Wellington, Western Cape

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Wellington is a town in the Western Cape Winelands just to the north of Paarl, in South Africa with a population of approximately 50 000. Wellington's economy is centered around the wine and brandy industry. With a picturesque environment and numerous award winning wineries, Wellington's tourism industry has started to blossom. The town is located 70km north-east of Cape Town, reached by the N1 motorway and R44 highway. The town is at the base of one of the oldest mountain passes in the country, Bain's Kloof Pass, built by master road-builder Andrew Geddes Bain. The town is the home of the Boland Rugby Union and the professional rugby team the Boland Kavaliers. The town is also an academic centre, with Huguenot College, Cape Peninsula University of Technology, Bible Media and Huguenot High School amongst others.

In the past residents of Wellington, and those unfortunate to be passing by on a day when the wind blew the wrong way, knew full well that another industry for which Wellington is famous is the leatherworks, responsible for Wellington's other name, "Smellington". This leatherworks produces some of the finest leathers in the country numbering BMW amongst others as customers.

The beauty of the area, however, far outweighs the temporary discomfort experienced when passing the leather factory. The pass up to Bains Kloof winds thru pine tree plantations, to the summit where on a clear day you can see forever (where forever consists of the swartland to the right, home of the vast wheat fields, the cape flats and Cape Town to the right, and the sun glimmering on the sea.