The simplicity and charm of Die Plaaskind Padstal

There is nothing like a slice of toast with some butter and marmite when you are famished — or a humble pot of soup and bread shared among friends.

It’s very often the simplest meals we remember the most; like sharing a chicken pie in De Vlugt which is considered to be part of the Garden Route.

There were 11 of us on a recent birding trip and we descended on Plaaskind Padstal in De Vlugt, on the Prince Alfred’s Pass, ravenous.

This pass on the R339 gravel road between Knysna and Uniondale is probably one of Thomas Bain’s greatest work because it’s extremely long and apparently presented every technical obstacle to Bain.

De Vlugt is situated on the banks of the Keurbooms River, about 55km north of Knysna nestled in the beautiful Langkloof mountains.

It originated as a construction camp for the 270 convicts who built the Prince Alfred Pass in 1861.

Later, a small community emerged around the camp.

Apparently first known as Edmonton when pass-builder Bain and his family lived there in the 1860s, the village later adopted its current name, De Vlugt.

While no records seem to exist as to the name’s origin, its Dutch meaning perhaps best translates as “the escape”, a fitting moniker given the terrain here.

It took Bain four years to build the pass. By the time he left, the hamlet included a number of cottages including his own homestead and a small schoolhouse.

This property was subsequently sold to the Berlin Mission station — and then it was sold to Daan van Rooyen in 1928 and has been kept in the family ever since then.

There are no shops here, there is no WiFi, no Eskom, and definitely no cable, no petrol stations, no garages.

There are about 70 people living in this area and that’s that. It’s considered to be a hamlet, meaning it’s way smaller than a village even and doesn’t have a church.

There is one place to eat here in De Vlugt and that’s at Die Plaaskind Padstal.

Angie’s G-Spot across the way used to do food, but now it’s just a pub.

We were greeted by Adri van Rooyen with that exuberant hospitality that seems to prevail in small Garden Route villages.

I have been here twice and she even remembered my name. This little spot is where she grew up and has lived all her life.

“Ons krag le in ons koeke,” says a signboard.

“Ons is oop. Wortelkoek, moerkoffie, kudu pastye and roosterkoek,” is written on a chalkboard, but it’s not quite like that on this particular day.

Van Rooyen says upfront that she needs to go grocery shopping, but she will make a plan to feed us all.

She explains that her food shopping the day before didn’t happen because of a crisis.

A visitor who was staying in one of her little cottages went for a dip in the waterfall and got bitten by a snake, so she had to rush off to the closest town of Uniondale to take him to hospital.

Luckily, it turned out that it was a “dry bite”, says Van Rooyen, so he survived, but the ingredients for her famous chicken pie took a back seat.

‘It’s OK, we will eat whatever you have got,” we say in hopeful unison and Van Rooyen bustles off to the kitchen.

No airs and graces here.

Rusted metal chairs are plonked under an old ficus tree in the garden, there are makeshift wobbly wooden tables on the patio that I seem to think resemble the old-fashioned uncomfortable utilitarian school chairs we used to endure (there that gives my age away!) and there are some ancient crochet table cloths on some of the tables.

Van Rooyen says that she can stretch her pantry as far as some toasted cheese and tomato sandwiches.

She is fresh out of kudu pastye and roosterkoek, but she still has some helpings of their famous chicken pie which gets divided among us. Thankfully she can make chips.

Portions of pie, chips and toasties are served on chipped enamel plates and cups, we sit on the stoep and it’s a charming lunch I will always remember because it was made with love and because we all had to share.

Van Rooyen offers accommodation in the original Thomas Bain house.

Visitors are told the story of how Bain lost a child when she fell off the veranda of this house when a turkey attacked her.

Van Rooyen has recently renovated a building alongside the Padstal which is totally off the grid and now also offers accommodation.

They are dog friendly, but ask guests not to allow their dogs on the beds and couches.

The biggest event for the Padstal is the annual Karoo to Coast Cycling event which is a 100km mountain bike challenge from Uniondale to Knysna via the Prince Alfred’s Pass.

Van Rooyen stocks her pantry in advance for the hundreds of hungry cyclists.

Pop into the shop while you wait for your food. It has the usual bric-a-brac one might find in a small village, from homemade jams to crocheted things.

A local artist’s work is for sale, there are some handmade leather bags.

Come to Die Plaaskind Padstal as a visitor and leave as a friend, is how I would describe the experience here.

If you are a biggish group, it’s probably best to warn Van Rooyen that you are coming so that you definitely get a kudu pie and for accommodation, contact her on reservations@theprincealfredpass.co.za.