Friday, March 27. Cape Town to Hermanus.
We vacated the room on the Silver Cloud by 8 am and left our possessions in the library and then had breakfast in La Terrassa. It was very foggy so not possible to eat outside on the terrace. At 9:30 am we had to leave the ship this was the latest time that they would let us stay on board. We proceeded to pick up our luggage and then went through emigration and successfully ordered an Uber with no problems.
It was just a short ride to the offices to Bluu, the rental car company that Expert Africa was using for us. It was in the centre of Cape Town. It was a long business answering all the questions they seem to need, but eventually we got the car. Then it was another long business for them to try to teach David how the GPS worked. Therefore it was about 11 am when we set off from their base. However we had to stop a couple of times because the GPS kept telling us we were only going to the airport, having previously registered the Hermanus destination. But eventually, David got it to take the information and we proceeded through quite heavy traffic at times and arrived in Hermanus before 2 pm. With only a little bit of trouble we found the Birkenhead House Hotel where we were staying. We were very impressed with this establishment which had just 11 rooms and they had upgraded us to one of their best two rooms with fantastic ocean views out of our windows.
The room itself was really four rooms in a long line: the bedroom, the sitting room, the dressing room and the bathroom. we received a welcome drink of watermelon gin and tonic. Our included lunch was squid and mussels outside by one of their swimming pools. It was a most pleasant meal. Chris then went for a swim in both pools. But the infinity edge sea view pool was only knee deep, so although warmer was not suitable for a swim. But she had a good time in the further back pool even though this were still quite small
This was whale watching country, but it was not the whale season. However the sea with all its waves and the sand and the coves were quite fantastic. And it was a really wondrous view. We went for a walk for 15 minutes to Grotto Beach along the coast path, which hacked its way through overgrown, windswept trees and then suddenly out into the open. There we sat down on a bench for a while before resuming the journey. Back in the hotel we had a glass of white wine and a piece of their delicious cake, consuming these on our tiny balcony while enjoying watching the setting sun. But at this time of the year the sun behind the mountains and not over the sea. The sky did not light up fantastically either. But that did not detract from our enjoyment of the moment
A short siesta was followed by a dinner which Chris had difficulty eating (no appetite), although she really enjoyed the crème brûlée and a glass of Baileys at the end of it. But the setting was really nice and another night she must try to order something really tiny so that she does enjoy it. And so to bed at the end of a very very enjoyable day.
Saturday, March 28. Hermanus.
A really lovely relaxing day for my birthday. We had a leisurely breakfast at about 9.30 after soaking up the views from our wonderful room. Then I had an hours massage in the Spa before getting ready for John and Leone to arrive for lunch. This they did at 1 pm and we then spent four very enjoyable hours with them catching up on the 50+ years since we had last seen each other and talking about the dysfunctional Lyons family, or at least dysfunctional at intervals. We seemed to gel really well and the lunch was most enjoyable too, starting with a bottle of champagne that we had brought from the ship. They only lived about 20 minutes away from our hotel.
After they left, we sat outside for awhile with a Pisco sour until the sun went down. The wind had decreased from the strength it had had at lunchtime. We went down for yet another meal but just had a starter and a pudding and really enjoyed these. This was followed by sitting by the wondrous fire in the lounge and Chris enjoying to Baileys on the rocks.
Sunday, March 29. Hermanus to Swellendam.
A leisurely morning in the Birkenhead House Hotel. I had a swim before breakfast and then after breakfast we sat watching all the families on the beach, it being Sunday, for 45 minutes or so before heading off at noon.
We were sorry to leave this hotel. We filled up with petrol soon after leaving and then had a two hour journey to Swellendam. Here it took us some time to find the hotel.,the Schoone Oordt. This was a grand old mansion dating back probably to before the 1850s. And it had been lovingly restored over 23 years by Alison and her husband Richard. Our room was in the grounds: it was quite large and had a balcony looking onto trees with two comfy chairs. The room itself was a trifle dark but plenty spacious enough and the bathroom was really impressive.
We had some smoked salmon rolls on the balcony with a bottle of beer and then read. Chris had a siesta for almost an hour. Then we went across for afternoon tea where we met Allison and enjoyed sitting on the Veranda of the big house with a drink of watermelon juice and a scone
Then Chris had a swim which was very pleasant, although the sun was gradually moving off the pool. Then back to the room for a glass of wine which we had been given by mistake on the coach to Stellenbosch: it was designed for one of the expedition staff, but they one short on our coach, so we got a bag which should contain water juice but had the wine for the crew member. We went into dinner at 7:30 and had a very pleasant light meal with a very agreeable waitress. We were presented with a glass of champagne and a congratulations to me: on the form that David had had to fill up he had to put out birth dates, and someone had picked this up and decided to give us an "after birthday" celebration.
Monday, March 30. Round Swellendam.
A very civilised breakfast although I could not eat very much. We stayed in the room till about 11 am and then went to explore the town. But we did not find it really very interesting at all: the only place of interest was a very substantial Dutch Reform Church. There were also at least three other churches in the town but we found no coffee shops and we did not find the museum either.
Back in the room we read for awhile on the balcony and then went down to the pool for probably two hours and enjoyed serenity of it there and also a swim. At 4 pm we went and had some watermelon juice and a scone and had a chat with Alison again – apparently we had gone in the wrong direction for the town so we then went for a 20 minute walk in the opposite direction but even here there was not really a lot to see just some art shops and galleries - the South Africans are big on galleries.
In the afternoon I had phoned up Stephen as he had sent me birthday wishes and had a very pleasant 45 minute chat with him.
Back on the balcony, we had a glass of wine and a little snack before having a bath and dinner. Once again this proved a bit too much for me.
Tuesday, March 31 Swellendam to Plettenburg Bay
A really excellent breakfast and then a farewell to Alison and her fantastic works at the hotel. We left about 10:30 am. We missed the petrol station which was meant to be 6 km out of town but found one around Heidelberg and filled up: the car in fact only needed 9 Litres of petrol. It was the time of the energy crisis due to Trump‘s attack on Iran and there was uncertainty about the continuation of petrol supplies. We meant to fill up as we arrived at Plettenburg Bay but the petrol station that we entered there had no fuel. So we’ll have to deal with this to morrow.
We eventually found the hotel Emily Moon about 5 km outside the town and we’re surprised at how rustic it seemed, although the room itself was modern and had a pleasant balcony overlooking a meandering river and water meadows. The view was partially obstructed by a tree bang in the middle. It seemed a pity that we were not overlooking the sea.
Reception was not overwhelming but I suppose was sufficient. We settled in and had a late snack and then went down to the swimming pool. This being down a long flight of wooden steps halfway to the river. It was a quite old pool but perfectly adequate for swimming although on the cold side We had some tapas with Amaretto on the rocks as we had a fridge in the room which had ice in it. A short siesta and then into dinner around 7:30 pm and the place was absolutely packed and very dark with candles on all the tables. We had a really pleasant bottle of wine and David had rack of lamb which was excellent, Chris’s vegetables being somewhat iffy. Then back to the room for a coffee and Chocky and watching the television news for awhile.
Wednesday, April 1. Plettenburg Bay.
A good breakfast with very nice juice. We chatted to the owner of the hotel, which had 16 rooms. He gave us some instructions of where to go during the day. We went out about 11 am for three hours. First of all to a local Wednesday market at Mungo Mills. The Mill was established in the late 1990s and was quite interesting but the market was just tourist paraphernalia for a consumer society. There were loads and loads of cars around and parking was quite difficult.
We then headed further into town and went to get petrol but although the first garage tried now had petrol, which it had not had the night before, the Internet was down and they could not sell it. we later tried two other garages, but they did not have petrol Then back to the first garage, which now had connectivity, and now we were able to get the necessary petrol. All this being due to the world crisis created by Donald Trump and the resultant closure of the Hormuz Straits.
We parked in the centre of town and walked along the High Street and then down the hill a bit to get a good view of one of its beaches. Once back at the hotel, we went down to see the canoes and then to the swimming pool where I had another swim before returning into the room for a snack lunch and reading during the afternoon. Then Tapas with Amaretto on the rocks and finally into the informal restaurant , where we had an excellent value pork and honey pizza and a glass of Stella Artois for a very reasonable sun. Then we watched on TV the buildup to the Artemus launch for American astronauts to the moon.
Thursday April 2 Plettenburg Bay
Following the hotel owner's recommendations, we set off for the beach at Nature's Valle. It was a spectacular beach in a national park. However the waves were too big for Chris to be tempted in to the sea, and even in the sheltered lagoon, she thought it too cold.
And our next stop was another of his recommendations - The Free-flight sanctuary was under a 5-acre mesh dome featuring 200+ bird species, with self-guided walks. Birds of Eden is the world's largest free flight aviary and bird sanctuary,
It was our third night at this hotel and we decided to eat dinner in our room, rather in one of the restaurants. The centrepiece of our meal was the left over cold pizza from last night - Chris did not think that it kept well
Good Friday, April 3. Plettenburg Bay to Rosenhof Hotel, Oudtshoorn
We woke up to a overcast morning after a night of rain following and thunder and lightning storm the previous evening which was quite spectacular. Another pleasant breakfast.
We left at 11 am, and we soon run into rain as we headed back towards wilderness and George before turning in land to Oudtshoorn. We then went over a mountain range which would’ve been quite spectacular had the weather being better and arrived at our hotel well before 2 pm by this time the rain was quite heavy.
We had to wade through puddles on the path to get to the room after a bad reception experience. The receptionist was more concerned with having the forms filled in than with us. But the room itself was very pleasant, but with a view just over a open area and 15 other units. all of which seem to have been built in the 21st-century and certainly not in the 19th century as a literature had given us to expect.
We enjoyed a snack lunch, got the Porter to brush some of the excess water away (he was not overly keen to do this) and eventually I went for a swim around 5 pm as the rain had ceased by then and the pool was very pleasant, David sheltering in the gym beside it as there were no mattresses on the metal chairs outside.. We got some ice on the way back to our unit and enjoyed an amaretto and tapas. We watched the news quite a lot for something to do. An American plane had been shot down over Iran and the pilots were missing. Our dinner at 7:30 pm was one of the best Chris had enjoyed, but we only managed two courses before turning in for the night.
Saturday, April 4. Kanga Caves and Highgate ostrich farm from Rosenhof
The rain had ceased by the morning and the paths were relatively dry. We had a pleasant breakfast in the outside breakfast area, a buffet which included hot Cross buns which were good. We then returned to the room and made our own coffee and had this with half a hot cross bun each outside on our terrace.
We set off about 1030 for the caves and arrive there at 11:05 am only to find that the next tour was not until noon, but this was not really a problem as there was a film to watch, a shop to wander around and various other things.. We were a group of over 100 to be shown round but had the luck to have a really good guide who made the trip quite memorable. The caves were absolutely huge and they have been discovered around 1798. Before this the Zen people had lived in just an outer cave but were afraid to go further into the complex for many thousands and thousands of years.
After this we drove to the Highgate ostrich farm on the other side of town and had a guided tour there after enjoying a lime milkshake in the café. We were shown two of the four types of ostrich that they had there: we were told about their breeding habits and how they harvested the meat, 90% of which went for export, the leather for making handbags, and the eggs were sold or chicks themselves were sold. The smell was quite invasive and up to the time we went to bed Chris could still smell this even though she’d had a swim by this time and changed all clothes. When we got back to the car we found that the GPS monitor had fallen down from it’s clip on the windscreen had disappeared completely, totally incomprehensible unless someone had broken into the car to steal this sticky grip on the window. We must take something like a handkerchief to the car in the morning to try and position the monitor comfortably just in front of the gearshift. Quite bizarrely, when we eventually returned at Cape Town Airport, they found the missing bit easily under the front seat
We stopped for petrol on the way back to the hotel , Chris then had a swim before we had a snack lunch out on the terrace and listened to more news. We were defeated as usual by a very little dinner, b we enjoyed it. Then back to the room for more reading and trying to stay awake until at least 10 pm.
Easter Sunday, April 5. Oudtshoorn to Montagu
We left the Rosenhof hotel around 10:45 am after a good breakfast and then checking out and telling the receptionist what we thought of our welcome at the hotel. She remained impassive and said she will report the matter to the manager who wasn’t working on Easter Sunday and we had not seen on the previous two days either
. It was a really pleasant drive, first of all across the Karoo Desert and then through mountains to our next hotel. The journey took about three hours so that we arrived at Montague Vine‘s Hotel a few minutes before 2 pm. Here we got a warm welcome from Pam and her husband who had had the eight bedrooms guest house for 10 years. The room was large and had a pleasant view and patio over the mountains. We settled in and then went for a walk, supposedly five minutes, to the town itself. The architecture in the town was very pleasing and we eventually stopped at the one café we found open, The Rambling Rose, where we had some delicious. fresh orange, and a pastry and David also had an iced coffee.
Back at the guest house soon after four we sat on the terrace until 5 pm when we went for a drink of wine that was on the house: as we left by one door, the wine arrived by the other door so we settled down on the terrace again with that after a short chat with Pam. It was a really nice view of the olive grove and the mountains beyond. Around 6 pm, we went for a short walk in the opposite direction to town , but had to come back as night was Falling rapidly.. Then a leisurely evening, drinking the remains of the wine, some scones and a fillet steak from the previous night. It was topped off with a coffee and amaretto and an Easter egg.
Easter Monday. April 6. A relaxation day at Montague.
A really leisurely day, a pleasant breakfast outside although somewhat cool, then reading in the room until 11 am when we set out on the historic walk of the town.
This only took us 90 minutes as the museum was shut for Easter Monday. But the buildings we viewed from the outside were really wonderful architecture.
Back at the hotel, I got changed for a swim and went and sat outside on a lounger near the minute pool for about an hour before having the courage to enter it. It was actually slightly better than I had thought. But I managed to do a few strokes in it and also a few exercises and then dried off in the sun At 3 o’clock we ventured back into town to the Rambling Rose and had some orange juice and a cake each. The place was really crowded again.
Then more reading lying out by their small lake until just gone five, as this was the only place still in the sun. We hoped we might get a glass of wine again today, , but that was not to be so at 6 pm we had tapas with some Amaretto. On TV we watched Donald Trump, and two other military figures talk about the rescue of the two downed F15 pilots: oh what a wonderful force the Americans are!
Then more reading and a snack of fillet steak and then some coffee.
Tuesday April 7. Montague to Bushmans Kloof
A slightly earlier breakfast and we were on the road by 10:30 am for a 4 plus hour journey to our next destination. It was interesting countryside and the roads were practically empty. We stopped at Clanwilliam and filled up with petrol and arrived at this Lodge some 30 minutes later.
From the turn off from the public road. a dirt road of 6 to 8 km which then lead to reception. Here we were met by three people a receptionist, our guide for the next four days, Londi, and a junior girl who then showed us around the property and to our room. The hotel had been built in 1991 but I think the two swimming pools have been added since, the unheated one was an infinity edge with lovely views and was actually well above 20° so was not too bad.
Our room River Reeds One, was pleasant, but nothing outstanding in comparison to the other rooms we have had in South Africa. The bathroom was certainly slightly dated. The carpet was of a rough cord texture that was very unpleasant under the feet. We settled in and then went for high tea which was good although too much of it. After the high tea and before we went for our walk, Chris had a swim in the beautiful Infinity edge pool, although this was slightly marred by a tractor cutting the large area of grass beside it. We then went to reception and asked if it was possible to have a room with a more open view and we’re told that she will come back to us on this. This she eventually did during dinner and the outcome was that they would try to cut down some of the reeds outside our chalet in the morrow, so that we could see the lake.
At 5 pm we set out on one of their walks, the Daisy walk, which was marked out by Cairns along the way. It was rough underneath , but quite manageable with a stick. Great big slabs of uneven stones. There were lots of rock pools filled by the storm of last Friday and the Wi-Fi was very ropey as they were running on a generator since being cut off from the grid the previous Friday We were out for just over an hour and then showered and went out for a cocktail at 7 pm.
Here we sat in one of the lounges and had to ask for a television to be turned off and we were then subsequently ignored although we had been shown a menu during this time. We eventually ordered a bottle of wine but had to go into the restaurant to order the food and when we did this it was revealed that the menu that we have been shown in the bar was from the previous day and our choices we have not available. We had to look at a new menu. As a result of this the restaurant supervisor gave us a bottle of wine on the house and we then proceeded to enjoy some prawns, barramundi , and a mango desert and cheese platter. Far too much but enjoyable. Then back to the room in the pitch dark but with the aid of a flashlight.
Wednesday, April 8 Bushmans kloof
We set off at 7:30 am on a Jeep Safari to view cave paintings. There was a bit of a kerfuffle at the start, as our guide Londi told us that our booking had been cancelled by the restaurant the night before. This fact annoying David considerably. But the good thing was that it was obviously the other couple that had cancelled, so we had the jeep to ourselves and had a very pleasant ride through the rocks to a dam. This was a brilliant picnic site, and here we had coffee and half a muffin between us. Then on to the cave painting in okra which was viewable to Chris quite clearly through her binoculars. We spent 15 minutes here and then return back to the hotel by about 9 am ready for breakfast a. A pleasant breakfast apart from the ponsy waiters constantly moving our chairs in and put in napkins on our laps, et cetera et cetera. We just had fruit and poached egg each and some orange juice.
Once back in the room, we went to go for a walk along one of the trails before the sun got too hot. We spent about 50 minutes walking. Then Chris had a swim in a third swimming pool that we had not been shown on our hotel introduction. It was even nicer than the one where she had swam the previous day. And we also found a fourth pool where we sat for a while in the sunshine but decided that the other two pools were nicer for swimming.
We then read on our balcony for awhile admiring the terrific view that have been created by the gardeners removing all the reeds from the lake in front of us, this a result of our asking for a room with a view. We took lunch at 1 pm but Chris was not impressed by it and could have done without it. Far too much. By this time there have been a lot of thunder and now there was also rain. So there was no swim during the afternoon but we enjoyed sitting on the terrace and admiring our lake view. We succumbed to afternoon tea but just half a cake between us, before going on the evening nature viewing trip.
This time there was four others in our jeep. That was relatively little to view in the way of animals but we saw Cape Zebra, red Hartebeest, Elk, Springbok, Ostrich and three Cape Hares before stopping for a cocktail and very limited canapés, i.e. just dried fruits. Back at the lodge by 7 pm We were in dinner by 7:30 pm and enjoyed caipirinhas in the nicer lounge, before eating in the inside restaurant which we had not known existed. We both asked for a small, half portions of food but received the normal gigantic amount, but still enjoyed what we could eat. There was a power cut as we returned to the room but the generators kicked in within about half an hour
Thursday, April 9. Bushman’s Kloof
A really great trip to see rock art. Again leaving at 7:30 am. We drove to a superb Rocky point above the lake for our morning coffee and half muffin each. It was just so scenic. Then we walked from here for about 15 minutes to reach another rock painting site and stayed there for about 15 minutes discussing religion and all sorts of things. Then the same track back to the Jeep which was a little bit challenging at times for Chris but not too bad.
Then breakfast back at the hotel and we decided we did not need a walk after our early morning walk to the rock paintings. So we sat on our terrace with our new view over the lake reading for awhile, the Wi-Fi had by now been restored to the rooms. Then I went for a swim in the far pool and following this I went in the near a pool and then back to the room again for awhile before a lunch at about 1:45 pm. We shared a small seafood paella and this was just right for us. Then we followed it by a shared plate of fresh fruit.
Back to the room again and I again went for a couple of swims during the coarse of the afternoon. We sat on the loungers on the lawns outside our chalet. We went to afternoon tea around 4.40 and then went straight on from this for the evening nature tour. This time there were eight of us in the Jeep. Luckily we were in the front seat as just the two of us.It was gorgeous weather, if anything too sunny and we saw the usual range of animals before stopping for our sundowner, and back to the lodge before 7 pm.
The dinner this evening was in the restaurant near the pool and there was a bomba (a South African open fire) situated just past the pool. We asked for cocktails, but the bar here did not serve cocktails, so we had a drink of white wine and enjoyed talking to a South African around the circular seats of the bomba. Then a pleasant dinner of a shared calamari and shared Kudu steak: the meat was not too tender or flavoursome but the vegetables were very good. Then we followed this up by a lemon tart between us, which was not of any great repute.
Friday April 10. Bushman’s Kloof
Another really leisurely day, starting with a trip to a rock art site that involved a 15 minute walk from where the jeep stopped. This time we had two very pleasant South Africans with us. It was a lovely morning . We enjoyed our coffee and muffin before the trek to the artwork.
Once back at the lodge another good breakfast and then, once changed, we visited the heritage room which was next to the main restaurant and in which there was lots of information about the rock art and other fines in the area. One book showed a lot of the paintings and then an enhanced version of them. This was really interesting. After this Chris had a swim in the heated pool in the restaurant patio, just so that she could satisfy herself that she had swam in all four pools on the site. Then back to the room for a read and a visit to our favourite Infinity pool for a swim and then another read before lunch just before 2 pm and after this another leisurely afternoon with Chris departing for a swim in the middle of it
The nature drive was at 5 pm and we had the jeep just to ourselves again and saw a good variety of animals, Hartebeest, Wilde beast, Cape Mountain zebras, ostrich and many more. Dinner was in the main restaurant and the duck was excellent but unfortunately the waiter annoyed David to a large degree. We took our cheese back to the room and enjoys it on our terrace with a cup of coffee.
Saturday, April 11. Bushmans Kloof to Paternoster.
An iffy morning but we’re still enjoyed our trip to see the rock paintings. Londi had told us we were not going to get a walk to them today (instead of getting thee directly by jeep) , but when he heard of our disappointment about this, I think he changed his mind and found a location that did involve a little bit of a scramble for me. The other two who had come with us yesterday were going on a really adventurous walk by themselves. We think the fact that an eight-year-old had broken his arm there yesterday may be influenced where Londi would take us. Anyway, a really good outing.
Then breakfast and back to the room for packing. I ventured out for my last swim with the air temperature probably less than the pool temperature but it did feel good. At noon we went to reception to pay and told the receptionist of the problems we had had in the hotel. We then had another problem which was at the car was not delivered until 12.30, and even then, David had gone back to the room to collect the two suitcases which we had assumed they would pick up.
Then a three hour drive to Paternoster, very scenic to start with that then through a large plain of wheat growing. We found the hotel with no problems and we were greeted with a glass of bubbles and some very tasty snacks. Our room was absolutely splendid with its own terrace overlooking the sea and a really superb sitting area and bathroom. We made ourselves at home and then went for a 30 to 40 minute walk towards town along the beach. Then back for a swim, but although the pool was supposedly heated, it seemed quite chilly as the sun had disappeared from it.
We went in for dinner at 7:30 and this was an up-and-down affair with problems over the table allocation and then over portion size. I ordered a starter size portion of risotto as a main: it looked rather like mince drowning in a deep tomato sauce, though the prawns in fact were very tasty. But it was not a risotto in the form that I expect a risotto to be! This was all compounded by the waitress who kept asking or stating that everything was good or great! David had a fish curry and then and Amarulla Crème Brûlée which was absolutely excellent. Back in the room we found that we had hot water bottles even though it was not too cold and we had twice been asked if we wanted a fire lit. We had a coffee and a gorgeous truffle and then settled down for the night.
Sunday, April 12. Paternoster.
A very leisurely day with Chris not feeling 100% for much of it. We had a very nice breakfast around nine and then went out for a walk around 11 am towards the Waterfront area in town but Chris was too exhausted to continue the extra 700 m that was required, having already walked well over a kilometre and then we would have to return as well. We reached a place where there was loud music and it was maybe a fish market on certain days or just a market. We walked back through the houses, rather than along the beach. Chris found this more interesting than the beach. David worked out that we had last been in Paternoster in 2015 when we spent a week touring around before getting on the Silver Explorer up the West Coast of Africa.
Once back at the room Chris had a siesta and eventually roused herself enough to go for a quick swim, but it was cold again and very windy. We then had a snack lunch out on the terrace. At 5 pm we went for another walk along the beach in the opposite direction, spending about 40 minutes doing this: it was quite cold and windy on the return journey. At 6 pm we had some Amaretto with ice from coffee cups that we have put in the freezer of the fridge. Then dinner at 7 pm and Chris managed to eat her small salad this time and we enjoyed an Amarulla crème brûlée between us. Back in the room we got them to light the fire and this was very pleasant, and we also watched television and saw that Orban seemed to have been well defeated in Hungarian elections
Monday, April 13. Paternoster to Franschhoek.
We had a later breakfast than normal and then packed up and vacated the room by 11 am. After that we stayed on at this hotel, so that we did not arrive too early to check in at the next one. We sat on the terrace near the restaurant for an hour reading. Then a 2 1/2 our journey to Franschhoek through vast corn growing area, seeing vast grain silos and grain lories. The GPS went a bit berserk at one time, but we survived, arriving at Franschhoek around 2:30 pm.
We eventually located the entrance to our hotel., The Last Word. This was a nine bedroom bed and breakfast of superior quality. Our room, number four had a small garden to it of which the reception staff were very proud, or, at least, pretended to be. But it was indeed a very pleasant room, but nothing special as regards to views from the outside sitting area. There was a small pool which was actually quite pleasant to swim in as long as there was nobody else in it. But there were not really enough sun beds around it and there was an upstairs area also for basking. But only two sets of sun beds on this and they were occupied. We had a snack lunch and then discovered that our flight home was not on the 16th, but on the 15th, at 4 pm. David investigated the possibilities of another way back but this would’ve been over €1000 which really was not worth it for the extra day involved. So we will just curtailed the holiday by one day and flew back as planned.
Interestingly, the cheapest way home if we were to travel on the 16th as we thought we were, would be by Qatar Airways which is operating at the moment at roughly one sixth of the cost of other Airways due to the unreliability of Doha airport caused by the Trump stupidity. We went out to buy ourselves a ticket for the tram to the vineyards for tomorrow but by this time it was almost 5 pm when we realised that the kiosk that sold tickets did not take cash and we wanted to pay by the cash that we still had remaining in Rands. So, we will go to the main departure point tomorrow morning at 9 am where they do accept cash and hope they still have some tickets for 9.30 or 10 am departures.
Back in the hotel Chris went for a swim. The pool was in fact very pleasant to swim despite having two sets of water jets into it. Then later on we sat in the lounge area with a free bar and had a couple of glasses of pleasant red wine and followed this by eating some snacks of biltong, dried mango and nuts for supper. And ended with a very pleasant coffee with some amaretto in it and some chocolates that we had. Then Chris decided to have another swim and this was very pleasant, but there were no towels around by this time, Back in the room we found we had two tiny crème brûlée on our beds to eat and listened to the news before retiring to bed for an early start to be at breakfast prompt at 8 am.
Tuesday, April 14. Franschhoek.
After a prompt breakfast at 8 am, we walked up to the tram station from where the vineyard tours departed. Here we purchased a ticket on their pink tram route: but in fact, all the trams were just about the same and it was only the stations they stopped that differentiated the routes. So at 9:30 am we departed for three vineyards. The first one, Rickety Bridge, had a bus transportation from the tram stop to it. But the bus was almost like a tram. At the vineyard we found that they would not accept cash and David wanted to get rid of the cash he had before we left the country on the morrow. So we filled the time till on onward tram departed by walking around it’s very pleasant gardens and up to its manor house.
Once back on the tram we then stopped at Grand Provence Vineyard and here although they were seemingly cashless they did decide that they could accept our cash. We had a very pleasant premium tasting: a waitress was actually a sommelier, aged only 23, she was full of passion for her job and actually knew quite a lot about wine. She had ambitions for her future and this made out tasting more agreeable.. We tasted a Sauvignon Blanc and a Chenin Blanc much preferring the former. She then brought us a superior Chenin Blanc for us to compare, and indeed it was much better. Then we had a Shiraz and a Cabernet Sauvignon. She also gave me some biscuits to enable me to stay sober.
Back on the tram, we went to another vineyard where we just stayed on the tram and went back to the tram's town base. Here we were transferred to the bus which was going to take us to 3 vineyards. We got out at Atlas Swift, which was an owner run can and indeed the lady there was the the owner. Here we tasted five oaked Chardonnays, which all had delightful individual designed labels on them. The labels were designed by a Ukrainian. We also had a Buratta to eat and then David ordered two Cabernets from different Vineyards of theirs. Well satisfied with them, we went back into town and stayed on the bus for a 30 minute ride through three different vineyards but decided we had no wish for more tastings.
Back in town again, we walked along the High Street to see if there were any clothes shops to spend the remainder of our Rands but the shops that were there were of the Paris variety with exorbitant prices. I then went for a swim before we had a coffee and a snack lunch. Around six we went up to the lounge, a delightful area, and had some wine, this been included in our room rate. We stayed there for a couple of hours, chatting to the manager and then having another snack. I then had another swim but this took a lot of doing as they had locked the door to the swimming pool even though they knew that I wanted a night swim: it probably took about 20 minutes for them to find the key to unlock it for me and then I had a delightful swim, somehow far more enjoyable than the daytime ones. Then another coffee with almost the remains of our bottle of Amaretto.
Wednesday, April 16 Franschhoek to Moraira.
We had a late breakfast at around nine and then went for a walk through the town to the Huguenot Memorial Museum. It was easy to find the Memorial Gardens, but there was no way to get into them. Eventually we found a gate that said entrance but wasn’t. So we went all the way back the way we came and found another map which showed us that the ticket entry was further down the road. Here we bought the tickets and watched a video which was quite informative. But the original museum part of it was rather muddled up and impossible to follow. We crossed the road and went to the modern museum and through this to the memorial garden itself, which was very peaceful. We then had to retrace our steps in a long detour, before being able to reach the High Street and get back to the hotel.
We left the hotel around noon and got to the airport within about an hour. Check in and security were fairly painless and we then waited for almost 2 hours for our flight. We had some Rands to spend and Chris found this very painful as there was nothing to buy at the airport other than junk. Eventually we were up and away by about 4:30 pm and had a 11 hour flight on Turkish airlines to Istanbul. A very average meal but edible and then some sleep during the night before landing at Istanbul at 4:30 am local time. Here we had about an hour in the Turkish Airways lounge as we were Business Class to Valencia from here. We dug in to some breads and juices. Then a long walk to the departure gate, where we got processed in the priority queue, but then had to wait for over 20 minutes just standing before we were allowed on the plane. Business Class on this offered very pleasant breakfast and then we slept most of the three hours that it took us to get to Valencia.
Here we found the both phones were out of battery but then Victoria parking van arrived with some outgoing passengers so we were in luck. Home then well before 1 pm and everything was in order there.