S1 - Ep 289 - Misgund - Our Visit to this Farming Town in the Langkloof!
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- เผยแพร่เมื่อ 9 เม.ย. 2023
- As we arrived in the town of Misgund on the R62, we were greeted by the sight of two men walking and picking up litter, which was a great indication of the cleanliness and civic pride in the town. After that, we stopped at the General Dealer to take a look inside and then had some leftover pizza for lunch. As we drove through the rest of the town, we were struck by the beauty of the large church. I couldn't see a cornerstone, but did notice that the bell was manufactured in 1963, which was an interesting detail. Additionally, we were thrilled to find the old Misgund Station, even though it's no longer functional, as it gave us a glimpse into the history of the town and the Apple Express. Despite the rain, we had a great time watching the tractors full of apples and pears coming to the warehouse and being offloaded. This gave us a sense of the agricultural heritage of the town and the hard work that goes into farming. Overall, our visit to the farming town of Misgund in the Langkloof was a fascinating and enjoyable experience, filled with interesting sights and experiences. #DustBugs #adventuretravel #southafrica #southafricavlog #travelongravel #easterncape #misgund #apple
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This beautifully building was built as a hotel - the Rooikrans Hotel.
My husband Muller Rademeyer bought the farm opposite from this building.
He did.not realize that this building ( which did not operate as a hotel anymore) was part of the farm on the other side of the road. It came as.a big surprise to him when he came to know about it.
He sold the farm and kept out the hotel building. He went back to teaching. We went for holidays there and on one of these trips he was in a bad accident and he had to leave his Pricipal job at Bethel High school and we went to live in this old hotel. We had wonderfully years there.
Much history in this place and in the names of Misgund, Ongelegen and Krakeel.
Thank you for the very interesting info about the hotel, which is a truly magnificent building, still today. 😍 It sounds like you indeed had very special times in this building and I'm very happy that you were able to fill in some of the blanks for us. We chatted to a few more locals while in the village, but no-one mentioned anything about a hotel. There must indeed be a rich history in these places, we were honoured to have visited them. 🚙🤩
Sorry for the 'beautifully'.
Hi you two! You are now expert Apple Express 'trackers', even tracing the rails right under the tarred road! Thank you for taking me along on this very interesting trip. Apart from the magnificent green trees and landscape, you illustrated beautifully what seem to me are the main characteristics of Misgund: the hard farm work (and deserved lunch breaks), schools, churches and its part in the railway history.
Your coverage of the busy activity at the fruit depot held my attention every second. You really are able to bring one to live experience of the places you travel through -- both with your photographic skills and the lively factual chats between you and Sonia.
Thank you again and don't forget to pick me up next time!
Keep safe!
You summarised Misgund perfectly, it's a great place! It was so much fun tracking the Apple Express lines, I just wish we could actually see it in motion, that would've been incredible! 🚂🍎 We just had to wait around until lunchtime was over so that we could check out the apple packers in action, that was fun to watch and the drizzle made it even more special! 🌧️🚙 I'm glad you're still enjoying travelling along as much as we are having you along. These places are just all so interesting that we can't get enough of them! 🤩 We'll be kerbside on Thursday morning, I just know you'll be ready and waiting!
When I worked in the langkloof as a Plumber I would pop in to Mr Baldie (senior) farm to buy apples. He was a very kind gentleman always ready to assist us, even at lunch time. One day when I went to the farm to buy apples he asked me if I want Peaches. He took me to another part of the farm and told me I could take as many peaches as I liked. They were the biggest peaches I've ever seen. Still talk about it to this day. Thank you Mr. Baldie. Everyone in the office lived you apples.
@Raycoco Fantastic story about generosity, thank you for sharing that! 👌🏻🍑 I had no idea that they also grow peaches in this area, all we saw the whole time were apples and pears! 🍏🍐
@@miavos3610 I still remember the big dogs he had. I think it was a Russian wolf hound. He told me how this dog would not allow any stray dogs to come on the property. If they challenged him the fight would be over in seconds. Glad to see the farm is still operational.
Thank you Dust Bugs. I worked on the narrow gauge line for seven years. Your idea is so unique and gives many people great pleasure and fond memories of the past when the railways still worked. We don't get to see how things are going as many people have moved to other towns and countries. Looking at the comments, you two become instant favorites when they find your channel. Keep up the good work. I have become your personal marketing agent. NB: you don't have to pay me. Just keep the videos coming
I grew up in Misgund around 60 years ago. My dad was an apple farmer. Thanks for sharing.
Dankie dat julle by die appelpakkers gestop het,en nie net deurgery het nie!! Ek het baie geleer!❤❤🌹🌹🍏🍎🍏🍐🍏
We hung around in Misgund until lunchtime was over and we could see exactly what they were doing! 😁🍎 I'm so glad you enjoyed it too. 🚙🚜
Those farmworkers' houses at the start of the video have been there as long as I can remember. At least 50 years.
I absolutely love the way you cover the history of those old towns and railway history. This is the narrow gauge rail where the driver and fireman sit outside the steam locomotive. That was the way of transport the fruit many years ago. Safe travel!.
Thank you so much, I'm happy to hear you enjoy our videos of these incredible places! 🚙🤩 We learnt a lot about the narrow gauge lines and the Apple Express on this trip. All super interesting stuff! We appreciate the info you provided! 🚂🍎🍐
This was my first visit to Misgund. Thankyou - lovely.
I'm so glad to hear that! It was our first visit too and we found it a super interesting place! Thanks for coming along! 🚙🤩
When you turned left onto the Bo-Kouga road, my uncle and aunt farmed apples another 30km down that road. They sold up in 1980 or so. He also, at one stage, owned a shop in the white building with red roof across the road from where the Bo-Kouga dirtroad meets the mainroad. Such great memories on the farm. Mountains, candles, oil lamps, bread from a woodburning stove, SW radio, and no TV. So good for the sole.
If you guys ever go to George again, travel to Pacaltsdorp. Have a look at the old stone church there. Then continue down the gravel Beach Road to the sea. We lived on a farm at Hansmoeskraal back in the 1960's. At the entrance to our drive was Le Roux's farm house , the Potato Koning of George.
Thank you for the info, I'll keep it in mind for a future trip back to the area! 🚙👍🏻
@@DustBugsTravel Remember without those apples from the Langkloof , SA would not have that famous drink APPLETISER .Here in NZ we too grow heaps of apples and pears,cherries, nectarines,apricots and peaches.I live near Invercargill.
Interesting! NZ sounds like a very fertile country with loads of fresh produce! 🍐🍒🍑 We visited Elgin about a year ago, also a very big apple-producing region, and actually visited the Appletiser Farm in the area. We weren't allowed entry to film though, that would've been super cool to see. 🚙🍎🍏
@@DustBugsTravel More importantly did you get to sample a drinkie of twee of Appletiser while you were visiting ? In NZ we also have Appletise and Grapetise. Notice the names are missing the r at the end. Probably for copyright purposes. We also lived on a farm at Withoogte near Rocklands just outside of Uitenhage. It is dangerous there now because the road is full of potholes and the squatters are living next to the road . I feel sorry for the white landowners there who cannot sell or have to sell at give-away prices.
I regularly Appletise and Sonia regularly Grapetises and fortunately live very close to the Elgin Valley, but there is no tasting or sampling at the Appletiser Farm itself, they're very strict acout access and even stricter about filming, which of course is always an obstacle we face! 🤷🏼♂️🍏🍇 We went through Uitenhage about a year ago on our way home from a trip, but even on a Sunday, it was crazy busy! We're still thinking about exploring it one day, but we much prefer the smaller, quieter places. 🚙😁
I will never look at an apple or pear the same way again 🤗 🍏🍎 🍐 🍐 Thanks again for a fun & interesting trip.
Neither will we and that's a great thing! 🍏🍎🍐 I'm glad to hear you enjoyed exploring Misgund with us in the drizzle, it was such a cool experience! 🚙🌧️
My mom grew up on a farm near Joubertina and the farm now belongs to my uncle. My cousin is the minister at the church in Misgund.
Thanks once again for your indepth review of Misgund, it has beauty with its tree lined roads and fruit orchards. The 60s design of the Church is ageless as is its clever "church bell" design. Easy to reach, ease of handling and its position no doubt amplifies the sound. "Red Cheek Pears" ...I had a good laugh...you've renamed that pear. Your filming of the off loading packing process reminded me of one of those Steven Seagal movies (and others) where they come across some clandestine operation and now they're filming, the operations, from a distance inconspicuously. 😂...this of course is a reflection of your attention to detail that you showcase with your great channel. I think we were all picturing the Apple Express "chuffing" along those tracks. 😊
In turn, I had a good chuckle about the clandestine operation of apple packing! 🤣🍏🍎 I love me a good Steven Seagal movie! 🥋 Sonia always challenges me to ring a reachable church bell like this one, but I seldom bite. If she had her way, she'd ring it twelve times for the entire region to hear. 🥰🛎️ I found the design of this particular church rather intriguing, especially the size of the church for the size of the village and it just goes to show the number of people on the outlying farms. Misgund was a little revelation with so many things we found super interesting, including the pears with the red cheeks! 🍐😊 Let me tell you, there was more than one occasion on this trip that we thought we'd see the Apple Express on those tracks we followed, but alas! 🤷🏼♂️🚂
Love your rendition. We had a picnic in an apple orchard with locals from Misgund many years ago. Lovely.
That sounds like a wonderful experience! 🍎🍏 It truly is a magical part of our country. I'm glad you enjoyed our video! 🚙🤩
This Springbok Cafe has been there for so many years as is the Standard Bank. I loved and worked there also for the Baldies(awesome people) about 39 yrs ago. You got fresh bread once a week! There was at least a Library so I could read!! My memory is a bit foggy but there is another very big company that have their own trucks to transport the apples to the markets those years. Good memories
Thank you for sharing those memories with us! We got the feeling that people's associations with this area go far back as your comment also testifies to. 👌🏻 I just loved the Springbok Cafe, it was awesome to see the variety they have on their shelves for such a small store! Fresh bread once a week, those were the days! 😁🍞 We saw so many trucks transporting apples, it was great fun getting a glimpse into this industry! 🚚🍎 Thanks for visiting Misgund again with us two! 🚙😁
My late grandfather had an account at that Standard Bank. He lived closer to Joubertina, where there were other banks. I'll never be able to ask him why he didn't choose a bank that was closer. Maybe it was the only option when he needed to open an account.
Immediatly noticed the difference beteeen the western cape and eastern cape.....lot of litter around such a shame.
We saw so many interesting things in Misgund, including the guys who were picking up litter, that the remaining litter didn't stand out to us! 🤷🏼♂️🗑️
Hi Curtis!
When you are traveling down the N7, please visit Piketberg, one of the most beautiful churches (NG) in the Western Cape. And while you there you may as well visit Aurora and other small towns & villages there.
I like your visit to Misgund!
I'm glad you enjoyed Misgund! 👍🏻 We've been to Piketberg, Porterville and surrounds already on a previous trip. It was shortly after we started our channel though and we didn't explore towns and places in-depth like we do now. There are just too many to visit in the rest of South Africa, but we may head back in that direction someday. 🚙😁 We have limited time to travel and would like to see as many places as we possibly can!
Very interesting reminds of when our family were on an orange farm way back. Really brings memories the packing sheds, the sorting and packaging. Wow. Thank you
It was good to visit Misgund for the first time and I'm glad our video reminded you of some good times in your past! 😁🍊 This area is all about the growing of fruit and it was so interesting to see! 🍎🚙
Played bowls with an old chap who was the engine driver on this route for a time.
How interesting! That must've been a great occupation! I can only imagine the stories he could tell! 🚂😁
Hello, lovely looking at your clip. I have been living in the Langkloof since 1986. You had your picnic pizza lunch in front of my mother's house!😬🤗 Safe travels!
Thank you, I'm glad you enjoyed our video of your mom's hometown! 🚙🤩 You're fortunate to live in such a beautiful part of the country, it was a great pleasure visiting the Langkloof for the first time! The spot under the trees in front of your mom's house was the perfect place to enjoy our leftover pizza and watch all the trucks full of apples and pears go by! 😁🍎🍐
@@DustBugsTravel if you ever pass this way again give me a headsup and I will see to organize some fruit for you, if it is during season time of course😉 Look me up at Wilco Transport. All the best!
That railroad track was used for the Apple Express back in the day to transport apples to Port Elizabeth. My uncle would also collect stock for his shop from that station. If you follow this track for about 200km east, it runs directly in front of the house I grew up in. On that route, it would also cross the Van Standens Railroad bridge, the highest narrow gauge bridge in the world.
Over here where I am the wifi keeps going on off on off...so irritating! So often I cant watch all in one go. The farm with the little otuside bakoond...like in Fiela se Kind...Toe! Bak! That film made me so emotional because it took me back to my ancestors. Lovely to see the little plaasskooljie. My Ouma vander Merwe taught in just such a little school at Porterville where she grew up. Wombles of Wimbledon....thats what I thought seeing the guy picking up the rubbish.That church bell is awesome! Wow!! Would love to hear it beier! Hallo Inge! Bent je hier? Ik ben blij om mijne mooie land te zien. Pity the history of Misgund is obscure. It must have been over land, somehow. I did apple packing here in New Zealand. After that I didnt want to see, let alone eat, another apple ever again! Well, 8 hours solid packing apples into boxes...hmmm....
The little bakoond was great to see and I couldn't help wondering when it was last used! The farm school was fantastic, we loved it too! 📚 It looks like apple picking and packing is hard work and those workers all seem so happy and friendly while doing it. We just loved sitting there and watching their every move! Typical cityfolk we are! 😁🍎 That church bell dating back to 1963 was interesting. Sonia wants me to ring every church bell we get to! 🛎️💒 Thanks for coming along to Misgund, it was a fun visit! 🚙🤩
Hi Anna, ja Inge is hier, en heb genoten van deze mooie appel aflevering! Zuid Afrika is werkelijk prachtig en heel afwisselend
Never heard of this place before. Even a bank. No doctors needed in this part of the world...lol😅
So lovely to see parts of SA I've never seen before😂❤❤😂 😂❤😂😂
Nope, the doctors are kept far away! 😁🍎 I bet the townsfolk eat more than one apple a day though! I was also surprised to see a bank there and not only an ATM. These little places surprise one around every corner, let me tell you! 👌🏻🏦 We had such an amazing time exploring the Langkloof for the first time! 🚙🚂
Hi guys amazing video to see how the fruit business works from the worker's picking to pack for marketing and export you did a great job spotting the railway tracks to the old loading bay..Great to see the people pick up rubbish I've only seen this before in East Germany. Loved the general dealer shop especially the petrol pump with its own roof. As you said must have been very bad weather to rip the roof off and knock the tree down. I wonder why they called it unlucky river and grudge? The DRF church was typically 60s .another eye opener of a video showing how different these places are thanks for a intriguing video cheerio till the next one
We loved everything about Misgund too, there were just so many positives that I could've kept on filming for hours! 🚙🤩 The apple and pear picking and packing were super interesting to see and we were watching the workers for a while. They were all cheerful and friendly, which was fantastic to see! 🍎🍐 I'm glad you also enjoyed the petrol pump with its own roof, Sonia loved that one! ⛽ We weren't able to find the origin of the names online, but I do believe it must have to do with the hardships the first settlers endured when they first came to the area. We're so happy to hear that Misgund is another place you enjoyed with us. On to the next one! 😁
You did it again - another wonderful video! Thank you for Misgund. Impressive old building. So true that farming activities keep the clock ticking. This time i gave you some biltong from behind and i know you enjoyed it as much as i enjoyed the trip with you.. keep it up - next time i am again there!
Misgund was a wonderful place to explore, I'm so happy you came along again. The picking and packing activities were quite interesting and we spent quite a bit of time checking that out! 🚜🍎 Oh, and the biltong was fantastic! You must get it from the same place we do in Strand! 😁🥓 Pack some more for Thursday! 🚙🤩
How crazy, where you took a left off the R69 to Bo Kouga, we have a farm just at the end of that dirt road. Been spending the last 20 years of my life that side! Small world love to see it
You're fortunate to live in such a beautiful part of our country, we had a fun time visiting all the little places. 🚙😁 With all the road closure signs because of flooding, we assumed you had quite a bit of rain, which I would imagine is always welcome in your area! 🌧️ We appreciate you watching!
I'll get hold of a book "The History and People of the Langkloof", actually it's a PhD done by JJ Swiegers at the Univ of Stellenbosch. Absolutely a must have
I look forward to you sharing some of the history with us, as you always do! I'm not a big reader, I'm just happy to be exploring these great places and to learn from viewers like you! 🚙🤩
Great vlog again, really interesting! I do wonder what the men were shouting out over to you, must have been funny! 😆
Thank you, I'm happy to hear you also enjoyed Misgund, as we did! 🚜🍎 The very friendly farm workers said something in Xhosa about 'a video', but I wasn't able to make out exactly what they said. My Xhosa is way too limited for that! 😁🚙
Oh it was fascinating and who would have thought someone said just tarmac over the train tracks! 🤣 The men certainly were enjoying being on video!! Thanks and Happy travels 🤗 I’m getting trough your older vlogs on about 21 now but also making time to watch your latest trips too! X
It was crazy to see how they tarred over the tracks! That would've put a stop to any rail travel right there! 🤷🏼♂️🚂 Our older videos are a lot shorter than they are nowadays and we didn't explore in-depth, but I'm sure you'll enjoy them too! We appreciate you watching! 🚙🛤️
Van Ongelegen naar Misgund, dat zijn plaatsnamen waarvan je de oorsprong wel zou willen weten 😅. Aan de andere kant is het eigenlijk wel leuk dat er niets over te vinden is op internet want dat prikkelt je eigen verbeelding. Aan de mooie en zeer groene omgeving kan het niet liggen (of misschien was juist dat ooit reden tot conflict, over wie wat toekwam?) want wat is het er sappig groen ! En zo te zien ook heel vruchtbaar met het vele fruit dat er groeit met veel werkgelegenheid. Wat me vaker opvalt in jullie films en nu ook weer, is hoe vriendelijk en spontaan voorbijgangers vaak op jullie reageren. Erg leuk om te zien! Als ook die ‘Algemene handelaar’ die werkelijk alle producten lijkt te hebben in de kleine winkel, truly amazing.
Those names are certainly intriguing and I'm sure there is a rich, deep and somewhat troublesome history in the area. Our thought was that the names indicate the struggles of the folks who arrived in the Langkloof first and it must've been hard for them to make a living. We saw nothing negative though, everything was fantastic in Misgund! 🚙🤩 The workers were very friendly and cheerful and we love that! We pass by friendly people all the time on our travels, which is so typically South African! 😍🇿🇦 The General Dealer was fantastic, we don't have stores like that anymore where we live and it's great to go to a small place like that which has almost the variety of a small department store in a bigger centre. We're happy that you decided to visit Misgund with us today! 👌🏻🍎🍐
Waar is die gesiggie van die dame met die mooi stem?!❤
The lady isn't keen on being filmed at all. So, until she hopefully changes her mind one day, I'll respect that and her voice will just have to do! 🚙🥰
Hi that ‘official’ building at 18.30 looks like it had the gable added after. Must have been nice without it.
We believe it was initially a hotel and it still was very beautiful to us! 🚙🏫 To me, it looked like the gable was part of the original design, but I'm no expert. 🤷🏼♂️
Hi, eargerly following your dusty escapades as always. China is today the world's biggest exporter of apples, accounting for about half of the world output. It's no wonder that apple-producing countries around the world cannot compete with the cheaper chinese competition. So, adieu to the narrow-gauge tracks because Gqeberha (Port Elizabeth) doesn't have to export apples like they did in their hey-day. So sad! Well, maybe it's poetic justice, because apples are after all native to China and reached Europe via the Silk Trail.
Thank you for the interesting info! 🍎🍏🇨🇳 I'm still very sad about the Apple Express though and would've loved to see it still running! 🚙🚂
Is there a reason why you don’t enter the churches? Are they closed? Churches in wales are generally open . D
I often enter, but not always. These two churches in Misgund were locked and there was no-one on the premises as far as we could see. Sometimes we're pushed for time and I don't enter and only film from the outside. Perhaps you missed the previous episode on Haarlem where I went inside the beautiful Lutheran Church! 🚙💒 It's worth a watch if you haven't seen it yet.
Red cheek pears are Forelle pears variety? Anybody know?
Sonia looked up pear varieties, but there are quite a few with red cheeks, so we certainly have no idea! 🤷🏼♂️🍐
Such negative names for those towns, at least they are when you translate them into English. Ongelegen is unfortunate or unlucky, and Misgund is grudge
The names were certainly not our focus and we didn't think they're negative at all. 🤷🏼♂️ In our view, they clearly reflect the hardship the first settlers went through when establishing themselves in the area and I think it's fantastic that their hard work is still being honoured and reflected in the place names. We only saw great things in the Misgund of today and the surrounding area, but then again that's what we do! 🚙🍎🍐
@@DustBugsTravel, indeed...I just thought it's odd to give a place that sounds negative...although places are usually named after the person that discovers them, so there must be a Mr/Mrs Ongelegen and a Mr/Mrs Misgund behind the establishment of those places. There's always meaning behind the name of a person's surname, majority it was to do with an act they were known from. E.g. The surname Schweinsteiger is because the first person called that was a pig farmer...lol