Cherry Festival 2021 and Sandstone Estate Train Ride

Eat a cherry and be merry!

It was the Cherry Festival this weekend at Ionia Cherry Farm near Ficksburg. We camped at Ionia on Friday and Saturday night.

They had a theme park there which really excited the kids. They rode on the baby planes and Merry-go-round. Then Marcus, Leo, Natey and I went on the Shell ride… Natey loved it… The rest of us didn’t. Natey convinced Oup to go with him on the Shells the next day too.

Ionia have built a big new structure called the Cherry Dome. Inside were food stalls, a bar, various other stalls and a stage with live music. I was surprised to see how many people were at the festival and how many people camped at the campsite. We ate delicious waffles and bought yummy cherries. There’s a kiddies playground outside the Cherry Dome and there were jumping castles for the kids.

Oup gave Leo his old digital camera. (Remember just a few years ago everyone had small digital cameras?) Leo loved taking photos! And considers himself an excellent photographer! I have added a gallery of his photos to this post.

On Saturday we went to Sandstone Estate which is just a 5 minute drive from Ionia. We rode on a real steam train…We all really enjoyed it!

(About 12 years ago, our friends, Bjorn and Sarah had their wedding there and we also rode that same train.)

It really was a very interesting day for us and the kids because not only did we ride the train but we got to see the estate’s collection of trains, army vehicles and tractors. Very, very impressive!