De Rust wins Town of the Year 2011 for South Africa.

Wow! Not only did De Rust win the competition for the Best Town in the Western Cape, but went on to win the best Town of the Year 2011 for the whole of South Africa and Namibia. Second place went to Parys and third was Swakopmund in Namibia.

Our new sign boards at both entrances to our town.

Yesterday the town celebrated with a carnival. Processions down the main road, street party with stalls selling everything from ice cream to candles and a concert featuring some of South Africa's top singers.

We ran a Face Painting and Street Art stall which attracted a lot of interest by the kids. Photos of the day can be viewed at De Rust Celebrates.

The sponsors of the competition were: Rapport Newspaper, kykNet/Kwela and Leopard's Leap Wines. De Rust gets R2 million  worth of advertising by Rapport and Kwela (great for tourism) and training for 50 people in the hospitality industry (waiters mainly) from Leopard's Leap.

For the voters the prizes were: 1st name drawn, a new VW Polo Vivo, 2nd person drawn 7 nights at a holiday spa in Mauritius,  and third prize ten 18 ltr special edition bottles of wine.

Enjoy the photos, and if you are a local person then please pass the link on.

Regards,

Jack.

De Rust, Western Cape, South Africa.

Our quaint little village of De Rust is in the top three of the "Best Town Of The Year" competition in the Western Cape. In the past two weeks we have been visited by teams from The Rapport Newspaper and the Kwela TV show.

Besides all of the beautiful surrounding attractions like Meiringspoort with its waterfall, the majestic Swartberg and Kammanassie Mountains with nature reserves and hiking trails, De Rust has maintained its old world charm. Its unspoiled, old world Victorian vibe is relatively untouched.

Donkey carts are the chosen form of transport for the locals and no one seems to mind the "exhaust" droppings left behind. Much more eco-friendly than petrol and diesel fumes :-).

Need something from the local grocery store... you just walk. Want to visit a friend on the other side of town... you just walk. "Town" is only about 1 kilometer by 1 kilometer.

De Rust is home to some of South Africa's well known artists and their works, together with other artists, are displayed in the local art galleries.

We also host a number of sporting events during the year like the Meieringspoort Half Marathon (coming up in October again), Stomp Drift Dam Angling Competition, mountain bike challenges etc.

Biking Clubs also make use of De Rust as a stop over during their rallies.


It is not unusual to see vintage cars lining the main street at various times of the year.


The results of the competition will be made known later in July this year.


Well done De Rust for getting to this stage of the competition!!!


A very happy and contented resident.

 

Family and Friends - Special Blessings.

We have just said goodbye to Pierre and Jackie, and their two children Liam and Erin. They were passing through on their way home to Himeville in Natal, having spent a lovely holiday at Gamka Kloof here in the Western Cape.

Pierre represents an overseas organisation that supplies funding and equipment to rural schools. He brought us a crate of materials for a school that we are helping in our area. There will be many smiling faces at the Rooirivier School when they start back in mid January. New tooth brushes, pencils, pens, erasers, crayons, colour pencils and calculators.

Two other preschools in our area will also be blessed with pencils etc.

It was good to catch up on all the news from Pierre. His parents are good friends of ours.

From the 6th to the 16th of December we had my son Daryl and his family with us. It was great to see them all; Cindy his wife and my four grandchildren. Our girls loved having all the kids around. They had a ball. Day trips to the beach and the waterfall at Meiringspoort, where our daughter Hannah had her 6th Birthday party as well on the 15th. More friends from town joined us. Hannah chose the venue as it is her favourite swimming spot. On the 7th we had Emily's 3rd Birthday party at home with the family and friends. Daryl took all the kids on the famous De Rust Donkey Cart ride that morning.

It was special having Daryl's family here for Emily and Hannah's Birthday parties as our children have always been good friends. After we moved to De Rust they really missed one another. Skype is a blessing.  

On the 13th we fetched Suzanne Morin, a friend from Canada, at the airport in George. We had a great time. A trip to the beach at Victoria Bay and a drive over the Swartberg Pass and of course a trip to the waterfall. Then back to the airport on 20th in the morning for happy/sad farewells.

On the afternoon of the 20th Kathryn's brother, Brian, arrived. He left on the 21st and Kathryn's parents arrived. They were followed by Kathryn's other brother Duncan, his wife Lize and little Timothy on the 23rd.

Brian and his girlfriend Anneli came back on the 24th and we all spent a lovely Christmas day together. We were joined by Kathryn's uncle Peter and aunt June. They live on a farm 30 kilometres out of town.

On the morning of the 28th everyone left on their journey home.

It was a wonderful time. I want to stress that it is so important to maintain good relationships with family and friends, especially for the young children. Extended family is vital for our children.

I thank to Lord for these special times.

With much love,

Jack.