Mark your calendar - Great Brak's annual Muse Fest is taking place next month.  It will run from Sept 24 - 28.  

According to the Mossel Bay Advertiser, this year's "festival will include exhibitions, book signings, talks, demonstrations, music and entertainment from some of the Garden Route’s most talented people - as well as a land-art installation by Strijdom van der Merwe - this year’s featured artist. 

The installation will take place on Suiderkruis Beach on the morning of 25 September, and Mr Van der Merwe hopes to involve the whole community in the project.Amongst other things, it will include an outdoor art installation at the Southern Cross beach on Sept 25th."

Check out the Muse Fest's webpage or download the program:

For more to do in the area, download Mossel Bay Tourism's 37-page "Things to Do in Mossel Bay" brochure which was updated in May, 2014 - just click on the image below or download the file at the bottom of this post.

Another great local tourism initiative from the people at the Great Brak River Museum:  interms will lead a walking tour of Greenhaven which was previously declared a coloured area under the Apartheid government’s Group Areas Act in 1969.  The free guided tour (largely, but not exclusively, in Afrikaans) will start at the Museum at 10:00 a.m. Saturday, February 22nd.  Please advise the organisers if you’d like to take part: call 044 620 3338.

Click on the image below for more information in today's edition of the Mossel Bay Advertiser for more information or click here.

According to the following info posted on the Great Brak Post's Facebook page, there will be a short talk on the history of Greenhaven in English from 9:00 - 9:15 a.m.

UPDATE JANUARY 2015:  Unfortunately, Poppy Gift Shoppe is closing it's retail shop (it will continue to sell to the trade and online) - and that means the coffee shop and little nursery in the back have also closed.

You'll find the Poppy Gift Shoppe on Long Street in the same neck of the woods as the Peperboom Restaurant, more or less opposite the pop-up tourist info caravan and the public library.  Watch for the giant fabric-wrapped tree on your left as you enter the village.

The nursery is great - and getting bigger by the day - whether you're a guest in the area and thinking of bringing a little gift to your host or a resident looking for just the right thing for the garden.  And you'll find cosy tables tucked away in all corners if you're looking for tea, coffee or a bite.

Here are some photos of the nursery/kwekery and tea garden:

If you're looking for more ideas on what to do and see in the area, check out the pop-up info caravan on Long Street (at the edge of the sports field directly opposite the Peperboom Restaurant).  They have all kinds of maps (including the various routes mentioned in the Hiking & Walking section of this website - whether it be the Art Route, the Short Walks or the Historic Route - as well as and Running & Cycling page - which includes some specific Great Brak cycling routes, and of course, the Fragrance Route (or check out the "cycling" category of this blog for more ideas, including the Attakwas). They can tell you where to take the kids - you name it.  Even on the hottest days like today, you'll find the caravan manned by a helpful & enthusiastic crew of young people - way to go guys/gals!

Looking for something fun to do with the whole family this Saturday - dogs included?  Why not take part in the inaugural "Great Brak Stick & Hat Walk" tomorrow (Saturday, Dec 21st)?  I understand some people are even going to dress up their pets....

If you haven't registered already, you can do so between 7:00 - 7:30 a.m. on Saturday.  The walk itself commences at 7:30 a.m.  You can get more info from the helpful young people manning the Great Brak Tourism Initiative's pop-up caravan on Long Street in the sports ground directly opposite the Peperboom Restaurant or call Allistair or Marchay on 044 620 3338.  The Mossel Bay Advertiser also has a little blurb on the event - read about it here.

There's a modest R20 entry fee - and there will be a lucky draw for prizes at 9:15 a.m.

If you're curious about the route, see the map in the "Great Brak River Village - Short Walks" section of this website - I believe they are doing the Vleiland & Nature walk (#2 on the map).

It's another glorious, blue-sky, sun-filled day out there today - simply too beautiful to spend behind the PC!  Nonetheless, I've added a few new cycling routes to the website, as well as some of the new walking routes mapped by the Great Brak River Tourism Initiative - there's the Art Route, the Historic Route, the collection of Short Walks, and then for the cyclists, the collection of Village Cycling Routes and, of course the Fragrance Route (which you could also do by car if you're so inclined - but mind the cyclists!).  if you're in town for the season, why not check them out?