go! YOUR JOURNEY STARTS HERE

You can take the whole family to hike Machiel and Betsie Steynberg’s Mosamane Trail (it means “place of the ground squirrel”). It’s a 7,5 km route that has been walked by hikers aged four to 91. It offers diverse bird and plant life, and a range of Rosendal's 22 beautiful natural wonders, including impressive caves, sandstone cliffs (like Elephant’s Trunk), a few waterfalls (like Goliath’s Shower) and a fairy garden. You can walk the trail in a day or spend a night in a barn that sleeps 18 people, with a kitchen, ablution and braai facilities, and hot water. There’s also the option of a geocaching outing – basically a treasure hunt using a GPS.
Where? The turn-off is 5,5 km from Rosendal on the R70, heading for Ficksburg.
Cost: R85 per person per night, and R45 per person for day visitors.
Contact: 082 389 2254; mosamane@absamail.co.za

Actor Chris van Niekerk (best known as Francois in the Afrikaans soapie 7de Laan) has
lived in Rosendal for 11 years. He manages three adjacent places: Die Ou Handelshuis, the Koffiestoep restaurant and the Rosendal Theatre. Die Ou Handelshuis sells antiques that Chris says range from “Murano glass to rubbish”. Two collectables on the shelves are a first edition of Die Afrikaanse Kinderbybel and a Ken Mullan vinyl record. Koffiestoep offers, among other things, boerekos to make your mouth water and delicious homemade ginger beer. And at the Rosendal Theatre big names like Amanda Strydom and Karen Zoid have appeared on the little stage.
Where? Corner of Van der Merwe and Hertzog streets.
Contact: 058 211 0902

With a line in the water waterbirds all around you and the sun overhead, all worries are forgotten. Fishing competitions on the Rietvlei farm dam outside town are a high point in Rosendal’s social calendar. Last year there was even a category for “single women”, which was won by 83-year-old Mimi Bortolutti. Well-known 7de Laan actor Chris van Niekerk is Rosendal’s most
famous resident. Visitors to Rosendal are more than welcome to take part in the competition. Or just come on your own to wet a line, and perhaps reel in a carp or two.
Where? On the farm Rietvlei, 1 km outside town.
Cost: Free (but inform the farmer, Gerald Botha)
Contact: 082 899 2866

Michelle Nigrini and Dahla Hulme are two successful artists who live and work in Rosendal. Their latest works are on show at the Meerkatkolonie, an art gallery and spaza shop. Michelle derives inspiration for her colourful landscape paintings from the Free State countryside, and Dahla uses found objects such as wood, bones and scrap metal to create artworks. The two of them regularly present creative and corporate workshops. In the spaza shop you can buy beautiful farm dolls made by Josephine Tumisi of Mautse, the nearby township. And Michelle will probably have you playing boules in the dirt road out front in no time.
Where? In Hertzog Street.
Contact: 082 423 1970

Irma Hefer is hard at work from 6 am every day (except Sundays) at Rosendal Butcher and Bakery, baking the day’s 200 breads and bread rolls. By 9 am her doors open for delicious fresh bread.
“Around Christmas we also make ginger, coconut and oat cookies… the whole variety.” Irma says she has worked in various shops for 22 years and was practically raised in cafés. “I know
all the foibles of the people in this town,” she says, laughing.
Where? As you turn into the town (General Fick Street), it’s the first shop on your left.
Cost: R6 for brown bread, R7 for white.
Contact: 076 588 3170

Jaco van der Merwe, who farms about 6 km outside Rosendal, offers guided horse outrides to destinations such as Waterval (seasonal falls), Kepskop and Swartkrans (at 2 342 m the second-highest point in the eastern Free State). You can also wonder at many perfect fossils in the sandstone. “The routes have been planned so that a more experienced rider can gallop freely at times. But they’re also designed for people who have never been in the saddle,” says Jaco.
He offers the rides only on Saturdays and Sundays, early in the morning or in the late afternoon.
I had my first-ever mellow ride on the docile Hertzog, an almost-fullblooded Arabian.
Where? Phone Jaco and meet him on the stoep of The Rosendal.
Cost: R150 per person for a two-hour ride, R250 for three hours, R350 for five hours. The price includes refreshments. R150 per person with your own horse.
Contact: 072 591 2348

Sandra Lemmer has three shops on one property, a place where you can spend hours. Turksvy
Trading offers a variety of antiques and bric-a-brac, like vinyl records, Voortrekker memorabilia and
cutlery. In the enamelware shop you’ll find collectable kitchenware, and from Suzani Sandra offers an exceptional collection of embroidered cloths that she imports from Uzbekistan and Tajikistan.
“These are my children,” Sandra says as she shows me an antique Suzani cloth, more than 120 years old. The pieces range in price from R1 000 to about R80 000 for a rare collector’s item.
Where? Near the church, on the corner of Kriek and Church streets.
Contact: 082 371 2137; sandy@suzani.co.za

(Note: Prices accurate in April 2009)

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