MY SIS TURNED 40! – June 2009
Sanet is 3 years younger than me. For her 40th on 30 June 2009, she
decided to have it in Gansbaai, at the Van Dyk’s family holiday home.
Gansbaai (Afrikaans:
"bay of geese," sometimes referred to as Gans Bay) is a fishing
village and popular tourist destination in the Overberg District Municipality, Western Cape,
South Africa. It
is known for its dense population of Great White Sharks and as a good whale-watching
location
In 1960, my dad’s
parents, Karel & Suzie, bought a big house in Gansbaai – right on a hill
overlooking the harbour. They stayed in
Napier, so this was their holiday home.
Later the whole family moved to Gansbaai, where one by one, the children
grew up and left home, got married, had kids … and started to come back to
Gansbaai for holidays. It is now rented out for holidays.
Eben (her hubby), Sanet and their kids Llanda, AJ and
Deirdre (right) flew down from Pretoria.
Our parents from Paarl joined us and with Hein
& me, the family holiday home was filled.
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Saturday, 27 June 2009
All our flights were booked on Saturday
morning, 27 June 2009. Everyone warned
us of cold, wet weather and when we watched the news, we saw storms, snow and 7 meter high waves along the Western coast.
Extra jackets, jerseys, scarves, gloves and boots were bought and
packed.
Just after 10 am, Saturday 27 June, we arrived
in Cape Town. Amidst beautiful blue skies, Hein and I
decided to drive along the coast to Gansbaai.
The sea was glittery, smooth and the sun lovely warm.
In Kleinmond we stopped for lunch. At the Shellfish Bar we ordered freshly
caught kabeljou. Absolutely delicious
served with rice. With the sun on our
backs, we watched the sea while eating.
Arriving in Gansbaai, we drove to the holiday home
and found my parents and one of my dad’s sisters, Lorraine, there. After hugs and greetings, my dad’s other
brother, Wilnand, also arrived.
The house has 5 bedrooms. We chose a bedroom at
the back with a double bed, also with a view of the sea and a small lounge-area
looking out onto the harbour.
Rugby was about to start and with Hein on edge
(no DSTV in the house), Lorraine
invited us over for the rugby. We
quickly went to the shops to buy drinks and a few snacks. Lorraine & Mike’s house is literally a
block away, so Hein dropped me off so that I could unpack. By that time, Sanet & family has also
arrived.
With everyone settled in, I walked up to Lorraine’s house and greeted Mike, Lorraine’s
husband, and yet another of my dad’s sisters, Rita, who stays next door. I wanted to try a new snack recipe. Nachos - with Doritos, cottage cheese, tomato
salsa and cheddar cheese. It worked
fine, but was a bit messy and not really finger-friendly. Also the Doritos didn’t stay crisp in the
oven, so I’m sure the Spur uses a different kind of chip. A bit embarrassed, I didn’t offer it to the
guys and we girls ate it with our fingers.
Lorraine
made some yummy snacks, including chopped abalone in pastry shells topped with
cheese. Hein liked that quite a bit.
After the rugby victory, Hein and I returned to
the holiday home. My mom has made bean
soup and snackwiches for dinner and Hein decided to make a fire for ambience.
The weather was lovely and balmy, not too cold at all. While sitting around the fire with the
family, who turned into our driveway?
Yet another of my dad’s sisters, Esmé.
(Ok, so my dad was 1 of 11 children – 6 boys, 5 girls - 10 still
alive. So 3 of his sisters and 1 brother
all stay in Gansbaai.) Esmé is about to
become granny for the 1st time – her daughter, Estee is expecting
twins! A boy and a girl. So we had loads to talk about.
After a while, I could see Hein got a bit
twitchy – so he braaied some boerewors to enjoy with the soup and
snackwiches. After 8pm, it got quite
chilly outside, so we went inside.
Sunday, 28 June 2009
After a lovely night’s rest, we made coffee and
went to sit outside on the hill – overlooking the harbour. In our pj’s.
What a lovely sight! (The
harbour, not us.) When we looked back to
the house, we just had to laugh. Sanet’s
littlest one, AJ, was standing at the window, looking out at us. When we waved, he waved back and talked to my
dad, sitting next to him. When Hein went
inside to fetch our camera, he saw AJ eating his breakfast at the window –
munching while looking at us.
Hein started a breakfast fire for boerewors. After we’ve eaten and showered, Hein and I
drove to Hermanus. We wanted to look for
our friend, usually with a stall at the flea market. But we couldn’t see him there.
Coffee and cake was next on the list – so we went
to Europa Coffeeshop. I ordered a DDS (meringue with hazelnut cream cake) and
Hein the apple crumble with cream & ice cream. While waiting for the cakes, I wondered what
DDS stands for – ‘Double Delicious Sweet?’
When the waitress arrived, I asked her.
The answer? ‘Deep Dark
Secret’. What that secret is, we won’t
know. But it was delightful.
The coffee shop also has a delightful bird-feeder and a sign welcoming all pets.
Driving back to Gansbaai, we stopped next to
the road. Gorgeous Proteas were growing
wild and I took a few pictures.
My mom cooked a proper Sunday lunch. Sweet potatoes, yellow rice, chicken, cold
meats and a potato dish. Sanet’s hubby,
Eben, bought a Tipsy Tart, but we left that for later.
After a lovely nap, just before sunset, we went
for a walk on the harbour wall. At
some places, huge cracks have formed in the wall and Eben barely made it safe
to the other side. Just look at
that sunset!
While AJ was inspecting the soup packets,
everyone was eating left-overs from lunch.
The tipsy tart was eyed and then dear Eben drove to the shop for ice
cream and custard. Lovely!
Watching TV and lazying around, we heard knocks
at the back door. DJ & Megan (Esmé’s
son & wife – also staying in Gansbaai) came to say hi.
They stayed for a bit and we had a pleasant
time. DJ showed us tricks with glasses
and Megan told us some funny stories.
Then we all went to bed.
Monday, 29 June 2009
After morning coffee, Hein started a fire. I mean, why not? Man has got charcoal, man can braai! The weather was just unbelievable!!
Warm and pleasant - so much so, that I had to
borrow a shirt from Sanet – ‘cause my jerseys were just too hot.With the fire
in no hurry, we had numerous cups of coffee, trying to still our grumbling
tummies. Hein showed AJ the sea and he
pointed his little finger and said “Kyk-a, Kyk-a”, which means ‘look there,
look there.’ By then, we have all
snacked on sheep’s’ tails and fish roe (viskuite).
Only 1 packet of boerewors was supposed to be
braaied for breakfast, but by 11, Hein realised everyone will be
super-hungry. 2 Packets of boerewors and
a packet of chicken wings were emptied on the grid. The smell nearly drove us mad! And as soon as the wings were done, we risked
burnt fingers and tongue by devouring it straight from the grid.
After clean-up, Hein and my dad went for a
drive. Eben and AJ had a nap and the
rest of us, went to Lorraine
for a visit.
Although Sanet’s birthday was on the Tuesday,
we had to leave that day, so we planned the celebration for Monday night. Bit of sparkling wine, tuna pies and family.
By late afternoon, Lorraine invited us all over to their house
- nice and big for a family party. When
Esmé asked her son, DJ, to braai her some lamb chops, Hein jumped in
whole-heartedly - bought some more firewood and charcoal and more packets of
lamb chops. What’s a party without a
fire and some meat, he asked?
DJ & Megan arrived with a very interesting
dish, seen at a previous braai. A
‘barbecue pizza sandwich’, let’s call it that.
It’s basically frozen
pizza’s. How many, depends on your guest
numbers. You start with one pizza base
and then you add whatever filling you prefer.
If you add meat, it has to be cooked.
Top it then with another pizza base.
Put it carefully on a braai grid – one that closes. Brush olive oil on the outside and grill
slowly till crispy and cooked. For some
reason, I didn’t think to photograph it.
But it was a big hit!!!
Mom’s tuna pies were delicious and the lamb
chops were enjoyed by everyone.
Sparkling wine was popped and we drank a toast to Sanet’s 40th
birthday.
Lorraine baked 2 cakes for dessert – a
custard cake (decorated with stars and a ‘happy birthday’) and a poppy-seed
cake (below right). Both were absolutely
delicious. It was the first time I’ve
tasted a poppy-seed cake and I liked it a lot.
Planning to leave early the next day, we
greeted all the family and after 11pm, we all trooped home. We were so tired,
we didn’t wait till midnight.
Tuesday, 30 June 2009
Packing our bags, I listened for activity in
Sanet’s room, but all was still quiet.
After coffee, we wished her a wonderful birthday, greeted them and left
for Caledon.
Searching for old friends on Facebook, I found
my college roommate of 1985, Suzette.
Living in Caledon
and I promised to pop in for coffee when in the area.
From Gansbaai, it’s possible to drive via Caledon back to Cape
Town. It was
lovely to see Suzette again and we had coffee & cake and caught up on news.
For brunch, we detoured through the Strand and stopped at a small coffee shop (forgot their
name) for tramezzini’s and more coffee.
Their bathroom was a pure delight – paintings, tins, ornaments and
mirrors – just the way I like it.
Before we left, Hein took a pic of me (don’t
know what’s up with the tilted head)
and then our long weekend was at an end.
What a wonderful way to spend my sis’s 40th
birthday!
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