Sutherland may be famous as one of the coldest places in South Africa, but it’s also home to some spectacular historical sites, as well as a Planetary Observatory.
Dutch Reformed Church:
NG Church was designed by Charles Freeman, who also designed Graaff Reinet’s Dutch Reformed Church and the Standard Bank in Cape Town. During the Anglo Boer War, the church was invaded for 8 months by British troops. Filled to capacity, it seats 1200 people.
Tuinplaas Church:
When farmers move their sheep from the cold Roggeveld to the Karoo, they have a communal meeting once a year at Tuinplaas church, 55km up the Matjiesfontein road.
Louw Museum:
The two very famous Afrikaans poets and writers NP van Wyk Louw and WEG Louw were born in this very house. Together they achieved prices of 6 Hertzog per literacy. Various other interesting exhibits can also be seen at the Louw Museum.
Way to the stars:
Pedestals for the nine planets of the solar system were built to scale on the main road or Planetarium Highway, representing the size of the sun compared to the size of the planets and also the distance between the planets. Craftsman from the local community dressed in stonework.
English Cemetery:
The most interesting grave in the English Cemetery is that of a soldier drowned in a flash flood. He was given a communal burial and after the war the British government sent a military cross and a second grave was made. The soldier was thus buried twice. It is also worth visiting the Jewish Cemetery.
Sutherland and its environs offer a wealth of unusual places, scenes and events to entertain and surprise any traveler.
18 km from the city, you can enjoy the site of the Observatory’s seven telescopes, one of which is “SALT” (Southern African Large Telescope), which has the largest single optical telescope in the southern hemisphere. With this telescope you can see a candle flame on the moon. It has a mirror diameter of 11 meters.
Ouberg Pass has a beautiful lookout point on the escarpment of the Roggeveld Mountains, 45 km west of the city. One can see the Ceres Karoo mountains some 200 km away.
Fransplaas Sheep Cheese (great name!) is the only sheep cheese farm in the country, about 50 km from the city in the direction of Calvinia. Sheep cheese is definitely an acquired taste – be daring and do like the Australians do!
Koornlandskloof tulips bloom at the end of September, an interesting site full of color and worth visiting. Walking and biking trails are also available with spacious clean affordable housing.
Skurweberg, Verlatenkloof and Banksgate 4×4 Farms have exciting off-road routes as well as walking and cycling trails with spacious accommodation and beautiful scenery. Sterboom, rye grass, elephant feet, and veld flowers are just a few of the endangered flora found in this area.
Salpeterkop, the last active volcano south of the equator, is located near the observatory. It was active 66 million years ago. Seismologically, the Japanese found that Sutherland and its environs are now the calmest in the world!
At the Ezeljaht farm, 20 km from the city, you can enjoy a two-day scenic hike, called the Silhouette Trail.
Coming from Matjiesfontein, one has to drive through the winding 15 km Verlatenkloof Pass climbing almost 1000 meters. It was designed by Thomas Bain, the son of the famous Bain who built the Bainskloof Pass near Wellington.
