After spending the last few weekends in Johannesburg, our country roots got the better of us so we escaped to Clarens in the Free State for the weekend.
As always seems to happen in SA, expect the unexpected and be flexible. We arrived in Clarens in time for dinner so headed to Clementines, the reputed best place to eat. We ended up sharing dinner with an elderly local South African couple. The restaurant was 'fully booked'.... not sure why there was at least 10 free tables when we arrived and for the remainder of evening! Anyway, it was a yummy meal and interesting to chat to the locals and hear their perspective on life. They were so intrigued to hear about our lives to date & why we were in South Africa. Of course they had family & friends in Australia and were keen to establish if we knew them!
Pete organised some last minute accommodation was booked at the Clarens Golf and Trout Estate. Whilst Clarens is not a booming country town, it certainly is a popular weekend destination for city folk from JHB, Durban and Bloemfontein. The Estate we stayed in is the latest development built in conjunction with the new golf course which overlooks the sandstone foothills of the Maluti Mountains- very picturesque.
Clarens is at an altitude of 2000m and situated in the middle of South Africa in the high-veld. The climate reminded us of Jindabyne in NSW, Australia- incredibly dry with minimal ground cover. Unfortunately we did not see snow. Clarens is located in the high-veld so rains very infrequently during winter. Each morning we woke to a thick frost and endured freezing temperatures until the sun had warmed the valley.
We played a round of golf at the newly built Clarens Golf & Trout Estate. Being the middle of a cold winter and Saturday coinciding with a South African rugby match, less than five rounds of golfers played for the day. Consequently there must have been at least 30 'golf assistants' milling around waiting for some work. Two assistants approached us on arrival to collect our clubs & take them to the Club House. Whilst we were checking in at the Pro shop, some other assistants washed and scrubbed our clubs. We subsequently hired Bennett to be our caddy for the day (even though we had also hired a golf cart). Poor Bennett had to walk whilst we had fun driving around the course in our cart! For a minimal fee (by Australian standards) Bennett looked for and retrieved all of our golf balls which went out of bounds (a lot...), assisted with distances to the greens, raked the bunkers and cleaned the golf balls prior to each putt. A very civilised way to play golf and a good way to employ another local.
The course was very difficult with water hazards lining nearly every hole, valleys to clear and numerous bunkers. The scrub was thick which lined the fairways so numerous balls were lost! We don't play enough golf to play consistently but we still enjoyed it. We have found a good balance - nice to play on weekends when no other plans are made!
Otherwise we just strolled around the township of Clarens and relaxed. Of course seeing Le Tour de France is currently on, Saturday night was booked watching the re-run of the stage!
Claren's town square
Pete teeing off under the watchful eye of Bennett.
The ladies 16th tee - with yet another difficult water hazard!