Small Towns

I was expecting some charm and a hearty meal near an old mine.  I haven’t visited the town since the turn of the century and the restaurant we booked at was known to be good.  It was pouring with rain, the clouds low over the rooftops, as our car emerged in town and ‘bump’ over train tracks for the third time in one minute.  My eye caught the quaintness I’d been expecting but still I was so charmed by the Victorian Domestic Architecture – someone took the time to ice these houses like cupcakes out here in the middle of the bushveld.

The thrill of the town is when you hear the unmistakable chug, hiss and toot of a working steam engine.  An umbrella line had formed next to the tracks waiting to board this nostalgic journey with little ones of the next generation in hand.

Sir Thomas Cullinan, our restaurant of choice was filled with families on excursions and in need of a good filling meal with Italian love mixed in (An Italian POW camp was located near Cullinan during World War II)

With all the floral sugar architecture to see in town my taste buds were not left out – if you are a lover of cheese cake – leave for Cullinan now. The pear cheesecake from the Sir Thomas Cullinan restaurant is worth the hour and a bit drive from Johannesburg.

Antique shops, mine tours, tea gardens, and a museum in one of the tasty houses were all vying for my attention.  My most enjoyed moment in the town was walking after the rain had passed, under the dripping Jacaranda trees on the lane, hearing the elation of the neighbourhood birds and the halting of the steam engine – I was walking in 1903.

By the way the largest diamond in the world was found in Cullinan in 1904.

Our Cullinan trip in Google Maps