Cango Caves and Swartberg 230km

Also of interest is the historic water mill built in the 1850s. It is the only remaining one of five built in the Prince Albert area during the 19th century. The Fransie Pienaar Museum depicts the natural and cultural history of the area, and has an interesting display on the brief but frantic gold rush which took place following the discovery of alluvial gold in the area in 1890.

Prince Albert was laid out in 1842 on the farm De Queekvaleij which was granted to Zacharias de Beer as a loan farm on 12 February 1762. Originally named Albertsburg, it was renamed after the husband of Queen Victoria in 1845. The arid area is ideal sheep farming country, but Prince Albert is also known for its apricots and figs, as well as for its olives, which are fêted at the annual olive festival held in May.

MEIRINGSPOORT

One of the two original links between the Little Karoo and the Great Karoo, the spectacular poort carved by the Groot River through the Swartberg created a natural passage ideally suited to a road link. Building of the road started in August 1856 and the official opening took place on 3 March 1858. It was named after Petrus Meiring, a prominent farmer who had campaigned vigorously for the construction of the road to facilitate commerce between the wool farmers of the Great Karoo and the traders in Oudtshoorn, George and Knysna.

Because of the narrowness of the poort, the road had to cross the river numerous times; Langstraat, the longest section without a river crossing, measured 2,4 km. The road was frequently washed away by the river, and after the floods of 1885 it was rebuilt by Thomas Bain. Each of the drifts (crossings) was named after a particular feature or event. One of these, Ontploffingsdrif (Explosion Drift), recalls an incident when a wagon carrying dynamite exploded. Perskeboomdrif (Peach Tree Drift) was named after the peach trees that once grew at the ford.

Among the points of interest along the route is the 60-m-high waterfall 3 which cascades down a steep cliff face into a 9-m-deep pool, and Herrie se Klip, where the well-known Afrikaans writer, CJ Langenhoven, chiselled the name of his imaginary elephant, Herrie, into the rock. Although Bain eliminated some of the crossings, the tarred road built between 1966 and 1971 still crosses the Groot River no fewer than 25 times.

DE RUST

This typical Karoo village with beautiful Victorian houses 6, lies at the southern entrance of Meiringspoort. Established in 1900, the village owes its name to the farm De Rust (Dutch for ‘the resting place’), which was acquired in 1822 by Petrus Meiring – for whom the route through the Swartberg was named. The Mons Ruber Estate is celebrated for its white dessert wines (jerepigo), port and witblits, while Domein Doornkraal produces a wide range of red and white wines and a sparkling wine bottled under the label Tickled Pink.