Graskop is a small town in the heart of the Panorama Route in Mpumalanga. Surrounded by beautiful mountains, it occasionally disappears in the mist like a modern day Brigadoon. This is the continuous story of Graskop and its people written by Graskop's one and only journalist, Gerda van den Bos. Oh yes and the occasional blog about the rest of the area including the Kruger National Park.
Sunday 2 March 2014
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Sunday 9 February 2014
Snappy Chef saves the day
I bought a Snappy Chef the other day in Nelspruit after I saw it at a friend's house and heard about this electricity-saving device on Radio Laeveld. My main reason for buying it was my kettle was leaking up a storm, and I really liked the Snappy Chef's nifty, colourful kettles. Then we bought the house and moved in. Only to discover that the stove doesn't work at all! Suddenly, I had only my "braaipan" and the Snappy Chef plate to rely on. And what a joy it turns out to be. No matter if I want to boil water for coffee, cook pasta or rice or make a stew... my Snappy Chef is fast and reliable. I'm seriously considering in actually buying two more induction plates and throwing out the old electrical stovetop forever.
By the way... The guys from the Nelspruit office were very friendly and provided me with ample empty boxes for our move. Only if you stay in a small town, will you appreciate how scarce a commodity empty boxes can be.
By the way... The guys from the Nelspruit office were very friendly and provided me with ample empty boxes for our move. Only if you stay in a small town, will you appreciate how scarce a commodity empty boxes can be.
Monday 3 February 2014
Take a break, have some Graskop cheesecake
For many people Graskop in
Mpumalanga is the place where you eat pancakes at Harries on your way to God’s
Window and the rest of the Panorama Route. While I’ve been a big fan of Harries’
Pancakes for years now, it’s good to know that there are several other places
in town which also serve good food. From Tasties and Royal Treat for take away
delights to Portugese cuisine at Canimambo’s or a lovely breakfast at Silver
Spoon.
If you really want to treat
yourself, stay for the weekend, there are many lodges and self-catering
accommodation in Graskop and make sure to book your Sunday lunch at West Lodge
Bed and Breakfast. The chef in charge at this lovely establishment, Resne
Deeks, has a passion for food and you can see and taste it in every bite. The
Sunday lunch menu is different every week, but you are likely to find old
favourites like roast pork, roasted lamb, baked potatoes, savoury rice,
butternut fritters with caramel sauce and creamed spinach on your plate – all for
only R85. Her traditional baked puddings are to die for and if you are really
fortunate, there will be caramel espresso cheesecake on the menu. I actually
don’t like cheesecake, but this one beats all my other favourite cakes, sweets
and puddings hands down.
Fortunately
I’ve heard through the grapevine that she will be opening a teagarden at West Lodge
by middle February, which means we will be able to eat cheesecake every Monday,
Wednesday and Friday. On Tuesdays and Thursdays I recommend you try her carrot
cake – it’s simply divine.
You can
always burn those extra calories off again by climbing to the rainforest on the
top of God’s Window or cycling to Sabie if you are extremely fit.
Which one is
your favourite restaurant in Graskop?
Moving house in a small town…
Moving into a new house is hectic at the best of times, but
trying to do it in a small town like Graskop is totally crazy. After moving to
Graskop from Pretoria 18 months ago, we finally took the big step of actually
buying a house. Not just any old house, a timber one, because I’ve been
dreaming of living in a timber home in the mountains where I can write stories
since I was in standerd 6 (grade 8 for our modern scholars, but remember I’m
kind of middle aged, so I’ll stick to terms I know.)
Anyways, we bought the house and the date for the big move was set for the end of January 2014. Now in the city you would call a moving company and they will pitch bright and early with their big trucks, load your stuff and unload again at your new home. Not quite the same in Graskop. For one thing, we don’t have any moving companies in town, and should you move more than 5 km, your way out of town already. As it was, we had to move 2 km, too far to walk, too near to hire a truck all the way from Nelspruit (85 km away.)
After considering our options we opted to ask one of the local gardening services to bring his almost-as-big-as-a-small-truck vehicle and four of his workers to help us with our Groot Trek across town. That was mistake number one. The young lad left it too late to organise his workers (it was end of the month and they do like their booze when they have money), therefore on the morning of the big move he was looking for workers, while I was having a panic attack. Not that he searched too hard, because I finally caught up with him at a local restaurant having breakfast. He pitched two hours later with two guys clearly picked up from the streets and clearly drunk. Anyways he was given his marching orders.
The date turned out to be mistake number two. Learn from my experience… Never, but, never try to move house in January, because it is the raining season! The evening before the scheduled move, Graskop had 90 mm of rain. The results at our new home were muddy to say the least.
Anyways, we bought the house and the date for the big move was set for the end of January 2014. Now in the city you would call a moving company and they will pitch bright and early with their big trucks, load your stuff and unload again at your new home. Not quite the same in Graskop. For one thing, we don’t have any moving companies in town, and should you move more than 5 km, your way out of town already. As it was, we had to move 2 km, too far to walk, too near to hire a truck all the way from Nelspruit (85 km away.)
After considering our options we opted to ask one of the local gardening services to bring his almost-as-big-as-a-small-truck vehicle and four of his workers to help us with our Groot Trek across town. That was mistake number one. The young lad left it too late to organise his workers (it was end of the month and they do like their booze when they have money), therefore on the morning of the big move he was looking for workers, while I was having a panic attack. Not that he searched too hard, because I finally caught up with him at a local restaurant having breakfast. He pitched two hours later with two guys clearly picked up from the streets and clearly drunk. Anyways he was given his marching orders.
The date turned out to be mistake number two. Learn from my experience… Never, but, never try to move house in January, because it is the raining season! The evening before the scheduled move, Graskop had 90 mm of rain. The results at our new home were muddy to say the least.
But, they do say that things always turn out for the best. A
frantic call from my side to Pastor Ken Scrimnger of the Emmanuel Assemblies of God ensured that we had
three of his congregation members helping out, while Lucy organised her two
sons for the occasion. Fortunately we managed to hire a trailer at MB Trailers
in Sabie.
For the first time in more than a week there
was no rain and we managed to move the whole house within one afternoon,
despite slipping and sliding in the mud. Unpacking everything took a while,
especially after young Jordan (11) decided to unpack all my books in the store
room. But all is well, that ends well… We are now officially Graskoppers with our own
piece of this wonderful town.
Labels:
Graskop,
MB Trailers,
moving house,
mud,
Nelspruit,
new home,
Pretoria,
rain,
Sabie,
timber home
Glory Hill Primary School, Graskop, needs your help
Ask any learner or teacher at Glory Hill Primary School
what makes the school unique and they will tell you… It’s the place where
everybody is somebody special. The children are proud to be part of the school.
The teachers and Principal Daan Rossouw still have a passion for teaching and a
love for the children. You can feel it when you visit the school. The parents
don’t pay school fees, most of the children come from very poor household. The
school gets by with a minimum of funds. If something needs to be done, the
teachers do it. One thing they can’t do though is build a school hall. The
children have to assemble outside, which is not a problem in fine, sunny
weather, but Graskop is not famous for its fine and sunny weather. Most of the
time it’s raining or everything is covered in mist. Then the children and
teachers have to stand in the cold. Please if there is anyone out there, who can help this school to build a hall or even rent a
marquee tent please comment or send me an email.
Hallo and welcome to MyGraskopNews
Welcome to MyGraskopNews the blog about Graskop, its people and the surroundings. It's summer time which means lots of rain for Graskop. Pierre Jacobs from Blyde Lodge in Graskop reported almost 400 mm rain for January. While this entails a lot of slip and sliding in the mud for residents, it also means that all the waterfalls which were but a mere trickle in the dry season are now joyously overflowing everywhere. This picture was taken at the Gorge just outside Graskop next to the Big Swing were visitors with courage swing and slide from one side to the other. Far too adventurous for my liking but still a huge tourist attraction.
Labels:
Big Swing,
Blyde Lodge,
Graskop,
waterfall
Location:
Graskop, South Africa
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