a window (in)to another world
removed from the struggles
of day-to-day life
a window (in)to a world
filled with dreamscapes
of what could have been
We arrive at Darling Olives in Darling, half exhausted from the long drive, thirsty for something cold. We find a small enclave, a world outside the world we are used to, where olives become nectar from the gods, and wine the juice we wash our troubles away with.
The farm is a beautiful setting, situated in the farming, wild flower, and west coast district of South Africa. It feels like a different world as you set your feet into this wonder, this oasis on the side of South Africa.
So, please join me as I take you with on this virtual journey, where we taste and drink olive oil, dip our bread in dried out olives, while we sip on some delicious wine as we stare over the open fields.
Windpumps and a Girl: Arriving at the Farmhouse
We arrived at late mid day with the sun beating down on us. We saw countless windpumps and wild flowers, interspersed with plantations of wild mustard and canola.
The girl got out of the car with her hair down and this presented me with an opportunity to photograph not only her, but the beautiful buildings. There was a strange symmetry that just felt right, mixed with the calmness of the farm.
The winery and olive shop was inside of the old farmhouse, where they used to keep farm animals. You can still smell it, not in a bad way. There were some remnants of the old buildings on the wall as well, as I will show later on when we entered the old stall to do our tasting.
But first, I needed to photograph the beautiful buildings.
A Shop of (Olive) Delights
The lighting was perfect as we stepped into the little olive shop of delights. Sometimes the light plays along with its intimate dance - the photographer in me always becomes so happy when everything just falls perfectly. In any case, the shop offered fresh olive oil in all size, various condiments made from and for olives, and some of their own wine.
We could not stop ourselves from wanting to buy the shop empty. It was a delightful experience.
Looking Into a Different World: Olive oil and Olive Tasting
We did not initially think about doing a tasting. But the joyful and friendly staff twisted our arms. The olive oil, olive, and wine tasting happens in their old farmstall, "The Old Milkstall", if I can directly translate the name of their Shiraz wine and the name of the building in which you do the tasting.
The room is dark except for a couple of small windows looking out on the farm, becoming small windows looking into another world. Or so it felt.
As you are about to do the tasting, you are presented with various tasting trays, some of them olives, dried olives, olive oils, others olive chutneys, olive jams, and even hand soaps, bath salts, and lip balms made from olive oil! But these last ones are obviously not for tasting, only for smelling.
With a mixture of olive oil, scents, and old farm building smells, the room had a very interesting aura.
On the right, you will see the remnants of the old building, some of them still omitting the smell of farm life. This added to the wonder of the building. It was wonderful sitting there, being in the presence of what happened in this building.
Wildflowers and Views of the Area from the Farm
As we were about to leave, we admired the wild flowers and the farm setting for a last while. It was something special, a moment frozen in time.
The air was clean, the blue of the sky almost felt like it hugged the horizon and sometimes the mountains felt so small in the distance.
The yellow of the fields also added to the beauty, the feeling of farm life so many of us town/city folk yearn for (not always realising the hard work that awaits one there!).
And so, we finished another journey, another adventure. We almost needed to violently pull ourselves away from the beautiful setting that stayed in front of us.
Postscriptum, or Cheers to Dried Olives and Peppery Wine
We ended our trip by buying the store empty. This is obviously over exaggerating, but we did buy a bunch of stuff including their delicious olive oil and red wine (Shiraz).
We were the last to leave the farm before they closed shop for that day, so we took our time to soak up every element.
I hope that you enjoyed this virtual journey with me!
For now, happy travels, and keep safe.
All of the musings and writings are my own, albeit inspired by the beauty of the farm. The photographs are also my own, taken with my Nikon D300.