Travelling Shots: A RATHER LUXURIOUS TRAIN TRIP

I have always had a fascination for trains and it is my very favourite means of travel, so if a trip has that added little bit of luxury I'm first in line. I was so lucky to be treated to this journey from Pretoria to Cape Town on Rovos Rail by my lovely sister for my birthday, and I am forever grateful for such an amazing opportunity.

Shortly after arriving at the Pretoria Station in plenty of time for a glass of sparkling wine and to check in, Mr Vos himself gave us a tour of the station and workshops. Fascinating to learn that they find derelict carriages from all over the country and within six weeks they are restored from a rusty shell to a thing of beauty and luxury.

The steam engines are in the yard and rarely used. The train is pulled by a diesel engine

The tour of the workshop is an engineer's delight

The station's resident peacocks kept us entertained

The old carriages are renovated to perfection

We boarded the train in well organised groups from front to back and left Pretoria station pretty much on time to commence our three night trip to Cape Town. Our compartment was small but well appointed. We were advised to keep our windows and (heavy) blinds closed when not in the room as theft is rife when the train is in a station. Cable theft, broken lines, malfunctioning signals all add to the organised chaos that ensues on this trip.

Having previously travelled on the Blue Train, I knew that the best seat in the house was the observation car at the back of the train and I headed there as soon as I could and spent most of my time here. This one had an open deck, and together with the rear lounge car was the place where those who wished to be sociable would gather. I met people mainly from Australia, New Zealand and America, all of whom absolutely loved South Africa and the various places they had visited. In fact we were the only South Africans amongst the 70 guests on board. The staff are incredibly well trained and professional, our favourite being our wine waiter who kept our glasses filled during lunch and dinner. The food was very tasty, and local flavours were enjoyed by all.

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Despite many delays along the way, and then racing through the night to catch up, then getting ahead of ourselves (and missing the delights of the Hex River Valley on the last morning) this was a fantastic trip. Most of it was through the dry dusty Karoo landscape, which is arid and unforgiving, but which millions of years ago was an inland sea. So hard to imagine it.

We did the scheduled visit to the Kimberley Big Hole and the old town. There was a wedding reception in full swing which made things very festive, despite the rain and the muddy streets. Making our way back to the buses we were told the train was not yet in the station so we all went over to the pub and watched the first half of the rugby between South Africa and Argentina (we won)!

The Big Hole

The next day there was the on again/off again/on again 5km walk into the historic village of Matjiesfontein for those who felt the desire. Despite clocking up about 6 000 steps per day just walking up and down the train, we were keen to get some fresh air exercise and had a very pleasant hike under the blue skies toward the village. I was saddened to hear that the famous Johnnie, who on a previous trip was our tour guide/barman/piano player/entertainer, had recently passed away. The village is just not the same without him