The R303 is one of those strange roads that should probably be more popular than it is. It’s not the most direct route to Citrusdal (that would be the N7), nor is it the easiest route to the Cederberg. As a result, it sees little tourist traffic, which is a shame because it offers a lesson in the intricacies of the Cape Fold Mountains as it climbs and plunges over the wind-sculpted ridges of the Koue Bokkeveld.
Middelberg Pass is the highlight of the journey between Ceres and Citrusdal, but first I pause for coffee in Op-die-Berg at the top of the Gydo Pass. A relatively new town (only founded in 1961), the town’s most famous landmark, and the reason for its existence, is its modernist Dutch Reformed church with its long, piercing spire, designed by APS Conradie.
As I sip my cappuccino at Wonderlik Koffiestop, next to the tractor dealership in Protea Street, shouts from rugby practice at Laerskool Koue Bokkeveld drift across the fence. The kids are running on hallowed ground; Op-die-Berg is where Springbok wing Breyton Paulse went to school and started his career of slicing through defenders.
Then it’s time to hit the road. I turn north out of Op-die-Berg, along a lumpy 5km section where the potholes have been repaired, then onto smooth tar through farmland.
I’m driving this route several weeks after the surge of winter rainfall that flooded roads into Citrusdal. Up on the plateau, there are broad ponds with coots splashing in them. The mountain slopes sparkle with streams that trickle from distant snowfall, gently shaping rocks and rewriting rivers.
Fruitful valleys
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