Just beyond Blanco we rode the Montagu Pass. We live in a stunning country. #GoodyearSA – Taken by the Editor whilst wandering aimlessly about pretending to be in the know.
The Outeniqua mountain range is named after the Khoisan word for “man laden with honey.” A referral to the indigenous fynbos that attracts honey bees.
Named after the Cape Colonial Secretary of the time, Sir John Montagu, the Montagu pass was built by Henry Fancourt White and opened in 1847.
Declared a national monument in 1972, the Montagu Pass is the oldest unaltered pass in South Africa.
8.8 kilometres of the Montagu Pass had to be blasted, with gunpowder, out of solid rock.
The rare George Lily grows near water in the steep ravines of the mountain.
The small Waboomskraal valley provides South African Breweries with 70% its total hops supply – the other 30% is imported. During World War 1 imported hops were hard to get do SAB gave farmers around the country hops cutting so see if hops could be grown. The Waboomskraaal valley area won hands down and hops have been grown here ever since. This area gets more hours of sunlight per day than any other in the country which is a major reason for the successful growing of hops.
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Alan Straton
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