Travelogue: Pilgrim’s Rest

Jess writes:

After our Blyde River Canyon day trip and a quick bout of stomach flu (ick!!), Adam and I were making plans for some more local travels during our Peace Corps-imposed mini-vacation. Based on advice from our many new Graskop friends, we planned an afternoon for Pilgrim’s Rest, and what a great choice!

Pilgrim’s Rest is a convenient 45-minute coombie trip from downtown Graskop, over the hills on one of the most amazing roads we’ve yet seen in South Africa! The road curves up into the clouds and then meanders in a California-Route-One-type-of-way back down along the river. And while Pilgrim’s Rest is only a short 10 kilometres from Graskop, the trip takes almost four times that in driving due to the road itself, but it’s worth the time!

Pilgrim’s Rest was founded in the late 1800’s when prospectors flocked to the area with their goldpans and waders in hopes of striking it big! So all of Pilgrim’s Rest now stands as an open-air museum, with all original homes and stores that have now been converted to beautiful little cafes and curio shops. The town is divided into two sections, “Downtown” and “Uptown”, conveniently named so because “Downtown” is located on the lower end of the hill and “Uptown” is on the upper end of the hill. The hill itself sits directly between the two town sections, with an old cemetery on the very top, also conveniently named, “Old Cemetary”. No one said the people of Pilgrim’s Rest were very creative…

We started in Downtown and walked the entire length of the town section, about half a kilometer (ha!), and thoroughly enjoyed the pioneer-meets-colonial feel of the great little town. After getting our bearings, we stopped for brunch at an adorable café and feasted on eggs, bacon and – in Adam’s case – a traditional steak and kidney pie (yum?). Armed with some local directions from a picture-perfect local, we hiked up from Downtown to the Old Cemetary on the hill and began our search for the “Robber’s Grave”. We had been told that only one grave in the entire cemetery faced the wrong direction (as in, not facing North-South, but rather East-West). The grave in question is that of a stagecoach robber who, when he finally died in one of his many robbery attempts, was willfully buried with his town’s people in the Old Cemetary… but in a manner that ensured a never-restful afterlife! How creative! It didn’t take long to find the Robber’s Grave, starkly fixed in its awkward position in contrast to all the other graves. Pretty nifty!

We then hiked our way back down the hill to Uptown – the town’s “booming” center! This section of town is dotted with period-type mechanical shops, blacksmiths, leather furnishers, and of course, plenty of cafes, bars and a Royal Hotel. Experiencing this part of town, in particular, is like stepping back in time, with its picturesque storefronts and beautiful mountain scapes in the background! We found our way through candy shops, antique dealers and the historic buildings before taking the main road between the hills back down to Downtown. The sun was close to setting, but we couldn’t leave Pilgrim’s Rest without first indulging in the town’s most traditional pastime – gold panning!

Corina, a local bartender from Graskop, picked us up at the Downtown pub and drove us out to the historic gold panning banks along the Blyde River. There, with goldpan in hand, we were given our introduction in the cold river waters. We learned the techniques of dipping, swirling and swishing and after some tutorial sessions, I bent on one of the low river rocks and dipped the goldpan in for a real try… and EUREKA!! We struck gold!!! Not an enormous nugget (unfortunately!) but little flecks of “gold dust” (like shavings off a larger piece) in the bottom of the pan!! Beginners luck? Possibly! But I think we’ll be back for a second try at some point! Corina was so impressed with our panning abilities, that she gifted us her own goldpan and provided us with a small glass vile in which to keep our first gold finds! How fun!!

As the sun was setting over the hills, we drove back to the Royal Hotel for a drink at the attached Church Bar, before heading back to Graskop for the night. The Church Bar is, of course, also conveniently named because it was incorrectly built as a church and, when the realization came that it would never suffice as a church, it became home to the next best thing – a bar! ;-) What a perfect final stop to fully experience all that is Pilgrim’s Rest!

Another 45-minute drive on windy roads and we were back in Graskop… the two hundred year old town nestled in the dark hills behind us…

But what an incredible day back in time!!