Be one with Nature - Kirstenbosch Gardens

On a surprisingly warm Sunday (as Cape Town cant make up it's mind if it's Summer or Winter) We were invited to a family birthday party at Kirstenbosch Gardens. Having never been there before I was eager to experience what I have heard referred to a Natural wonder!. The large hat had to put in an appearance, picnic blanket under the arm and we were heading for the Gardens. I was not disappointed.  The gardens were an absolute celebration of South African flora - showcasing only indigenous South African plants. I have never seen so many beautiful Strelitzia in my life.

Hubby and I enjoyed a leisurely 2 hour walk about taking in the Fynbos, proteas, cycads and endless rolling lawns.We returned to our birthday spot just in time to cut the cake a witness our birthday boy sprinting around the lawns with his friends and his new bubbles.

This may be the shortest blog I've ever written, not because it wasn't a fantastic afternoon out - quite the opposite it was so tranquil and so relaxing, I hid under said big hat and actually fell asleep.

Will be back for another chilled afternoon soon !!! Hopefully catch a concert or Two next time we go

Sushi in style in the Northern Suburbs

The Platterkloof Village Shopping Center recently saw the opening of a stylish new Sushi restaurant called Blue Fin. Situated between Spur and Nando's Blue Fin boost a modern plush interior, Sushi Bar, Lounge area, smoking room and bar. Their current specials include half price sushi platters before 7pm and an eat as much as you like Sushi deal for R129.

It didn't take long for us to decide we needed to experience Blue Fin for ourselves. Hubby invited some good friends who are also Sushi lovers and the evening was on.

On arrival we were shown to our table by a very polite staff member. The first treat was the size and comfort of the chairs. Our waiter William was soon on the scene, for our drinks order. I was extremely impressed with the range on the menu, there was truly something for everyone, for a moment I was very tempted to try the Lamb, but in the end decided on one of the sushi platters as did my female friend.  Hubby and his friend opted for the eat as much as you like Sushi deal and we settled back in our comfy chairs for a bit of chit chat.

The eat as much as you like deal included spring rolls which arrived at the table within 5 minutes. The were awesome, juicy - not at all oily and very very tasty. In a very short time William arrived with the first of the guys orders and our platters. The presentation was stunning, there is just something so special about well made sushi - irresistible! Unlike other special's we have experienced  there was no skimping on the portions. In a word heavenly.

William was always on hand to top up wine glasses and bring the guys another round of sushi without being intrusive. Hubby tried some spicy tempura prawns (a first for him) and he was hooked.

After devouring enough sushi to feed a small army, the guys were more then satisfied. A lovely dessert tray made the rounds and our guest couldn't resist ending the evening with a home made ice cream selection and a very yummy looking chocolate pudding. My dessert was of the liquid variety, a sole warming jug of Saki beautifully served in an elegant Saki jug with matching cups.

Sadly it was time to leave, but we will most defiantly be back for more. Well done Blue Fin there's now no need to head off to the waterfront for great sushi, its right here on our doorstep.

Wine on the River - Robertson

This weekend past hubby and I attended the annual Robertson Wine on the River festival. At R135 a head I must say I was expecting one heck of a show. Parking was well organised even for the very busy Saturday that we attended, we were also pleased to see that their was a card facilities to pay for tickets (we were 5 people) however the mobile ATM van was broken on the day. On entering the festival we were given our goodie bags ( ah sorry, I cant say I was particularly over the moon with a plain very average wine glass "not even embossed" and some advertising in my goodie bag) The first thing that struck me was the size, or lack of. Yes is was busy but surely the organizers expected this? People where literally jostling for seating space. The view across the river was spectacular, but any goods spots where long gone by the time we got there. Surely more space could be allocated for this once a year event?

We opted to try some wines and check out the stalls before finding something to eat, this turned out to be a bad move. However we came there to taste some wines so it was off to the stalls. There were certainly a good selection of wine makers on hand, and no lack of wines to taste, but to be very honest that was pretty much all there was. It wasnt long before we had tasted more then enough wine and we found ourselves looking for some form of entertainment, there was a "stage" but with no band and background music playing it didnt exactly draw us in. We did enjoy watching some locals doing something that resembled line dancing.

Being a born shopper, I was looking for a clothing stand or two, but alas these were not to be found, at one stage I thought I had found something but was terribly disappointed to discover what I was actually heading for were aprons.We didn't go on the boat ride, the fact that it was an additional charge was a bridge too far for me. Oh yes I also so some great hat ideas, clearly this guy thought he would provide some entertainment. LoL nice one "box head dude"

There was also a distinct lack of food tasting going on, the biltong stand didn't offer any samples before you purchased and I couldn't find very much in the way of cheese and olives ( a few stands that's it !) I was however very impressed with the Strictly Coffee stand where we enjoyed an exceptional ice coffee and great service.

The children's  entertainment amounted to two ponies and a very small trampoline. It is very naive to think that people attending wine festivals don't  have kids, maybe a kids corner with "paid" child minders would of been a good idea?

Back to the food. We had our eye on some lovely looking lamb burgers, but this was clearly not meant to be as by the time we went to get some they were sold out, (this was only 4pm) The hunt was on for something to eat, sold out was the order of the day. With the help of some line hopping from a desperate hungry hubby we managed to bag the last of some delicious lamb curry.

The shadows started to lengthen and we decided there wasn't much more the festival could offer us. I felt rather sad and more then a little disappointed. I believe the organizers would do well to take note of the "Oom die Berg" wine festival  held in Paarl which at less the half the price offered visitors so much more in the way of entertainment, variety and value for money. Would I go back next year?  No. Sorry but we are more the "fun day" type of visitors who enjoy being entertained on our day out  "grape stomping" and the like is more our thing.



At least I got to see the beautiful part of the Cape called Robertson -  and bonus,  discovered the Strictly Coffee online coffee club to keep my coffee addiction fueled.

Finding the Balance

This weekend I was treated to a fantastic outing to the Robertson's Wine Valley. Hubby and I with some great friends spent the day at Farmer RedBeard. What is Farmer RedBeard I hear you say? Well to explain this I need to tell you more about this traditional farm steeped in history. The farm has been in the Van Zyl family since the 1700's, they traveled across the bushveld from Cape Town with the hope of a better future. Their ox wagon tracks are still marked into the rock of the Langeberg mountain as witness to the tale of the hardship they endured to get there.

We arrived at just after 10am, greeted by Farmer RedBeard, his wife, Jack Jack the Jack Russel and Oggies the farm dog cross. We sat at a purpose built open fire with a choice of home made rooibos tea or traditional farm coffee brewed on the fire. We moved to the farm house where Mrs Red Beard spoilt  us with home made breads, cheese and fig jam. (The jams and honey are sold at the farm and online) Then it was time for the tour...

The farm is huge, with over 30 hectares of it farmed. There is vineyards of the finest grapes, some of the vines are over 100 years old; orchids brimming with  peaches, apricots, figs and dotted about the farm are several occupied bee hives. There are two dams both teaming with birds and wildlife.  We went on a tractor ride, which I can highly recommend, Farmer Red Beard and Mrs Farmer RedBeard entertained us with tales of past harvests and historic family events that have taken place on the farm. We started at the main house passing "DieOuHuis" which offers farm style accommodation to visitors and sleeps up to 8. Passing through the vineyards we began our assent up the mountain passing a "secret" camp site, complete with an old bus which will be used as unique overnight accommodation.  (this is not ready for guest yet but keep an eye on the website for details) 

The views were incredible and at no stage did we feel rushed or pressured. Both Farmer RedBeard and his wife speak of the balance the Farm gives to their lives and after an hour of the tour it finally dawned on me what they were talking about. Nothing on the farm is commercial, the balance between nature and Farmer is perfect. 

Farmer Redbeard is in the last days of completing his masters degree in Viticulture and explains in laymen's terms the importance of persevering the ecosystem for future RedBeard Generations.

  

All too soon our tour was over and we made our way back to the main farmhouse. Pappa Redbeard and his wife joined us and we were treated to some amazing Fig Liqueur and oh so smooth home made brandy (met ys ja!) 

We regretted not having booked an overnight stay as by now we were completely relaxed and loving the stories Pappa Red Beard was sharing with us.

There is no doubt we will be back, but this time for a weekend, we would like to try our hands at the "hands on farming" experience that the farm offers, and if we are very brave we may even try the Bee-keeping and honey making experience. Personally I want  to soak up more of the good old fashioned hospitality and genuine respect the family has for the land. As for my balance, there was a marked improvement in my stress levels for the rest of the weekend. Wow can you imagine the difference  a whole weekend would make!

See you soon Farmer RedBeard x

I think I might as well just give up on service already!!!

The fight for service within the food Franchise continues...

Everyday, as soon as I arrive home, I grab the mail from our mailbox. Ready to storm in, tired as ever, hunger beyond, today I come across a St Elmos menu. Yep, now you know where this is going. On the menu, the item that pops the most is the R79.90 Tempting Tuesday, we all agree, that would be our supper for the evening. :) So, we carried on with evenings chores knowing that all I had left to do was make the call, little did I know.

I give St Elmos N1City a call, only to be greeted and then put on hold for 2 minutes, thanks for that! Then I give them my telephone number, they call out my address and I say YES, now, I would like to order a Tempting Tuesday please. "Sorry sir, the incorrect pamphlet was circulated and the price is now R85.90 and you can only choose the Pepperoni" and something else, the woman on the phone said. I said, but on the pamphlet it says Temping Tuesday and is R79.90 and has many more options, she apologizes, and says it was a mistake. I asked to speak to the manager. 

The next conversation left me, at the point I am now, not hungry, fed up, sick of this, are they serious? my last thought. Mark the manager apologizes for the incorrect price, I explained to him, that the only reason I called St Elmos is because I liked the deal and I was super keen to choose two of the six choices for toppings. After being a little bid fed up at this point that he is giving me no alternative, I tell him that in regulation with the CPA, I should get the pizzas I wanted at the price I saw, "sorry, I am not a lawyer" he says. He tells me that I should read the fine print on the bottom of the St Elmos Menu that says "prices can fluctuate if the store deems necessary", I still cannot find that part of the menu. He then gives me the St Elmos head office number to call, knowing that they had already closed at 4:30pm, again giving me no alternative. I call him back, and ask if he understands that by the CPA, I should get my choice of toppings at that price, at this point I am almost over the pizza and just want to find out if he knows that the CPA exists. 

A few minutes later, he suggests I fight with the head office, I again tell him I am not fighting with him, I would just like a solution. He politely says, "I am now going to put down the phone now". beeeeeeeeppppp! 

What is the actual use of the CPA??? If at store level, managers and staff have absolutely no clue what is actually going on. So you take a loss of R5, "NO, we will not, they say", well, they have lost me as a customer. I almost do not blame Mark, even though he had no solution, or he just had no clue of how to deal with a customer or this kind of complaint, St Elmos head office should take the blame for not coaching these managers, giving them some homework on the CPA at the least.

St Elmos, you have really cheesed me off this Tuesday!!!!

The East Rand - Lets do the Time Warp Again...

Since Ive been back in South Africa. I've not had any inclination to spend time again in Jhb. I used to live on the East Rand before I left for the UK and to be honest the place holds no special place in my heart. I have seen plenty of my friends from the area but they have all come down to Cape Town. My son also comes down every school holiday.  But life being what it is I had to go down to Jhb, specifically the East Rand a few weeks ago. I booked my flight with Kulula and was pleasantly surprised at the affordable prices. I do have a soft spot for Kulula planes, my Jhb flight was on the "camo plane" staff were friendly, plane was on time things were looking up.

On landing I eventually found my way through the Oliver Thambo airport maze and was meet by  an old friend. There was no way I was driving. As the reason for my visit was jointly seeing my son, I had booked a hotel  close to the East Rand Mall, so in my free time I could spend time with him, with plenty of shops and entertainment on my doorstep. Another pleasant surprise awaited me in the form of the hotel. I stayed at the very well priced Europrime Hotel. Clean, modern and secure, I was actually starting to enjoy my visit to the far East. There was even internet (although in my room it wasn't working - the very hard working chap at reception did his utmost to fix it) Every morning there was a hearty full English breakfast, with some added SA flavor (slap chips) lol not quite my thing but my son loved it.

My son came to stay with me for the last two days of my trip, we did movies at East Rand Mall and the Flea Market. Have you ever been to the East Rand Flea Market ? Not? well let me try to explain. It is a huge indoor market which surrounds an open air entertainment and food court, sounds normal? Well no, not really, its the visitors that make it "unique" There are literately hundreds of over weight men and women dragging yelling kids around, buying the most random stuff I've ever seen. The highlight for me was a lady demonstrating a taser "cleverly disguised as a torch" at one of the stands. There were literally 20 people elbowing their way to the front to catch a glimpse. Second to this excitment was the entertainment court. There was no live music playing "yet" thankfully, but a DJ was pumping out songs that I haven't heard since I was in High School. Fat couples toed tapped, while stuffing in yet another mini doughnut, kids played in the play park. Everyone was smoking with abandon, for a moment I thought I was back in the 80's.

The last night of my stay I told me son to pick what he wanted to eat and we would find somewhere (very near by) to go. He picked Sushi "well taught" right behind the hotel is a center with several restaurants and I clearly remember seeing Sushi advertised, so the deal was on. It turned out the Sushi was from Jimmy's Killer Prawns. There was a separate Sushi bar but it was deserted save for the chef, so we opted to go into the main restaurant. We took a table for two in a quite area, the restaurant was quite busy and we wanted to chat. Waiters rushed past, there was a definite feeling of pending crises. We ordered a Sushi platter to share and sat back to chat. Within minutes our "Sushi" arrived. It must be said that had my son not been there, I would of sent it straight back to the hell that it had come from. There was nothing, and I mean nothing enjoyable able this dish. The rice was stale, there was NO presentation, (just 20 odd pieces of rice clots on a plate) The amount of salmon and avo in the pieces was laughable. 4 Pieces in my son looked up with sad eyes. "I guess this wasn't such a good choice Mom, he managed" Determined to make our last evening in Gauteng together a success, I suggested a great big Steers Burger and Ice Cream, his face brightened - On removing the still full plate our waiter had the cheek to ask us if we enjoyed our meal.  As we left all hell broke lose on one of the large tables, some choice words were flying, referring to K$k food etc. It was defiantly time to leave - Family restaurant - ah don't think so ... It was off to Steers for burgers (luckily in the same center)

The next day it was time to head back to the airport. The Kulua flight was full so I was bumped up to the BA flight, no problem there...  I must say landing at Cape Town airport I breathed a sigh of relief. Guess what hubby and I had that evening, you guessed it real, fresh, beautifully presented Sushi ... Ummm no taste like home!

Absolutely Fabulous Kohl Makeover

I recently entered a competition in the Bay magazine. Kohl Make up were offering a makeover and photo session to the winning entrant. To enter you needed to submit a head and shoulders picture of yourself. It just so happens I had several really nasty head and shoulders pics of myself at hand, one in particular that highlighted my rather lame, "no style" long hair look. Feeling very brave I emailed my picture to Kohl and crossed my fingers.

A couple of days later I received an email from Lindi Bester of Kohl telling me I had won and offering two dates for me to come along to Kohl head quarters in Cape Town CBD for my makeover.

Always the gentleman my gorgeous hubby made sure I arrived in plenty of time for my big night and assumed his position at the back of the studio. Lindi and her team, Mendril, SJ and Derek, made us very welcome, and wasted no time in starting the transformation. I was placed on a chair with my back to the mirror, so only had Hubby's reaction to go by. Lindi  did my makeup, using various shades of powder, blushers, shadows, highlighters etc she gradually blended the makeup to a flawless finish. I found it interesting that the only pencil used was on my lips. She also did an awesome job shaping my wild eyebrows and adding a little length to my lashes with some discreet eyelashes.

When she was done working her magic "big thumbs up from Hubby" I was handed over to the capable hands of Mendril, a hair stylist  supreme. In no time at all he had transformed my tired looking mop into something outstanding, not that I could see this at the time, but I could see by the reaction from Hubby that he had made a marked improvement.

I was escorted "no peeking" to the bathroom to change into my dress. I had brought several outfits, but opted for a little black dress and my very fancy long evening coat. "Why not go the whole hog - I thought"SJ and Derek had set out my photo shoot area, which resembled something out of Vogue, a few final touches and at last I got to see the result.

Well blow me done with a feather, I really couldn't believe me eyes. I had been transformed from plain Jane Internet Geek Mom into glamor girl deluxe! SJ was sooooo very patient with me, it really is harder then it looks to smile and still try to look natural without closing your eyes or pulling a nasty face, He took what felt like hundred's of pic's, always encouraging me to relax and enjoy.

Lindi added my lovely coat to the mix and Medril worked some magic with some bobby pins to give me an  Ab Fab look. To round off the shoot, SJ invited the patient Hubby to join me for a couple of pics of the two of us. I can truly say it was an awesome experience, a confidence booster of note. If you ever get the chance to have a make over, my advise - Do it! There is something so moral boosting about being pampered and photographed, by a professional team like Kohl.

Well all this was last night and on returning home the make up had to come off, but today the feeling hasn't warn off, "neither has my fantastic new hair style" Now I know how celebrities always manage to  look so good when their snapped in the media, there's a Lindi and team lurking in the background.

Thank you Kohl for a wonderful experience x

The end result

Tygerburg Zoo - Cape Towns Lost attraction?

I'm sure we would all prefer to see animals in their natural habit. However the reality is that Zoo's offer an amazing educational experience, with large amounts of species in a relatively small area, with very assessable viewing. Of late, Zoo's have also become essential as part of much needed breeding programs for endangered species.

In our travels we have visited several first class Zoos including Joburg Zoo, London Zoo, Isle of Wight Zoo, The outstanding Loro Parque, and Longleat (zoo and safari park) I would love to say our trip to the Western Capes ONLY zoo featured in this list but I'm saddened to say it definitely didn't. The reason for this has me stumped. Why in the beautiful city of Cape Town don't we have a zoo that is as spectacular as our aquarium?

Maybe I'm just naive on the subject, but on reading the little pamphlet we received at the gate, I noticed that it's privately owned and receives no assistance from the Provincial Government, Municipality or Western Cape Tourism. Is this right? I also noticed the person who I assume was the owner Mr. John Spence, appears to have passed away in January 2010.Could this explain the state of the zoo?

It's not that the zoo has nothing to offer. In fact quite the contrary. There is an awesome selection of animals 230 species according to their leaflet.  My son and I were particularly delighted with the white lion pair. The animals are also not in a bad condition, other the an enormous crane with  a damaged wing (which I'm pretty sure it did itself) all the animals we saw were lovingly cared for and in great condition.

However the Zoo is badly let down by several aspects. The enclosures are very dated and with only very basic facilities for the inhabitants. The wire on most of the cages was rusted and old, the walkways are mainly dirt (very dusty) and the signage was scruffy and "tired" looking. In fact that pretty much sums up the feel of the Zoo ... There is also some obvious "gaps" in the animal assortment, for instance I couldn't find any Rhino, Leopard, or Giraffe Elephant etc etc The "picnic" area has built in braais (just a thought but surely open fires cant be a good idea so close to the animals?!)  and very old metal umbrellas dotted across a rather dusty area, not somewhere I would want to picnic. The tearoom is probably the worst part, it is very very basic, with grubby plastic table cloths equally grubby staff and hardly any stock. The curio shop is  hopelessly understocked, the dusty stock that what was on the shelves looked like something you'd find in a charity shop. 

You can definitely see someone has put their heart and soul into the place, but somehow it just wasn't enough, and this is what depressed me. I have no idea how much it costs to run a Zoo on a daily basis, but my guess is the 40 odd cars that were in the carpark on Sunday probably only just covered the running cost for that day. At R60 an adult and R40 a child, it should of been swamped !

I've made a conscious decision to find out more about this situation. I'll be contacting the Zoo's owner personally to find out first hand what's gone wrong here. I'm also planning to chat to the relevant authorities to find out why this potential gem is not receiving any funding. If any of my readers can shed some light on the situation, please comment on the blog. "Any information is very welcome" Watch this space for more info.

         In the mean time - Come on Cape Town support our Zoo, after all it's the only one we have!!!!!

Red Bull F1 Show Car "Brings the Noise" to Killarney

Friday saw the arrival of my gorgeous son for his school holidays. Hubby and I love planning special outings for his holidays with us, and this one got off to a very load and  spectacular start. This Sunday we attended the Red Bull F1 show car event at Killarney. A fellow race fan and friend of mine had booked us a table at Matadors to view the event, then on Thursday she found out that it had been moved to the Killarney race track. "In my humble opinion the right venue"  Not much stands between us and our F1 experience, so like true F1 fanatics we obviously watched the first race on TV,  "Well done Vettel", we packed our bakkie with cooler boxes, Son, Cape Town friend, other visiting Jhb friend and  headed out bright and breezy to the track.

Entrance was free, bonus! and Red Bull had done a sterling job of setting up temporary stands and organising foods stalls - Not bad at all considering the venue change on Thursday. On our way to the stands we passed the pits where we were treated to a sneak peek of the Red Bull car being assembled. There was also some fantastic customised cars lined up for photo's on the tarmac. By now my son was beside himself with excitement "as were we" We found what turned out to be a fantastic spot on the stands, right in front of the main stage, and set up camp.

F1 Dress up

I seem to be attracting mega hot weather whenever I  venture out of late, and Sunday was no exception. We sat waiting in the sun for what seemed like eternity waiting for something or someone to make an appearance. I must stress we were very early, we were there for 11.30am and the information my friend got from the track was that the event was only going to start for 1pm. But as any true motor sports fan knows, position is everything, and our elevated spot was right opposite the pit lane, with only some scaffolding and the track wall between us and the action.

Just before 1pm, there was some action on the main stage and an announcer appeared with the news that the show would get underway by 2.15pm. To help pass another hot hour, we resorted to filling a  2litre coke bottle with water and throwing the contents over ourselves, not pretty but very effective, plus my son had a great time trying to break the land speed record refilling it, just in case he missed something on the track, he is 11 by the way and super fast.



Finally at 2.30pm the announcer was back on the main stage and we were ready to go ...  First up was two-wheel extraordinaire Brian Capper riding his  KTM stunt bike at full tilt. Brian can do almost anything on his machine and we soon forgot the heat, and were on our feet cheering him on. Thanks to Brian I now have a potential stunt rider on my hands in the form of my son who was mesmerized.

Brian "the man" Capper

Next out was the beast we had all been waiting for.  There was no mistaking the tummy shaking, goose bump creating roar of the F1 engine as the Red Bull car, piloted by Neel Jani took to the track. Its first pass by was mind blowing. Watching F1 on TV gives you know idea of just how fast these beauties are traveling, and the noise... what can I say, it was scary, deafening, and at the same time most exhilarating sound I've ever heard.  It was over way to soon, but we were promised it would be back.

When the beast had retired to it's lair the amazing Ready D  D1S Driftsquad took to the track. We were treated to some spectacular burnouts by some brilliant drivers. As the whole event took part on the straight, Ready D and the boys couldn't show off their drifting skills, but if its half as good as their burnouts, we're be sure to catch one of their performances again.

Some track cleaning was in order, to ensure a smooth ride for the F1 car and then not a moment to soon the "beautiful noise" spilled out of the pits. This time round Neel not only clocked up some amazing track speeds but he also showed that a F1 car is definitely no slouch when it comes to  burnouts (and we have the video to prove it) Ears ringing we watched in awe as he threw the car around, turning on a dime. Way to soon it was over and the pit crew were on the track with fire hydrants spaying what was left of the tyre's to stop them igniting. Neel was hastily taken out the cockpit, and much to everyone's delight started tossing Red Bull caps into the stand. A suitable regal Audi with a sunroof took him on his "victory lap" where he stood waving a South African flag "what a boetjie!" 

I believe I heard at some stage that the F1 car was going to race the plane. Something must of gone astray with the timing as only when Neel was out of the car did the Red Bull plane come into sight. Pilot Glen Dell provided some fearless aerobatic stunts, worthy of the Red Arrows.

 I believe until now it's been a long 51 years since Cape Town has been treated to the sound of a F1 car in action. With Cape Towns bid safely in the running to host a race for the 2014 grand prix We can only hope and pray that we are selected. To see and hear 22 F1 cars screaming around a Cape Town street track would be unbelievable.


I think Sundays experience can best be summed up by a young man, who after hanging on to the side of the wall for the whole event, exclaimed in me ear "Now I can die happy!" and the bounced off with a grin from ear to ear...

Well done Red Bull awesome event!  fingers crossed next time we get to see these thoroughbreds competing on the all new Cape Town F1 track.

Wys my jou Kreef! - Take me to your Crayfish!

It’s been a busy month; the past week was no different. Wednesday saw the arrival another two friends from Jhb. Last year, we decided that we just had to experience the Lamberts Bay Crayfish festival. I booked our accommodation back in January, no easy task as every where I tried was already full. Eventually I found two rooms at the White Sands Bed and Breakfast in Lamberts Bay. Our other guest offered to take care of the house and dogs for us, so Friday morning, we made sure our developers were settled for the day and we were off.

Hubby grew up in the West Coast area, so he was really keen to re visit his old stomping ground. After a very hot 5 hour drive, courtesy of our Navigation losing its mind and no less then five “stop and go road work” areas on the N7 we rolled into Lamberts Bay. The first thought that sprang to mind was “time warp”. Our B&B turned out to be just around the corner from the Lamberts Bay hotel in the town center. For some obscure reason, I have pictured a quaint seaside town, with lovely white beaches, boy was I disappointed…

Our B&B had a very questionable nautical theme and furniture that had survived the Great Trek, the rooms we bland and very basic. But hy ho we didn’t come there to sit in the room the whole weekend. In fact, we popped into the town information office and couldn’t help but over hear a lady complaining about the “damp smelly room” she had at the Lamberts Bay hotel, so in a way I think we had the better deal, nautical theme and all.

Friday was hot, very hot and we decided we would go out on the town and leave the festival till Saturday. We asked some locals where we could eat, and were directed to Isabella’s, a small restaurant at the “waterfront” which basically amounts to some old boats and a pier you have to pay R30 to walk round as it ends up at a bird sanctuary “really its just an enormous flock of seagulls” We opted for an outside table as inside wasn’t air conditioned.

Yummy seafood salad

There was none of the famous Kreef on the menu, so I decided on the seafood salad, it was delicious, and well presented. Hubby had the calamari and Kingklip combo, which was equally yummy, our friends had the mussels and seafood platter and both enjoyed their meals. 

Isobella's

Belly’s full we headed back to the B&B. Later that afternoon we headed to the beach for sunset pictures and exploring. There were some lovely self catering units on the beach front. The “beach” itself was very rocky and definitely not somewhere you could put in any serious sun tanning sessions. I believe the beach on the other end of the town had the white sand I'd heard so much  about.

After our sunset outing we were bored… we ventured towards to “waterfront” again and found a little gem called, Die Kreefhuis. The atmosphere is warm and friendly with fantastic staff to take care of your every need. Now these guys did have Kreef, but we were still rather full after our late lunch so we opted for the delicious snoek pate, fantastic fresh oysters, plenty of refreshments and a large dose of random chat. 

Saturday saw us up early, keen to get a head start on the festival. Our B&B has one more surprise for us. Breakfast was a do it yourself affair! When I inquired as to where we eat breakfast, our host told us in no uncertain terms we should head for the shop over the road, buy what we wanted to eat and cook it. I’m not kidding! We decided we would head out to the festival and eat Kreef for breakies. 

We called the “KreefTaxi” one of those funny looking half a loaf of bread tiny vans with a very friendly driver. For R5 a head we all trundled the 3km to the festival gate, nice one.

It was only 11am and already the heat was unbearable. We were all sweating from areas we didn’t even know we could! A rather steep R150 a head got us in to the event, sporting a neon yellow wristband and a copy if  Die Burger newspaper. We were revved up and ready to go… but this enthusiasm didn’t last. We set off round the market stalls, a sad assortment of flee market type stalls, nothing out of the ordinary and defiantly NO Kreef.  We had seen them all within 30 minutes. Try as we might all we could only find burgers and wors rolls to eat. It seems only Muisbosskerm had any Kreef and they weren’t open yet.

We begrudgingly gave breakfast a miss and grabbed a table at the main tent. Inside the tent was a huge bar very obviously run by Graca, tables, bench like chairs, plastic garden chairs and a stage. We had arrived during the Miss blue jeans competition, which was an endless procession of little girls, not so little girls and boys walking very strangely. The stage was hopelessly too small and the MC'- Zain Johnson's favorite line was “let’s see them one more time” Tell you what “Let’s not! All the prizes were sponsored by Vredendal, we didn’t hear a single mention of Lamberts Bay – Silly me I thought this was the Lamberts Bay Crayfish Festival.

The heat became unbearable, there were no fans or misters in the main tent, and as the numbers grew so did the heat level. Just after 12 we decided it was too much and beat a retreat in our bread van to the splash pool at the B&B.

Later that evening the hot wind gave way to a wonderful cooling wind so we decided to give it another go.

The Kreef / Large Prawn

DJ Ossewa was on the stage and was doing a great job of getting the now much larger crowd on their feet. We headed for the Muisbosskerm stand, keen to get our hands on the elusive Kreef. We all order the Kreef and salad R80 each, and couldn’t wait to sit down in the main tent to tuck in. (We were warned by a fellow guest at the B&B not to have the Paella as it was mainly rice and very bland) My heart sunk when we opened our take away boxes. To call these things Kreef was an insult to real Kreef every where, they were at best over grown prawns, served with some limp green salad and half cooked potato salad.  Did I mention there were no knives and forks?

 

DJ Ossewa entertained us with some awesome songs, they were bursting with energy and it was infectious. There was one absolute stinker called something like “Jy is weer gesuip”. But other then that, they were great, loved the “Gans Dans” at the end of their set.  

Next on stage was Robbie Wessels. Personally I love his music and really enjoyed his set, which ended with the Leeuloop.

These people were serious about their Graca

The crowd loved it and the Graca was flowing. Robbie was followed by Pieter Smith met MD Greyling, and then finally it was the turn of  DJ / Rapper dude Snotkop, great fun and very talented. He was the last act for the evening so it was off in the “breadmobile” night caps and bed for us.

"Gans Dans"

We didn’t bother going for the Sunday session, we woke to a refreshing rain and decided to head home, this time ignoring our stupid Tom Tom and knocking 2 hours off the journey by following the West Coast road.

Will we go again next year? Definitely no. Are we disappointed?  Yes Very. We really expected so much more. I believe this was the 10^th Anniversary of the festival, but I certainly didn’t experience anything “special” about it. Without the SA music talent the whole thing would have been a disaster. The festival, like the little town of Lamberts Bay was shabby, tired and in desperate need of being brought into the 21^st Century. But sadly what it lacked the most was the whole point of the festival, and should have been the star of the festival , Kreef, Kreef and more Kreef

Paarl Ommiberg - Round the Rock

It's been quiet on the Tourist front, too quiet. Since mid February its been all work and no play. Why, I hear you ask? well there's a very good reason for this. Hubby and I have been burning the midnight oil getting as much work as possible out of the way before our small invasion from Joburg starts. First to arrive last week was hubby's best friend and wife to be on an extended break before they jump on a plane to New Zealand.  Next week Wednesday we'll be joined by my best friend and her partner for a short visit to the Crayfish Festival. On the 23rd, another dear friend and partner arrive for an extended visit, and last but most certainly not least my gorgeous 11 year son arrives on the 25th for his school holiday.

It's not much fun for our guests to entertain themselves while we slave away in the office, so we were looking for something nice to do with them this weekend, something uniquely Cape Town, something different. Well imagine my surprise when an email arrived from Laborie with details on the Ommiberg Festival. A quick call to the ever polite staff at Laborie, and I had all the info I needed to plan our day out. I also pre booked us for some Grape stomping and Wine blending competitions at Laborie. A quick plan was made for a "dog sitter" and before you could say "wine tasting" Saturday was here.

 For those who have read some of my previous blogs, you will know I am relatively new to the Cape. I had certainly never heard of the Ommiberg festival. I was very impressed with what I read on the Ommiberg  website, for a mere R60 per head you receive a lovely engraved wine glass, access to 13 fantastic wine farms, free shuttle service between the farms, free tasting of young wine with traditional onion tart at all of them, and a whole heap of  fun events, markets, cellar tours and live entertainment.



We took a slightly more direct route to Paarl and made it to the Laborie car park in just 30 minutes. We registered for the festival as we entered, where we received our arm band and tasting glass and made our way to the first event of the day, the Grape stomping. I think I need to explain at this point that hubby and I are very competitive, we love a challenge.

Fortunately our guests are equally extreme. As we were early we had the opportunity to plan our assault on the course. Frankly the competition didn't stand a chance, by start time we were fired up like race horses. Victory was sweet, as was the 4 bottles of red wine and Laborie caps we received for our efforts. Pumped with adrenaline, and a little grape splattered, we made for the Lazy Day's Market for a quick tour before our next event, Wine blending.

When I originally wrote the piece on the Lazy Day Market, I made a few suggestions, and to my absolute joy I noted all of them had been taken on board. There was now a ATM at the wine tasting room, far more shade, food was covered or had fly repellent candles burning, the range of stalls was fantastic and there was far more kiddy friendly activities. I'm pretty sure the Laborie team would of made these improvements anyway, but delusional or not, I did feel a small sense of achievement. After shopping up a storm, it was on to the lovely cool cellar for the Wine blending competition.

 

Clearly we are better at physical, "no brainier" activities, as despite hubby's best efforts and that of our friends. Kobus the manager of Laborie found our blend's wanting and awarded the spectacular 12LT Bottle of wine to a deserving team of ladies, who really knew their stuff. Well "you cant win em all"  Anyway we thoroughly enjoyed the informative talk and the fun of taking part.



                                                                                                                
It was time to kick back a little, and we headed for the "Kuier" tent, where we were treated to some fantastic music from the very talented Sterling Electric Quartet. Relaxing on puffy pillows we sipped our wine (well not me, as I had volunteered to be designated driver) and nibbled on the droewors and cheese's we bought at the market. Spectacular!






It took a huge effort to drag ourselves away, but we headed out of Laborie "we opted to drive ourselves" to the next farm and decided on Rhebokskloof Wine Estate.

The estate is set back from the road in a beautiful setting, driving up I noticed horses grazing in the fields. There is also a stunning lake with a lovely lawn area. I must say after the smooth organisation and great variety at Laborie, the Rhebokskloof Ommiberg offering was some what of a disappointment.





We hadn't had lunch, only our nibbles and this proved to be a mistake as the only food on sale, "despite the write up advertising food stalls"
was Prego Rolls. The golf chipping competition which hubby and friend liked the sound of, turned out to be somewhat basic, with a small piece of roped off lawn and some empty wine boxes. Not quiet what we had expected! We thought we would try our luck to buy some of the potjiekos made at the potjiekos competition that was advertised, but search as we may, we couldn't find or smell anything! darn. We were also keen to do a helicopter flip, I did notice that in the Ommiberg literature we received at Laborie, the helicopter rides were TBA and on not finding said helicopter, we bid a fond farewell to Rhebokskloof Wine Estate

Next stop was just up the road, the Boland Cellar,

again a beautiful estate on the Drakenstein mountain slopes. Walking up to the farm, we were greeted by some curious local children perched in a tree with huge smiles enjoying all the activity. On entering we were again rather disappointed, all the activity was centered in one small tented area, other the great big screen showing the Proteas game. The grass bale sitting arrangement  was lovely, however, again we were disappointed with what was on offer. There was only very few market stalls, two of which were selling olive oil and even worse for us hungry lot, not much in the way of  food.... Ok I know I shouldn't but hunger took over and it was wors rolls all round. Unfortunately we never got to see the main music attraction aKing, on stage were two youngsters strumming the most depressing songs I've ever heard. When they were joined by a third young lady on violin, who seemed to be playing a completely  different song we decided enough was enough. Did I mention, Boland also had a Red Wine swimming pool? We weren't  that brave "this year", and unfortuntely neither was anyone else during our short visit. So sorry no cool pics of people covered in red wine, darn!

That as they say in the movies was a wrap. We bundled ourselves into the car and headed back home. All in all I can defiantly recommend the Ommiberg Festival. It's a well orchestrated collaboration on the part of the participating wine farms and estates and an excellent day out. "Note to myself - next year I will take the shuttle to the winery's from Laborie" and not try the  maverick approach...

See you next year Ommiberg!!!!! Cant wait...