The Northern Free State is somewhat of a contradiction. On one hand it is dominated by rural towns and rustic settlements reminiscent of ‘platteland’ living but it is also water rich which brings along with it concentrated areas of wealth from those people who want to escape it all on the beautiful waters of the Vaal Dam and the Vaal River.

Perhaps this is where its charm lies, with the fact that it is both calm and tranquil, sparse and rural as well as being busy and developed, popular and exciting.

The Northern Free State Region is blanketed with crops of maize, wheat and sunflowers that, combined with the blossoming of delicate pink and white Kosmos, makes for a stunning landscape.

There is a clan of little towns that bear historical significance to their roles in the local and Anglo Boer wars. Many of them have beautiful sandstone buildings and national heritage sites that are reminiscent of another era.