Sutherland might look unremarkable but it’s situated in the best area in the southern hemisphere for viewing the night skies

Doer ’n gone and nestling in a series of sparsely vegetated hills on the Roggeveld plateau in the Karoo lies the little town of Sutherland. Unremarkable when compared with other Karoo towns of a similar size, it seems just another dorpie that somehow spontaneously materialised in this harsh and arid Northern Cape region.

Reputedly the coldest town in South Africa, with an annual average minimum temperature of minus 6°C, Sutherland seems a particularly uninviting place in which to set up permanent residence. Yet the 3 800 or so inhabitants appear in no hurry to move to warmer pastures.

Named in honour of the Rev. Henry Sutherland, who even before the town was established travelled all the way from Worcester once a year to conduct church services for the early farming community of the region, Sutherland stands 1 456 metres above sea level, a height that exposes it to the cold air that flows in from the south-west. On the morning of 12 June 2003 the temperature at one point measured minus 16,4°C – cold enough, I would imagine, to unsettle even the most sturdy brass monkey.

Remote and unimposing as the town might be, Sutherland nevertheless has several legitimate claims to fame other than its winter temperature. The renowned Afrikaans writer/poet brothers N. P. van Wyk Louw and W. E. G. van Wyk Louw were born here in the early 1900s. However they were preceded almost 100 years earlier by Daniel C. Esterhyse (1815–1897), widely regarded as the first poet to write in Afrikaans. Perhaps it’s something in the clean Karoo air that brings the muse of metrical composition to the fore.

The last active volcano in South Africa lies a few kilometres beyond the town. Known as Salpeterkop, the once fire-spewing mountain has been reduced to a weathered cone, having last erupted 65 million years ago. So it’s quite safe to climb as long as you have permission from the man whose farm it’s on.
But what has put Sutherland firmly on the map, even in international terms, is the South African Large Telescope, widely known by its acronym, SALT. It’s the largest single optical telescope in the southern hemisphere with an 11-metre-wide hexagonal mirror made up of 91 adjustable reflective panels, each about a metre wide and weighing 100kg. This makes it so powerful it can register stars with light so dim it’s equivalent to seeing a candle on the moon – about a billion times too faint to be detected by the naked eye.

The South African Astronomical Observatory (SAAO), in conjunction with several international partners, chose Sutherland as the most suitable location for the huge telescope because of the town’s clear, dark and unpolluted skies. There are 10 other telescopes at the site but SALT is more than five times larger than any of them.

The first scientific institute to be established in Sub-Saharan Africa was the Royal Observatory at the Cape of Good Hope, founded in 1820. In 1972 the Republic Observatory in Johannesburg and the Radcliffe Observatory in Pretoria merged with the Royal to form the South African Astronomical Society, today part of the National Research Foundation.
By the mid-20th century the light and air pollution of the night skies in the major cities was so bad that the astronomical work of the observatories was being severely compromised. A search for a better site was launched, a hilltop some 14km outside Sutherland was chosen and the rest, as they say, is history.

So SALT casts its large nocturnal eye into the heavens from one of the best astronomical sites in the world. I visited Sutherland and SALT for the first time in late December 2008, accompanied by a lady friend who coincidentally happened to be a Ms Sutherland (no kidding). Our visit also happened to coincide with a week-long celebration that was being hosted by SAAO, the people of Sutherland and the Karoo Hoogland Municipality to commemorate the SAAO’s 36 years at Sutherland, as well as to celebrate the International Year of Astronomy 2009 (IYA 2009), which had been declared in honour of Galileo Galilei and the 400th anniversary of the first astronomical observations he made through his ‘modernised’ telescope in 1609.

The highlight of thee events was a ‘Star Party’ during which the public were given access to the research telescopes for the entire night of 31 December 2008. Serious stargazers from all over the world took advantage of the opportunity to view the heavens from the usually restricted site with its world-class facilities.

A calendar of the events being organised to celebrate IYA 2009 at venues nationwide will be posted on the website www.astronomy2009.org.za as the events are confirmed. But should you wish to have stars in your eyes on a more regular basis, then Jurg Wagener is the man to call on.

Jurg and his wife, Rita, moved to Sutherland from Stellenbosch some seven years ago, the idea being to retire and do little more than sit on their stoep, sipping coffee and watching the leisurely pace of life in the town. Now, less than a decade later, they are running a thriving B&B plus a coffee shop, while Jurg also hosts an almost continuous steam of star-struck visitors with his nightly and very enlightening stargazing sessions.
This year being a bit special he has added ‘Stars to Midnight’ events that take place on the first Saturday after each new moon. They have proved highly popular and not even the onset of winter deter people from attending them.

Among the historically significant buildings and landmarks Sutherland has to offer visitors is the Louw house. Built in 1861, it’s a fine example of the town’s early buildings to which typical alterations were later added. Its distinctive concave verandah, for example, dates back to 1904. Located on the corner of Jubilee and Northumberland streets, the house was the birthplace of the Van Wyk Louw brothers and now serves as a literary library.

The dignified Dutch Reformed church in Piet Retief Street was built in 1900 but the consecration thereof was delayed for three years due, firstly, to a ferocious diphtheria epidemic in the region and, secondly, as a consequence of the British commandeering it to use as a fort and barracks during the Anglo-Boer War.

There is to my mind something fascinatingly compelling about old burial grounds and, the old British, Jewish, Boer cemetery at the southern end of the town is one of these. It had an appropriately forlorn ambience in the late afternoon light as we strolled between its crumbling headstones and dilapidated vaults, all of which are being choked by a relentless tide of tough Karoo grasses and desert weeds. Here former friends and foes lie side by side in a stark corner of the Karoo that conveys an acute sense of history in its brooding silence.

No Karoo town worth its salt would be without a spookhuis and Sutherland doesn’t disappoint in this respect. The building in question is the old toll house in Verlatenskloof Pass and the story goes that one chilly night long ago, a family arrived there and asked the old woman who answered their knock on the door whether she could spare them some milk for their hungry child. Eyeing them despairingly, the wizened old woman replied, “I did have milk in the days while I still lived.” Needless to say her words served only to enlarge and multiply the hapless family’s already substantial goose-bumps and the child, no doubt, remained hungry.

For many years after its construction in 1876 Verlatenskloof Pass was the only access route to the Roggeveld plateau. It remains in use and sections that have become hazardous are currently being upgraded. It is particularly tricky to negotiate during the infrequent but sometimes heavy snowfalls that blanket the region in winter.

Life moves at a leisurely pace out here in the back of beyond, which makes Sutherland an ideal place for escaping the madding crowd. Comfortable accommodation is available virtually all year round and at reasonable rates. The locals are friendly, and there’s a laid-back atmosphere about the place.

The Karoo has always held a strange allure for me and, as evidenced by the following few lines from one of his poems, N. P. Van Wyk Louw seems to have felt the same about this place where the stars shine bigger and brighter than anywhere else:Wye en droewe land,alleen onder die groot suidersterre.

SAAO Visitors Centre
023 571 2436

Salpeterkop (Mr Symington)
023 571 2641 / 2731

Sutherland Tourism
023 571 1265, www.sutherlandinfo.co.za

Stars to Midnight (Jurg Wagener)
023 571 1405

Where to stay
Skitterland Guest House
023 571 1115

Galileo Cottage
023 571 1959

Kambrokind Guest House
023 571 1405

Sutherland Hotel
023 571 1096