It was that time of the year again, we wondered where the months had gone - it was time for a break. We wanted to be somewhere pretty, where good food and wine were plenty, where there were lots of things to do...on the days we would not stay in. The Garden Route was an obvious choice for all of the above and more.

The town of George, at the foot of the Outeniqua Mountains, proved to be an ingenious and central base to a wide variety of scenery, activities and fare.

George is one of those towns that needs a bit of research to find its true treasures, but a visit to the local tourism office provided everything we needed. Lazy to travel on our first day, we visit the George and Railway Museums and make mental notes to look into the Garden Route Botanical Gardens. We crash like the rat race refugees that we are and surface with more enthusiasm the next day.

Golfers who have not yet discovered George's seven golf courses have not yet lived. It is also the ideal place to learn or refine your game as the town boasts three golf academies. While my husband is a natural sportsman, my driver club very seldom connects successfully with the ball - a feat that, when it happens, is greatly satisfactory to me but utterly sad to my partner.

So we skipped golf on this vacation and instead took a trip over the mountain into the Klein-Karoo.

The Cango Caves, a five-kilometre series of show caves, are the oldest tourism attraction in South Africa and the country's first natural resource protected by law (1860). The guided tour is fascinating and beautiful. The utter darkness when the lights are switched off for a few moments makes as much an impression than the coloured-lit stalagmites and stalactites.

Oudtshoorn is a small town with a big history, mainly because of a silly-looking bird called ostrich.

In addition to its fantastical history as host to the ostrich feather boom of the early 1900s, Oudtshoorn and the surrounding Klein Karoo is the largest producer of quality ostrich products in the world. The ostrich rides at a show farm just outside town sound like fun, but the Kango Wijnhuis in town is more our style. Showcasing local wine, sweet wine and spirits, the Kango Wines tasting room offers more than 20 regional products together with a sunny patio and a cheese platter to compliment our extensive wine tasting session.

We return to George on the historic Montagu Pass with a guide booklet in hand to read about its interesting origins and strange associations. We have obviously not yet acquired enough local drink and turn into Herold Wines, a wine farm in the mountains surrounded by nature reserve. We have a late lunch in the cellar and chat to a couple who had just completed a short hike above the vineyards.

On another day we take a trip on the Outeniqua Choo-Tjoe steam train from the Railway Museum to Mossel Bay. It's a really pretty ride that ends at the Dias Museum, which features a real ship in its centre. Friends had brought our car into town and we all go to The Point for seafood lunch overlooking the bay.

On our way back to George, we take the airport turnoff from the N2 to pop in at some venues of the Outeniqua Hop, an agri-tourism route on the outskirts of town. We pick our own strawberries and sample local-made cheese. We contemplate a round of putt-putt (this I can play), but decide on an early night as the next day was Saturday and an early, not-to-be-missed date with the country's best farmers' market in Sedgefield.

The Wild Oats Farmers' Market not only has the best food but also the greatest vibe around. From previous experience we have learnt to bring our large cooler box along. Several hours later we leave stimulated and satisfied with empty wallets and full containers. We know another of the seaside town's secrets - awesome, wide beaches and a wind-still river mouth. After a leisurely day on the beach, we take inland routes back to George through Wilderness, stop for a peek at the Map of Africa view point, and drive the winding road through pine plantations into town.

Featuring the most environmentally important estuary and the largest continuous indigenous forest in the country, Knysna is also famous for its cliff-sided river mouth (called The Heads) and a host of shy birds, cultivated oysters and unique sea horses. There is much more to do than what we have time for, but can't resist the lagoon ferry trip to Featherbed Nature Reserve. We save our appetites for the bread café and oyster company on Thesen Island Harbour Town. It becomes a real foodie day with sundowners and supper at two different spots on the lagoon, and stacks of brochures of adventure attractions we will have to leave for another trip.

Just on the other side of Plett, we turn into eco-adventures wonderland The Crags where you can ride an elephant, talk to the birds, chat up a primate and eye a wild cat - all on the same road. Lunch is tapas-style with fresh bread in the vineyards of Bramon Wines before a leisurely trip back so that we can stop and shop at the numerous farm stalls, craft villages, workshops, show rooms and an organic village between here and George.

Our last day is windless and sunny, a perfect beach day at the quaint Victoria Bay just outside George on the way to Wilderness. This cosy beach and single line of sea-side houses is surfing headquarters for miles around and keeps a holiday vibe even in winter.

We leave this Eden revived and, as usual, with many plans to find a way to live here forever.

Source: News24.com - www.news24.com

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