December was a brilliant time to visit Barrydale

Posted on Sat January 10, 2026.

It was a month of celebration that included the SA Small Town of the Year award and ended with a street party where we could give a nod to a great year now past and the real promise of 2026.

It was the time of the annual Net vir Pret puppet parade.

This year Foxtrot Oscar , our Royal Enfield, had the honour of leading the parade as transport vehicle  for this years puppet parade leader The Bull. Never has a driver taken their role more seriously (or found a better hat) 

The LED Christmas light installation by Magpie lit up

world class creators of chandeliers and other lighting from found objects just across the street from the hotel sprang to life once again down  in the park .

Graham Abbott's annual Analogue Festival happened

Bringing a dose of real hands on creativity in a world where currently mesmerised by AI. There were analogue prints on the wall selling for over R1000 proving that hand made and man made is only going to become more valued. 

The dress theme for the New Years eve street party got people thinking 

It's turned into a real dress up event 

The new flags went up.

With an icon for each of the Arts of the Karoo Art Hotel. Pictured are just a few of them. The Art of the Road Trip, Art of dance, Long & Prosper (perhaps the key Art of all), the Art of the bar, the Art of a Karoo kitchen. 

We resurrected the tradition of the movie posters on the bioscope wallWith a twist.

We are the movie

Charlie continued to get himself into many a pic

Sure proof that Sue is behind the camera

Each and every day brought another inspirational thought

Stand by. We're acting on the idea of an annual poster with a year of thoughts

With summer in full swing the verandah pumped once more.

New years eve came an everyone came to the party.

Here's to 2026 from the town of the year

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Further Reading

Winter time is AGA time Thu June 11, 2026

Here the AGA maestro Bjorn Vai gives an overview of our AGA. A long term companion on Sue and Rick Melvill's journey: From the design department at the Blue Moon Company. To the Prynnsberg Estate on the founding of Melvill & Moon, to the Karoo Art Hotel.

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Route 62 sports car road tripping Wed June 10, 2026

Photographer Ian Fairley captured the sheer joy of driving the passes and distant horizons of Route 62 in a car that you're passionate about while on the Giulia Jaunt. The hotel with it's ideal midway position between Cape Town and the Garden Route has become a favourite stop over for the sportscar crowd.

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Tee Hardman did Karoo Ink 2026 to a T 👍. Thu May 28, 2026

They say a picture is worth a thousand words.. Yes, the pictures from Karoo Ink do tell a story. But it's the comments of the participants that paint their own picture of what a gifted teacher and spirit builder Tee Hardman is. It was the best of times . Standby. There's smudge on the distant horizon (Oct) called charcoal.

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