S1 - Ep 182 - Middelburg - An Impressive Not-so-Little Town in the Eastern Cape!
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- เผยแพร่เมื่อ 4 ต.ค. 2022
- We travelled to Middelburg late on a cloudy and rainy afternoon and was headed for another late arrival to our accommodation. We went to buy take-away dinner at Celtis Restaurant first to take home and enjoy. Boy, did we enjoy the food! Our accommodation was an absolute highlight with such attention to detail in this beautifully-restored stable of yesteryear. The next morning we started our exploration of this impressive not-so-little town, which has such a rich history. I was blown away to see the beautiful station buildings which are just falling apart. They could’ve been used for something, I’m sure. The Stoel (chair) Monument just outside town on the Richmond Road was very interesting to see. Those guys were truly brave. All the old churches in the town were stunning and the old Anglo Boer War cemetery was absolutely amazing to visit. I always feel as if I learn something more about the town at the local cemetery. #DustBugs #adventuretravel #southafrica #southafricavlog #middelburg #karoo #easterncape
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Thanks guys ! You can't imagine how much you have been helpful to me ... I have a daughter living in Middelburg EC with her mother with whom lived in cape town 23 years ago , now my daughter she is 17 years old, but I only saw her once when she was a year old , actually I'm in DRC in Lubumbashi city , but willing still to see my daughter, her mother wants to keep her for herself ; atleast through your video I can how the city where living my daughter looks like..
Watching this from NZ. I was part of the team building the road between Noupoort and Middelburg. Stayed in Richmond road. Also build a section out to Cradock and then the first 50km between Cradock and Cookhouse
Wow, how interesting! So you must know the area well then. Richmond Road is really a beautiful street, I hope you were still able to recognise some of it. Thank you for sharing your story, really enjoyed reading your comment. 👌🏻 Stay tuned for the next episodes of our trip through the area, I'm sure you'll recognise more places.
Awesome job buddy !
Why did you leave 🇿🇦
Oh my…….the hotel! Just exquisite!
I grew up in Middelburg EC. Absolutely beautiful Town with such rich history and beautiful sightings. Definitely most beautiful Town in the Eastern Cape alongside Graaff-Reinet
Please stay your authentic selves.watching from the Uk,we love all your wow’s,amazing,interesting etc 🤣 and the laughing don’t let others mute you.
Greetings to you in the UK! 🙋🏻♀️🙋🏼♂️ Thank you so much! 😊 No danger of muting around here, the laughter and all the rest will continue just like always! We appreciate you watching! 🚗😁
Besutiful. Always enjoy to hear the birds wherever you both go happily talking. Very interesting. Such a joy to watch and share. Thank you both.
You're very welcome! 👌🏻The birdsong was especially beautiful in the street outside our accommodation the morning we left, so glad you enjoyed that too! 😍🦜
It also makes me Cry I miss my beautiful country so much😢😢😢😢
I can believe that. 😥 We're happy to show you what you're missing until you can hopefully visit again one day. 🇿🇦
Thanks!
Thank you so much! I see you made a turn in the Eastern Cape too! 🚙😁
Thank you for promoting tourism in SA especially in small towns
Our pleasure! 😊🚗
Beautiful small town, neat and clean. The roads are bad but they are working on them. Thank you for visiting.
Beautiful Carlton Heights👌
Thank you guys was weer lekker I feel I’m on the road with you 🇿🇦🇿🇦🇨🇭🇨🇭🇨🇭🇨🇭
Thank you, we saw you on the backseat! 😁🚗 You're welcome to join us again anytime!
Baie dankie vir julle videos - love everyone of them!!!! Watching from Canada and reliving all the routes/towns we travelled as children, as well as adults, while living in SA. Bring baie heimwee😞You and Sonia are just the nicest, most positive people on this planet. Thank you for your amazing videos!
Greetings to you in Canada! 🇨🇦 Little funny story: The two of us thought we could do a quick two-week trip across Canada in 2005. Needless to say, we completely underestimated the vastness of that beautiful country. We had a fantastic time though and plan to do the rest of it one day! 😁 We so appreciate your kind comment, it's fantastic that you're travelling with us and wonderful to hear that you're reminded of good times in the past. You're always welcome to join us! 😊🚗
Baie dankie vir julle toer ek geniet dit baie ek is van Namibia baie dankie vir julle trip
Richmond road looks posh👌🥰
Thank you so much for your ongoing videos. Really enjoy them although we are still catching up as we discovered your channel only recently. Really great to see all the small towns and villages. Very enjoyable-thanks again.
Welcome! 🙋🏻♀️🙋🏼♂️ We're so glad to hear that you're enjoying our videos, there are certainly enough to keep you busy for a while! 😁
Beautiful vistas. Love the Karoo skyline, make me want to reach for a paintbrush. Luxury place you guys stayed it, beautiful! But your supper!! Daars meer sous as kos! A nee a! Love the beautiful old buildings. Such a sad station! Thanks for showing Middelburg, it was always just a coffee stop for us from PE on our way north.
We are not purists by any stretch of the imagination, so the saucier, the better for us! 😝 Our accommodation was in one word fantastic, we had a wonderful time! 🤩
Just loved the Carlton Heights so beautiful. Middelburg a very pretty town such a lot to see and so clean. Buildings so beautiful. I have never been there but a lovely place.
It really is a stunning place! Glad we could take you to a town you haven't been to before. 🤩🚗
Dankie vir die saamtoer! Pragtige geskiedenis van die ontstaan van die dorpies (en wys van die ou geboue) wat die toere so interessant maak.
Thank you so much! We're very happy to have you along for the ride! 😁🚗
Hi You Two. Another town linked to my late parents in 1940’s (The other one was Graaff-Reinet) Never mind what "it’s my party" says elsewhere: Your travels and experiences, video’s and all that you are photographing ARE STUNNING, AMAZING, INCREDIBLE...
I also noted the breakfast cuppas were on their place.
Enjoy your trip and stay safe!
So Middelburg was a nostalgic one for you. 😊 We're so happy that you enjoy our videos and are travelling along, thank you! 😁🚗 The cups may not always make it in to our videos, but they're always there, you can be sure of that. ☕
Dankie vir die trip dis baie intresant ek geniet dit baie dankie
I used to live in Middelburg, aged 10. It was so nice and safe❤️
I hope our video brought back some good memories for you. Thank you so much for watching! 😊🚗
@@DustBugsTravel it did, old days when I still had my adoptive parents and not a care in the world. You should do Cradock as well. My dad had a shop close to the hospital.
We visited Cradock a little later on our trip. Be on the lookout for that video too. 👍
I remember that station, I was on my way to Pretoria we were back then Conscripted into the SADF or other Services (SAAF, SAP, SA Navy, etc) The station looked very nice, there were loads of Girls and Parents on the station seeing their sons off to serve. I remember Girls hanging into the windows and kissing their loved ones. The same girls who wrote the dreaded letter to her troepie to say that she has met somebody else, LOL! The reason I remebered that station was that it was the only station I saw which were build in the Cape Dutch style. The train stopped at every station and picked up Army guys, New Recruits and a lot of "Ou Manne". By the time we got to Pretoria there must have been thousands of us on the 1 train, and then all the "Afkak" started.
Your vivid description took me right back to that station with its beautiful Cape Dutch buildings of which very sadly almost nothing is left. 🚆😥 The town is a pretty one and an attractive station would've just been the crowning glory!
Very good episode
Thank you kindly. 👌😁
Ja...nice to see the town of Middelburg where we stayed from 1974 to 1980. I went through there a year ago again and I noticed the potholed streets and overall look were in pretty bad shape, not the way it used to be...but what can we say. It does look like there are a few people trying to make a difference, and even Church street is being tarred again.. Quite a nice place you stayed in. Middelburg used to be quite a bustling town, but when Coke closed their factory the downward spiral started. Interesting that those years you could taste the difference between coke bottled in Middelburg and coke bottled elsewhere. And yes, you might not believe it but there was even a factory that produced the Playboy deodorants. Middelburg also had a Drive-In those years which was on your right as you leave the town via Richmond road. And we also had a very nice swimming pool (which was closed on Sundays those days..lol) but in later times it was completely demolished by the powers that be. Opposite the swimming pool was a big caravan park. And yes, that fountain did work when we were there, and I remember quite well one night somebody had poured boxes and boxes of Omo/Surf whatever in the fountain and there was just foam all over the nearest streets everywhere. Once upon a time there were also 2 sets of working traffic lights in town. And the Grootfontein Agricultural College just next to the town. Ok..think I rather stop now....Thanx for bringing us some memories again..
I had such fun reading your comment. From the Coke bottled there, which I had absolutely no idea about, right down to the Playboy deodorants. We clearly didn't even scratch the surface of the memories this town holds! 😁 You obviously still have a deep affection for the place and I don't blame you one bit. There may be the odd pothole in the street, but overall we found it a stunning not-so-little town with super friendly people. That's always a good sign! That fountain must've been truly magnificent in its day, I can actually imagine it working again. With or without Surf or Omo, it must be a pretty sight! ⛲
Dankie vir die trip ek geniet dit so dis baie intresant
Very interesting to see the Stoel Monument with P. J. Wolfaardt! Wonder if he's one of my ancestors (I'm J. F. Wolfaardt). We passed through Middelburg in the 1980s just to say we've been to Middelburg in the Cape, as my grandfather lived near Middelburg in the TVL!
He may very well be, you have some research to do! 🙂
Love this episode
Thank you so much! 😁🚗
Lovely to see a well maintained town and buildings interesting grave yard I also loved the little datsun bakkie parked in front of church and the old traction roller 😀
You certainly have an eye for detail, I love that! 🛻🚜 The graveyard was super interesting, I was very touched by those graves of unknown soldiers, I felt quite sad actually. 😥 It really is a fantastic town, we had a thoroughly enjoyable stay.
Super leuk om te zien (nice to see). In Nederland heb je ook een plaats met de naam Middelburg 🙂
Baie dankie vir die trip dis so mooi ek geniet dit so ek volg dit saam met julle ek is van Namibia geniet dit
Love, love, love your programs!
Thank you so much, we really appreciate that! 😁🚗
The town where I drew my first breath....spent the first 5 years of my life in Noupoort. Nice videos. Keep up the good work.
Thank you! 😊 Middelburg seemed like such a peaceful place to us and we loved visiting. We knew it was a biggish town though. Noupoort was the real revelation, especially in terms of size! 😳 You're probably only able to recall limited memories if you left the area when you were five. Hopefully some good memories remain. We appreciate you watching! 😁🚗
@@DustBugsTravel One would think that I guess, however, I remember quite a lot about that time. Maybe I'm blessed/cursed with a very decent long term memory. Anyway, got very strong family connections to Steynsburg for good measure. For example, my father and his brother both matriculated at Paul Kruger College. My mother had her first job there...My aunts & uncles lived there. So, Middelburg, Noupoort & Steynsburg played/plays a big role in my familial history at least.
And when travelling Northwards, I always stop over and reminisce. Bumped into your channel by chance. Will watch with interest. From a fellow travel fanatic.
I subscribe to the old saying: If travelling was free, you'd never see me again! The history, the sights, the people....
Keep up the good content.
Great to see Middleburg, sad reminder,a school freind and local farmer murdered in his kitchen on his farm near Middleburg some years back so sad. But I love your positivity and love for our small towns. Good for you
That is indeed a sad association with the town. 😥 We appreciate you watching and look forward to bringing you our experiences in many more small towns. 🤩
I thankyou and do look forward to some more splendid videos, safe travels
Beautiful church!!!
thats my home town
Old memories.... got married in the little Methodist church... nearly 60 years ago
Bless your hearts
Wow, that is incredible! ⛪ Thank you for sharing that special memory with us.
I'm now 72 and I went to Karel Theron school for Sub A & Sub B. The big white hotel was Grand Hotel owned by Seligman. There was a power station and at 12h00 the hooter used to sound.
Wow, what an experience to attend such a great school! 📚 I gather you moved away from the area after Sub B or to a different school in Middelburg. Interesting info about the hotel and the power station, thank you for sharing that with us. 👌
@@DustBugsTravel Our family farm was Greyville on the Tafelburg road or road to Conway. Registered in 1871. I went to Kingswood in Grahamstown.
A stopover on the way to the Grahams town festival. I had a huge house all to myself! Had supper at the big restored hotel. Happy days
That sounds like super fun times! 😍 Times like those make life worth living, thanks for sharing that. 😁👌
Thank you kindly for your efforts, you know what will be brilliant , is to fabricate wheels under your car that fit on rail tracks and explore like that, from town to town
Now that is a brilliant idea, I love it! 🚗🛤️
Watching from Australia, but have been to SA about half a dozen times. Have driven many kms around your beautiful country, but I have never been to Middelburg. It certainly looks like a lovely town. Next time!
Hello to you in Australia! How wonderful that you love South Africa and have been to visit so many times! You will love Middelburg and the surrounding towns too, so be sure to include them in your route somehow when you visit our shores again next. We appreciate you watching from so far away! 🇿🇦🚗
@@DustBugsTravel And hello to you in SA! Many fond memories of SA.
So much to see in a country about one-sixth the size of Australia, and while our highest mountain is around 7300 feet, yours is around 11,300! So magnificent and ever-changing. Plus the incredible wildlife. Not to mention the wonderfully diverse population and the rich and varied cultures. And super friendly!.
To Buffalo Rallies on our motorcycles....Carlton Heights was one of the highlights and then of course you HAD to stop at Middelburg Hotel for a draught of beer and coming back on the Sunday for breakfast ! One should go into the hotel. It's quite enticing inside and so....old right !
How I lived myself into every part of your recollection. 😁 Having been on a motorcycle a time or two in my younger days, I can only imagine the exhilaration you experienced during such outings. 🏍️🛣️ I appreciate you sharing this. 👍🏻🍻
Hi Curtis and Sonia! I really enjoy your travels. I especially like the focus on the churches and the farmstalls. Why do you focus on the churches?
Lots of blessings and safe travels.
You ask a very good question and it's an easy answer for us. Architecture! ⛪ In these small towns, the churches, especially the older ones, more often than not are the most stunning buildings in town and we automatically gravitate towards them, no matter how big or small they may be. Very often the steeples are visible from a distance and it so happens that the only road into town leads right to the church. 😍 So happy to hear you enjoy travelling along! 🚗😁
@@DustBugsTravel Thanks!
Your accommodation 👌👌👌👌 Stunning!!! Love it
This is so interesting, my ouma's maiden name was Aucamp(father's mother)and her three brothers each had a farm.Would love to get in touch with that side of the family.
She was Maria Magdalena Aucamp and married Johannes Anthonij van Leersum who came from Holland
Thank you so much for all these wonderful places that you visit
.
Thank you for coming along on our trips! 😁🚗 Middelburg will in all likelihood have a Facebook page where you can post details about the people you're looking for. I really hope you're successful in connecting. 😊
Surprisingly enough, I have found the roads in the Eastern Cape to be rather good .
Absolutely, we agree. In some parts of the Eastern Cape the roads are good, even great in places. 👍🏻🛣️
Hi there dustbugs.. My family is actually staying in Middleburg grow up in Somerset East and they moved there in the early 90s from Somerset East.
Two equally fantastic towns, those! 🤩 I'm sure they're very happy there.
Het ook in Celtiek oorgeslaap, Hulle was so gaaf ek het tot my uie ouma se koffie pot uit die Prado gaan haal en huule vir ons n pot Boere troos die oggend vir ondbyt gebrou , Dankie vir die deel
That's a happy menory! They're very hospitable there and it's a gorgeous place. Great food too! 👌😁
Happily and well presented.
Thank you, we're happy you enjoyed it. 😊👌
O ek geniet julle trip baie intresant ek hoop julle verstaan Afrikaans ek is va Namibia en geniet alles dankie
Wow wow wow
Love love love your channel.
Love your enthusiasm and energy..
Sadly we only recently came upon your channel..
You put a smile on our face..
Drive safe
Ps.. Have you been to gariep dam..
Thank you so very much for your most kind comment! 😊 It's fantastic to hear that you enjoy our videos so much. We haven't been to the Free State and Gariep Dam just yet. Watch this space though, we have plans. 😉🚗 Until then, there are almost 200 others for you to enjoy.
Other words to skip are gorgeous, stunning and wow. Other than that, your posts are marvelous, thank you! Interesting the poor condition of the road infrastructure in all these small towns.
Believe me, we've tried! 😁 But everything we see is gorgeous, stunning and wows us, so we just can't help it! We forget everything our English teachers taught us when we're on the road and our vocabularies fail us sometimes. We can certainly attempt breathtaking, magnificent, fabulous, etc, but that is simply just not who we are. 🤷🏼♂️ Thank you both for watching!
You just carry on doing you. I been here from the start and its not a big deal. Love your videos and research. You know there is always something hey.....😋😋😋😋
Middleburg is also called Middleburg because it's the middle point between Bloemfontein and PE
Interesting! 👍🏻
It just is spelled Middelburg.
@@noyota Middelburg, Middleburg....this isn't a spelling bee...
Enjoy your travels around the country
Is there another word that you can use other than Wow 😂
We struggle because everything is just wow to us! 😎 Glad you're still enjoying our videos, despite our limited vocab! 😁🚗
We had a MIGHTY MEN CONFERENCE out on a farm . Alot of men was saved there
AMEN!!!!
That's awesome. I assume you mean on a farm near Middelburg. 👌
What about the 2 townships of the place and the agricultural college Grootfontein?
It's impossible to include every single place of interest in a town and it's not our goal to do so. I film out of the window of our car and we've experienced a few incidents in townships before. Our personal safety while travelling is our top priority. 🤷♂️
Bro, You look like a South African Heisenberg from Breaking Bad, Drakensburg.
😁 You may call me Walter White. 👍
Drakensberg..... A burg is a town, while a berg is a mountain.
It is so sad to see how this beautiful country of us has been detroyed> 😞
Middelburg is actually still a very pretty town though and encouraging to see that a lot of the history has been preserved. 🚗😊
Wat is daai pad se naam waar julle gebly het in Middelburg. My kop trek Middelburg Se kant toe. 😂Ek dink amper ek gaan daar iets koop . Stunning plek daai Middelburg
Our accommodation was located in Smid Street in Middelburg. It is a stunning place and I understand completely why you're strongly considering this town. 👌🏻😁
@@DustBugsTravel Dankie hoor . Ek wil net vir jou se dat Ek klaar n eiensdom agent in Middelburg gekontak het , en het al klaar na n hele paar pragtige plekke gekyk . As Ek iets kies Sal ek oor vlieg en dit fiesies daar koop . Sal ook graag foto’s vir julle wil stuur. 👍🤣Dankie The search is over .
You certainly don't mess around! That's fantastic, please keep us posted on your property-buying journey. You can send those pics to dustbugs1@gmail.com when you're ready. 🤩🇿🇦
@@DustBugsTravel Yes 👍 ek sal so maak . Keep up the good videos. I love ❤️ it. Lekker aand vir julle hoor. Groete
We love your travels but we have seen you when will we meet Sonja
😁 Sonia isn't keen at all to appear on camera. For now, she says her voice and laughter will have to do. 😍
@@DustBugsTravel Well I suppose each one to themselves.
Will you be going to more Eastern Cape towns. Places such as Aliwal North , Lady Grey, Barkley East and Rhodes for instance?
Absolutely! We've had two trips to the Eastern Cape so far and there's so much more to see, so we'll definitely plan more. 😁🚗
We like yr vids, but the long stretches of road nothingness is boring, pls pan the camera to capture the vistas on either side.
We again love the 'nothingness' in-between towns. 😁 It's a good way to enjoy nature, the surroundings and to just be in the moment without too much to see. I do make a point of highlighting items of interest along the road. It's great to hear that you do enjoy some parts of our videos though, we appreciate you watching! 🚗👌🏻
I agree, but as a travelogue, perhaps the distant mountains etc etc wd be more interesing than the white line in the road. I also suggest some dialogue as to what makes a town tick. What do they do there? Historical buildings & wotnot. Just a suggestion, having also travelled extensively.
Thank you for your suggestions. 👍 Our channel is about the enjoyment of us as a couple travelling for fun and not taking things too seriously nor doing in-depth research. We've done as you suggested in countless of our close to 200 videos and we hope you enjoy at least some of the content in some of these. Thank you for watching, we do appreciate that. 🚗
Nothing called "travel" ever is boring, my two million km proved that. Just adjust how you see things. Others are quite content.
Good morning,this is so interesting as my maternal Ouma's family were Aucamp and were given three farms when they arrived from France.
My father was born in Middelburg.
His three uncles were Pieter,Petrus and Frans Aucamp.
His j
Most interesting and, hitherto unknown to me, history of the Stoel Monument. One could say much about that era, the criminal invasion of this country, not dissimilar to what's happening in Ukraine right now. That men got executed for trying to drive out the enemy. Oh, I think of that brutal Ozzie, Breaker Morant, Lords Kitchener, Milner and the like, how brutal they were. Yet as few as sixteen thousand men, actually much of them very young boys, managed to keep 450,000 well provisioned soldiers at bay for a few years.
Today, there is birdsong and a forgotten past. People are wrong to hate others for what had occurred a century ago; today's people never were part of those atrocities. My wife and I feel the need to go visit that stoel monument as only Dust Bugs told the story, a story that needs to be unearthed and told in detail. There is very little about it on the internet, and I am not sure why. One should erect mileposts to see where you were coming from, to help you find your way in life, as the prophet Jeremiah prompted us to do.
We were also not able to find much about it online, I just knew I had to see it for myself though. It was almost a sacred moment, thinking that in that very area those two brave men lost their lives. 🪑🏛️
@@DustBugsTravel Lotter was my granduncle. He was 26 years old when he was murdered by Kichener's thugs. He was much maligned by the English press and referred to as a "mere brigand". Imagine a 26 year old leading a large commando of hardened men. Politically he had a huge following. This was a problem for the British. Olive Schreiner wrote a laudatory poem about this young man. Lotter's commando included the Wolfaart brothers, Bizley class marksmen. No less famous was Lotter's brother Zirk Lotter, a medical student who served as the commando's medical orderly. He lost the sight in one eye in battle. You can find photographs of this young hero with his black eye patch. Zirk was sentenced to death but his brother's murder stirred up so much ill will that his sentence was commuted to a short stay in prison. Zirk returned to Scotland to complete his medical studies, married a scotswoman and returned to SA and the family seat in Somerset East. He practised as a "horse and buggy doctor" for years. He had one child, a boy, who was named after Charles Darwin. I met his son when I was around 10 years old.
@@johanlotter1872 As a former Bisley marksman myself, and having shot drop plates over a thousand yards, perhaps my sense of adventure just came many years too late for me to be executed. The Dutch were oppressed by other nations for best part of a century prior to 1652, and they certainly got warfare with their mothers' milk. The Dutch could shoot straight, as the absence of millions of springbok can attest to. The history that you portray sounds most interesting indeed. Perhaps you could tell the story by publishing a book? (Btw, Charles Darwin, Thomas Edison, David Livingstone and Marconi all share the same trait: fraudsters, as they all claimed honour for what others had achieved. There were French and Portuguese traders at the Vic Falls well more than a century prior to Livingstone's arrival. Louis Trichardt wrote his name on a baobab tree there four years before Livingstone arrived. The British simply cannot be trusted to tell the truth, which is why the sun never set on their empire - as they would conniver even more in the dark.)
@@noyota The advantage of having sharpshooters like the Wolfaarts was that they could be tasked to take down the men with the red coats (the officers). Once the officers were down, there would be complete absence of leadership in the British camp with the average British Tommy becoming an easy and confused d target in the ensuing chaos rapidly devolving into a turkey shoot. Tommy Atkins knew how to obey orders but did not know how to give them. After some months the British abandoned the red coats as officer field uniform, but you could still identify the officers by their Sam Brown belts and holstered Webley revolvers.
Lotter was well respected by the British fighting men. He was made very comfortable in a well-appointed jail cell and was given good food and even cigars. On the day before his execution, he was allowed a visit from a lady friend, most likely a lover. The record only reflects her initials, so her identity is forever unknown, and her honor preserved.