It all began with a good old road trip more than 20 years ago. Two creative people, who walk the path of life together, packed their yellow 3.0-liter Ford Cortina, called Die Piesang, and set out from Tamboerskloof, Cape Town, heading north. Destination: Karoo.
At the time Cobus van Bosch was a full-time arts journalist at Die Burger newspaper, and Madeleine Barnard was the internal communications officer at Old Mutual. For three years prior to that, she was a publicist for the Artscape drama department. Two journalists and free spirits, living life in the city’s fast lane.
And here they find themselves in the platteland today… in Prince Albert. Two artists, entirely freelance now, older and wiser. And they love working and pottering about on their 1000m2 patch in Meiring Street. Blissfully happy, with their three cats, Nols, Milly (who became Mielie), and Snoek.
Cobus is an acclaimed artist whose oil paintings feature in collections worldwide, and he’s the maker of magnificent knives. He pampers the bonsai trees you find at every turn in their garden, enjoys fishing, and likes to muck around in the vegetable garden – oh, and when it is olive season, he preserves jar upon jar of this Karoo specialty.
Madeleine is a singer-songwriter with three albums to her credit. She also teaches singing and works as a freelance journalist. (Read her article about ghost stories of the Karoo on page 110). She is involved in community work, and experiments with beeswax, coconut oil and essential oils in the making of hand cream and other body products. She admits to being a compulsive collector of succulents and calls herself the original “cat lady” – she has an impressive collection of feline sculptures.
Denne historien er fra Winter 2021-utgaven av go! Platteland.
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Denne historien er fra Winter 2021-utgaven av go! Platteland.
Start din 7-dagers gratis prøveperiode på Magzter GOLD for å få tilgang til tusenvis av utvalgte premiumhistorier og 9000+ magasiner og aviser.
Allerede abonnent? Logg på
There are few secrets in Verlorenvallei
All platteland towns have that one famous (or infamous) character who knows everyone's business. Meet Livia Hoogenboezem, the keeper of every piece of gossip in Verlorenvallei...
Make magic with winter's abundance
This winter menu is our invitation to look beyond the bewildered herb garden, move out of your comfort zone and bake a loaf of bread, appreciate the beauty of a head of cabbage, and invite the rain gods to the table to feast with you on venison pie, pudding and cake.
It takes a family
Christian Fry and his fiancé, Pippa de Lange, arrived at Dombeya with just a day to spare before the Covid-19 hard lockdown commenced in 2020. Their purpose was to save the Fry family farm from being sold. They've settled into life in their Elands River Valley haven now but continue to dream big and work hard.
For the love of birds...
They may be called birdwatchers but they are in fact using their ears. As Johan van Zyl discovered on his maiden outing as an \"avian tourist\" with BirdLife South Africa to find the 450 bird species that live in the Garden Route and Little Karoo.
To the babbling brooks of Sabie
Roughly every five years, Jaco and Jens Reverchon get itchy feet. They hopped around Cape Town, moved up north to the Greater Kruger and then, recently, put down roots next to the Sabie River where they live a peaceful life with their animals.
Creativity & community in Dinokeng
The driving force behind the successful Makers Village in Irene has now implemented the same concept in Cullinan, creating an incubator and exhibition space for entrepreneurs and artists. Platteland dropped in at this budding creative hub to find out what it's all about and came away impressed.
Willie Strauss Never an idle moment
A variety concert... that is how to approach your life and career when you want to survive as an artist living in the platteland. So says singer, lyricist and radio food expert Willie Strauss, who entices visitors to Die Sinkstoor in Cullinan with traditional offal and his mother's Bushmanland boerekos.
To die for
How do you avoid the tourist avalanche if you live in an Afromontane forest where holidaymakers descend in December? You drive to lonely outposts in the mountains of the Cape, says photographer Obie Oberholzer, and you make pictures rather than take them.
1 Fiat 500 2ha 4 boys...19000 miles!
When the go-cart that an engineer father had built for his four sons couldn't handle the tufty terrain on their 2-hectare plot in Montana, Pretoria, they hunted down a Fiat 500 in a salvage yard. They only wanted its suspension system, but Mom intervened, the car was saved, and those little daredevils clocked up an impressive 19000 miles - all without leaving the plot.
SUTHERLAND Cold town, warm hearts
Life in Sutherland in the Northern Cape isn't always easy, but even those who leave tend to return. Come with us to find out why.