Time out in Dullies

A long weekend in Dullstroom is just long enough to make you realise you need to spend several more weekends here! There's food, drink, art and action in abundance. Here's your guide.

- GRANT CHRISTIE

It’s a bright Saturday morning in late summer. From my table at Baker Boys Coffee Café, I look out over the village green. There’s a group of people running around it. I can tell they’re not your average weekend warriors – these are lean, fit people. By the time I’m done with my smoked trout and scrambled egg on a croissant, the runners have completed at least 10 laps. And that was just the warmup.

“I’ve been coming here every European winter since 2017,” says Robert Farken, a member of the German national athletics team. “I run the 1500m event.”

And boy does he run! When I google him later, I find out that his nickname is “Farken Fast”…

At about 2100m above sea level, Dullstroom has become a world-renowned high-altitude training hub for international athletes.

Robert dashes off and so do I. We’re both watching the clock. Well, he’s watching his watch, and I want to look at some clocks.

Time travel

It’s eerie: hundreds of clocks, all ticking out of sync. Every few minutes, a different chime rings out through The Clock Shop. The walls are covered in timepieces of all descriptions, from colourful novelty clocks to stately grandfather clocks. The cuckoo clocks are mesmerising. The swinging pendulums are hypnotic. I stare so intently I lose track of time.

“Cuckoo! Cuckoo! Cuckoo!” I’m snapped from my daze. Well, would you look at the time! Time to go… I’m meeting Mike Whelan, Chairperson of the Dullstroom Heritage Society – he’s going to take me back in time. By appointment, Mike will show visitors the little museum the society has created. He leads me through the building, pointing out interesting artefacts from a bygone era.