Eric & Kayla van der Watt

Owner of Wineland Productions & actuary at Dynamo Analytics

Eric and Kayla lived in Johannesburg but the Cape – and soon employment opportunities – kept calling to them. After living in Stellenbosch for two years, “the Lord’s plan for this season of our lives” and “the peacefulness, natural beauty and general friendliness of Kleinmond”, where the family had owned a holiday home for many years, attracted them to the town in August 2023.

Thanks to fibre, they are now able to “work with the productivity of Johannesburg in the natural beauty of Kleinmond”, and it’s only an hour’s drive to Stellenbosch for Eric’s regular commute to his sound and lighting company.

“We love the wide variety of mountain trails and fishing spots within walking distance, and we go for a walk at least twice a week to clear our minds and contemplate the deeper things in life.”

A few matters have caught their attention during the three months they have been living here: “As is the case in many other rural towns, the socioeconomic conditions are not ideal, with a significant gap between rich and poor. On the other hand, the municipal services are excellent and the severe damage to infrastructure after the storms in September was quickly repaired. Furthermore, the large group of elderly people is quite characteristic of the town, but many of them are young at heart – and they naturally make you feel young!”

Johan Olivier Owner: Bloubakkie

We wrote about the Bloubakkie vegetable and fruit shop that “brings the farm to the sea” in the Summer 2018/19 issue of Platteland and, five years later, it’s still an institution in Kleinmond. In fact, it’s even busier, with a long queue of customers coming from as far afield as Hermanus, Betty’s Bay, Pringle Bay, Rooi Els, Caledon, the Boland and Cape Town to buy fresh seasonal produce. Johan and his two managers collect their wares from farms in the Boland and elsewhere in their two delivery trucks.

“I write down the details on farm signs and try to get in touch with the owners because we depend on farmers and live close to nature. But many farmers, especially in the Breede River Valley, which was always one of our vegetable basket suppliers, have been planting much less. With the high fuel prices, it’s actually impossible to survive on vegetables and fruit alone, so we keep a wide variety of other products,” Johan explains.

He commutes at least twice a week between Kleinmond and Worcester-West, where the family has a home and may open another store here soon. But he dreams of the day “when I can relax a bit” and “spend more time walking on the beach, not just on Saturday afternoons and Sundays”. He often takes his camera with him and his photos regularly appear in the Cape newspaper Die Burger. (Johan photographed the cover of this issue of Platteland.)

“We are very happy in Kleinmond – there’s a nice buzz here, but it’s the tranquillity that draws you in. When you haven’t been here for a few days, you feel it in your blood – we miss our customers and colleagues because we are like one big family at Die Bloubakkie. We have all been brought up well, we all have skills and do what we do best, and we have parents who love us.”

Die Bloubakkie 082 695 43281