As we drove into the Karoo town of Calitzdorp I sent an SMS. When I looked up, we had reached the end of it.
We had had our fill of hot springs and hiking at the Calitzdorp Spa, situated halfway between Calitzdorp and Oudtshoorn and wanted to explore what the town of Calitzdorp was all about, but had missed it in the blink of an eye. We doubled back and turned left at a sign that read “˜Port and Wine Farm’ to see what treasures we could find. Once of the beaten track of Route 62, white roses lined the old roads besides the vineyard and pretty, little houses with empty porches passed us by.
I suggested we stop at this interesting looking coffee shop on the corner. It wasn’t so much the sign advertising home baked cakes and cappuccinos or the painting on the porch saying we could get massages and pedicures, but the exquisite paintings hanging all around resembling Coke’s original ads that beckoned me inside Die Handelshuis ( The General dealer).
It was like stepping into a room of old-world brilliance. There was so much for the eye to take in, preserves of chili sauce, jams and espresso beans were stacked up against the walls in shelves, more old Coca Cola paintings with pale, beautiful women decorated the walls. Some were sipping on Coke, others pouted their red lips and another fell off her ice skates. Through a red, transparent curtain, an antique cupboard housed all the spa’s products. A bronze gramophone stood to one side. A police sign, old traffic lights and a tin of Five Roses tea sign were mounted on the walls around a pool table, there was a sign on it that said “˜not for public play’.
And that was all before I had taken a bite of my chocolate cupcake with butter icing. It was utterly mouthwatering and perfect in every way and even had those silver balls that moms used to decorate cupcakes for their kids. My cappuccino complemented it superbly and I slipped into a trance as the hospitable owner, Tracy, came over to chat to us. She shared her wealth of knowledge of Calitzdorp with us while we merrily munched away. It took her and her husband two years to restore the place to its former glory after it was deserted for 10 years after serving as the general dealer, selling everything from clothing to cement. The tiny church that I had just taken a photo of was St. Mark’s Church originally one of the smallest churches in the world seating all of 10 people. I wondered what use that would’ve been, as that was probably just big enough for the local priest and his family to fit in.
Tracy highlighted just how serious the recent bird flu epidemic was for this little town. Hundreds of ostriches were culled and burned on farms in the area leaving farmers with no way to keep all the their staff. Ostriches that had been trained for years to take tourists on rides were wiped out, affecting that sector of tourism too. The repercussions for a place this small was huge and she said it would take about five years to recover from it all.
She told us about their partnership with an artist, Marinda Combrink, who owned the gallery next door, and how this coffee shop was used as an exhibition hub for her paintings. One of those Coca Cola paintings modelled on the original could set you back R4 500. I mentally added it to my list of things to get for my future house one day. I bought a bag of dark roast espresso before leaving and it turns out her sister makes this coffee in Johannesburg. My dad promised to bring some of his American tour groups to her shop when they passed, she smiled for a photo with her husband behind the counter and we left high on sugar and ready for a drive.
The coffee shop actually marks the original main road that comes alive during the Calitzdorp Port and Wine Festival. After the small church we saw ‘Die Langhuis’ were the first postal agency was housed and Katz’s shop which is one of the oldest buildings in Queen street. The Karoo Life Bed & Breakfast and Restaurant was home to the town’s wagon builder and blacksmith until cars were invented and he was put out of business. Many of the other houses along the road had charming Cape Dutch gables and were either Karoo Victorian or Neoclassical in style, where butchers, auctioneers and attorneys once lived.
And to think: we would have missed this wonderful experience had we just driven on by!
Contact
Die Handelshuis
Tel 078-585-7699
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