S1 - Ep 350 - Hartswater - A Touching Monument Honouring Women!
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- Опубліковано 21 сер 2024
- Our trip to Hartswater was truly memorable and welcoming. The Poplar trees lining the road, a unique sight found and the longest of its kind in the world, created a picturesque drive. The small, adorable church at the town's entrance was a touching monument honouring women who played a significant role during the depression and when the Vaalharts Water Scheme began. As we explored further, the bustling activity in the town was heartening to witness, and we were pleasantly surprised to stumble upon a lively golf tournament at the town's Golf Course. The schools and sports facilities were in excellent condition, a testament to the town's dedication to maintaining their community. Even in the church they were sanding down the pews for varnishing before the next service. Hartswater left a lasting impression of a functional agricultural town filled with hardworking and caring individuals, making our visit truly special. #DustBugs #adventuretravel #southafrica #southafricavlog #travelongravel #northerncape #hartswater
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My wife and I are hooked on your amazing visits in our country. A big thank you.
That's amazing to hear, thank you for joining us on our travels! 🚙🇿🇦
O my word, so many memories flooding back. Thank you for that. I lived in Hartswater from 1991 to 2002 when I matriculated in that High school. I must have played 1000 rounds of golf on that golf course. I miss that town so much. Ek verlang julle baie, Rolo
Thank you for visiting my hometown ❤
Hartswater is the main town on the Vaalharts Scheme which stretches from Jan Kemp to Magogong. I was there 2 weeks ago and cannot believe how the town has grown. I enjoyed visiting the olive factory. Cotton and peanuts used to be the main crops. I remember all the Americans staying in the hotel when they built the cotton mill at Jan Kemp. J. L. Clarke was the company. Now pecan nuts and olives are the main crops. You sure are taking me down memory lane.
We never expected such a big, busy place and were rather surprised by that! 😳🚙 It sounds like you're having fun wandering down memory lane, so all those memories must be good ones. Thank you for travelling along with these first-time visitors to this area. 😁
I love, love these tours
And we love, love, love having you on board as we explore all these incredible places we've mostly only heard about! 😁🚙
Was so cool to be on the road again, thank you, pity the main was so busy but enjoyed it immensely. These are places I've never heard of let alone visited but now I'm a seasoned Dustbug traveller.👏🥰🥰🚙🚙🚙😅
You are indeed a seasoned traveller and we look forward to making you even more so! 🚙😁 That main road was wildly busy, but looking back I'm glad. If it weren't, I may not have pulled off and we may have missed the station nameboard signs altogether, and you know how we love those! 🚉
We were absolutely impressed. Never knew the place was so big, and neat also!
We didn't expect it to be this big, busy and beautiful either! 🚙🤩 I'm glad you enjoyed.
Hartswater is a beautiful clean town with a castle and a cute little church with a leaning bell tower...??? It looks like it's leaning to me. Memorial for women..toot toot!!!! Castle gardens are really gorgeous. Ugh you guys ❤❤❤❤ thank you safe travels
😁 I think it may have just been my photographer's angle that made the little church tower appear to be leaning. 😉💒 What a gorgeous monument though, we both loved it too! The castle venue was absolutely fantastic and so well-kept. It's always such a pleasure finding places like these. Beauty overload! 🌳🌹
Hi guys big busy town with lots of shops and a thriving community the drive in was great with the long est tree lined road in the world the big cylos and tractors definitely a agricultural area all about pecan nuts!! Lovely thatched hotel well spotted the station name in the bushes love the Taal monument but the little brick built church done it for me so cute as a memorial to the women of the great depression brilliant. I noticed the big Woolworths store witch is called Marks and Spencer in UK. The golf course was really busy love how the farmers bring their own golf cart on a trailer only in South Africa!!! Hartswater is in ons hearts love it ! Biggest irrigation scheme in the world world amazing the little children graves so sad .but the DRF church was stunning with the big pipe organ I though you might start giving a serious from the pulpit lol the big cross must be seen for miles as the views show what a lovely wedding venue in the style of a castle with the white roses amazing video thanks for taking me along cheerio till the next one
Those poplar trees were something else! 🌳😍 And then those huge silo's, we felt quite dwarfed next to them! Any station nameboards are always a welcome sight, so we were super happy to see these amongst the trees. The little church is understandably mentioned as arguably the biggest reason tourists visit Hartswater and I concur. It's really a very cute little building and erected for such a valid reason. 💒 We were quite surprised how many golfers bring their own golf carts with them, that was fun to see! I always love standing behind the pulpit of a church, just to get to see the view of the congregation the minister must have. You who know so much about architecture will understand how it fascinates me that, no matter how different the designs of the churches, he / she can see the entire congregation from that one spot. The castle was fantastic to see too and a brilliant venue, we didn't expect to find such a place in Hartswater. 🌳🌹
Gosh, those silos are huge!! Lovely to see the old station, even if grown over with Kameeldoring. Oh I absolutely applaud the monument for Afrikaans!! Dis my taal!! I studied Nederlands Afrikaans as a major at UCT and what I can remember is the early writers, like Meurant, Leipoldt, Totius, Langenhoven, Malherbe, ...and so many more. Wat n oulike kerkie! A little churchette. Wonderful that it is a monument in honour of the work of women during the depression. The gholf place is lovely and peaceful. I would come here just for the natuurskoon. OMG! The baby graves are so sad, I felt tears. Lovely to have a gander at the Dutch reformed church. Wish I could hear that organ. Lovely visit. Thank you.
Those silo's made us feel like tiny little ants, let me tell you. They are enormous! 😳 The churchette was a definite highlight and a first for us, most definitely the smallest we've ever seen! 💒 We found the vegetation on that road to the golf course very interesting and love it that the one moment it's town and the next it's the bush. The golf course was buzzing with activity and excitement the day we happened to rock up there, they were clearly having a great time! 😁⛳ I hear you, I always wish the organ would play whenever I get inside a church, I just love the sound of an organ in a church. Appreciate your company in Hartswater!
Just a note about the railway line there. That used to be the MAIN line between South Africa and Rhodesia/Zimbabwe and Zambia. It went through Botswana. And Hartswater was always the main Commercial Town of the Vaal-Harts Irrigation Scheme.
Thank you for the info. 👌🏻 Interesting about the railway line being a main line.
Hartswater, cleanest and well looked after platteland town I've ever seened.. Wow!!
I'm glad you enjoyed Hartswater! So did we and we so appreciate you coming along! 🚙🤩
Yes Hartswater is the main town in the irrigation sceam of Vaalharts.... 43 thousand hectares in whole. Made for world War 2 soldiers and poor people this was always a place of tears and laughter... manly laughter now...making it's own climate and being a world apart from where the northern cape is
What a nice town and trip. The station is in really bad shape but the poplar trees and monument honoring women made up for the shortfall of the station. The small church is so nice - sad we could not see inside. It seems to me there are lots of shops so the town is alive and ticking. Amazing to see the huge golf club and activities there. I also liked the DR Church - very nice as well as the gardens we visited. Overall a nice trip thank you for this one. My seat is luckily booked for the next one!
It's always fun reading your comments. I agree with you. We'll always see decay and destruction, that's a given, but we move on to and focus on what is still good and fine and luckily there was plenty of that in Hartswater. The church monument was a special visit and anyone who visits the town and has the time, should make arrangements for the keys well in advance. We tried, but weren't able to reach anyone at short notice. 💒🗝️ The town is definitely alive with activity, it was fantastic to see so many folks out and about! 🚙😁
Can't believe that you guys were in my hometown 😮
Hope the varnish is dry by Sunday. The little church is beautiful. Thank you both.🙃🙏😍
I also enjoyed the churches. 😍💒 I'm sure the pews were dry that Sunday, they were working with a mission. This trip was at the end of June already, so long dry by now! 😁
Hi you two! Thank you for the trip to Hartswater. What a surprising place! I thought it would be but a little town and not such a big bustling place. The wide spaces around makes it delightful. That looong line of trees on the approach is amazing, so are the trees lining the streets. I share your happiness in spotting the old station name board. Quite a discovery! The little Church women's memorial is the only such memorial I know of besides the National Vrouemonument. Also the only other Afrikaans language monument I know of is the huge one at Paarl.
This town lacks nothing -- shops in abundance, schools, churches, sport facilities, beautiful Kalahari around, agriculture industry and a dedicated community. The impressive castle venue and its beautiful gardens popping up at the end, really was an unexpected surprise!
Thank you again. I'm already waiting to be picked up for the next trip!
Keep safe!
It's true, I wasn't expecting a place this busy or this big, I was surprised by both! 😳🚙 It was pure luck pulling off that crazy busy road to check out the station building and then happening upon the nameboards, all overgrown and very clearly forgotten a long time ago already. 🚉😥 We enjoyed monuments of any kind and the one for Afrikaans and the cutest little church for women were two of the highlights of Hartswater for us. 💒🏛️ The town is an organised place, that's clear to see and, although very busy in town and difficult to film, so great to see a well-functioning town. The castle was an impressive place, I can imagine very smart functions being held there. I stopped short of posing for a pic or two in those beautifully-manicured gardens! 😁🌳 We look forward to you joining us for the two weekend trips, if you're around that is and haven't run away to the mountains again! 😎
On 14 August 1875 "Die Genootskap van Regte Afrikaners (GRA)" was established. Afrikaans was, however, only recognized as an official language on 8 May 1925.
Thank you for the info. 👌🏻
Hartswater, a beautiful well kept town again, except for the railway and station of course...so sad. I saw now in the comments there was a reply to someones comment, but the reply would not show up when I clicked on "1 reply". So I clicked now on the "Sort by" and chose 'Newest first"...and voila...the reply is showing. 🙂
Agreed! We never expected to find such a bustling place! The station is long gone and only the station boards and a few broken down buildings remain. 😥🚉 We had fun driving around the rest of the town though, there was quite a bit to see! Glad you came along, we always appreciate that! Look at you figuring out the inner workings of UA-cam comments, love that! 🚙😁
You correct about the farmers having houses in Town , while children are at school, In the 70's and 80's the school children stayed in the " Kos Huis" and they were weekly boarders.,
Thanks for the confirmation, it just made sense that the farmers would also have properties in town with school-going kids. 👍🏻 Both Sonia and I were in hostels during our school careers, so we're very familiar with hostels. I had loads of fun in mine, Sonia wasn't too happy and her hostel stay was short-lived I believe. 🥰
I was brought up in Vaalhartz'.My father was one of the first farmers.From Jan Kempdorp halfway to Hartswater was Tadcaster Primary School on your left side.Dont know whether it still there.Then before Hartswater the station was called Pokwanie.Yes many years ago.
We were hoping to see the big SA Olive farm and orchards. Maybe next time. Lovely factory shop. Olive oil, olives and pecan nuts to buy. Thank you for the trip. Take care.
It's never possible to visit every single place of interest in any town or place we get to visit, our time is simply too limited for that. We're just too happy about anything we do get to see. 🚙😁 Thank you for watching!
Prachtige naam, Hartswater ❤💦. Mijn verwachting was, dit klinkt als een klein dorpje maar het is een heuse metropool. Je zou bijna verwachten dat het treinstation bord nog echt in functie zou zijn in plaats van -scherp gezien!- hiding in the bushes. Terechte opmerking van Sonia dat “agriculture is de ruggengraat van de maatschappij.” Dat noemen wij in Nederland ‘tegeltjeswijsheid’, als kern van waarheid over het leven. Want jeugdigen denken steeds vaker dat melk uit een pak komt, zonder dat er een koe aan te pas komt. Bij mijn oma op de wc hing altijd de tegel ‘Van het concert des levens krijgt niemand het program’ dus die vergeet ik nooit meer 😅🚽. Dat was een verrassing, een miniatuur kerk als eerbetoon speciaal voor de vrouwen uit de Grote Depressie tijd, die hebben bergen verzet! Geweldig die golfers met op de aanhanger hun eigen golfkarretje, dat zag ik nooit eerder. Beter mee dan onverlegen 😊🏌️♂️. Massive indeed dat immense kerkhof, zo lief de woorden op die steen over ‘liefling dogtertjie en sussie’, met de mooie namen Petronella Magdalena. Momenteel ben ik de dagboeken van mijn oud oom aan het herlezen over zijn tijd in onder meer Zuid-Afrika, want zijn zoon van ruim 80 jaar uit George is even in Nederland. Dinsdag praten we bij, als vast ook mijmeren over zijn Afrikaanse tijden in de jaren 60 en 70 in Rietfontein. Dus de weekend afleveringen moet ik nog inhalen, dat komt in de loop van volgende week beslist in orde 👍🇿🇦
Hartswater is a super busy place and we weren't expecting it either! Agriculture clearly keeps this entire town the thriving place it is and it was great to see! I agree with you, we should be much more grateful towards the farmers, I don't think we always realise what goes into putting food on all our tables. 🚜 I was fascinated to read about your great-uncle's diaries and your catch-up with his son. I think that happened today, I'm sure you had a very rewarding time with him. 😊
Hi. When you parked in town and looked over the valley you can see the "Ghaapse berg" in the distance and where you were is close to the " Morokaanse rante" Hope the spelling of the last is correct. Vaalharts valley is the name for the valley between the Vaal and the Harts rivers with a natural gradient which allows for excess water to drain towards Hartsriver.
Thank you for the info. 👌🏻 The landscape is very beautiful in this area, that's for sure.
You are wrong about the name Vaalhartz, the water for Vaalhartz comes from the Vaalriver at Warenton, and about 10 km from Hartswater is the Hartzriver. Thats where the name comes from. The two rivers
Thank you for the info, but I'm a little puzzled. 🤔 We knew before our visit to the town already that the Vaalharts Irrigation Scheme got its name from the Vaal and the Harts Rivers, so not sure where we relayed it differently in our video. 🤷🏻♂️ A timestamp will help me out.
Hihi. Hoop dit gaan goed. Ons ry ook gereeld saam met julle 2. Dankie vir julle oulike program. Ons is in daardie monument getroud 2001
I forgot to mention when you drive from Hartswater to the North after Magogong there is allso a little town Taung and is famous for:
The Taung Child's fossilized anatomy represented the first time researchers saw evidence of early human upright, two-legged ( bipedal ) walking. The evidence was the position of the Taung Child's foramen magnum , or the hole through which the spinal cord connects with the brain.
Ek kom van die Vaalharstpersoeing af,kry julle feite agtermekaar.
When do we get to meet both of you. It would be nice to put a face to Sonya’s voice. I really enjoy your videos
I'm very happy to hear you enjoy our videos, thank you! 🚙😁 Sonia isn't keen on being filmed . I hope she changes her mind one day, but until then, I have to respect that. 🥰
Who was the ladies that inspired that beautiful church I see it everyday your story never told the real story
We didn't have any more info while we were in town. We merely relayed what we found in a quick search online as we happened upon the church. ⛪