S1 - Ep 466 - Rosendal, Free State! 

Hi Curtis and Sonia, thank you very much for the date time group you guys putting up at the start of our journey. Much appreciated. Let's explore Rosendal... 😊😊

I'm so happy we are back on the gravel roads and visiting the smaller towns 💃☺️

I love Rosendal and its people. Cultural and art hotspot. If the tar road is fixed properly, many city folk would flock back to this treasure.

I enjoy traveling with you, I live in an old age home and this way I see our country. Lovely God bless.

Thanks!

That's it sign me up...Im packing my stuff. I found me a spot to settle. This is the cutest place.....OMW 🤭😊 never knew of such a place and love the name. What a find this was....well done you two sweety pies❤🎉❤

I know this village well. From Fickburg the scenery is spectacular and all around the area..

Hi guys I'm with you Curtis I could build a tiny house and I would be well and truly sorted!!! Population 150 love it .the white face cows are Herefordshire cows lovely steaks. The big thatched roof house with the dormer windows would fit right in to a English village .beautiful stone church with the children's great trek memorial and a quirky buildings. The town had a sleepy vibe but I can imagine when it was a artist community it seems ideal. Right up my alley the scrap yard and the big stands .the cattle in the road looked like Afrikaaner cattle to me that's the kind of cattle I used to see back in the 70s. Amazing video thanks for taking me along cheerio till the next one

Wow that's awesome, much appreciated.

Hi you two! Blue skies, gravel road, wide fields, cattle end antelopes ... ! Rosendal stunned me. One can hardly believe that such a little place still exists in the twenty first century after 110+ years. And so neat, clean and well kept. With the houses so far away from each other on their big plots, neighbours wont keep each other awake with midnight parties. I really hope that the townspeople will keep the place going (I think they will and want to), be it with tourism or farming. Thanks Sonia for adding some of the history during your chats ! This was really a heart touching trip, thank you again for taking me along. Until next time, keep safe!

An extremely interesting presentation! Thank you for taking us along.

Thank you once again for the beautiful trip to one of the many little towns in the Free State. The trees and mountains are gorgeous. Until the next journey.❤

Super 👌

Hi guys. Am enjoying the trip

Thank you guys it was Lovely to see Rosendal small Dorpies where Google earth Vehicles never go so Once again much appreciated

Goeie video....Rosendal en die weste kant van die Witteberg-reeks was hoofsaaklik die Voortrekkers se roete in 1837/8 van af Thaba Nchu en Winburg na Kerkenberg/ Natal

Love it ! Thank you Curtis and Sonia, I thoroughly enjoyed exploring Rosendal with you. I Love the atmospher of this little place. There is something fascinating, warm and welcoming about it.

Shame such a small town but they survive. I really enjoyed this trip. So sad that small tows gradually disappear. But that is life hey. Thanks for this one an we see you on the next trip. Close to Ficksburg where i started my school career

Never heard of Rosendal before, but man I love those tiny homes. I would love to have one near the sea...I think near Stilbaai.. 🙂

Wat een geweldige episode, het bezoek aan Rosendal 🎉. De aankomst met spectaculair zicht op de Witte Bergen en de wilde dieren, gevolgd door de gedomesticeerde koeien op straat 🐄😄. Even denken als kijker, dit dorp is uitgestorven maar … dan volgt de ene na de andere mooie verrassing. Die ‘parasol’ boom bij de kerk is werkelijk fantastisch, daar kun je met gemak sprookjes over bedenken met elfjes die ‘s avonds een dansje om de stam maken. Even verderop bij het oude bankgebouw verwachtte ik elk moment de Dalton Brothers maar ja met zo’n groot politie bureau vlakbij durven dergelijke boeven zich wellicht niet te vertonen 💰😅. Het Handelshuis staat er ook mooi bij, men houdt daar duidelijk van humor, gezien alle ‘doe dinge’ en de ‘chill & no nonsens praat’. Gave witte boom kunstwerk bij die andere uitspanning trouwens als ook andere artistieke uitingen langs de weg. Last but not least de fraaie tiny houses, grappig dat tiny bij jullie toch heel wat groter is dan in Nederland, maar ja alles is tiny bij ons vergeleken met Zuid-Afrika 🇿🇦😍

Dit is n baie stil dorp, Dankie dis te oulik

You guys are so amazing.... Just love traveling with you. It would be great if you could introduce more interaction with people you meet and the people who you stay with. It seems like there is no one around sometimes. You give info sometimes from folk but we never see them. ❤❤

Baie dankie vriende.

I was thinking exactly the same thing, about all their stuff being outside

Stunning beautiful town with the best solution for housing ...one doesn't really need more than those tiny homes...and more often they've been so cleverly designed that a staircase for example also doubles up as a pantry or even hides the washer and dryer. Those warning the Dustbugs of bad gravel roads probably don't know that you've navigated "Hel se Pas" and "Gannaga Pass" in the Kwid nogal ! I agree sometimes the gravel roads beat the tar roads especially those potholed beauties that the man on the moon marvels at...if Rosendal can attract entrepreneurs then it can revive itself but sometimes the beauty is in what you showcased...😊

Ek vir een sal maklik op so n dorpie kan bly. Die perfekte plek om self versorgend te wees. Rus en vrede. Nader aan die natuur. Nader aan hoe gelewe behoort te word.

I might have worked in Bethlehem but I have never been in Rosendal - thank you Sonia & Curtis absolutely stunning! Just tell me where you are going to build and I will buy the property next door!

Hi Curtis and Sonia, as usual great show. The school you looked at reminds me of the junior school at the old Brebner school, similar layout with coal stoves in the classrooms.

Oh yes! My kind of peace. Already checking the availability of erven and where I can purchase a mobile small home to be transported to site soonest 😏. We could even end up being neighbours! Travel safe.

I was here in December, it's quite a peace nice small town, but the roads there are really bad. It's a 2hr drive to Lesotho but the road are non-existent😢really sad how Free State roads are sooo neglected. Thanks for sharing your experience.

I'm so glad you visited Rosendal as well. I've never been there before, and when my husband said you turned back in the direction of Senekal, I just knew you were heading to Rosendal. It is such a lovely place. I would like to go there for a break-away and walk all the streets to experience the quietness.

Spent a most memorable New Years at the Rosendal hotel about 7 years ago .

Greetings from a fellow traveller, and church observer, an interesting point I've noticed, most of the OLDER NG Kerk buildings (older sandstone type) are built on a compas line of NW to SE, Look at Hanover NG kerk, another is Trompsburg, this church even has compas lines on the bell tower. I've only seen this with the older buildings, not the newer ones . I have tried to find out but no one will give info, even the NG Kerk hoofkantoor (if we can call it that)

Mrs Botha was the widow of Boer general Phillip Botha....eldest brother of Louis Botha, prime minister in 1910......Phillip died in ABW2

What a sad little "dorp".🙈🙏🎶🎶💕

Sorry for the stop and go.... 😂😂😂And that road has got a lot of pot holes..!

Regarding prickly pears. I grew up in Zimbabwe where the Ndebele people call them 'idolofiya'. I remember being told that this word is a corruption of an old Afrikaans word for prickly pears 'doringfye' before the current word 'turksfye'. Not sure how true this is.

The roads in Free State most of them are bad,I thought they’d be better by now. I visited that side in 2021 and they still look like there’s no improvements

It's sad to see the terrible state the place is in, the deterioration is shocking. They have serious power (up to 17 hours black outs) & water problems, to a very large extent due to the corruption & incompetence of dhilabeng municipality. Another contributing factor is the R70 road between Senekal & Ficksburg on which you traveled. This road is in a dangerous state with quite a few accidents occurring, & lots of tyres being written off because of it. Thankfully some work is being done to repair it. The cultural village was established through the initiative of the one of the previous local dominee's wife. Sadly despite some initial promise it never achieved much. The commemorative monument at the church was previously located at the school but for various reasons, it had to be relocated to its present location. At the time of it initial erection a major issue was discovered with the misspelled "voortrkerkinders" the missing "e" was a source of great dismay. The nights are exceptional, with very little light pollution, the stars are a wonderous sight to see! Had you carried on past the municipality you would have had a beautiful view to the mountains!

You should have stayed at least overnight, there is even more to Rosendal.

Buy a small 12volt compresor and some tyre repair plugs to take with you when hiring a car for outback journeys

There is such a peaceful vibe there. I do find it hard to believe that the town of Rosendal itself had a population of 4000 in 2011. Where would they all have lived as I don't see enough houses to have accommodated a fraction of that number. They must mean 4000 in the whole larger area.

Such a shame that these little towns are in decline when you see the overcrowding in other places.

Lieflike turksvye 😊😊😊

Can the roads that lead to Rosendal be repaired