## Going Nowhere Slowly - Oribi Gorge Part 2

Farm life for a couple of days, **_Far from the Madding Crowd_** absolute bliss. Our choice of accommodation is away from everything, this farm offered more than anyone could dream. 

![Oribi Gorge Guest Farm](https://joan1911.files.wordpress.com/2018/05/farmarrival.png)

Winding down a tree lane, parking on the lawn we learned our accommodation had been moved from a smaller cottage to the main old farmstead named **[Shuttleworth House](http://www.oribigorgeguestfarm.co.za/ "Oribi Gorge Guest Farm")**, entering via the backdoor.

Afternoon sun shining into the area where you kick off your shoes to relax with a sundowner.

![Back Verandah](https://joan1911.files.wordpress.com/2018/05/backverandah.png)

Old fire driven stove to cook on, not used during our short stay. Microwaves offered in the main kitchen and an electrical stove. Just an idea on how this takes you back in time! Fire stove located on left side on back verandah in photo above.

A braai area to cook for 12 people, house with 8 bedrooms to sleep 12, perfect for large family gatherings to unwind.

![Jewel73S Fire Stove](https://joan1911.files.wordpress.com/2018/05/jewel73s.png)

Entering via backdoor straight into the dining room, finding your way around takes awhile in such a massive farmstead. Door to right of picture was a smaller bedroom (what could have been an old store room), left takes you into the lounge.

![Dining Room](https://joan1911.files.wordpress.com/2018/05/diningroom.png)

Lovely solid old furniture, decor to fit the times, even the light switches jumped out shouting **old**.

![Old Light Switches](https://joan1911.files.wordpress.com/2018/05/lightswitches.png)

One half of the lounge was seating area with television, front area to the right a wonderful view over to the gorge in a smaller seating lounge area. 

A writing desk to the left, a place to work with a view, between the smaller seating and writing desk the entrance to the front doors taking you to the pool, squash courts, tennis courts, childrens play area with spectacular view of the gorge.

![Main Lounge](https://joan1911.files.wordpress.com/2018/05/lounge.png)

Kitchen was impressive, place to enjoy the morning sun while having breakfast. Well equiped to cater to large groups or families, doorway leads to another bedroom for one person, I think that was the old pantry.

![Kitchen](https://joan1911.files.wordpress.com/2018/05/kitchen.png)

Bedrooms and bathrooms leading off passages, via other areas all lead back to the lounge, dining room or kitchen winding your way around the inside of the house.

![Main Bedroom with onsuite bathroom](https://joan1911.files.wordpress.com/2018/05/mainbedroom.png)

Loved the old farm feeling, old furniture, wooden floors. Walk down memory lane of how our forefathers lived. Perhaps not on this scale of grandeur, however the old pieces of furniture looked oddly familiar.

![Bedroom](https://joan1911.files.wordpress.com/2018/05/bedroom.png)

Front of the homestead leading out from the lounge, small stoep _(a small verandah)_ nowhere near the size of the back verandah, offering a wonderful view.

![Front of House](https://joan1911.files.wordpress.com/2018/05/farmhouse.jpg)

Open lawn area and beautiful garden leading down to the pool, boma, squash court, childrens play area.

![Pool, Boma, Squash Court, Children's Play Area](https://joan1911.files.wordpress.com/2018/05/endofday.png)

Farming is predominantly macadamia trees as can be seen from the childrens play area looking over toward the gorge. In the past 30 years these nuts have become saught after, changing sugar cane crops to a landscape of trees.

![Macadamia Tree Plantation KwaZulu-Natal](https://joan1911.files.wordpress.com/2018/05/macadamiatrees.png)

A working farm, to my delight one of the owners took us through the process of how **Macadamia Nuts** are prepared before going out to market.

Arriving green from the trees, slowly dried with air at various temperatures through a variety of stages, moving along a conveyor to reach the round brown shells at the end. 

![Macadamia Nut Process](https://joan1911.files.wordpress.com/2018/05/macadamiastartsorting.png)

All along the sorting of good from bad nuts takes place, nothing goes to waste, the husks are used or sold to local farmers to fire up burners for oil extraction, a place of **_waste not want not_** farming in a small community supporting each other.

![Part of Macadamia Nut Sorting](https://joan1911.files.wordpress.com/2018/05/macadamiasortingnuts.png)

From bin to bin the operation takes the little nuts along, to reach the brilliant golden/brown close to completion on this cycle.

![Macadamia Nut Drying Process](https://joan1911.files.wordpress.com/2018/05/macadamiasortingdrying.png)

At the end of day workers arriving back from toiling the fields, it would have been interesting to witness a day of their lives to know what they do, alas we had arrived just before a long weekend. Their time for some well deserved rest.

![Farm workers](https://joan1911.files.wordpress.com/2018/05/workers.png)

Smiling faces even after the exceptionally long hard days working in fields.

![Women workers](https://joan1911.files.wordpress.com/2018/05/unpacked.png)

After visiting the Macadamia Nut preparation process, it was time to take a walk around the farmstead.

Children would love this environment, learning about animal life.

![Goats](https://joan1911.files.wordpress.com/2018/05/goats.png)

Goat grinning at me above. Cattle out to pasture...

![Cattle](https://joan1911.files.wordpress.com/2018/05/bull.png)

Horse looking over Sugar Cane fields, rolling green hills alive in KwaZulu-Natal.

![Horse - Sugar Cane Fields](https://joan1911.files.wordpress.com/2018/05/horse_sugarcane.png)

Sitting on the verandah now with a cool beer in hand watching the horses coming home to their paddock, after some free time out on the hills.

![Horses coming in](https://joan1911.files.wordpress.com/2018/05/horses.png)

Not sure if this is a rabbit or a hare taken from about twenty meters away, out romping once everyone had left the working farm area.

![Rabbit](https://joan1911.files.wordpress.com/2018/05/rabbit.png)

With more to share in Oribi Gorge this farm style living in the area comes to an end, with so much to do and see around the farm this is a taste of what is in the area. 

Another post to follow, visiting the gorge itself.

First part of this area : [https://steemit.com/landscapephotography/@joanstewart/going-nowhere-slowly-oribi-gorge](https://steemit.com/landscapephotography/@joanstewart/going-nowhere-slowly-oribi-gorge "Going Nowhere Slowly - Oribi Gorge")

***

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