My busy piece of heaven

With our accommodation offering a full DStv bouquet and WiFi, the sense of 'getting away' was slightly dampened.

Clarens in the free State. Picture: @clarens_za on Twitter

A little getaway to the countryside always sounds so idyllic: the fresh air, getting close to nature. The brochures and magazines really do make it sound like a little piece of heaven waiting to be discovered. So, it was with great anticipation that we – my wife and one daughter being my travelling companions – set our sights on a long weekend in Clarens.

First was booking accommodation. I was astounded when a wellknown online booking-site proclaimed the entire town to be 97% booked. Luckily, I found a piece of the 3% unoccupied territory and staked my claim by way of an EFT.

The town was now 98% booked.

Taking an extra day off work, we headed out to the countryside, taking the scenic route through towns like Reitz and Bethlehem.

Arriving in Clarens in late afternoon, I was impressed with the visible progress since my first and only previous visit to the town, close on two decades ago. It looked even more charming than I remembered, with many more shops and restaurants.

With our accommodation offering a full DStv bouquet and WiFi, the sense of “getting away” was slightly dampened, but I’m the last to complain about too much technology.

Wandering about, deciding where to have dinner, I noticed a strange phenomenon: the earlier trickle of vehicles into town had turned into a little stream. Walking back to the spot we would call home for the weekend after dinner, I was relieved that we had set off on foot, because the traffic was by then quite daunting.

After a delicious sleep-in on Friday, my tummy called me to action: brunch was needed.

Well, where they came from and how they managed to slip in quietly throughout the night, I do not know, but the town was virtually packed to the rafters.

There were queues of people waiting to go into shops to browse. People were lining the pavements waiting for tables at the restaurants. I gave up trying to visit the local brewery. And so it continued until Sunday morning, when the flood of cars swept the masses away to wherever they came from.

And peace and quiet returned to the countryside.

Wide open spaces? Yeah, right.