Route 62

Once upon a time, a man by the name of Ronnie decided to build himself a little farm stall next to the road. It was in the middle of nowhere  on the dusty plains of Route 62 in the Klein Karoo.

The plan was to sell some farm produce to passsing cars and a couple of beers to locals on business trips between the small towns of  Barrydale and Ladismith.

The idea seemed good and Ronnie immediately set to work. Once all set up, Ronnie aptly baptised the little roadside shop "Ronnies Shop" and painted it in big red letters on the side of the shop for all to see.

Business ticked over slowly for Ronnie, until two of his mates one night grabbed a bucket of red paint and added the word "sex" to his signage so it suddenly read "Ronnies Sex Shop".

Ronnie was furious, but very quickly every passing motorist couldn't resist stopping to find out what type of Sex Shop could possibly be here, in the midlle of nowhere next to the road.

Over the years Ronnie's Sex Shop has become famous and strange traditions followed, like the thousands of women who donate their knickers and bras to be hung up in the little pub and the walls that are now scribbled full of funny graffiti messages from curious visitors.

You can still find Ronnie behind the counter ready to offer you a cold beer or bar snack from his Road Kill Cafe.

The picturesque little village of Montagu is literally situated right in the middle of Route 62, a convenient 2 hours drive from Cape Town in the one direction, or 2 hours drive from Oudtshoorn in the other direction. Montagu's rock formations are truly majestic, making it one of the world's favourite rock climbing and abseiling destinations.

Like most towns on Route 62, Montagu has lots of wine cellars to visit, but it is especially famous for its sweet Muskadel.

For beer lovers there is the famous "Mystic Tin" Backpackers and Karoo Breweries. Three local beers are produced by the Micro Brewery at the backpackers, and is well worth a visit! (See Video).

Saturdays are market days, and here you can find the locals sell home produce and all kinds of interesting arts and crafts.

About one and a half hours drive from Cape Town on the scenic Route 62 lies the town of Robertson. If you'd like to travel Route 62, you would need to rent a car, as there is no hop on hop off bus service on this route.

Robertson is famous for breeding thoroughbred race horses and of course its many top quality wine estates.

The nice thing about tasting wine in Robertson is the fact that tasting is free, unlike many other wine regions in the country. The wine estates are truely majestic, with beautiful flaming red roses, kannas and bougainvillea lining the edges of the roads and orchards.

A really interesting wine estate to visit is Kranskop, which is one of the few estates where you can do tasting straight from the barrel.

Another interesting visit is the Klipdrift brandy cellars, where you can taste the different ranges of brandies,

cleverly paired with different titbits of food to enhance the tasting experience.

Robertson also offers one and two day sleepover hikes into the adjacent Langeberg mountains.

So, you've spent enough time in Cape Town. You've climbed Table Mountain, been to Robben Island and sampled all the nightlife you can handle.

Its time to head up to the Garden Route! Now, you can either take the national road (N2), which is pretty dull, but you can make use of the convenient door to door, hop on hop off bus company Bazbus or decide to take Route 62 meandering through majestic lanscapes, towering cliffs and beautiful valleys with its crystal clear springs. For this you'll need to rent a car, as there is no hop on hop off service on this route.

Your journey will take you through the fruit and wine producing towns of Robertson, McGregor, Ashton, Bonnievale, Tulbagh and Montagu which forms part of the picturesque Breede River valley. 

From there, following the route further east you'll discover the Klein Karoo region known for its variety of succulents, hazy purple mountain landscapes and the quaint little towns of Barrydale, Calitzdorp and eventually Oudtshoorn, famous for its ostriches and the magnificent Kango Caves.