Alone with the Mountain

I was so pleased that everyone loved Aurora! Many people fell in love with the town through my blog! It is romantic in a special way as each house has a solitary aura about it. Look at this cheeky cottage with the turquoise veranda: It looks as if it stands there alone with the mountain behind it, although it is on a street in town! There is a West Coast chimney on the outside which means there will be a cosy inglenook for cooking inside the kitchen!

Here is tiny Aurora's role in history: In 1751 the Abby de la Caille arrived from France to measure the earth's meridian. He did his triangular measurement from a barn near Aurora using Strand Street in Cape Town and the mountains of Riebeek West as his other points of reference. Ooopsy, despite his accuracy the earth was found to be mmm....slightly oval! Two centuries later it was found that the mistake could be blamed on the magnetic pull of the the nearby mountains.

Now I can also feel that magnetic pull! For the next painting you will find me taking the 3 -looped pass to visit the top of Piketberg Mountain!

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Aurora in the Swartland

So here I am, having driven around to the Western side of the Piketberg to see the tiny hamlet of Aurora with its under 700 inhabitants and its reputation of zero crime, zero police presence! I first heard about Aurora when it was claimed that city people buy places here to have a proper rest, write a book or recuperate in the cleanest air in the country. I will visit again to find the single shop, lunch at the single (very promising) restaurant and the one and only coffee house. And to look up the toy maker, and find some historic markers, and most of all hopefully find somebody with stories to share about the place!

Driving up and down at 12 noon, I hear no sounds but the natural whisper of a mountain breeze. There are no traffic sounds and as things seem, hardly ever lawn mower sounds to be heard either, because in a few gardens two or three sheep are keeping the grass short! After a while a lady comes out on her veranda, hands on the hips, no doubt wondering: "Now who is this "agie" (a curious person) driving up and down here"?

For my painting I chose a village home with a very distinct farmhouse aura. In the photos are some more peaceful scenes in Aurora.....I will go back one day!

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