After a very long separation, the two farms Paradys and Vrisch Gewagt are once again one big happy 1526 hectare farm. A city dweller, whose vista is generally a neighbour's wash line, will have no idea how big that is, so you will have to believe us, it's frigging huge! At Vrisch Gewagt, the versatile olive is the crop of choice. The surrounding landscape has been restored to an original Karoo masterpiece of Renosterveld, Karoo grasses and succulents. 16000 olive trees were planted in early 2009 (minus a few consumed by appreciative Kudu). We now produce the finest cold-pressed extra virgin olive oil at Vrisch Gewagt boutique olive farm.
Apart from Witblitz (like Grappa but a lot more lethal) production, farming here couldn't have been much fun in the early days, after two feuding brothers split the original farm into two.
The farm Paradys, bordered by the largest tributary to the Groot Rivier flowing through Meiringspoort, had the water, the best view and the grand old manor house, Opstal. Adjoining farm, Vrisch Gewagt, on the other hand, had the land! And there was no King Solomon to rule on the matter.
The ancient mud and stone ruins on the farm, not included in the accommodation on offer, date back to about 1810 but the original farm was established in 1841.
The grand old farm house, Opstal, on Paradys, has been restored to its original beauty, with a few modern day improvements. The special features, like the Ostrich appliqué varnish work on the doors, has been left intact. The custodian ghosts should be happy – when they were people, they were apparently very proud of the Ostrich feather varnish thing as only the very wealthy could afford the technique (unless it was done by travelling craftsmen, as in this case).
