of the Cape’s most beautiful fruit growing areas, is literally an hour’s drive from Cape Town and one of the Western Cape’s better kept secrets in that it is yet to be inundated with crowds over weekends and holidays. The drive from Cape Town to the Elgin Valley remains one of the most beautiful in the country. The N2 heads up Sir Lowry’s Pass where, on a clear day, views over False Bay are simply spectacular. You then descend into the Elgin Valley over the mountain – hence the term ‘overberg’.
We set off on a Tuesday morning and after visiting Heaven Scent Nursery and Duncan’s Roses we decided that rather than rushing back to Cape Town we should spend the night as we had one more nursery we wanted to visit. We stayed the night at Wildekrans Country Estate. When I booked the accommodation I had no idea that Wildekrans has a spectacular garden which is part of the annual “Elgin Open Gardens“. We spent a good hour exploring the garden which is an absolute delight, even in Autumn which is not really prime “garden viewing” time. The owners have created a very special and sometimes quirky garden here, which was an absolute pleasure to explore and I am planning a return trip in Spring to see it in its spring glory. Barbie took lots of great photographs which I want to share here on the blog (also see the Flickr gallery below for more photos).
[one_half]Wildekrans Country Estate
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[one_half_last]Looking towards the Rose Garden
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[one_half]Looking towards the converted barn
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[one_half_last]The sheep …
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[one_half]The pool
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[one_half_last]Grasses at the stream
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We had a lovely stay at the Guest House. The service was fantastic, the rooms were simply gorgeous, beautifully decorated, very comfortable and I wish I could have stayed a bit longer. Next time I want to escape the rat race I’ll book into Wildekrans for a couple of days!!
Photo Gallery at Flickr:
Contact Details for Wildrekrans Country Estate:
Wildekrans Country House, N2, Houw Hoek, Cape Overberg, Western Cape.
Contact: Alison Green, Tel: +27 (0)28 284-9827
Website: http://www.wildekrans.co.za/