What better reason is there to drive from Jozi to Pletteberg Bay in the Garden route (a 15 hour journey via George) than to take part in the inaugural Garden Route Canna Cup? None, because if you made the journey, like we did just before the Cup kicked off on the 6th of August, you’d know what a wonderful time you’d be in for.

As with all things, it wasn’t all smooth sailing, with event organiser Leon Meyer unfortunately being arrested less than two weeks before the cup was set to kick off, for sending the growers samples out to the judges for testing. The team behind the cup still managed to get the event off without a hitch, thanks to a lot of hard work and planning on behalf of Leon and his majestic team.

One thing you wouldn’t have been, had you made the journey down to the Garden Route, was bored. The itinerary over the long weekend saw us and the rest of the guests take part in all sorts of wonderful and weed-related (so again, wonderful) events, with guest speakers sharing their knowledge about happenings in the industry, a women’s health expo and lunch with Myrtle Clarke herself, as well as a gypsy market and cooking classes to keep everyone entertained.

The line-up of judges was a veritable who’s who of the zoo in the South African canna industry, with Gareth Prince, Jeremy Acton, Myrtle Clarke, Simon Strainhunter, Chris Jay and The GemmaCert tester all playing their parts to ensure only the best of the best emerged victorious.

As the testing parcels were not received by the judges due to the unfortunate events leading up to the Cup, the judges all made mention of the fun and exciting testing experience that took place when they all arrived. The judges were also all in consensus when it came to the high quality of cannabis entries received, with some judges even saying it was some of the best cannabis they had tried internationally, and that they expect more great things coming out of the region in the future (anyone who has ever been to the garden route and smoked its weed knows that this is the case). But now that the event is over and the dust has settled, all we can do is look forward to next year’s cup and to seeing you all there!