{Hartebeespoort} Sunday Outing in Harties

Sure, Joburg is no Cape Town, but for the folks living far away from beautiful Western Cape province, Harties, as it is otherwise known is a true gem for those of us living in the hustle and bustle of the gold rush province of egoli (the city of Gold). 

The husband and I have had jam packed schedules the past few months and expect to have an even busier schedule now that we have bought our first home. It was because of the busy months past and the busy months ahead that we decided to set some time aside to catch up on our "date nights" in the form of a "date day" in Harties.

It is one of our favorite places to get out of our routines and spend sometime together close to the beautiful Hartebeespoort dam. Now, the things to do in this area range from balloon rides to a boat cruise at sunset. Of course we just couldn't do everything today but we did decide we would pop in at the French Toast Coffee Cafe which was built in honour of the movie produced by the creative South African company "Hartiwood Films" (post here).

French Toast is an Afrikaans movie filmed predominantly in Paris. Once the film was completed, certain elements from the set was brought back to South Africa and is now located at the coffee shop itself even a mini Eiffel tower has been built and the popular bridge of "love locks" situated in Pont des Arts of Paris has been recreated. 

Before I move on and mention where we went next, I must just say that everyone had the same idea to get out to Harties as we did today. I must advise that bookings for a favourite restaurant is a must especially at the French Toast Coffee Cafe. We were surprised that French Toast was fully booked up for breakfast. Our only option was to have a cappuccino and a croissant at the "Baked-away" patisserie next door to the cafe. 

 Our next stop was at the  Aerial Cable Way  in Hartebeesport which had recently been revamped a few years ago and is a lovely outing for the family. Once you have reached the top of the mountain you can take a short walk around the path or stop for a Pizza at the Pizza Shack. Recently the Cable way has added live entertainment on top of the mountain and a small (i mean really small) massage parlour which also over-looks the town of Hartebeespoort.

Prices per adult R195.00 (one way) 

 

I think we had a pretty successful "date day."  I am looking forward to my next visit to Harties again, hopefully next time we will spend and extra day. 

Mentions in this post: 

Hartebeespoort | French Toast Coffee Cafe | Hartiwood Films | Aerial Cable Way 

{Day Out} Pretville

South Africa over the past few years has undergone a change in the music and film industry and slowly there has been more recognition of what is available locally. 

A while back, a friend of mine went to Pretville, located in Hartebeesport for an engagement photo-shoot and told me, knowing I love all things old fashioned and vintage that this is a spot i have to go to! From what I understood at the time this was a spot that had a museum a milkshake cafe and was inspired by the 50's (I was already sold). But when I went to Pretville for myself I discovered that Pretville is the location where the Afrikaans musical based in the 50's "Pretville" was filmed by Paul Kruger who happens to be the owner of Hartiwood Films (you may recognise other movies of his; French Toast and Liefling). This Film set has now been opened to the public where you can visit a museum, watch the Pretville or French Toast movie at the bi-scope or have a milkshake or two! 

This was my first visit and will certainly not be the last! I will wait to watch the Pretville movie in Pretville with a chocolate milkshake for my next visit!

 I look forward to seeing this theme park grow and what Pretville has to offer in the future. 

♥

Until next time!

Mentions in this post:

Pretville │Hartiwood Films │ French Toast │Liefling