It is rather hypocritical (or just strange) of me to write about the flyfishing capital of South Africa, Dullstroom, having neither eaten any fish nor having went out into the cold weather to actually fly fish. But reality is often stranger than fiction, and we went to this little town, doing everything besides what it is famous for.
We spent the weekend in the small flyfishing town of Dullstroom, enjoying everything this rather artistic town has to offer; from gin and beer tasting to visiting a wild raptor bird sanctuary. But as I said, we did not do anything fish-related! But that is not because we were stubborn or did not want to do it, but because the little down does not actually have anything fish-related to offer, unless you, well, go and fish! And we are not into fishing really.
Yet the little town has so much to offer, so please come along with me on this virtual journey as we walk through the streets of Dullstroom and I show you what this little town has to offer. I hope that you enjoy it with us.
In the Pines (Where the sun don't ever shine...)
We stayed on the outskirts of the town. There are so many pine trees or types of pine trees. Or at least, it reminded me of pine trees. All the whilst we drove through these pine trees, the song In the Pines played in my head.
The view from our little home looked out over the vast grass fields, and we saw some wild deer and a fox! The forest birds sang their songs in the pine trees behind our little home and we knew we were in the right spot.
As we looked over the vast grass plains, we saw so many spots of trees growing across the landscape, and we wondered were these trees indigenous ones or plantations.
But these were only some late afternoon beer speculations, as the next morning we were destined to travel through the small town. We were also on our way to a raptor sanctuary, where they cared for abused and neglected birds of prey. (Soon, I will make some photography posts about that specific place.
Here is also a short clip about us driving through the pines...
Gin, Beer, and Whisky Tastings (And Maybe Some Cheese and Wine! And maybe coffee too...)
The town offers so many different tastings. From locally distilled gin, to locally brewed beer, to international whiskies and wine paired with locally made cheeses. There is definitely something for everyone.
But this legitimately posed a problem for us... We love gin, beer, whisky, wine, cheese, and everything in between! However, we only had so much time available to us.
This being the case, isn't it amazing that such a small town in the middle of almost nowhere has so much to offer? They also have their own coffee roastery at the brewery.
We enjoyed as much as possible, buying coffee, beer, gin, and everything we could manage to take home.
Obviously, I feel for the beer, as this was the closest to our little home where we stayed (in the pines), but the gin tasting was also an amazing and unique experience. (More on that in a future post as well!)
At the local wine-tasting and cheese shop, they handmade their own pasta... This was a first for me, because I know how hard it is to make pasta. The little shop offered some truly photographic moments.
Pizza (Might as Well?) and some Waffles
After some time walking through the town, we had this hunger beginning to burn in our stomachs. We needed to stop for some food! We saw a local pizzeria and we knew we were hungry for pizza.
These were some of the best pizzas we had in a long while. The crust was airy and the toppings were so flavourful. My mouth is watering just thinking about it.
After this, we also had to get some sweets...
There is a waffle shop very close by, that sells some of the most airy and fluffy waffles. We did not spoil them with any flavourings, besides the ice cream and syrup it was offered with.
They also had some of the most innovative decorations on the floor, old knives and forks cemented into the floor. (See the photographs below.)
The Beautiful Town: A Mix Between Old and New
The town is much like many other old artistic towns in South Africa; it offers a strange mixture between historical buildings and contemporary and modern architecture. In my opinion, this is really sad, as I would have loved to see old architecture built with modern techniques, but this is just me.
Milly's (top-right photograph) is a historical shop for many South Africans. Or at least in my family. We always stopped there for fish and snacks on our way to the Kruger National Park. But since then, it has really declined and from my memory it is not the same anymore. It is such a shame really. Especially with so many trout farms close by, it is a shame that there are not more restaurants offering this fish. Such is life, I guess.
The Old Clock Shop...
At the edge of town, there is an old clock shop. In the future, I will dedicate another post to show all of the old clocks they have. There is one from 1780! It is amazing how many clocks they have, from small wall mounted ones to big Grandfather clocks.
It reminded me of my granddad who built these clocks...
It is amazing to what they are worth today, up to $2000 USD!
Before I go on too much about these clocks...
The Mix Between Old and New: Art Art Art Art!
The town has a brilliant combination of old and new, as I already mentioned. But throughout the town, there are so many opportunities to see this contrast. In a very old shop, we found an old cash register, but not far from this, we found modern and contemporary art. I like this stark contrast.
There are even imitation Banksy art around the town. This is rather interesting and I wonder why they choose Banksy in particular. Maybe it was the rich art child of a local municipal figure! We can only speculate at this stage.
But these are not the only artworks to be found in the town. Various buildings are decorated with paintings, and there are so many art shops selling, well, art! Even if it might be a bit scary...
At the old bookshop, we found some stained glass art; if this is original I have no idea. But it was tucked away behind some old books on sale.
Talking of books, at the waffle shop, there were some old books on display. They stood out like a sore thumb as the shop was quite modern. These old books decorated a lonely wall, but I could not quite understand why they placed it there.
And lastly, we found so many different pieces of art. Again, I like the contrast; from African-type art to Asian, to a blend of everything that creates a strange amalgamation art.
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While we walking through the little shops, we found this innovative and creative way they placed their rings on sale. I have never seen anything like it before and I found it so interesting!
Postscriptum, or All good things come to an end
And so, the weekend ended quicker than we anticipated. We did so many things, we walked through the artistic streets, we drank beer and tasted gin, we saw raptor birds fly close by and we basked in the glory of this little town. We did everything except what the town is most famous for!
Alas, we live only once, and why do something you do not enjoy?
I hope that you enjoyed this virtual tour through the small town of Dullstroom with me! I wish I could share even more.
For now, happy and safe travels. Keep well.
All of the musings and writings are my own, albeit inspired by the small-town meanderings. The photographs are also my own, taken with my Nikon D300 or iPhone.
Edit: Spelling error.
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Thank you so much!
I love how you described all the cool things to do there, especially the gin and beer tasting and the art everywhere.
Thank you so much! It was indeed such a wonderful and lovely experience. I would love to go there again. Happy and safe travels!
Nothing compares to the feeling of getting to taste and try some of the local cuisine, drinks and activities. It's hard to complete an experience complete unless you don't try some of these as well :)
Oh yes, for sure! I always look forward to local cuisine, breweries, coffee roasteries, vineyards, and so on! Every little town has its unique spin and take on things, and every place has its own vibes. Thank you so much again!
No problem. Pleasure all mine! :)
🤩 !PGM