Tuinplaas (Cape)

Towards Matjiesfontein is Tuinplaas church, one of the oldest churches in the country still in use.

Most of the farmers in the area have two farms, one situated on the higher Roggeveld ( 1500+ meters above sea level) and another farm in the Karoo.

When winter appears in early May, the farmers migrate with all their stock, cats, dogs ...... literally everything except the furniture ..... to the lower and warmer Karoo.

It might take 4 or more days to get there - a tiring process. There they stay, shear the sheep and enjoy a 6 to 10 degrees warmer climate that in the Roggeveld until late September when the whole process is reversed. This also gives the veld a chance to recover. An annual communion ( nagmaal) is then held at the end of August in this very famous church.

Source: http://www.sutherlandinfo.co.za/townfacts.htm