In 2001 our house suffered a disastrous flood that took everything from us… It happen just prior to Christmas and Linda decided that we needed to get away, just the two of us… the only place she could find that had an opening was in Kaapsehoop. We stayed in the rooms above a pancake /coffee shop the owner of which was going away for the weekend, and just handed us the key and said “What’s mine is yours.. enjoy yourselves… Oh and by the way I’ve booked you in for the Christmas party across the road.” Well to be honest we were not in the party mood, and pancakes and coffee sounded just right. A long discussion led to an evening Christmas Dinner decision, and at 7pm we stuck our heads into the establishment across the road.
We were taken in by the locals as though we had lived there all our lives… did they know about the flood and our loss.?? No, they are just like that. Wonderful people, we had a great night with excellent food and dancing, followed by visits to nearly every house in a group till almost sun up. To bed we went, with the noises of the wild horses drinking from the many fountains surrounding the coffee shop. The next day we sojourned to the veranda and every passing soul stopped to chat. The local dog “Blue” adopted us for the rest of the weekend and went where ever we did…
This began a love for Kaapsehoop that still remains with me to this very day, and whenever I get the chance, I return.
The pan cake den welcoming sign… but please take note they don’t open on Tuesday…???
One of the small merchandisers.. you can find allsorts here…
Another form of accommodation… the Royal Family, when they visited South Africa used this coach… not where it’s standing now… but on a slightly longer railway line…..
Some of the other houses and accommodation…..
The roads are a little up and down… and this one leads to the ………. Corner Cottage…….
And there’s a church… where you can get married…. look carefully at one of these photos… my reflection is in the window.. (very Pro looking.)
And sadly Blue died in 2008… but was given an honourable burial and place of position in the middle of the village he loved…
And a finale respect to good old “Blue” who helped us through what would have been a hard Christmas…
The Photographic Journey of bulldog. 
the universe seems to have a lovely way of reminding us of all that we do have when we feel we have lost everything. great place with amazing people, what an experience. very pretty photos.
Thank you… it is just one of those special places in the world..
It must have been a very difficult time for you and your wife. I completely understand the reframing of the circumstances, acknowledging that material possessions will never weigh more in your hearts than your loved ones, but nonetheless, it is very hard to lose everything you owned as a record of your lives! I have watched friends lose everything in a fire, and they talk about the freedom n being “lighter” sometime down the road, but at the time of the initial loss, there was a lot of work to do! I can see how Kaapsehoop would hold a very special place in your memories and lives. I enjoyed the photos very much. You replaced some of your material losses with some very nice memories. 🙂
We were insured and replaced all we had in the house with new furniture… sure the loss of photographic history of our lives and kids etc was irreplaceable… but the memories can never be removed from our minds… we accepted that natural disasters happen and at the time it was very traumatic, but when you attend the funerals of those that lost their lives, the reality of what we had lost was insignificant in comparison… not long after the flood we went over to the USA on holiday to see our Daughter and her husband that were working there.. we spent time in NY and it was not long after the 9/11 again in-comparison our loss was nothing… we dealt with it in that manner and I’m not sure that the impact was ever really allowed to settle in our minds… all my dogs were saved out of the river and returned one only after 4 days…
Yes Kaapsehoop was a great idea of LInda’s as the X mas celebrations always took place at our house and it was impossible that year.. so a weekend away seemed on the cards… and as a mind healing exercise it certainly worked… and I think Blue just added to the experience…
We have never really worried about what happened and never let it affect us in anyway… just another curve ball sent our way for which we learnt to cope… But thank you for the sentiments I do appreciate it…
Great pictures and such a touching story, thank you for sharing this part of your life with us!
Thanks just one more bump in the road so they say…
Thanks for sharing the beauty, but … the story of personal kindness and other behaviors is what touched me. Well done Bulldog!
Thanks Frank it is a place in my heart that will go with me to my death bed… an absolute once in a life time find of the most unusual and diverse set of people one could find… and yet they are just one big family… wonderful place..
Nicely written! (the passing of Blue made me sad, but it was a ‘feel-good’ story!)
Thanks so much.. I was devastated when we got there to find out he was gone… he was a real friend…
Che luogo splendido, un’oasi di tranquillità e serenità con persone speciali scoperto in un momento duro della vostra vita.
Le tue foto mi hanno dato modo di poterne gustare la bellezza
What a beautiful place, an oasis of tranquility and serenity with special people discovered in a hard moment of your life.
Your photos have given me a way of being able to enjoy the beauty
Ciao, Pat
Thank you Pat… it is a magical place.. one that you only find once in a life time…
Grazie Pat … è un luogo magico .. uno che si trova solo una volta nella vita…
Ciao Rob
What a wonderful story and kindness you were shown. Coffee and pancakes work for me!
Thank you… great place , great people, great food, great scenery… a magical place… and coffee and pancakes keeps me quiet for a long time…
wonderful village… wonderful post and photographs… Thank you dear Rob, love, nia
Thank you Nia… it is a magical place.. a place I will always return to… my one Grandson got married there.. it is him and his wife in the photos…
What a beautiful place Bulldog and what lovely memories you had there.
If you ever head that way.. down to Nelspruit… make that short detour and go and have a look… it is marvelous… at the pancake den tell them you know the bulldog…
I most definitely will do that 🙂
What a fabulous place – you should have kept it a secret! 😉
So sad about Blue. I see he is a blue cattle dog. They are such wonderful dogs 😀
It’s lovely to be welcomed so warmly by a community (particularly after what you had been through and them just accepting you without know the details). Fantastic!
That dog was almost human… the amount of stories around that dog… don’t know if they are all true… but one could easily write a book about him… and the horses that were a little on the cheeky side, he kept them in their place…
Looks like a wonderful place. 🙂
Oh it is Inga one of those little jewels hidden in the middle of no where…
Awwwwwww.Blue…..and what an amazing place, such kind people…sorry so much about your loss at that time…but it brought you a gift didn’t it?
You are so right… but having lost all our worldly goods we didn’t have to bury anyone so we actually lost nothing… memories cannot be deleted.. and Blue became a good friend…
I hope it didn’t sound like I was just brushing off your loss of all of your belongings…I can’t even imagine…..what a heartbreak…….and I’m glad that Blue was there for you…funny how animals snuggle up to a heart that needs them…
Oh God no.. that day after the flood I sat on my van’s tail gate and felt very down.. my son and a good friend were with me… then the helicopter landed near us and they retrieved a babies body from the river bridge… I then realised I had lost nothing.. merely worldly goods.. I perked up immediately, after my son and friend stopped me wanting to kill the photographer that rushed in to take photos of the babies body.. right in front of the Mother… if they had not of stopped me, took them both to keep me down.. the photographer’s camera would have been taking photos of his colon… I lost nothing and Linda and I had a wonderful Christmas , made great friends, one of them being Blue…
You made me gasp out loud…How DESPICABLE that someone would do such a thing…….such a horrid person….breaks my heart…I would have been right there with you and together we could have made sure that his colon was healthy and that he didn’t have to go to the barber anymore…he would no longer have a hair left on his head…
One of the other men on the bridge did take possession of his Canon or what ever and accidentally on purpose dropped it.. and promptly kicked it off the bridge into the river… I think that reporter will think twice about doing that again…
He got off lucky.
So wonderful to have a get-away close enough to go spontaneously to this way bulldog! Sounds like a lovely lovely place.. beautiful tribute to Blue here – and stunning photos dear friend ~ xo R
It is a get away place so cheap and quiet… one can recharge the batteries in no time…Thanks Robyn… hope all’s good with you…
Sounds wonderful in every way!
x
What a wonderful and friendly place. So sad that Blue had to pass on, but it’s lovely to see how he is honoured and remembered.
He was such a comfort and companion the whole weekend he just stayed with us, where we walked he went…. and I love dogs… but he loved everyone… it is a beautiful place if you’re ever in the area call in you’ll love it…
What a wonderful place!
Thanks Julie.. it is…
Wow. What a very special place. It sounds like the perfect place to be when you needed it the most. I can understand your love for the place. . . and Blue.
Thanks Maralee… this place is only an hour away from our house in Lydenburg… we used to nip through for a coffee and a pancake with the owners on a regular basis.. and they to LInda’s Coffee Shop… we felt so welcome there, one though that we lived there…