Rooibos Tea and Gary Fong

Tim, Louise and Mark setting out from Mutualpark, Mon 6th June, 9am

Hooray, departure day is here and it is c-c-c-cold!  Finally everything’s done, emails sent, cars booked, monies paid, contracts signed, projects phoned and we’re actually loading up the bakkie with boxes and cases and bags of gear, with what-if and maybe-I’ll-need packing. Heading off at on Mon 6^th June, 9.09am into a pale winter’s morning, sunlight shining weakly after last night’s rain.

It’s amazing that 30min north of Cape Town, there are rolling green farmlands, fields stripped bare, plough lines curving around each contour, little fluffed out mossies noisily squeezed onto roadside fences; soft air and open space so close to our busy lives.

You can’t start a road trip without a Wimpy breakfasts! Hooray, three Farmhouse Breakfast of Champions please. Back on the road, thoughts drifting, wondering about what loose ends haven’t been tied up, looking out the window as we drive. Passing a roadside cop tucked into the bushes on the opposite side of the road, grinning broadly as we go by at exactly 80km, thanks Mr Oncoming Car for flashing your headlights!

Mark in the front passenger seat, turns to me, “I bought a Fong with me,” he tells me matter-of-factly. For a moment I’m alarmed. “A Gary Fong,” he says, is not a thong!” OK it’s camera-talk I realise, it’s a fancy type of light diffuser, Mark tells me, that fits over a camera flash so as to spread the flashlight all around. It diffuses the light and can be used for a dramatic effect or to make the flash light less harsh.

Passing Piketberg, orchards of oranges, dark green trees with bright orange splashes of fruit. Passing Clanwilliam, sleepy afternoon warm in the back seat listening to the guys swapping boy stories in the front of the cab. Passing Vanrhynsdorp, what? ooops, turn around, go back. Turn left at Vanrhynsdorp. 52km to Nieuwoudtville.

Long road stretching straight (like in those American movies driving through Utah), undulating up and down, never deviating left or right for 10, 20, 30km. Mesmerizing in it’s single-mindedness, accompanied by a thin black line of telephone posts, looping off into the distance. The land is starting to change, horizons are flattening out, patches of open orange earth hint at the Karoo, the vegetation is getting scrubby, the Suid Bokkeveld plateau looms ahead.

We heave up the Vanrhyns Pass and at the top turn, gasp at the view stretching out below us, flat to the horizon. Stopping, stretching, seeing to the end of the world. The air is so clean here, it hurts your nose to breathe.

Looking west at the top of Vanrhyns Pass, Suid Bokkeveld

We arrive at Nieuwoudtville, find the Heiveld Co-operative, oh boy, everyone speaks Afrikaans here. Tim, Mark and I are English speaking. Hmmm, this is going to be interesting, nou sal dit interessant wees, I brush off my rusty taal!

Hermanus Johannes Fortuin is a mountain of a man, brown and warm like the earth , massive hands like meat hooks.  I stand close to him, immediately feel safe.  He’s a whole village by himself, Mark says to me. Hermanus was born on a farm near Nieuwoudtville and grew up in the area, he’s 47 years old, now married with eight children. “I’ve been farming my whole life,” he says, “it’s what I do.” Originally a co-op member himself, he’s now a Mentor Farmer who assists other co-op members with farming advice. He teaches me about the difference between wild rooibos and cultivated ‘mak’ rooibos. He tells me about the problem that they have here with the harsh wind, “die plantjies moet nie doodwaai” and the rietskerms that they use to create protection from the wind. He tells me how the money that the Old Mutual Foundation funded bought a tractor in 2010, which made a huge difference to their harvest last year.  

The Heiveld co-op has become so successful it’s grown in size from the 14 original members in 2001, to 65 members in 2011. They export top-quality organic rooibos tea to Italy, France, Germany, Switzerland and America. The co-op is also Free Trade certified which means that their method of doing business is benefiting the farmers, the community and the environment.



'Saint' Tim hard at work

  

Heiveld organic rooibos tea products



I watch as the co-op ladies separate rooibos seed. There’s so much work that goes into making that single teabag we casually drop into our cups, I think to myself. Unfortunately we’ve arrived too late to go out to the actual rooibos farmlands which are 50km away on a potted gravel road and will take an hour’s drive. We make plans to meet the farmer at 7am next morning, to travel through to the rooibos tea court so we can meet in their fields and catch them in the early morning light - the photographer's golden hour.



Precious rooibos seed is carefully separated from the husks.

It’s 6pm now and we drive through to our guest house, an old stone Herbert Baker-style house, 'met ‘n netjies voorstoep' and curved corrugated iron roof. Nieuwoudtville is so easy to bypass but so quietly special with her dusty streets, a house scattered here and there, open space and clean air in between. There's dust hanging in the golden evening light, the sun is heading down quickly and the cold is becoming more pronounced each minute.

I decide to go for a walk to touch the remains of the day. By now, it’s bitingly cold with the temperature heading down towards 6C and I’m wrapped up in scarves, thick jacket, hands thrust into pockets. I stand and watch the twilight grow. There's a crescent moon shining silver in the sky, evening frogs chorus, birds are noisily roosting and a lone mongrel lopes around me warily.

I stand and look at this beautiful Bokkeveld sunset, the entire western horizon is glowing with diffused orange light. God must be using His Gary Fong tonight.

Scoop for the Day: Tim’s Marvellous Iced Rooibos Tea … guaranteed winner for noisy kids on a hot summer afternoon.

1/3 rooibos tea – brewed nice and strong
1/3 red grape juice
1/3 sprite or lemonade for fizz

Method:

1. Whatever size container you’re using e.g. 1L or 2L, then just keep the recipe proportions 1/3 of that container size.

2.  Brew tea, (remove teabags) and add red grape juice. Let mixture sit for a while. Add slices of lemon

3.  Pour in a glass, serve sprite or lemonade to give it that nice bubbly buzz!