2007 - 19 March - Richards Bay

RICHARDS BAY – MARCH 2007

MONDAY 19 March 2007
With the kids booked into their hotel, we left on Monday morning for Durban.  Only on our way there, did we hear about the monstrous waves on the Natal coast.  We arrived in Pietermaritzburg after 2, had some tea and chit-chat with Hein’s parents and drove on to Durban.

We booked ourselves into a guesthouse, called Huntley House in Westville, Durban (http://www.wheretostay.co.za/huntleyhouse/) .  What a lovely, wonderful house!  Dot is a mature lady with a shock of white curly hair to her shoulders – framing a face ageless with beauty! Lovely old country-style guesthouse with the most sumptuous sofas and chairs, clustered in small groups.  Her breakfast table seats all the guests, “forcing” you to greet one another, which is something quite different than we’re used to.  We were indeed very lucky to have a room (although the bathroom is across the passage – but then, what a bathroom! Photo’s didn’t do justice.)

Jarno, one of Hein’s business partners were already booked in there and we went for dinner in an Irish pub.  Afterwards, we dropped Jarno at the guesthouse (just before 8pm) and drove to the beach, but couldn’t really see anything. 

We then phoned Vicus, one of Hein’s oldest friends, in Amanzimtoti and invited ourselves over for coffee.  It’s only a 20 min drive.  Vicus and 3 other guys share a furnished flat right on the beach.  We sat there for an hour, drinking whisky (they) and coffee (me) while watching the – quite normal – waves breaking in the dark. 

TUESDAY 20 March 2007
Hein had a meeting till around 1 o clock.  And then we were on holiday – on our way to Richards Bay.  Took us about 2 hours.

Our flat was in the harbour, overlooking the yacht club.  (https://www.afristay.com/p/7610) Mzingazi accommodation.  Studio flat with small kitchen, bathroom and bedroom/lounge in one, balcony and a swimming pool and small jetty right in front of us.  We paid R550 per night for both.  Seemed a bit steep, especially when the loose carpet was so filthy, I promptly rolled it up and stashed it along a wall.

Our lifesaver in the flat was the air-conditioner – a gay drama queen.  Yes, that’s what you’ve read.  When you switched the aircon off, it had a “beep” that went slower and s-l-o-w-e-r (like a flat battery) and will then end in a quick series of 5 beeps.  Hilarious!  But without the aircon – oh boy, you will suffer!  When you slide open the balcony door, the heat welcomes you with a “smothering embrace”.

I quickly unpacked our clothes and then we drove off to Lakeside Mall to surprise Myra, my friend.  Myra owned a Mimmo’s in Randburg, but after quite a few years, decided to open her own baby – Myra’s.  A stunning Mediterranean restaurant with warm olive tones all over – soft wall paint, gorgeous curtains, small details in her décor and her crockery – plates like you’ve never seen before.  Not oval, not round – somewhere in-between.
 
We decided to have dinner there.  Hein had the Kleftiko, a Greek roasted lamb specialty, with spinach and pumpkin.  He thoroughly enjoyed it.  I ordered the Trinchado Chicken, smothered in Myra’s special cream-tomato-white wine-sauce, also with veggies and a bun – a must for the sauce!  Dessert was a meringue, filled with ice cream, berries and custard.  Mamma mia!  Absolutely divine!

WEDNESDAY 21 March 2007
Woke up with a tummy bug, but ignored it completely.  Made some breakfast in the flat, took a mid-morning nap and went for lunch.

On the other side of the harbour are quite a few restaurants, although Charlie’s Croft flooded with the monstrous waves.   We decided on Zack’s – overlooking another part of the harbour and only opened the previous week.  Hein had fish and chips and I chose the chicken bunny chow.  Lots of food and presented quite nicely, but not sure if they would keep up this standard.

 
After lunch we had another nap (one has to adjust slowly to this kind of weather…) and made seafood paella for dinner.

THURSDAY 22 March 2007
We had breakfast with Myra at Jack’s Corner – overlooking the lagoon as well as the sea.  At 8am, the humidity was high and we couldn’t wait to drive around in our well-airconditioned car.
After breakfast, we drove to St Lucia. Probably an hour’s drive or so.  We couldn’t see much damage, but found these “fruits?” on the beach.

On our way back to the flat, Hein took this photo of a beach outside Richards Bay.   We read books and magazine throughout the afternoon and made macaroni-cheese-mince for dinner.

FRIDAY 23 March 2007
Had breakfast on the patio and then went to Myra’s for some computer-troubleshooting.  Hein had a much-needed haircut and we lunched again at Zack’s.    This time I had a platter with all sorts of Greek titbits, but way too much for 1 person.  Hein had some gorgeous blackened chicken breasts with coriander mash.  We drove to Pelican Island, a picnic spot just across the Richards Bay harbour and saw something strange – a boat tied to the pier, but on its way out to sea … after a while, it “reversed” closer , untied the boat and left again. 

For dinner we braaied some boerewors, had some divine Gino Ginelli’s ice cream and watched TV.

SATURDAY 24 March 2007

Our last day in Richards Bay.  We decided to drive to Sodwana, some 250kms up north along the coast.  The scenery en route is spectacular.  We drove through fields and fields of pineapples and sunflowers.  At one stage, we passed something on the road – braked immediately and took some photo’s. 

 
A snail.  Looks quite normal - until Hein placed his walled next to it – wow!  Imagine 6 of them, smothered in garlic-butter.  It will definitely have to be a Main Course – not a starter!  

Just before Sodwana Bay, we stopped for coffee at Tamboti and had a quick sandwich.  The rustic décor of the coffee shop is amazing.  The bathroom is outside in a “log cabin” – tiny, but so cleverly decorated.  Small pink fake flowers are pasted all over the inside.  They also have an amazing art gallery, where they sell gorgeous oil canvas paintings for under R2000!

At the entrance to Sodwana Bay beach, you have to pay an entrance fee of R20 and you HAVE TO HAVE A 4X4.  If you don’t have one, you park outside the gate and walk in.

The beach is amazing – going nearly as far as the eye can see, although we were a bit hesitant to try driving there – didn’t feel like getting stuck. 

We fell in love with Sodwana (although we don’t swim or scuba dive) and will definitely go back there for a holiday.  From Johannesburg, it’s definitely the closest sea.  That’s if you drive along Secunda and Piet Retief.

Back in Richards Bay, we had lunch at Maritino’s Tavern – next to Zack’s in the harbour.  Funny thing was, according to Suzy (our Garmin GPS), we were actually 15m underwater. 

Early evening, we went to Myra to say goodbye and ordered some take-aways from her:
Hein had a Steak (medium done) with melted blue cheese sauce and veggies and I had Chicken and Prawn Curry. We had our dinner in bed, watching the cricket.

SUNDAY 25 March 2007
By 7am, we were packed and ready to go. 
For lunch we stopped in Secunda at Anton & Erika and their 3 daughters.  He’s my cousin from my dad’s side and we haven’t seen them since March last year.

Home sweet home was around 5pm.  Bought some food at Woolworths and then washed and ironed Hein’s clothes – he had a 7am Cape Town flight the next morning.  On Monday I fetched the kids, cleaned the house and settled in for a lonesome few days …     

2007 - 1 March - Cape Town - Bloubergstrand

SEA AND MOUNTAIN FULL IN VIEW

March 2007

WARNING:  THIS REVIEW MIGHT CAUSE A TWINGE OF JEALOUSY

Thursday 1 March 2007

We flew down to Cape Town on Thursday morning, 1 March.  My newsletter was sent out the previous night, our cat-babies were safely in a 5-star cattery, Katmandu – so all that’s left for me was to “chill”. 

The babies were booked into the Catmatrix rooms.  As you can see lots of amazing toys, clean blankets over the boxes and chair and their own little garden at the back, planted with lots of catnip and ivy.  website.www.katmandu.co.za

I booked us a flat, Nautica, in Bloubergstrand with a sea view and so was quite anxious about how much view we could possible have for only R450/night – that’s for both of us.  http://mysite.mweb.co.za/residents/vanri/homepage.html
https://www.bloubergapartments.com/index.html

Collecting the luggage, Hein sprinted away to Imperial for the car; the flat owner, Lynette, said we could book in straight away.  In high spirits we drove off – the weather was not too hot, nice little breeze blowing.

Arriving at the flat, we realised to our utter disbelief that the lift wasn’t working – and the flat’s on the 6^th floor.  After the 3^rd floor, I started imitating the “wolf and the piggies” - huffing and puffing.  Left with 2 more floors, I literally dragged myself up the stairs by pulling on the balustrade.  Lynette opened the door and we walked in …

Now, this is where the “jealousy part” might kick in – the view was just absolutely mind-blowing.  And the salty smell …

The flat’s decorated mostly in blue, white and green.  Very calm and refreshing.  2 Bedrooms, main with a double bed and small en-suite bathroom with toilet, basin and shower.

2^nd Bedroom with twin beds and a separate biggish bathroom with bath, basin and toilet.  All decorated with terracotta tiles.  Kitchen open-plan to lounge with smallish dining table and 4 chairs in-between.  Everything in the kitchen is white, but modern and more than adequate.  The coffee machine caught my eye, so I was happy.  

The lounge has 2 sofas and TV with sliding doors onto the balcony.  Main bedroom also has sliding doors onto the same balcony.   Everything looking out onto this amazing sea .. and mountain …

I quickly unpacked everything and then we went for a late breakfast at “Ons Huisie”, a bit further down Bloubergstrand. Service was quite horrendous, but with the sea right in front of you, we thought to let it slide.  http://www.restaurants.co.za/details.asp?resId=3938  

Back to the flat for a quick shower and change of clothes and off we went to meet colleagues at Paulaner Brauhaus, a German restaurant at the Waterfront.  At half past 7pm, we went to Pick ‘n Pay to stock up on the basics for the flat and ordered fish and chips from Ocean Basket for a take-away.  Driving back, we were wondering if the lift was working yet …  luckily it was. 

Sat on the balcony eating it, watching the lights of the boats, Cape Town and thinking how lucky we were with this flat.  I’ve gotten into the habit of packing liquid hand wash and toilet spray.  When I unpacked, I saw that the guest bathroom had one, so I put one in the en-suite.  Using the spray in the guest bathroom for the first time, I pressed and to my utter amazement white foam dropped down onto the floor.  Very puzzled, I turned the bottle to look at the label and read:

“Ultra hold scrunching mousse”.  Started to laugh and walked to Hein to tell him – sheepishly he admitted he did the very same thing.  His excuse was that he wasn’t wearing his glasses…

Friday 2 March 2007

Hein went to work.  I had a quick stroll on the beach, picked up some pebbles and then of course the lift wasn’t working ...  Certainly one way to force exercise on you.  The flat has some old You magazines and a few books.  Sitting on our bed, I read a book, glanced up at the mountain and sea and felt so very content…

After work, we drove to The Mexican Kitchen for take-aways.

Now Bloubergstrand has a lot of restaurants all clumped together – there’s a St Elmo’s, Primi Blue, Ocean Basket, 2 Chinese places, 1 Indian place, a Thai place, an Italian one, KFC …

Walking into The Mexican Kitchen, you find it quite small, “darkish” but with a very good vibe.  We decided against take-aways and sat down. They have a buffet every night for R59/person, except on Thursday nights for the ladies – R49.

The buffet consists of chicken in a cream sauce, chilli con carne (mince), beef in a dark gravy, rice, refried beans, guacamole, sour cream, cheese, chilli, nachos, tortillas, lettuce, cubed tomato and onion, fried veggies.  Everything was delicious, except the nachos and tortillas.  They were horribly hard (for me anyway).  On the menu they have some other items, eg: Enchiladas and calamari.  I just thought that this kind of food will be perfect for a party.  The main dishes are not costly to make and everything else is put out in small bowls.

Saturday morning 3 March 2007

We met up with a colleague, Kobus, at Primi Blue for brunch.  The guys had the usual English breakfast and I opted for flapjacks with joghurt and berries.  Of course I “spruced” it up with some of Hein’s mushrooms and bacon.  

We drove off to Tyger Valley to upgrade my phone but the closer we got to there, the harder it rained.  It was also month-end, so on spotting all the cars, we duly made a u-turn and went back to the flat for an afternoon nap.

That afternoon we went to Kobus and Linda for supper in Melkbosstrand.  Kobus loves to cook and we started off with shelled prawns, mixed with little bit mayo, peri-peri spice and placed with avo slices into avo shells.  He braaied spicy pork and then some steak.  We had fresh salad (Linda’s the salad maker), gorgeous garlic and butter bread from Woolworths and ended with malva pudding and custard.  But then Hein wanted something salty … so Kobus braaied some skinless, boneless chicken.  Sadly, we didn’t have any more tummy-space for the periwinkles.

Every morning I made us coffee and we sat on the balcony.  Gazing, smelling and just being .. alive.  With the wind, surf-kiters gallop the waves like acrobats. 

Sunday morning 4 March 2007

We went to Canal Walk for breakfast and upgraded my phone.  With the transaction, we received a DVD player which will come in quite handy, since we lost the remote of our current one. 

Dinner was at the Wangthai restaurant (www.wangthai.co.za), right next to the Lagoon Beach hotel with an old friend and his girlfriend.  We first sat outside, gazing over the lagoon and the sea, watching the golden sunset.

We moved inside when Paul and Ruth arrived.  Hein had sweetcorn cakes as a starter; the rest of us had sushi.  Mine was eel in a seaweed cone – very tasty.  Hein’s main course was duck, Paul had chicken with cashew nuts (one of my favourites), Ruth had chicken red curry (I think) and I had spinach cones.  Fresh spinach leaves. Small cubes of lemon slices, lemon grass, onion, fresh ginger, raw peanuts, chilli slices. 

Roll bit of everything in a spinach leave, dip into palm sugar sauce and enjoy.    For dessert Hein and I shared grenadilla cheesecake.  We left after 11pm.

Monday morning 5 March 2007

 I did some washing – in the bath with me walking all over it.  Dropped Hein off and went back to Canal Walk for some shopping.  Bought a gorgeous leather handbag at Woolworths (got tired of my “camouflage” bag.  Hein and Sanet, my sister, will be fighting over it to use as a fishing bag. Maybe I should let them bid for it….) and had nachos at the Spur.  After that my feet were so tired, I went back to the flat for a rest.  We were to meet Paul and Ruth again for dinner in Sea Point at a tiny place in Main Road, called Saul’s Sushi.

Monday nights you pay R99/person and eat as much as you like.  Except no sashimi (raw fish), eel or salmon roses.  Very interesting menu – Bellville rolls: biltong, avo, mayo, cheese.  Mixed grill rolls:  kudu, ostrich, beef, cheese, peppadew; Designer roll:  brie, fig, sesame seeds.   

The place is so-so tiny that we would have been uncomfortably squeezed in next to another table – until we thought of the leather sofa and chairs.  Why not!

The coup de resistance for me was the dessert – wasabi and chocolate chip ice cream.  Wasabi is green and looks like dough.  Together with freshly pickled ginger (that comes out pink) you add it to your sushi roll.  But not too much or your nose will burn like something else.

The ice cream was vanilla with the chocolate chips and only afterwards, do you feel a very slight (definitely not uncomfortable) tingle at the back of your throat.  Yummy! 

For coffee, they took us to the Winchester Hotel – also in Sea Point but right next to the sea. (Well, there’s a road in-between).  Wow!  Old-world charm, richly decorated with oranges and reds and the courtyard – they have Sunday brunches there with a live jazz band.  Service with a smile and you hear all the foreign accents around you.

Tuesday 6 March 2007

It was quiet – for me, outside the wind started to blow.  Of course the surf-kiters were in “heaven” – they were out frolicking since 10 that morning.  Don’t they have jobs?

Made heavenly steak curry with basmati rice for dinner and started to pack our bags.

Wednesday 7 March 2007

We booked out and went for breakfast at Café Blouberg.

Heavenly flapjacks with bacon, maple syrup and “Bushman Chilli Sauce”.  Hein had an informal meeting and then we went to the Waterfront for lunch at Paulaner Brauhaus.  It was quite a hot day.

 

Hein’s burger had the most gorgeous bun – made out of pumpkin, I think.  I had a cold meat platter with real “kaiingvet”, (crackling fat), a piece of crackling, cheeses and cold meat.  We dropped of our car at the airport and sat in the business lounge.  Much nicer chairs, free sandwiches, chips, pretzels, coffee, wine and juices.

When we landed Wednesday night, it drizzled all the way home.    

Thursday morning 8 March 2007

I quickly did some washing, ironed the shirts and fetched the kids.  Back to normal again.  Sure do miss the sea though …