DETAIL #1, YSTERRANTE (NEAR THREE SISTERS) NORTHERN CAPE
DETAIL # 2, R354 BETWEEN MATJIESFONTEIN AND SUTHERLAND
‘When one man speaks to another, he stands not only in front of a man, but also in front of a stone, a flower, a star.'
From 'The Evolution of Nationalism' by Jan Rabie, 1957. (Translated from the original Afrikaans.)
BONE AND RIM, R354 BETWEEN MATJIESFONTEIN AND SUTHERLAND
OLD ROAD, R354 BETWEEN MATJIESFONTEIN AND SUTHERLAND
Some of the evidence remaining of the old main route to Sutherland - these lines of rocks can be seen from the R354 currently in use. The inside of the old road seems to have fully restored over time, looking exactly the same as the fynbos surrounding it. We were wondering if the same fate awaits the R354.
Read MoreKOPPIE #1, R354, BETWEEN MATJIESFONTEIN AND SUTHERLAND, WESTERN CAPE
Koppies are small hills - often cultivating a very specific combination of plants - facilitating a micro eco-system by giving shade and shelter for all kinds of creatures - often resulting in a very different appearance and make up to the surrounding valleys or neighbouring mountains.
Read MoreDETAIL, R354 BETWEEN MATJIESFONTEIN AND SUTHERLAND
Our consideration of what is large and what is small is constantly provoked as we experience the many details of the landscape. Even then as we use ourselves as a type of scale and our bodies are in turn observed by the landscape - it all becomes a loop of relativity. From the mere thought of what we consider the smallest atomic parts to the imagining of other distant heavenly bodies without measure.
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’I’m actually from Kuilsriver, but we moved to Paarl and I got heavy asthma - so we decided to move here. Since we’ve been here I don’t get any asthma - nature became my health-pill here. I’m relaxed. We are totally off the grid - we don’t have a landline, or cell reception and the police van doesn’t even catch his radio signal here. We are cut off from the world and like it that way - and the kids can’t bother us unnecessarily. We do go to town once a week and then they can reach us. If there is an emergency the police will come out and call us. I prefer this place, because here you can actually see the stars - you get the feeling that they are so near that you want to pick them like flowers, while in town you don’t see it as there are too many lights around you. Here you get the darkness and it is so near to nature. I look at the moon basically every night because I walk up and down between the kitchen and here. Actually when I look at the moon I can almost tell you how many days it will be until full moon or till dark moon. You pick up a lot of things about the nature - like when it will rain. You can tell by the baboons and how they are screaming, by the ants carrying their food. Nature is absolutely part of my life here and I wouldn’t exchange it for town - not at all. I mean, you can’t actually describe all of this, you got to be here to feel it - to be part of it… sort of. I just acknowledge myself as a very privileged person, to be here - just to see the sky and nature on the ground and everything all come together. You have to be here to see what is going on - to live with it. Then you start to believe how great nature is, how great God is. I mean he put everything there for us and it fits together like a puzzle. I got no worry about time because when you are in nature you lose time, because there are so many things you observe. Time is not a factor here. You must not worry about getting older because you will get older.’
TJOL HERBST #2, TOLHUIS, R354 BETWEEN MATJIESFONTEIN AND SUTHERLAND
’I’m actually from Kuilsriver, but we moved to Paarl and I got heavy asthma - so we decided to move here. Since we’ve been here I don’t get any asthma - nature became my health-pill here. I’m relaxed. We are totally off the grid - we don’t have a landline, or cell reception and the police van doesn’t even catch his radio signal here. We are cut off from the world and like it that way - and the kids can’t bother us unnecessarily. We do go to town once a week and then they can reach us. If there is an emergency the police will come out and call us. I prefer this place, because here you can actually see the stars - you get the feeling that they are so near that you want to pick them like flowers, while in town you don’t see it as there are too many lights around you. Here you get the darkness and it is so near to nature. I look at the moon basically every night because I walk up and down between the kitchen and here. Actually when I look at the moon I can almost tell you how many days it will be until full moon or till dark moon. You pick up a lot of things about the nature - like when it will rain. You can tell by the baboons and how they are screaming, by the ants carrying their food. Nature is absolutely part of my life here and I wouldn’t exchange it for town - not at all. I mean, you can’t actually describe all of this, you got to be here to feel it - to be part of it… sort of. I just acknowledge myself as a very privileged person, to be here - just to see the sky and nature on the ground and everything all come together. You have to be here to see what is going on - to live with it. Then you start to believe how great nature is, how great God is. I mean he put everything there for us and it fits together like a puzzle. I got no worry about time because when you are in nature you lose time, because there are so many things you observe. Time is not a factor here. You must not worry about getting older because you will get older.’
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REST STOP ON R27, NORTHERN CAPE
The R27 road passes through exceptionally desolate areas and is one of the main routes from Cape Town towards the SKA project site. Here, the first phase of the largest radio telescope in the world is planned for completion in around 2024.
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