Bathurst

Bathurst

Amongst beautiful, gigantic wild fig trees and brilliant Coral trees, academics, artists and retirees go about their day in Bathurst, a historical town reminiscent of a 19th Century English village.

Situated on the fringes of both the Sunshine Coast and Frontier Country, about 12km inland from Port Alfred, on the road to Grahamstown, Bathurst used to be the administrative centre for the 1820 British Settlers. This resulted in many of the original settler houses and other buildings still being preserved to this day. Rhodes University is just 40km away.

You could have a drink at the Pig and Whistle (reputedly the oldest existent pub in the country), or visit the Bathurst Agricultural Museum, the Biggest Pineapple in the World, the 1821 Bradshaw’s Mill, Wesleyan Chapel, The Toposcope, Morley House and St John's Anglican Church, the oldest unaltered Anglican church in South Africa. Art-lovers could also stop over at the Jane Wiles Art Studio and Earth Art.

Bathurst also caters for outdoor and nature-lovers. Play golf on a Gary Player-designed golf course, see the Big Five in the nearby malaria-free game parks and reserves, go on a canoe trial in The Horseshoe Bend and Water's Meeting Reserve, or be mesmerized by more than 300 bird species at the Moyapark Bird Reserve.