Golden Gate Day 2 - Clarens

We got a real battering from the wind and rain all night but our tarp, and the tent stood fast. Unfortunately the noise of the wind kept us awake for a lot of the night.
We got up at 7am and after a couple of coffees we went and showered and by 9am we were ready for the day. It was cold at camp, so cold that we both had on our winter coats from home. I couldn’t wait to get in the car.
We left camp at 9:30am and drove the Blesbok loop again. We defiantly saw Wilderbeast this time but again they were miles away.
Leaving the loop drive we turned left and headed further down on new roads to us until we reached a small town called Clarens. This was on the list of places to visit and our first stop was the local. Spar just to see how well stocked it was. We were surprised at the size of the supermarket because it looked tiny outside but inside it was not only well stocked but had a fresh bakery, hot food counter and butchery. There was also a local bakery next door.
We didn’t buy anything yet from the Spar but jumped back in the car and headed 500 meters down the road to the town centre, where a black guy pointed out a space at the side of the road for us to park.
Clarens looked like some American village you see in the movies, it was all white picket fences, beautiful green lawns and wooden houses. It had a central square green in the middle of town with roads all around it and lining those roads were the shops. And the funny thing was, we were only 20km away from our camp but here it was hot. So hot u had to unzip my trousers and turn them into shorts.
All of the shops were commercial selling tourist stuff, clothes, pottery, lots and lots of art, and lots of crafts. Not to mention the restaurants and craft beers and wines.
It was a beautiful place to look around and we went in most shops to look at the overpriced trinkets but we didn’t buy anything. In one of the food shops we got to try a hot sauce that nearly made me cry. I don’t think I’ve ever had anything so hot.
From the town centre we headed back to the spar and brought our own cheap Braai so if it rains we can keep warm and dry under the awning. Then we did enough food shopping for 3 days. Leaving the spar we headed next door to the bakery and brought a giant cheese and bacon swirl pastry each and then we left Clarens.
30 minutes later we were re-entering the golden gate national park, the wind was stronger here again and even though it wasn’t cold we did need to put our jumpers back on when we got out of the car at the picnic area to eat our pastry’s. We also collected a large bag of kindling for cooking later.
Back at camp it was now 3pm and we unloaded the shopping and then went over to look at the natural swimming pool behind the reception area. It looked nice but it was still too cold outside to tempt me in.
At 4:30pm we lit our new Braai under the awning and as the sunset we stayed toasty warm whilst cooking. I cooked a perfect steak and garlic bread in the fire. Then we sat up and kept ourselves warm around the fire whilst it got dark before heading in at 7:30pm.Read more