Back in December last year, Jessica, Emily and I hit the road for a bit of quick, end of year holiday, taking the N2 and heading all the way up to Gouritz, where we were to spend the next couple of days with oupa and ouma Monty and Cheryl.

Of course small children and long drives aren’t a fantastic mix, so I did my best to make the trip as enjoyable as possible, with stops every so often for a spot of leg stretching (and yes, sometimes a bite to eat!).

Situated just outside of Riversdale and part of a small outdoor shopping center that is famously home of the original Bali Trading decor and gifts shop, is Die Rooi Aalwyn Padstal (in English, the Red Aloe Farm Stall),  a small coffee, home industry and restaurant  establishment that is super welcoming and seemingly ALWAYS busy!

That said, before we could actually browse through any of their tasty looking stuff, the girls first had to take their time browsing through the local toy shop Caboodels, followed by some play time on the lush green lawn and big jungle gym, before finally wrapping things up with some time clambering about the old tractors out on display.

(In other words, yes, this is a pretty good pit stop option if you have small kids).

Anyway, to cut a short story even shorter, legs stretched, soft serve ice cream in our bellies, and a bag full of tasty treats from the farm stall in our hands, it was back on the road to tackle the last remaining stretch of our little holiday drive!

As always, a map:

Related Link: Die Rooi Aalwyn Farm Stall