We moved from one extreme to the other as far as caravan parks go. At Gariep it took us more than half an hour just to get from our caravan site to the entrance of the resort. After some fairly hairy mountain passes we got to Nieu Bethesda and a caravan park that I could walk across in less than a minute.
From our campsite we walked across the foot bridge to visit the Owl House. It was the house of a school teacher, Helen Martins who was born in Nieu Bethesda and then returned after her marriage failed, to look after her aging parents. Her mother passed away and then after her father died she seemed to have been in a dark place in her life and started decorating her house to let in as much light as possible, replacing some of the windows with panes of coloured glass. She was an artist and with the help of workers from the village she filled her garden with cement sculptures, many with religious themes although owls, snakes and mermaids also feature prominently. She became something of a recluse, eventually taking her own life by drinking caustic soda. I found it a fascinating place to walk through.
It was also interesting to see some of the old furniture and household items that were used in those days.
After visiting the Owl House, we tried to get to the fossil centre before 6 but we couldn't find it and then time ran out. Nieu Bethesda is a little Karoo town that seems to have managed to stop the clock and still does things the old way. The church has no electricity so doesn't hold evening services except once a year Carols by candlelight and some services by gas lamps.
There are some beautiful gardens and interesting houses.
We felt a little sad to leave this morning - almost as if we had left part of ourselves behind. We were also a bit apprehensive about how Cubby would manage the steep incline out of town.
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