Farm walk: Swallow Hill Farm

Beauty of the Overberg in summer, walking the fields.

The week started with a much cooler morning in Greyton, slightly overcast and a relief from the 40
degrees we had experienced over the weekend.

After the usual huge
mug of plunger coffee and a rusk we walked the perimeter farm path and the short sharp incline which kicks off the walk certainly got me going.

My thighs were still feeling the effect of the Loerkop Trail and they felt heavy.

The path also took us into the indigenous renosterveld on the hill behind the house, which is small leaved evergreen shrubland only found here in the Cape.

I joined Bri and Di at the Under the Mountain Yoga Studio in Greyton, a cottage with a restful yoga space. It was a class with Jonathan Blumberg.

What a pleasure to work on the floor, my feet loved me, it was a class within the Iyengar system and I found it harnessed my breath and relaxed me.
A gentle but tough one and a half hours.

• Walking log: 26th January

4.5 km walk around Swallow Hill wine farm. 

And stepping into the maze between the rows of tempranillo and viognier grapes.

Yoga class.

Total kilometres to date: 134

It is not easy to walk alone in the country without musing upon something. ~Charles Dickens

Loerkop Trail, Greyton

'Walk some hills' is an instruction from our Ultra Walk guide, so we did. 

And what a hill.

Loerkop. 
A 3km circular trail.


It was a 1.6 km steep climb to the top of Loerkop which was marked with a cairn. 

The 360-degree view makes the steep hike worthwhile: the whole chain of the Riviersonderend mountains is spread from east to west, with Greyton and Genadendal in sheltered positions. 

The Overberg wheat belt a gentle dull brown wherever you look and to the south the massive Swartberg. 


We could also see Bri and Di's home along the Krige Road from the cairn.

• Walking log: 25th January

Some power walking to get the heart rate up and build strength. And my steepest walk to date, I had to stop a couple of times to catch my breath. We then walked the remaining 4km from Loerkop into Greyton for stamina.

The heat was draining along the last part of the walk, not ideal at all. 

Welcome swimming afterwards.

Walking companions: Brian and Dianne Dawes.

Total kilometres to date: 129.5