The Overberg's name stems from originally being the unknown interior behind the Hottentots Holland mountains that halted the eastern expansion of Jan van Riebeeck's settlement. In time, a path was found through the mountain range, and the vague Dutch definition of “over het berg” (over the mountain) had to change, because even more mountains awaited on the other side.
The boundaries of the Overberg district remain vague to this day, but it's generally accepted that it's the undulating plain between the Riviersonderend and the Langeberg mountains in the north and the ocean to the south, with its western boundary the Hottentots Holland mountains, and its eastern boundary either the Breede or the Gourits rivers 100 km farther east.
Whatever the case may be, we present a winding route that will familiarise you with the fertile agricultural region ‘over the berg’.
YOUR TRIP STARTS at the Peregrine Farm Stall on the N2, about 70 km from Cape Town. Stock up on delicious pies, quiche, freshly baked bread, and wine from the area for your journey ahead.
Leave the farm stall's car park and cross the busy N2, in the direction of Grabouw, a town best known for its apple orchards. Then, 1 km later, before you enter Grabouw, turn right on the R321, or the Villiersdorp road.
The apple and pear orchards around you are largely due to one Antonie Viljoen, who started farming with apples after the Anglo-Boer War. Antonie's fruit was of outstanding quality – the best in the Union – and other farmers in the area began to follow his example.
The region where the apple trees grow so eagerly today, with its farm dams full of waterblommetjies and homesteads with Cape Dutch gables, is known
