CAPE
TOWN IN JULY 2011
On Thursday 28 July 2011, the day after
Krugersdorp and other parts of Joburg got snow, we left the icy weather for a wet
Cape Town.
We arrived at 4pm and went straight to a pub in
Newlands, The Forrester’s Arms, better known as ‘Forries’, especially since
it’s close to Cape University. We met up
with 2 of Hein’s colleagues and had a pizza and a few beers. We sat very close to a heater and it got
quite stuffy later-on. It was actually a
relief to breathe in fresh air (although chilly) when we said goodbye.
The keys to the flat collected, we only arrived
there after 8. Although the same owner,
this flat is in a different block and on the 4th floor. But still with the mountain and seaview.
Friday 29 July 2011
Friday morning Hein dropped me off at Tygervalley
to do some much-needed grocery shopping.
We took the Vissershok Road
and the colours dazzled me – emerald green grass, powder to ink blue mountains,
pale blue sky… Quite breathtaking!
At the flat I settled in and read some
books. It was very cold – I was sitting
in bed with a scarf, gloves AND occasionally switched on the heater! On Friday night we went to the Mexican
Kitchen with Kobus and Linda. Had a
lovely time, fabulous food and then we asked for the bill … and wanted to pay
with a credit card … and was told that we have to pay cash! Well, we were not impressed! The Manager had some sorry story about
selling and blah blah! We walked out,
the guys went to draw money and the delightful chilli con carne was no more.
Saturday 30 July 2011
Saturday morning we met up with Kevin and Kobus
at Oyo, the V&A Hotel’s restaurant.
Absolutely lovely weather! We sat
right next to the water, so I was quite thankful for my long coat and scarf. Had a delightful breakfast (had liver – done
to perfection.)
By the time we drove back to the flat, the
weather changed. We dressed up in warm
jerseys and left to Simonsvlei, just outside Paarl. At the winery, they had a craft market and my
mom was selling her homemade jams. Don’t
know why I’ve not taken pictures, but her labels are “Carmanet”. Which my dad created from Carla (youngest
sis), myself and Sanet (middle sis).
Thought that was quite clever.
Needless to say, we arrived there in pouring rain! Luckily my umbrella fitted into my handbag
(that’s precisely why I always need to have a biggish bag). There were not that many people, but some
very creatively decorated hats, beautiful jewellery and candles and some local
artwork.
We drove to Fairview for some lunch, but because of the
weather, everyone was inside and space was limited. We drove through Paarl, myself reliving my
past (spent my high school years there) and went to my parents’ home to prepare
the braai for the snoek. When we left at
7pm, it wasn’t raining anymore and we stopped at the McDonalds for an ice
cream.
And that was the only time it
rained during our visit!!!!!!!!
Sunday 31 July 2011
Paul and Ruth invited us for lunch on Sunday to
their home in Durbanville. On our way,
we stopped to buy some wine. Not a
single liquor store was open, not the Spar, nor the Pick ‘n Pay could sell us
wine. Because it’s Sunday! We were quite disgusted. Back in Joburg …
At Durbanville Hills Winery (a very modern,
quite ugly building) we bought 2 delightful 2000 Merlot’s and 2 white
wines. Hein just barged in, grabbed the
wine and put it in front of the guy with his credit card and a gleam in his eye
– just try and tell me I’m not allowed to buy this wine! They didn’t mind at all. Off we went.
Our starter was shrimps with fresh herbs and
toasted French bread, lamb chops, mash and veg’s for main and choc chilli cake
with ice cream for dessert. And coffee
of course! We were home by 4pm.
Monday 1 August 2011
On Monday morning Lynette (owner of the flat)
came by to drop some keys. I asked her
for a lift to the Blouberg Mall, bought few things and walked back. I was sitting in bed, reading, when my eye
caught something in the ocean right in front of the flat. Whales!
They stayed there for the whole day.
Hein had a few drinks on Monday night and came
home with half a pizza from The Blue Peter Hotel. What a lovely pizza. Mince and chilli, but the crust was so crispy
and delightful. Quite a change from the
usual.
Tuesday 2 August 2011
We were invited for dinner to Marnel and Pieter
in Protea Hoogte, Brackenfell. There
were 10 adults and 2 children. The
children were watching TV in the main bedroom, while the adults gorged themselves
on cream cheese and sweet chilli sauce, biltong, gherkins (Marnel made them)
and cheese straws while toasting in front of their Jetmaster.
Dinner was meat and chicken lasagna, fresh
rolls and greek salad. Can’t remember when last I had lasagna! Dessert was Koeksisters, brownies, choc
cookies and brown dumplings with custard/ice cream. And coffee of course!
Wednesday 3 August 2011
Wednesday morning Karin, Kevin’s wife, picked
me up and we drove through to Paarl. We
had to have a cheese platter! It was so
hot (25-26 oC), we couldn’t wear jerseys.
We drove through Paarl first, since Karin hasn’t been there for
ages. Showed her my old high school,
city hall where I had my matric farewell and then we drove past this house …
and stopped right there. Beautiful
old-fashioned house with loads of big, orange pumpkins on the tin roof! It turned out to be a private home but also
an art gallery. What a house!
All the floors are covered with peach pips and
then covered with a dark resin. In their
bathroom, all the walls are covered in tin sheets and the bath is an old wooden
wine barrel that can accommodate 10 people!
Think of their water bill when they want to take a bath. Most of the art is from local people and they
are very good and excellently priced as well.
We were starving by then so we drove back to Fairview’s restaurant, The
Goatshed. Sat outside on the terrace
with the glorious sunshine on our backs.
They have a nice menu, but the cheese platters are a novelty.
They have A5 papers on the table. One side a descriptive listing of about 14
different cheeses. On the other side
they have only the cheese names with a square next to it. So you can choose your own cheeses. Either 6, 8 or 10. Although the portions are small, a 6-cheese
platter with a gorgeous homemade ciabatta bun will be more than sufficient for
lunch. They also have an interesting
rooibos drink with berries and sugar on the rim of the glass. We had such a lovely time, watching the goats
on their tower and enjoying the beautiful scenery.
The Goatshed also features food-and-wine
evenings and there is a wonderful little shop filled with cheeses and
preserves. http://www.fairview.co.za/index.php?page_id=12
I really felt like sushi, so Wednesday night we
went to the Cape Town Fish Market on the way to Melkbosstrand. We always order ‘seared tuna sashimi’ as a
starter. They didn’t have any tuna. Okay … bad start.
When Hein went to the sushi conveyer belt,
there were only about 8 plates on the whole of the belt. And only 2 different varieties … Needless to say, we walked out with a huge
bill and feeling quite deprived. Even a
sandwich would have been better.
Thursday 4 August 2011
Thursday I discovered a shorter route to the
mall and did it both ways! Walked back
in only 16 min. Now I can have a
chocolate…
On Thursday night we went to The Blue Peter
Hotel for sundowners and pizza. We
grabbed the last available table outside.
The hotel is, except for a road, right next to the sea. So the sundowners are just indescribable!
Hein had a very tasty curry and I had a bacon
and avo pizza. Only half, so that I
could have the rest for breakfast. They
have curry buffet evenings on Wednesday nights for R55 per person.
Friday 5 August 2011
Friday morning, our last morning, we wanted to
have breakfast next to the sea before Hein goes to work. At 8am.
Oh boy! Too early for the
Capetonians. They only open at
9!!!!!!! We went to News Café and when
we finished our breakfast at 9am, the electricity went off. Luckily they had a manual card machine …
Hein dropped me off and I packed our bags. Our flight was only 16:40. Just after lunchtime we left to the
Waterfront for a final beer with Kevin and Kobus. The weather was still fine, bit overcast, but
we sat outside.
At 14:30, we said goodbye and I kid you
not… it started to rain! We drove in pouring rain to the airport!
We usually fly Kulula from Lanseria Airport. Because of cheaper flights, we chose
SAA. Those seats are so thin, when we
arrived in Joburg, my bum was quite numb!
It was freezing cold back home.
Saturday morning we picked up our ‘kids’ and
braaied a boereworsie for breakfast.
Heaven!
