Road trip April 2018 – From
Randburg to Upington – via Port Elizabeth
How did it all start? An employee of Hein worked in Cape … but he
resigned and would have finished end of April 2018. Hein needed to fetch his computer. So … shall I tag along? And then it all started … even upgraded our
Virgin Active membership for 1 month so that we can gym in Bloemfontein and the
Cape. With Hein’s new Volvo V60 Diesel,
driving down to the Cape seemed the obvious choice.
Phoned a few friends and family members …
made arrangements for lunch / dinner and twice a sleepover on our 9 day
roadtrip.
My aunt Esmé sometimes make Barbie clothes … when I mentioned it to an aqua
friend Penny, Penny donated a box (which turned out to be 2 boxes) of fabric
for Barbie clothes. Since we’ll sleep a
night in Gansbaai (in my aunt Esmé’s house),
we’ll take the fabric along. (Luckily I kept 2 plastic zip bags meant for blankets
– the fabric fitted nicely into those and took up a lot less space than 2
boxes.) Penny asked if maybe Esmé can
just give her 2 sets of Barbie clothes in return … apparently Barbie clothes
are like hen’s teeth … not to be find. Keep this Barbie story in mind … there’s a
follow-up further down the line.
So our roadtrip was planned for:
1 night in Bloemfontein (friends: Deon & Elfrieda Strydom, Cornie & Adré van Huyssteen), sleeping in City Lodge
1 night in Port Elizabeth (Hein’s
uncle: Johann & Judith, daughters
Michelle & Rene & hubby), sleeping in their house
1 night in Oudtshoorn (lunch with my uncle
& aunt: Aubrey & Alta, daughters
Helet & Ilze, with Hercules, Jarika & Caralize), sleeping in a boat
1 night in Gansbaai (dinner with my aunts: Lorraine (hubby Mike snr, son Mike jnr and
girlfriend), Marlene (daughter Lizette) and Rita), sleeping in Esmé’s unit in
De Kelders, next to Gansbaai
1 night in Milnerton Cape, sleeping in
B&B, Sunset Decks – friends June & Lance
3 nights in Port Nolloth, West Coast,
sleeping in Pink Diamond, Peaceful Place
1 night in Upington, sleeping in Protea
Hotel
Hein’s uncle, Johann is MAD MAD over trains
… he used to work on trains. Since we’re
sleeping at their house, I thought to give them a ‘host & hostess gift’ –
maybe a kid’s train filled with some goodies.
Looked in a few shops for a plastic train but couldn’t find anything I
wanted. Eventually at a crafters spot, I
found a square silver tin with a lid.
And 4 lovely black cardboard train ‘cut outs’ (normally used for
decoupage or other crafts). Glued a
train on each side of the tin and varnished it afterwards.
I’ve never met aunt Judith, so it’s a bit
tricky … on her Facebook page all I could see was that she posted pictures of
flowers. A lovely tin decorated with
lavender flowers and bushes caught my attention in a shop … and a packet of
lavender flower serviettes, a small ‘pill’ or ‘sweets’ tin also decorated with
lavender, a lavender gift bag and pretty purple tissue papers. Filled it with
biscuits and thought aunt Judith will like it.
Why am I telling you this? Because after I’ve bought a few goodies for
the ‘train’ and ‘lavender’ package, things started to escalate .. the first 5
nights we’ll be visiting different homes – either for lunch, dinner or a
sleepover … so I decided to prepare 5 different ‘host & hostess’ gifts …
but using gift bags are tricky in the car’s boot – and I can’t pack chocolates
in the last person’s gift, cause it will melt.
At Westpack plastic shop I bought 5 x 5 litre plastic square containers
with lids. Pretty tissue paper were placed along the bottom and sides of each container,
then the goodies – I topped it with 2 loooong loose ribbons, then I folded the
tissue paper downwards and closed the lid.
At least now the gifts can be stacked in a big plastic crate in the boot.
My plan was before we arrived at each of the
5 ‘host & hostess’ destinations, Hein will stop …I will take a container,
remove the lid and place it underneath the container, ‘fluff’ up the tissue paper,
tie the lid to the container with the 2 ribbons and voila.
Friday,
27th April 2018
Our road trip holiday is about to begin …
first we visited the gym for a cycle workout, packed 1 duffel bag each, plus
another small duffel bag for my shoes, most of our socks and my make-up. In the Volvo’s boot Hein packed the big
plastic crate filled with the ‘host & hostess gifts’, then our duffel bags
and a few loose bits (which for our self-catering few days in Port Nolloth,
included coffee plunger and cans with good filter coffee.) The Barbie fabric in
plastic bags were on the back seats. I
chose to wear my boots, cause I knew at night the weather usually turns cold in
Bloemfontein. Closed the house and
started our journey … we had a braai date in Bloemfontein at 3pm.
At a nearby McDonalds we stopped to buy
breakfast …Hein his usual Sausage McMuffin with egg, hash brown and black
coffee … I had the boerewors breakfast bun with black coffee. It was delicious!!!!!!!
50 km before Kroonstad we hit a traffic jam
… was it a roadblock? An accident? People got out of their cars … it was a real
serious accident. After 20 minutes the
road was cleared and we drove on. Just
before Bloemfontein we saw a small white vintage sportscar next to the road
with 2 big guys stretching their legs.
We wondered what their destination was .. in that small car.
Arriving in Bloemfontein just before 3pm,
we quickly drove to the City Lodge to book in.
On our way we saw 2 more small green vintage sportscars and then we
clicked … it was the Vintage Car Show that Sunday, 29th April – IN
KNYSNA!!! Sheeesh, these poor guys still
have a long way ahead of them!!!!
At the
City Lodge reception, another couple arrived flustered and angry … they’re from
Potchefstroom, visiting Bloemfontein for their son’s squash competition –
they’ve booked into another hotel and even although they’ve paid, their room was
given away … Friday 27th April was Freedom Day and important
officials were all visiting Bloemfontein.
Luckily the City Lodge had a room for them. In our room, we quickly just dumped our duffel bags and headed to the Pick ‘n Pay to buy meat, beer and wine.
This braai at 3pm were arranged at Deon
& Elfrieda Strydom’s house. Hein and
Deon were in kindergarden together when they were 4. But we haven’t seen them in about 16 years! Our other friends, Cornie en Adré van Huyssteen also stays in Bloemfontein and we haven’t seen them
for a few years. Cornie and Hein knew
each other from Stellenbosch University since 1988. It was arranged that Cornie & Adré will meet us at Deon & Elfrieda’s house for the braai.
With the holdup on the road, we were about 40
minutes late, so Cornie & Adré had to
introduce themselves to Deon & Elfrieda.
Catching up with everyone was
just amazing! Hein ended his ‘4 week
beer fast’ and enjoyed a cold beer. Elfrieda
has always loved the color pink … so their ‘host/hostess gift’ was in a pink
plastic container – filled with miniature cookies, chocolates and few odds and
ends. In the braai room, the guys sat at
the counter looking at the fire while us girls sat around a table, nibbling on
cheeses and crackers. Both Adré and Elfrieda are creative and they found some mutual
interests. ‘Oepsies’ (bacon wrapped
around a cherry and then grilled) was a starter. Followed by small mushrooms wrapped in bacon
and grilled. Delicious!!! And chops .. and wors … and salad and delicious filled
‘braai buns’. Glasses of wine, a few
beers and soft drinks around the dining table with friends – delightful. Afterwards
we moved to the soft sofas in the lounge for coffee/tea and sweets.
Before 11 pm we closed our hotel door, I removed
my make-up and we brushed teeth. I
looked at the duffel bags and asked Hein:
where’s the bag with my shoes and make-up? Maybe in the car?? Nope.
It was still at home. Sigh. Now I only have boots to wear … and they
don’t fit with my long jeans … oh well.
The bed was comfy and we had a lovely restful sleep.
Saturday,
28th April 2018
Woke at 6 am, showered, dressed and zipped
up the duffel bags. Taking our bags out
to the car, Hein noticed a CFM (Somerset West) car that was packed to the
roof! Waiting at hotel reception for the
breakfast room to open, Hein noticed the owners of the CFM car (Ivan and Dee) and
chatted to them about the packed car … turned out Ivan’s son and his wife from
Johannesburg is moving to New York … detouring via Somerset West. Ivan invited us for coffee when we pass
through Somerset West. Finishing our
lovely buffet breakfast and strong black coffee, we drove out of Bloemfontein –
onwards to Port Elizabeth.
In Colesberg we stopped at Tekkie
town. Bought me a pair of ankle-high
sneakers – whew, now at least I have another pair of shoes to wear! I decided I don’t mind going without mascara
and eye-make up but base foundation … walked into the local chemist and found a
lovely base foundation (made by Wow Cosmetics) – also bought some make up
sponges and immediately before even paying, smoothed a light layer on my face.
Driving through Colesberg, we found a
lovely artsy coffee shop – Nineteen Eighty Nine (1989 – (https://www.tripadvisor.co.za/Restaurant_Review-g2242645-d13134586-Reviews-Nineteen_Eighty_Nine-Colesberg_Northern_Cape.html)).
An old house turned into a coffeeshop – each
room has some amazing crafts and handwork … embroidered linen, pretty plates…a
doorstop is a round tin, filled with sand and a pretty teacup half immersed
sideways into the sand – how ingenious!
Tables are all wood, some left as is, others distressed with paint. Chairs are all different … plastic
see-through chairs and wooden kitchen chairs.
Quirky art, quirky owner … she wore a black hat and greeted us with a
smile. The cakes all looked deeelicious,
but we only had coffee and a cappuccino.
Outside Colesberg at the Gariep Dam, we
stopped. The dam was quite full and Hein
took some lovely pictures. In the car,
we looked at the Volvo’s instrumental panel and saw … a spider web with a small
spider!!!!!!! How the heck … when did
this …. My gosh, really? Hein gently
helped the spider out to find a new home.
Between Noupoort and Graaff-Reinet a whole
field of wind turbines were quite a contrast against the Karoo landscape. And then I had to giggle… just down the road, in the field with
anthills and small bushes, some colored people were hitting golf balls with a
golf club! Probably is called ‘dust
golfing’???
Lunchtime we arrived in Graaff Reinet. It was busy!!!!! Loads and loads of motorcyclists (and their
girls) in the streets, cars racing up and down.
The church is just beautiful! At
the GRT (Graaff Reinet Brewery - https://www.tripadvisor.co.za/Attraction_Review-g317079-d9996852-Reviews-GRT_Brewery-Graaff_Reinet_Eastern_Cape.html)
we walked into the ‘Meerkat Deli’ and ordered Lamb burger (Hein) with chips,
and freshly made fish cakes with chips for me.
It was yummy!!! Hein bought some
of their homemade beer – a pale ale – but funny enough all the beers were
without a label.
Late afternoon we arrived in Despatch – at
Johann & Judith’s home. Put our bags
in the guest room and gave Johann his ‘train’ gift and Judith her ‘lavender’
gift. I’ve never met them before and
Hein hasn’t seen them in years! Their
daughters Michelle and Rene with husband (forgot his name) joined us and we had
a lovely time looking at OLD, I mean OLD photos of Hein and his family. Weather was lovely – no wind, so the men
braaied chicken, boerewors and steak, served with yummy curry pasta salad,
potato salad and Cranberry juice.
Chatted till after 10 … yawns all around so we went to bed.
Sunday,
29 April 2018
Woke at 5 am, a quick wash, a good cup of filter
coffee in the kitchen while chatting with Johann & Judith, hugs &
kisses and on the road again at 6 am. A
tight schedule was planned for this Sunday …. next stop Knysna. Drove the N2
towards Knysna and the scenery along the road … proteas, proteas and
fynbos. It’s soo unbelievable!!!!! At a Mugg & Bean we stopped for another coffee
and on spotting my ‘sporks’ earrings, the black till ladies were fascinated
with them … wanted some too … when I said we actually stay in Joburg, her quick
reply was: I heard there are
couriers! Hahahahaha.
Drove into Knysna at 9 am, stopped to pick
up Esmé. Esmé was staying at her son DJ
and his wife Megan’s house to unpack while they work. Remember all those Barbie fabrics I packed
into zipped plastic bags? It was
transferred to Esmé’s boot. By now we
were quite hungry, so with Esmé we drove to the Vintage Car Show in Knysna …
wow, the selection of cars was amazing!!!!!
Big ‘ships’ of cars, tiny cars, funny cars …. After saying hallo to DJ,
we headed straight for the food stalls.
Hein had a boerewors roll, I had vetkoek & mince and Esmé had bacon
& blue cheese burger. A quick walk
through the cars and we dropped off Esmé … onwards to Oudtshoorn.
Wilderness weather was chilly with grey
skies, but we were cosy in the car.
12 o’ Clock – Oudtshoorn. Driving up the hill towards Mount Noah (https://www.mountnoah.co.za/) we felt
some apprehension … got to the gate and were perplexed … on the gate is mounted
a catamaran.
I pressed the reception
button and the whole gate with catamaran slid to the left – way cool. A surly chap asked us if he could help … but
luckily someone else popped out of the house.
Booked in and they walked us to our boat –
yes, you heard it … we were going to
sleep on a boat … on dry land. Their story:
" The first
yacht happened by chance. Sagitta arrived on Mount Noah when her trailer broke
down on a journey to Durban. Being the closest ‘safe harbour’ to the breakdown,
she unknowingly found a permanent home. On this day Dr. Warrington, owner, saw
the perfect irony in an ocean vessel joining the gorgeous landscapes of the
Little Karoo, a pre-historic lake, as yacht accommodation. Mount Noah, a
family-run Lodge was born. "
Our boat was Arthur’s Ark (some called it a
pirate’s boat). The story is that Arthur
stayed in Northriding, Joburg. He saw a
‘how to build a boat’ article in a sailing magazine and over the years built this
36 foot family boat. When he retired and
his wife passed, he lost interest and saw an article on Mount Noah’s renovation
projects and sold it to them. Hence the
name Arthur’s Ark.
It's the only 1 of the 5 boats that has a
viewing deck with a wooden bench and ‘coffee table’. The view from the deck over the town
Oudtshoorn is glorious!!!! The boat has
a separate bathroom, equipped with a really good and spacious shower, toilet
and basin. It’s separate from the
‘living cabin’. Walking down steep steps
into the sleeping cabin, you have the main double bed plus 3 single beds and
another double bed. Quite a bit of storage and even has a small TV and air
conditioner (for the hot months).
On the premises, is a pool for the hot
times, but wait … it has a boat in it!!! The story? An Aussie sailor sailed solo around the world,
anchored in Richards Bay but was arrested for owning a gun – and was
deported. The boat landed in her own
‘marina’ on Mount Noah’s land. Other
facilities at Mount Noah include a bar, a restaurant/breakfast area overlooking
the veld, a sunset lounge and outside area for sundowners, as well as a small
area where you can make your own coffee and tea. No kettles are allowed on the boats, also no
high-heeled shoes.
Just a few blocks away, at my uncle Aubrey
& Alta’s house, we were having lunch.
Their daughter Ilze, hubby Hercules and girls Jarika & Caralize were
there too. We haven’t seen them in ages,
so in-between cold drinks and cold chicken pieces, cold beef roast, AMAZING
old-fashioned sweet sweet-potatoes, spinach, crispy potatoes, rice, gravy and
cauliflower florets fried in a light batter topped with cheese. Dessert was a ‘mosaic’ ‘wiggly’ jelly ring –
5 different colored jellies set, cubed – then placed into a mixture of
condensed milk, cream & gelatin – pretty!
Served with custard.
Stretching out on the comfy couches, they
opened my hostess gift and the cutest thing ever was … miniature cookies. Like, I mean, minature custard cookies,
miniature romany creams, etc. I bought
it for them, cause they supply home industries with the EXACT same cookies, but
obviously in normal sizes. So they were
quite ‘chuffed’.
Drove back to our ‘boat’, sat on the deck
and watched the sunset. Although it was
a bit chilly, it was just so amazing.
Dinner was actually booked on the premises … a braai … but when we had a
drink in the pub .. with the surly chap, he didn’t know about it … we must
bring our own meat … blah blah … we said:
okay. It’s okay.
Lazing around in the boat, we decided after
6pm to try The Black Swan (http://blackswanoudtshoorn.co.za/
) for dinner. Being a Sunday night, we
were warned not many places would be open.
The restaurant was once a house with a MASSIVE covered and enclosed
patio area. I wore my ‘sporks’ earrings
and was that a hit with the waitresses! Décor
was quirky, some interesting framed pictures on the walls AND THEN LIGHTS THAT
LOOKED LIKE … from the Spur!!! That was
just such a ‘wait, what is that?’ moment when I noticed them. They looked totally out of place – so
different from the rest of the décor.
Our waitress caught me looking at the lights and before I said anything,
she said: yes, they’re from Spur … no,
this wasn’t a Spur … they just liked the light shades. As usual, we decided on a few starters to share.
I chose a starter of crispy pork belly with
garlic mash – it was absolutely divine.
Around R70, which I thought was okay.
The creamy garlic mussel soup was also delicious, served with toast. The beetroot and blue cheese salad was soo
pretty, but a huge plate and eventually I only fished out the blue cheese
cubes. Hein decided to have a main course…
lamb chops – it had a ‘SQ’ next to it, but hey, this is Oudtshoorn, Karoo land,
sheep ….
Also on the plate was pap and
chakalaka bean sauce and steamed veggies with 4 lovely prepared lamb rib
chops. Needless to say we didn’t finish
all the food … but we enjoyed it all.
Hein’s beer wasn’t cold (why oh why can restaurants not properly
refrigerate their beer??) but my cappuccino was strong and creamy. No dessert was ordered. The bill came … I nearly toppled out of my
chair … the price for the lamb chop main course? You want to know? R265!
Yes, you read correctly – R265!
Now that’s a serious rip-off!!!!
Back at the boat, we brushed teeth in the
separate bathroom and locked the door (cause we’re from Joburg). Walked down the steps into the cabin and
locked the door (cause you know …).
If
you’ve been together with a partner for a while, you have your own sides of the
bed. As do we. In the boat, my side was ‘open’, which meant
Hein slept right next to the boat wall.
Up till 1 am we had a lovely sleep!!!
But then Hein had to visit the bathroom … which meant unlock, walk
across, unlock, etc. I thought I’ll
skootched on over on the bed, so that Hein didn’t have to sleep next to the
boat wall. Wow – BIG mistake!!! Hein promptly fell asleep and there I was …
couldn’t sleep, couldn’t turn around, felt like I was lying in a cocoon. Why didn’t I wake Hein immediately? Cause I thought if I was lying this
uncomfortable, how on earth did he feel when ‘trapped’ next to the wall?
For 4 hours I slept real fitfully, then at 5
am, that was it! I gently woke Hein and
asked if we can please switch sides … he was gently ‘mad’ and asked me why I
didn’t wake him earlier. Switched sides
and lo and behold, Hein immediately fell asleep (against the boat wall) and I
did too. Happy days! Don’t mess with a couple’s bed sides.
(On
that note, years ago we visited Dragon Peaks in Central Drakensberg. Stayed in a ‘Drakensberg’ home but there ‘my’
side of the bed was also right next to the window. And Hein really loves fresh air … so we
started off with Hein on the window-side of the bed … boy, that also only
lasted a few hours, when I woke and asked real nice, if we could switch sides.)
Monday,
30 April 2018
Woke at 7 am and wanted some coffee … but
remember, I didn’t have any slippers or flops!
Hein said he’ll take our plunger and coffee to the breakfast area after
his shower. Wanting my coffee, I wore my
long soft pants (that doubles as pj’s) WITH MY BOOTS and walked to the main
area to make our coffee.
As Hein stepped out of the bathroom, he saw
the dirty coffee plunger and thought … that’s weird, it was clean when we
packed it. Then he saw me sitting on the
boat deck, sipping coffee and watching the town. The previous day we didn’t see my other
cousin Helet, so after breakfast we’ll pop in at Aubrey & Alta again to say
hello to Helet. After we’ve repacked our
bags (or rather, Hein kindly repacked my duffel bag, cause what I wanted to
wear that day was obviously RIGHT at the bottom of the bag! So, all my clothes were halfway out of the
bag.), packed the car and walked to the breakfast room.
A lovely morning outside, fresh filter
coffee was made for us and then orders were taken for breakfast. I just wanted a slice of bread with peanut
butter and honey … but the Afrikaans waitress really really wanted me to order
something from the kitchen … an omelet maybe, she suggested? So I said okay, an omelet, but just with
cheese. Really, she asked – only
cheese? Not bacon, mushrooms?? Hein had the whole toot … eggs, bacon, toast,
yummy ‘jazzed up’ baked beans … the 1 owner chatted with us about the boats, their
history, how they renovate and then we said goodbye.
At Aubrey & Alta, we waited for Helet
and had a lovely ‘catch up’. Helet works
in De Krans wine cellar (Calitzdorp, a few km from Oudtshoorn) and Hein wanted
to buy some wine as a gift, and to take back to Joburg, so she suggested a few
lovely wines.
De Krans Wine Cellar (http://www.dekrans.co.za/) , Calitzdorp, has
a long building with the wine-tasting on 1 side and a ‘café’ on the other side
with a lovely patio, covered in vines.
While Hein was buying wine, I browsed the ‘deli’ section and found
Nutella meringues (made by Helet),
Alta suggested that when we drive through
Barrydale, we should visit Diesel & Crème for lunch. (http://dieselandcreme.co.za/)
and they have a motel, The Karoo Moon (https://www.nightsbridge.co.za/bridge/book?bbid=21136)
– check the rooms’ decor) for lunch. It
is a delightful place on Route 62 – filled with all kinds of vintage décor and
gifts and a big inside area, as well as outside area under a roof. Tables and chairs all differ, the kitchen is
in a caravan and they have quirky milkshakes:
Chilli Chilli Bang Bang – Belgian choc gelato & fresh chilli; Cruella de Ville – Belgian choc gelato &
strawberry compote.
Hein ordered the
chicken pie with salad and chips (it was a bit dry) and I ordered basil pesto,
sundried tomatoes, Parma ham on toasted bread with chips – IT WAS ABSOLUTELY
FABULOUS! Those flavors together were
heaven! The place was sooo busy, the
waiters all had ‘cellphones’ with software to order the food and collect –
quite clever. Although I was wearing
boots and a top, some of the tourists were dressed in summer dresses and short
shorts.
My uncle Aubrey said we should look out for
the waterfalls on the Tradouw Pass … we missed it, but the 16 kilometer drive
with an altitude range of 219 metres, was breathtaking. Pictures cannot do justice. (Tradouw means ‘womens path’ in the old Khoi
language.)
Through the small town of Stanford,
Overberg, we drove and I’m POSITIVE I saw a reindeer. Just a few kilometres away, we entered
Gansbaai, our destination for the night.
First, we drove to the harbor, cause I was
looking for shark biltong. But couldn’t
find any. At my aunt Lorraine and hubby
Mike (who owns a trailer boat)’s home, I stepped out of the car and saw my
cousin Lizette from Napier! Oh my
goodness, that was a total surprise!!!!
I haven’t seen her in about 4 years!!!
I knew her mom Marlene was visiting Lorraine … but this was just
awesome. Gave Lorraine a ‘toolbox’
container with goodies to enjoy.
Lorraine asked if we can drive to De
Kelders to Rita & Esmé’s house, to leave our bags in Esmé’s unit (she’s
still in Knysna) and bring Rita with us for dinner. Back at Lorraine & Mike’s house, I had a
splendid time visiting with my aunts (Lorraine, Marlene and Rita) and my cousin
Lizette.
Or was it?
Yes it was, but WAIT ….. the BESTESTESEST treat for me was …. Snoek
heads!!!!!!!! My goodness, Mike jnr
halved the snoek heads, brushed them with a butter-jam mixture and braaied them
… I was in fish heaven!
I was so enthralled with the snoek heads, I
completely forgot they also braaied the ‘snoek spine’ …. Tsk tsk. With coffee and sweet things afterwards, we
settled on the big couches and had a marvelous time! Some of them started to yawn, cause it was
close to 10pm, but then someone will start another story or joke and we stayed
on.
Saying goodbye to everyone, Rita and
Marlene drove back with us to De Kelders.
Washed my face, brushed our teeth and to bed.
Tuesday,
1 May 2018
After a good night’s sleep, we made coffee
and sat outside in the garden … weather was perfect!!! Rita and Marlene opened their door and we
chatted a bit more. Giving them the Nutella
meringues and lemon biscotti, I placed the last of the ‘host-hostess gifts’ in Esmé’s
room, we said goodbye to Marlene & Rita and hopped in the car … to
Hermanus.
Phoning Pieter Smith, we arranged to meet
around 10 am at The Burgundy Café (http://www.burgundyrestaurant.co.za/)
. We arrived just in time to snatched a
table right next to the low wall with the magnificent view over the sea and
mountain. Weather just about as perfect
as you can ask for. Pieter, Cornie (the
one we saw in Bloemfontein) and Hein were all together in Stellenbosch
University. But we haven’t seen Pieter
for many years.
I ordered French toast with cottage cheese
and fruit salad. It was presented
beautifully! 2 Slices of French Toast, a
tiny pot of honey, a small bowl of cottage cheese and a medium bowl filled with
fresh fruit … absolutely delicious! And
strong cappuccino. Hein ordered mince on
toast with egg and it was really good! My hands were sticky, so I quickly went
to the bathroom … and walked past a GOLDEN piano. A painted piano. Lovely décor inside the Burgundy Café. Pieter and his partner Pam joined us and we
had a lovely hour catching up, talking about recipes, about their overseas travels,
friends and family.
Still wanting to buy flops and/or slippers,
we said goodbye and I popped into Jet Stores.
Immediately found a lovely pair of lined ankle slippers and flops. Paid for it, walked out the door and the
buzzer went off … but nobody stopped me and I didn’t think to look in the bag.
Next stop, Milnerton – Cape. Just after 1 we arrived at The Sunset Decks,
Milnerton, Cape (http://www.sunsetdecks.co.za/)
. We’ve been visiting this B&b for
years! Usually we get the ‘sort of self
catering’ room … a spacious room with a small but adequate kitchenette with
microwave. I haven’t seen June &
Lance, the owners, in years! After a
quick hallo and giving them some wine from De Krans and flavored balsamic
vinegar and pretty serviettes, we excused ourselves to feed our tummies … since
the weather was fabulous (for the Cape), we thought pizza at The Blue Peter in Table
view.
Just a short drive away, we reached Blue
Peter, but alas, it was packed. Onwards
to Eden on the Bay … Primi Piatti (https://www.zomato.com/capetown/primi-piatti-blouberg/menu)
Again, we managed to snag a table quite
close to the walkway with a lovely view of the sea and mountain. Looking at the fresh-pressed juices, I
ordered the one with beetroot and apple.
Delicious. On the walkway, parents
with kids were strolling, joggers were stretching, a guy (wondered where his
wife was) with a ‘stacked twin pram’ walked by … and would you believe it, 3
motorcycles zoomed in and parked. The
absolute nerve! It’s a walkway, with
kids and babies and older people … anyway.
The Prego chicken pizza sounded yummy, so
we ordered and watched a group of ‘performers’ on the walkway. Our pizza arrived and the one side of the
pizza crust was black … but we were hungry and on vacation, so we started to
eat … but the pizza was also real dry … luckily a manager walked by, scrunched
up his nose and asked: are you guys okay
with this pizza? He offered to immediately
replace it. It was yum.
Driving back to the B&B, we stopped at
a small Woolworths food to buy a small ‘ready made’ meal (beef cannelloni) for
the evening, as well as Greek yogurt, fresh honey and mixed spices for me. A small package at the till caught my eye
‘Chia seeds & Aniseed booster date bites with activated charcoal’ – 3 balls
in a package. At the B&B, we took a
nap and then chilled in the room, Hein watching a movie on his tablet, me
reading a book on my tablet (the very 1st time in 5 days I had time
to open my tablet). I heated the
cannelloni for Hein, ate the Greek yogurt with honey & mixed spice and
when I later had some yummy plunger coffee (from the car), I tried one of the
‘activated charcoal’ balls … yuck…. Not nice at all. With cold feet, I decided to wear my
‘Hermanus Jet Store’ slippers. Only to
find out … the electronic tag gadget was still attached! No wonder the alarm at the door screeched …
sigh … now I have to find another Jet Stores (luckily I kept my slip) so they
can remove this gadget. Early to bed,
since we have an early start.
Wednesday,
2 May 2018
Woke up early. With the Cape on strict water restrictions, a
bucket is placed in the shower. I quickly opened the taps to fill the bucket
halfway, but of course most was cold … but no worries … I sponge-bathed
quickly, washed my face and put on foundation and then just finger-combed my
hair. (It’s just absolutely amazing how
my stylist, Chantal, has given me a hairstyle that is completely
effortless! I mean seriously … at night,
I normally brush my hair about 50 times, then I sleep for about 7 hours and the
next morning, I can LITERALLY walk into a restaurant / shop without touching my
hair!
Hein asked for a real early breakfast, but
luckily another guest joined us and we all had a nice chat while munching and
drinking yummy filter coffee.
All the way between Yzerfontein and
Velddrift, a heavy mist forced us to drive really slowly. Driving through Dwarskersbos, right next to
the road we saw really cute chalets – they were called ‘Op ‘n Slakkepas’ (https://www.lekkeslaap.co.za/akkommodasie/17-slakkepas
).
On this roadtrip, I have developed a
serious ‘rubberneck’ … I was forever turning my head left and right, trying to
see what’s next to the road. On this
road, the weirdest town names cropped up … but one was so cute ‘Douse the
Glim’. I was immediately intrigued; it’s a Scottish name for ‘Put out the Light’.
In Garies we thought to stop for a quick
lunch.
My chips … oh dear … they had NO color and
tasted different than Hein’s. My cheese
sauce had NO cheese in it. I ate some of
Hein’s chips, he ate some of my chips and then we left. Totally disgusted. We didn’t even bother saying anything …
At the Toeristestal (Tourist shop) Hein
quickly stopped, idled his car while I ran inside. It’s a huge ‘barn-like’ building, but I
didn’t even look around. Asked the
pretty young lady behind the counter if they had Barbie clothes. And I struck the mother lode!!!! My goodness, there were all kinds of
itsy-bitsy clothes!!! Eventually I chose
2 sweat suits, 1 knitted dress with hat and another knitted sundress. Sooo cute.
Just before 4pm, we arrived in McDougalls
Bay (7 km from Port Nolloth) … the numbers are all weird, so we started to
‘panic’ a bit … but then we arrived at 1914 Kobus Meiring Street, Peaceful
Place (https://www.lekkeslaap.co.za/akkommodasie/peaceful-place) …
when we walked through the gate, the sea is
there .. a mere 50 odd meters away from the lovely lawn. Our unit, Pink Diamond was right there …
looking out over the sea. It had a
spacious lounge area with comfy chairs, a HUGE TV (that we NEVER switched on),
a lovely big built-in fireplace and coffee table. Open-plan to the bedroom with double bed,
huge wardrobe with LOADS of shelves for clothing but no hanging space (that was
on the side of the wardrobe). A bathroom
with toilet, basin and shower – NO shelves on the walls for toiletries (grrrr….
Drives me mad) and only 1 shelf for shower toiletries … really people, just
stay in the unit so that you can understand what is practical!!!
Behind the bed is a wall – on the other
side is a ‘galley kitchen’ – bar fridge, 2 plate stove with small oven, kettle,
toaster, microwave and although there are LOADS of space under the counter …
only 1 shelf … for the pots/pans/crockery!
Where the heck am I supposed to keep groceries? Outside our room’s door is a small private
braai.
Quickly unpacked our duffel bags, then
drove to Port Nolloth for a few basic groceries and of course, something to
braai!
Years ago when we visited McDougalls Bay,
we found a butcher with lovely boerewors … the butchery was still there (https://www.facebook.com/Waarheid-Slaghuis-Butchery-971989169582453/) and yes, the boerewors still tasty! I
wanted to nibble on some dry wors (droëwors), but alas, they were still in the
process of drying them. Some chicken
wings and Hein asked for a T-bone steak to be cut, but got some … I don’t even
know what it was. But we thought we’ll
give it a try.
In front of the 2 bottom units they have a
lovely braai with wooden slat roof (not waterproof – cause it never rains there),
some cement ‘bench seating’ and a 2-seater bench. With a coffee table, no dining table. The braai wood was lovely and dry – the
sunset was just spectacular, although it got a little bit chilly. The boerewors was really good, wings a little
bit tough (wonder if it was old chickens scratching around the harbor?) and the
‘steak’ – yuck!!!! Not good at all. Getting into bed, we heard a dog whining and
hoped it wouldn’t prove to be a nuisance.
Thursday,
3 May 2018
Waking after 6 am and it was still dark
outside!! Both of us had a lovely sleep,
although the mattress is extremely slippery, so the fitted sheet kept creeping
up the mattress.
I
find it extremely irritating when a self-catering place or a B&B lacks
certain ‘practical’ necessities. And all
they will tell you is … oh, we didn’t know.
Well then owner/manager – go sleep in the chalet/room so that you can
see what’s missing! To have a microwave
but with no microwave dish and lid … what’s the use?
After making coffee, we sat in bed with
curtains and sliding door open – slowly the dark turned into sunrise, waves out
at sea. What a sight.
Not being to gym, we thought we’ll get some
exercise by walking down to the beach.
Oh my goodness … I swear, the sand was literally colder than the sea
itself! And yes, I did walk into the
water. Found 2 intact sea pumpkin shells. By the time we got back to the unit, my ears
were actually hurting!!!! Rinsed our
feet outside at the tap and yes, coffee please.
Hein drove to Port Nolloth Spar for
charcoal, more wood and onions. Also to hand in our dirty laundry. I quickly washed the few dishes and then made
a lovely relish with onion, garlic cloves, tinned baked beans, BBQ spices and
hot chilli sauce – let it simmer on the stove.
Next to the unit was a small, more private braai … Hein opened 1 of his
Graaff Reinet beers, we sat and watched the fire. A chilly wind was blowing, so I decided to
put on my ‘tag’ slippers … I had another look at this magnetic tag-thing and
with brute force, I forced it apart and from my slipper. Aaah, that’s better.
Braaiing lovely boerewors, we asked one of
the cleaning ladies if we can give the previous night’s piece of meat to the
dog. He surely enjoyed it. After heating hot dog buns, we spooned on
some of the onion-baked bean relish with boerewors and it was absolutely
divine!!!! Again, we had to eat on our
laps, since there’s just no table anywhere.
Really weird. Cleaned up the few
dirty knives and pot, sat in bed … and decided – nah, let’s drive to Alexander
Bay. Showered, dressed and on our way.
Alexander Bay is 80 km away from Port
Nolloth. There’s really not a lot to
see. One small center that has a grocer
shop, a ‘bit of everything’ shop and a coffee shop. I bought Hein some socks (cause remember …
all his socks were left at home) and then we tried to find a road to the Orange
River for pictures. To no avail. At one stage Hein stopped next to a guy
sitting on the pavement and asked him about a road to the river … the guy
looked at the Volvo and said: no way.
Driving out of Alexander Bay, we saw a sign
for the Alexander Bay/Oranjemund border … just a few kilometres away, why
not. Hein stopped at the border and
asked if we could just walk to the bridge – they said no problem – on your own
risk – it’s ‘no mans land’ with no passport.
I quickly joined Hein and we took selfies on the bridge with the Orange
river in background – the border between South Africa and Namibia.
With no cellphone signal, only we drove
away a few kilometres back to Port Nolloth, did we receive missed calls from
Tracker … cause the Volvo was at a border post.
Arriving back in Port Nolloth after 2pm, we
were hungry and tried the ‘supposedly BEST restaurant’, Vespetti. Weather was lovely, so we sat on the patio,
watched De Beers’ boats at the harbor. I
asked for a cappuccino (for R30!!! Daylight robbery) and Hein a Sprite. My drink arrived in a glass ‘latte’ glass
(which I really loathe) and no, it was definitely NOT a cappu, only coffee with
milk. Online reviewers raved over this
restaurant’s ‘stuffed calamari’, so I ordered that. Hein ordered a T-bone steak with pap and
sauce. I thought the calamari would be
small calamari tubes stuffed … NOOO, it was one GIGANTIC calamari tube stuffed
with garlic cheese sauce, mussels and sliced hard-boiled eggs, then pinched
close with toothpicks, battered and deep-fried.
Hein’s steak? Oh dear … another not-so-great
experience. Thin, overcooked but the pap
and sauce was real good.
When in Gansbaai I didn’t find shark
biltong, I thought I’ll look in Port Nolloth … they looked really weird at me,
but said snoek biltong I may find at a fish shop. Yes, they had pieces of dried snoek … it was
really good, but it still had the ‘bones’ in, so not that easy to eat. At the unit, we dove into bed for an
afternoon nap.
In the unit above us, new people were
walking up and down … each footstep clearly heard in our unit. Hein started a wood fire in the big braai and
we munched on olives, cheese and (me) snoek biltong. After a while it got really chilly, so Hein
lit the fire in the lounge fireplace and I sat there and read a bit. When Hein opened the sliding door, I knew he
wanted to braai something … luckily we still had some boerewors, so after bundling
myself into a thick jacket, I joined him outside at the braai.
Hein toasted 3 slices of bread, we spooned
leftover baked bean relish on top and added the boerewors. My throat was thirsty, so I drank 2 cups of
milky tea (luckily the unit had some tea/sugar/coffee sachets in the
kitchen). After a few hours’ sleep,
Hein’s phone rang at midnight – it was an electronic voice from Tracker … my
gosh, we were quite livid! Hein said
he’s going to search for the CEO of Tracker and phone him at midnight and see
how he likes it.
Friday,
4 May 2018
Slept late this morning – only woke up at
6h30. (heehee). Coffee in bed and decided we can check out
breakfast in Port Nolloth. After searching
online, our best bet looked like the Scotia Inn Hotel. I quickly phoned them, confirmed they’re open
and just before 9 we sat down at a table, right next to a window overlooking
the sea. A lot of fisher boats were
racing out of the harbor – probably heard of a nice spot to trawl.
Hein had the English breakfast (R85), I
decided on a basic chicken mayo and chips for R30! (?? Wowee …)
Coffee was strong and black, Hein’s breakfast was absolutely delicious
and my toasted chicken mayo – to die for!
Chips fresh and crunchy! Picked
up our laundry (Hein waited cause the girl had to go and buy a bag for the
clean laundry). Stopped at the butcher again (definitely no meat today) and
bought 2 halved chicken pieces, another longish piece of boerewors and woohoo …
the droëwors was done, so I bought a piece of that.
Back at the unit I made a basting sauce for
the chicken using ketchup, hot chilli sauce, chopped onion and garlic, honey,
brown sugar, BBQ spices and mixed spices.
Used half of the mixture to marinate the chicken in the fridge for
dinner. Washed dishes, Hein checked his
emails, I read book. After talking to
some colleagues, Hein had to sign papers, so we drove into Port Nolloth. Thinking the hotel may help us, she directed
us to a small stationery shop – with all kinds of business facilities
(scanning, faxes, internet), etc.
Asking the friendly guy where he recommends
for lunch, he only gave us names of Vespetti (been there), Scotia Inn hotel
(been there), so we tried Nemo’s (Portuguese) Restaurant. (Online it said they’re only open on weekend,
but definitely not so). A lovely outside
covered patio with gravel and shell floor, decorated with sea-related items –
ropes, etc.
I ordered the peri-peri chicken livers with
toast, Hein asked for the crumbed pork chop with chips, salad & onion
rings. Oh my goodness, it was just
delicious!!!! My livers were nice and
soft – although the sauce didn’t have much chilli in, it was absolutely
yum. Hein’s pork chop was perfectly
crumbed and cooked, chips fresh and crunchy!!!!
What a little gem of a restaurant and also cheaper than Vespetti.
At the unit we relaxed for a bit and after
a while I saw Hein outside chatting to a guy.
Later Hein came in and said the couple staying upstairs for the night
will join us for a braai that night. I
just laughed and said its okay … but you probably ‘ambushed’ the poor guy and
pleaded to join us for a braai.
Hahahaha.
Lighting the wood fire in the big braai
outside, the couple joined us – Francois and Madeleine Mellet. Just came from Namibia – also did a road trip
and stay in Velddrift, Cape. But
previously from Melkbosstrand. Chatting
about this and that – they’ve sailed in a little boat up to Brazil, so we told
them about our Oudtshoorn boat experience … and Hein mentioned our friends
Kobus & Linda Potgieter from Melkbosstrand – yes, they know them! My gosh, small world.
A typical South African feast was on the
coals … chicken, boerewors, skilpadjies (liver in caul fat), steak, chops …. We
walked up to their unit where it was a bit cosier than outside. Lovely long table, wine, asparagus and
beetroot from jars – we had a feast!
While Hein and Madelein enjoyed more wine, I made some strong black
coffee for Francois and myself. After
10pm we got into bed … oh dear, we have a very early start tomorrow.
Saturday,
5 May 2018
Alarm went off at 5am – immediately got up,
showered, packed duffle bags and few grocery items. 5h55 we drove away from McDougalls Bay. Onwards to Upington. Hopefully coffee in Springbok…
7am we arrived in Springbok, drove through
the whole town, didn’t see anything open and few petrol stations looked a bit
dodgy. Right at the beginning of town
there’s a Wimpy … and it was open!!!
Hallelujah!!!! Afrikaans colored
girls, all so friendly and helpful – Hein ordered the mince bowl (really good)
and I ordered the chicken mayo toasted with few chips. My gosh, so yummy and good strong coffee.
Ready for Augrabies waterfalls. Driving straight into the sun was a bit of a
nightmare and also with not enough sleep, we both were a bit tired … but I kept
my eyes wide open. Fields of small pink
flowers next to the road, then they changed to blue flowers, then to patches of
yellow flowers.
Around 10am we stopped at the Augrabies
National Park – it was 30 oC! Oh dear …
I was a bit overdressed in boots and long-sleeved top. On our way to the falls, small monkeys were
all over … even at the outside restaurant area.
Although they’re really cute, they’re also a nuisance. The falls were just spectacular!!!!!! I didn’t walk too close, but the sheer amount
of water … impressive. Although I was
wearing a hat against the sun, I told Hein I’ll wait in the reception
area. At the curio shop, I browsed and
saw these vacuum-packed biltong – price?
R570 per kilo!!!! Are they
mad?????
Back on the road, to Kakamas … about 30
km. Thought we’ll have an early lunch,
so we stopped at ‘Die Pienk Padstal’ (The Pink Road Stall - https://www.tripadvisor.co.za/Restaurant_Review-g1440260-d11946999-Reviews-Die_Pienk_Padstal-Kakamas_Northern_Cape.html
) – it is sooo cute! Lots of pink
furniture, quirky décor, lovely local raisins (with pits) and then I spied
fresh dates in the freezer … oh my goodness, they looked amazing! At R26 (for about 12) I bought them and
promptly ate 4 – they have to be kept in the freezer, since they’re literally
picked from the trees and washed. No
chemicals. Soooo delicious! Hein had a mutton pie with vanilla milkshake,
I had a chicken pie. Old-fashioned pies,
delicious!
By now we’re both quite ‘flat’ and just
want to book into our hotel in Upington.
After another 88km we arrived at the Protea Hotel (https://www.marriott.com/hotels/travel/utnup-protea-hotel-upington/?scid=bb1a189a-fec3-4d19-a255-54ba596febe2)
around 13h30 – luckily we were able to book in. First thing I phoned ‘Sakkie se
Arkie’ (http://www.arkie.co.za/) to book a seat on the sundowner cruise, but he
said there won’t be that many people. We
crashed on the real soft yet firm bed and slept for an hour. Doors to the ‘not quite a balcony’ opened up
onto the river – but drag racing sounds were loud over the river – yikes, those
guys are ruining their tires!
Protea rooms have these ‘pod coffee
machines’ – quite cute. Refreshed after
our nap, Hein made me some coffee and I showered quickly. Nice big shower – turned the mixer handle of
shower to ‘red dot’ for hot water and enjoyed the shower, although I really
hoped for a soak in a bath.
Filling up the Volvo at a petrol station
for the looooooong road back home the next day, it was after 5pm. I bought a few snacks for the road and we
parked at the ‘Sakkie se Arkie’. Walked
upstairs to the top deck and sat down while Hein bought water and beer. A chatty young girl (about 10) were giving us
all info about the sundowner trip … and that the river level is too high, so we
won’t be able to go underneath the bridge.
Luckily we packed our sweaters, cause once
the sun set, it got chilly. It was a
lovely hour cruise (but why do these people think we need to have music on the
boat? I would have been content to just
listen to the splash of the waves and the birds on the trees – although
granted, it was lovely oldies’ music.)
At one stage, the chatty girl suggested
Hein stood at the front of the boat to do ‘Titanic’ – she stood next to him and
the picture was lovely! After that Hein
took a pic of her and me doing ‘Titanic’, but the flash made the pic too
bright, so I ‘doctored’ it a bit and it was lovely. Sent it to her mom and then we said bye and
headed back to the hotel. Hein was in the mood for a chicken schnitzel
with cheese sauce.
Feeling peckish after our early lunch pies,
we walked into the empty hotel lounge. I
quickly checked the menu and Hein was in luck.
Outside was a 40th birthday party in full swing – and I mean, full swing! The 1 guy gave a lengthy and ‘fire &
brimstone’ prayer, there was singing, clapping and toasts. We sat inside at a table with cappu for me,
beer for Hein.
Hein promptly ordered the chicken schnitzel
with not only a cheese sauce, but also a mushroom sauce. I opted for the Salmon creamy wine sauce
pasta. I asked for fettucine, got penne,
but it was okay … cause the dish was just divine! Lots of salmon pieces throughout, which I
greedily picked out from the sauce.
Hein’s schnitzel was yummy!!!
Back in the room, we were a bit worried
cause we could still hear the birthday noise through the door. After watching a
movie (Hein) and reading a book (me), we set the alarm for 4h45 am.
Sunday,
6 May 2018
After a good night’s sleep, we woke, made
coffee with the ‘pods’ and decided to not wait for breakfast in the hotel. When I got into the shower, I set the ‘mixer
handle’ on the red dot – for hot water – but it stayed cold – thought the hotel
is really wasting water … then I turned the ‘mixer handle’ to the blue dot and
presto … hot water! Man oh man. Who approved these taps?
Packed the bags and 6am we’re on the
road. After 2 ½ hours, we drove into
Kuruman, feeling peckish … nothing was open, so we stopped at the
McDonalds. Hein chose his usual Sausage
McMuffin & Egg with hash brown breakfast.
I wanted to have oats (with syrup), but no – no syrup. So on their menu is ‘flapjacks with syrup’ –
but they won’t be ale to serve it with syrup.
Luckily Hein fetched honey from the car.
Oats were lovely!!!!
Driving back home, even though 8 hours, was
great! We didn’t feel tired, there were
fields and fields of gorgeous sunflowers between Vryburg and Delareyville.
2pm we stopped at our home. Our roadtrip is officially over.
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