Midlands Meander Day 2

We were up at 6:30am with the birds. It had rained steadily all night and was still drizzling and there was also a low mist so we could only see about 150 meters. It was also down to just 19°c which, after the temperatures we have been used to felt cold.
After 2 cups of coffee and a shower we both put lightweight jumpers on. By 8:30am the rain had stopped but it looked like a grey old day but we jumped in the car and headed 2 miles down the road to a local farmers market our host of the campsite had told us about. We didn’t really know what to expect because she had said that’s where to get fresh produce and fruit and veg but it was nothing like that. It was all homemade stuff and was more like a food festival on a budget. Before we even got in the front door we were sampling something very hot made from chilli’s.
Once inside it was a real feast for the eyes and stomach. There were pastries, cakes, bread, jars of jams, marmalades, pickles, it really was amazing. In the end we brought a jar of pickled cabbage to have with our salad, Ellie brought a sausage roll and U brought a scotch pie. Both of which could have filled us up for the day with the amount of meat inside.
We also brought some cheese and bacon pastry swirls for lunch but we would probably have them tomorrow and some rolls for dinner.
From the farmers market on the other side of the road is a place called the junction. It is a selection of buildings with lots of different shops, some selling food, and some selling hand made crafts. Our first stop here was a shop called The Ugly Duckling which is a shop selling absolutely unique homewares all hand crafted and hand made. Some of the furniture was mind boggling.
Our next stop was the chocolate house where there was every kind of chocolate known to man. Here Ellie had white chocolate and strawberries with ice cream on a hot Belgium waffle and I had a rocky road with ice cream on a Belgium waffle. Both were seriously sickly but good. Only Oompa Loompas could make something so good.
From the junction we headed back down the midlands meander road towards the Nelson Mandela capture site the way we had come yesterday. We had spotted a sculpture place inside an old train yard on the way in and wanted to take a look. It turned out to be much further back than we first thought but when we got there it was so worth it. We love looking at sculpted art but this was totally next level.
From the sculpture yard we headed back to camp and got back about 1pm. We had a cup of tea and then decided to do the woodland walk to burn off some of those calories from earlier. We checked the directions with the camp owner and then headed off and just as we got past the lake and onto the trail we were joined by the owners dog “ Popeye”, so he came with us for the full 3km.
We got back to camp around 3pm and the rain started again and after a cup of tea we lit the Braai and we had huge burgers in our freshly baked rolls we had brought at the market together with some grilled Halloumi. Then the rain started falling heavier and by 7pm we were in the tent ready for bed.Read more