![A puzzle of nostalgia](https://cdn.magzter.com/1376649439/1660290955/articles/KBlkxFmdv1663056761198/A-PUZZLE-OF-NOSTALGIA.jpg)
You don't easily forget the place where you first tasted condensed milk from the tin.
I recently rode a fat bike around the Southern Cape town where I'd grown up, and I was pleasantly surprised by how lovely everything still was. The infrastructure is being well maintained. I'm proud of where I come from.
Santie wrote in my matric autograph book: "May all your problems be small ones."
IT'S EASY TO GET TRIPPED UP when you retrace the steps of your youth. "Name, surname, animal, town" may thus be altered to protect some parties from embarrassment, unhappiness or feelings of hurt. Also to protect the man himself, who keeps looking over his shoulder as he rides his bike.
Nostalgia and memory games are like a large jigsaw puzzle full of wheatfields and mountains and blue sky. Many puzzle pieces are similar, or appear the same from a distance.
Those were the days before barcodes and airbags in vehicles.
The village is not much bigger than a postage stamp, yet the locals speak of their city hall. It remains a beautiful building. It's where grand events like wedding receptions were held. Concerts were held in the school hall and bazaars in the church hall.
The neighbouring town had a drive-in, and in between the trailers that preceded the feature film homemade adverts for dried fruit, sheep for slaughter and air compressors would flash across the big screen. Just written on ruled paper and cellotaped to a noticeboard. Everything doesn't always have to be perfect and dolled up. As long as the heart of a message is in the right place. I watched my first movie at the drive-in: e'Lollipop.
Denne historien er fra Spring 2022-utgaven av go! Platteland.
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Denne historien er fra Spring 2022-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](https://reseuro.magzter.com/100x125/articles/4232/1708872/otsWkwqAW1721376584861/THERE-ARE-FEW-SECRETS-IN-VERLORENVALLEI.jpg)
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](https://reseuro.magzter.com/100x125/articles/4232/1708872/TuTQ8sw7d1721376173729/MAKE-MAGIC-WITH-WINTERS-ABUNDANCE.jpg)
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](https://reseuro.magzter.com/100x125/articles/4232/1708872/MDJGJVi8m1721375488795/IT-TAKES-A-FAMILY.jpg)
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...](https://reseuro.magzter.com/100x125/articles/4232/1708872/JnYKSV8gy1721374962855/FOR-THE-LOVE-OF-BIRDS.jpg)
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](https://reseuro.magzter.com/100x125/articles/4232/1708872/fjWR-T0ny1721373963450/TO-THE-BABBLING-BROOKS-OF-SABIE.jpg)
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](https://reseuro.magzter.com/100x125/articles/4232/1708872/gRTHBdppP1721373648923/CREATIVITY-COMMUNITY-IN-DINOKENG.jpg)
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](https://reseuro.magzter.com/100x125/articles/4232/1708872/n-QMy2Y7V1721373220647/WILLIE-STRAUSS-NEVER-AN-IDLE-MOMENT.jpg)
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](https://reseuro.magzter.com/100x125/articles/4232/1708872/gyJgZwkVx1721372669467/TO-DIE-FOR.jpg)
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!](https://reseuro.magzter.com/100x125/articles/4232/1708872/6w4YXIGRH1721372198368/1-FIAT-500-2HA-4-BOYS19000-MILES.jpg)
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](https://reseuro.magzter.com/100x125/articles/4232/1708872/LAq6G4Mkl1721371756286/SUTHERLAND-COLD-TOWN-WARM-HEARTS.jpg)
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.