Having been sat on our ever-increasing behinds for a fair few days as we’ve driven around, we decide to make use of the little gym at the Rosenhof before breakfast in an effort to combat some of our festive excess. We’re even restrained at the breakfast buffet in the beautiful garden setting, but it’s a mere drop in the ocean, and we’re soon sat back in the car exploring the area.

We start with a bit of history, having a quick visit to the Le Roux Townhouse and the C P Nels Museum which both document the colourful life of Oudsthoorn in its heyday as the ostrich capital of the world. Exhibits and local buildings showcase the opulent wealth it enjoyed during its Victorian and Edwardian heyday, but as the fashion for ostrich eggs and feathers declined after the Great War it became a rural backwater, saved in more modern times by an upsurge in interest for ostrich meat.

After a whistlestop tour we head out of town, past ostrich farms which tourists now visit, feed, eat and even ride ostriches at. We’re visiting the less ethically questionable spectacle of one of South Africa’s top ten tourist attractions, the Cango Caves followed by one of the greatest drives in Africa.

Discovered in 1780 by local farmer Jacobus van Zyl, the Cango Caves are simply stunning. The entrance to the subterranean system had been inhabited back as far as 80,000 years ago by the Khoikhoi bushmen, and ‘cango’ means “gateway to the spirit world” in the local dialect. However they had never ventured further into the underworldly labyrinth, believing it haunted by their ancestors.

Unlike Mr van Zyl, we don’t need to be lowered in with just a candle, the visitor centre and illuminated pathways showcasing the breathtaking interiors to incredible effect. Vast caverns, full of unworldly beauty from geological effects formed over millions of years, are easily explored via walkways past stalactites and pillars, stalagmites and boulders that are like something from a movie set – the dwarf mines of Moria in Middle Earth. It’s jawdropping.

But the natural wonders don’t end there. Our drive takes us up over the Swartberg pass, along a dirt road stretching 24kms over a mountain range which is just mind-blowing in its drama and panoramas. Full of hair-raising bends and turns, and with dust blowing up from our wheels, it’s a fantastic drive and only possible due to the incredible engineering project of Thomas Bains in the 1860s, but built on the back of seven years hard labour by convict gangs.

After 90 minutes of bumpy gravel road and some death-defying twists and turns we emerge on the other side of the mountain range and continue on to the little village of Prince Albert, one of the prettiest places in the Karoo region. We’re starving as it’s way past lunchtime so we stop at the only restaurant that’s open, the Lazy Lizard cafe.

It’s a cute spot and we have a healthy lunch in the shade of the verandah, hidden out of the blazing sun. However it’s still 34 degrees in the shade and even drinking lots of water and with the car’s a/c turned up full blast we’re both still wilting. No wonder a local “beauty spot” is called De Hiel, or just Hell for short - it’s hot as hell in the desert.

We take the circular route back to Oudtshoorn via the Meringspoort Pass which is another spectacular drive, with huge rock formations that rival the Rockies in size and beauty. Coman by now is feeling quite ill with the heat and it’s a bit of a struggle to visit the Meringspoort waterfall which was recommended to us by a couple also eating at the Lazy Lizard. We climb up to it nevertheless and watch the fearless children jumping off ledges into the deep pool below. 

After the village of De Rust the landscape changes to arid farmland and we drive alongside a rail line used for transporting goods rather than people until we reach the outskirts of Oudtshoorn and the welcome sight of our hotel just before six. The barman wastes no time in mixing a G&T and a margarita for his weary travellers to sip on the verandah outside our room. 

Once showered and ready for the evening we borrow a couple of bikes from reception and cycle along the main road to Nostalgie restaurant where we have a reservation. One of the oldest and quirkiest establishments in the town it’s a slightly ramshackle Victorian mansion that still boasts a little shop inside and dining tables set up in its old living rooms. 

We sit on the porch by the front garden and Samantha, our waitress lights a paraffin lamp, while setting plates on the old vinyl albums they use as place mats and lace table runners. The sign outside the restaurant proudly boasts they’re the number one restaurant in Oudtshoorn as ranked on TripAdvisor but with the exchange rate being so favourable to overseas visitors our meal is ridiculously cheap. 

A hefty five-salad starter to share, followed by mains of a Roosterkoeke - bread cooked on open fire and stuffed with roast veggie, feta & herb aioli - and a roast butternut, feta & peppadew pepper cannelloni plus two glasses of local cuvée bubbles and two large glasses of very good South African red comes to just £26... and that includes two bottles of water and a decent tip. 

We cycle back to the Rosenhof feeling very lucky indeed.