R62 Calitzdorp to Ladismith 🇿🇦

00:00 Intro Title
00:13 Google Map
00:22 Left Calitzdorp
00:53 Stortingsterein
01:03 Calitzdorp Fruit
01:54 Matjiesvlei
02:36 Gamka
02:47 Huis 1 start of Huisrivier Pass
03:27 Huis 2
04:02 1st Rest Stop
05:17 2nd Rest Stop
06:42 Ladismith 30 km
07:35 Bergplaas
08:02 Opsoek
08:12 Blink Kant Padstal (Farmstall)
10:05 Opsoek
10:25 Amalienstein
10:35 Seweweekspoort
10:53 Ladismith 20 km
11:18 Nels
11:28 Zoar
12:25 Fontein
12:43 Three Oaks
13:40 Hoeko, Ladismith Country House 10 km
14:18 Ladismith 10 km
16:42 Stortingsterein
17:04 Entering Ladismith
17:25 Begraafplaas

#Calitzdorp
Calitzdorp is a town on the Western side of the Little or Klein Karoo in the Western Cape Province of South Africa and lies on South Africa's Route 62.

The farm Buffelsvallei, on which Calitzdorp stands, was granted to Jacobus Johannes and Matthys Christiaan Calitz in 1831. The brothers donated part of their farm for the establishment of a church in 1853 and in 1858 the church started the sale of plots to church members. In 1924 a railway line was opened, in 1937 electrification and a new cement road to Oudtshoorn was completed.

The Swartberg (in the North), Rooiberge (to the South) and the Mountains of the Huisrivier Pass (to the West) surrounds Calitzdorp's challenging landscape with floods, droughts and extreme weather, from very hot to snow clad mountaintops in the winter.

Summers are very hot during the day, mainly a dry heat, up to 40 °C. Wind from the sea every afternoon allows for moderate, cool evenings. Winters have sunny days, very cold nights with occasional frost and snow often falling on the surrounding Swartberg Mountain Range. Rainfall is approximately 200 mm per year, often with the changing of seasons. Prevailing winds are mainly from the south in summer and hot wind from the North in August.

Calitzdorp is a haven for enthusiasts of fishing, bird-watching, cycling, 4×4 and other scenic routes, horse-riding and wine tasting.

Calitzdorp is renowned as a centre of the port wine industry in South Africa with several major wine estates famous for their award-winning products. A Port festival takes place in the town in mid-June each year.

#HuisrivierPass
The Huisrivier Pass is a mountain pass in Western Cape, South Africa, between Calitzdorp to the east and the old missionary stations of Zoar and Amaliënstein to the west. The pass peaks at 655 m above sea level and has a maximum gradient of 1 in 14. It crosses the R62 provincial road over the Huisrivier Mountains, a spur of the Swartberg. The name huis comes from the Khoikhoi word for "willow."

The original pass was built in 1897 and renovated during the 1950s, followed by further improvement and pavement in 1966. Graham Ross, the acting District Road Inspector in 1951, searched for means to widen the pass, but could not find any. Retaining walls have been built to divert frequent rockslides.

#Ladismith
Ladismith is a town and agricultural centre in the western Little Karoo region of South Africa's Western Cape province.

It is situated adjacent to a series of fertile, irrigated valleys, at an elevation of 550 m above sea level, at the southern base of the Swartberg. It is currently included in the southern Kannaland Local Municipality. The nearest towns are Calitzdorp to the east, Vanwyksdorp and Riversdale to the south and Laingsburg to the north.

In 1852 the farm Elandsvlei was set aside for the town, and it became a municipality in 1862. It was named after Lady Juana María Smith, the wife of Sir Harry Smith, one of two towns in South Africa named after her, the other being Ladysmith in KwaZulu-Natal.