It Pays To Plan

Sticking rigorously to our pre-planned schedule, on Monday, Terri and I set off down the coast towards Betty's ( Linda's mum's name) Bay for breakfast in Cafe Jack ( Terri's dad's name) - spooky, or what ? - stopping  off for our pre-planned look at dolphins playing in the surf at Kogel Bay. 

It's hard to put too much  emphasis on the importance of planning . And paying dolphins more than the minimum wage to turn up on time proved to be money well spent !

This is a coastal drive to rival any in the world. Azure blue sea on your right . Jaggedy mountains on your left. Virtually empty road in front.

All leading to an omelette of outstanding taste and substance. Spinach and feta, listed as the health breakfast on the menu, with double shot cappuccinos undoing all the good of the omelette.   

Thereafter, more coast road ( not so exciting ) before hitting the N2, again heading back to  Somerset West. But why go home when you can slot in a wine tasting at one of SA's iconic wineries ..... Waterkloof .

An ultra-modern building : all concrete, glass, stainless steel and slate/limestone tiles.

The vineyard is biodynamic . Meaning, when it comes to the grapes, they do every thing according to the phases of the moon ...... Plant, prune, harvest. ( dance around naked ? )

White wines good, red wines not so. 

Terri somewhat miffed at the demenor of the bored, young lady hosting us. Miffed turned to not so miffed, when I went to pay for the tasting. 

"Where do I go to pay ?" Was met with ....

"Tastings are free sir"

"Oh, good. I'll take two". 

"Stuart, behave !!!"

By the way, this vineyard is one of the top 20 places to eat in SA. 

Another being Al's BBQ that night. 

Invite only.

Old Coy

Now is the Time to Wend Our Wayeee.....

Oh well, it had to happen and our time in South Africa is fast running out. In fact so fast that tomorrow (Tuesday), we head for the airport and our long journey home. This year of course we have the comfort of a confirmed seat on a BA flight out of Johannesburg unlike our glorious adventure last year when we had to fly Cape Town - Johannesburg - Nairobi - London Heathrow - Leeds Bradford! We did get home safely although our travel this year will be a touch less worrisome.

Of course, we leave but our travelling companions in the form of Big Brother and Terri are just getting into their stride as they look forward to nearly three more weeks of glorious sunshine! To be honest, Linda and I are relishing the prospect of donning our winter gear again - shorts and tee shirts have become a tad boring and we long for those cold nights sitting in front of a warm fire!!!!

What we are of course looking forward to is seeing Sarah, Richard, Charlotte and Annabel who seems to have changed and developed so much over the five weeks we have been away. We've missed our friends as well.

It has been a glorious holiday - all highs and no lows - and we have relished having the use of this terrific property in Somerset West as our home. It ticked all the boxes and we are so grateful to Colin and Val Arkle for allowing us to use it despite our non-aviation background. 

We are finishing our holiday with a day by the pool and breakfast at the truly stunning Vergelegen in the morning. 

Yesterday however was one of those picture perfect days when the sun shone all day under cloudless skies enabling us to visit the Blaauklippen market in the morning and attend a concert at Kirstenbosch Botanical Gardens in the late afternoon/early evening.

Blaauklippen and its Sunday market has been another find for us. A chance to stroll around and in Linda's case spend lots of money, on locally crafted items. It's a place for families to enjoy the open spaces, to be entertained by talented musicians and eat a wide variety of delicious artisan foods prepared and cooked on site. Stuart and I plumped for the lamb stew which was served to us in old fashioned enamel dishes and was mouthwatering whilst Linda and Terri chose a pizza type dish made to order. You would need to visit every Sunday for a year to sample every type of food available and we will definitely return at a future date.

The Kirstenbosch Summer Concert was a last minute idea - well done Terri - and we were able to get some tickets at the last minute for this 5,000 sell out event featuring many of South Africa's finest folk musicians. Now you might think folk concert but when you sit down in the lea of Table Mountain with the sun shining and a picnic and bottle of wine, the music only serves to complement the experience? In fact some of those playing were incredibly talented and it was a shame that their individual sets were limited to a couple of songs as there were some that you would have happily listened to all night, the band playing music from Mozambique being just one.

And so my blogging comes to an end for another holiday and regrettably and I am now going to face the same thing you have all experienced for the past five weeks. A smug person describing weather, wine and food whilst you sit in the cold and greyness of a UK winter day. Still, Spring is around the corner and the clocks will soon be bouncing forwards. No consolation really is it?

So over to Big Bro and his missives for the next three weeks.

Thank you all for reading.

To Els and Back

This country continues to be a conundrum. Black and white. White and black. Shades of grey starting to edge in. There is change happening. Not fast enough for some : too quick for others. There will be change. There needs to be, to get rid of the inequality. But let it be properly considered, sensible,  and above all fair. 

Thinking heh ? 

Doesn't compare to wine tasting. 

A very good lunch ( predictive text wanted hunch ) at the Blaauwklippen vineyard (1682) was followed by a tasting at Boschendal  (1685 says Al ). 

These are very sophisticated places. History, beauty, taste . 

Surprised we got past security.

And it was only notched up when we did our organised tasting trip. Sean Wilyman came recommended by BA crew. Another gem. A young, educated, white man very positive about the country's future. Particularly the educated black people now on the fringes of power. Good to hear.

First stop Waterford. Stunning vineyard . Fascinating wines , some matched to chocolate . Slurp of wine, bit of chocolate. Yummy ! The winemaking is very hi-tec. All stainless steel, bells and whistles. Then the French oak barrels come in. Hundreds of them in the cellar, where the wine stays for a while, taking on those vanilla , cedary flavours from the wood . A calm, restful space, just right for graceful ageing. Could use a bit of that myself.

Onwards then to Ernie's. Els the golfer that is. Jaw dropping view from the front of the winery terrace. They've got to be happy vines growing here. No white varieties though. Just a bit too hot. We didn't find the wines as good here, but the top red was top notch.

Ironically, according to one of the staff we were chatting to, Ernie himself favours a double brandy and coke when he visits. If this was my place I'd never be away. 

Evening saw us gathered around the BBQ for a meal of expertly charred protein  - ribs, sausage, kebabs and a chop. Thanks Al, master of the tongs and charcoal. 

Over and out.

Coy

The Blonde Strikes Again!

For those of you that have been reading this blog regularly and actually taken on board what has been written by big brother and myself, I would refer you back to my comment about the South African navy installing a new coal fired boiler and Tom Tom device on their only warship! Linda of course had questioned exactly how I'd discovered this information leading me to consider if at some time she had been blonde??? Well she has struck again but more of that later because Stuart and I have spent some time wondering what ocean going maps Tom Tom might have produced for seafarers?

The English Channel for Ferries; Panama Canal 6th edition; and the ever popular Up The Inside Passage! The list is endless.

Back to the latest incident which occurred yesterday whilst we were enjoying a most delightful lunch complimented by a delightful bottle of white ( so I'm told because I was drinking sparkling mineral water) under the trees of the Blaauklippen vineyard. Temperatures yesterday touched 33 degrees but the beautiful oak and plane trees supported by a gentle breeze provided the most wonderful conditions for us to eat a divine platter.

I have quite happily provided chauffeuring services to enable my three charges to enjoy an odd tipple on our journeys and I did suggest that from Blaauklippen we could head to Boschendal to do a wine tasting in the stunning surrounds of this famous vineyard.

At this point, Linda turned to Stuart and with all seriousness said, "can you cope with a wine tasting?" I was rendered speechless! 

Does the Pope have a balcony? 

Do bears shit in the woods?

Do Welshmen like sheep?

We all burst out laughing as this is the man who was born to be a professional wine taster - in fact I'm convinced he was a sommelier (Google it) in a former life.

So we hit the road to Boschendal where five wines were sampled under a magnificent oak tree - photos attached.

This country continues to entrance us in so many ways. The sun shines every day, the food is outstanding and to date we have not had one disappointing meal. The service at all times is friendly and efficient and one of the things that we really like are the car parking attendants who assist you so affably particularly in the supermarket car parks. They help you empty your trolley, return it to the store and then even guide you out of your parking bay, all with an infectious smile. The advice is to reward them with 2 or 3 Rand (R18 to the £) but we always make sure we have a R5 piece available. It seems so little but is a lot of money to them. This job by the way is taken by both black and white just in case you were wondering.

I can spout plaudits all day long about the place but as the eye takes in ten times more than the ear, photographs continue to provide the best evidence of just what South Africa has to offer so here are some more for you to enjoy.

The Garden Route

From Somerset West, where we are staying, the first 200 miles are more like the 'Starch Route'. Mile after mile, acre upon acre, of wheat, maize and barley. Far as the eye can see. This country should never starve, as long as you like toast, or, a sandwich . Mind you, they said that about Zimbabwe .

Very unexpected landform and cultivation.

Were these huge fields once native forest, or veld with herds of wildebeest roaming freely ? Must check.

Mossel Bay is the country's great white shark capital. Swimming here outside the netted areas means you are fish food.

 Here was also the first place the Dutch made landfall in SA and to celebrate the 500th anniversary they actually built a replica, wooden caravel and sailed it from Holland to Mossel Bay in 1988. It took 3 months and now, the boat is a fascinating museum piece. They were tough back in 1488. But heh, without Sky Sports and Scrabble, one had to do something to keep oneself from getting bored, didn't one ?

A short hop took us to Nyaru Game Reserve, voted best on the Garden Route. It proved to be a gem, with Coy's luck securing us the honeymoon chalet and, by chance, our own personal ranger, Christiaan. He was a walking Wikipedia on African wildlife. With the weather holding good we got close to many species of antelope, giraffe, gnu and snakes, but sadly, not the rhinoceros that once held sway here.

 He was killed by poachers a few months ago. They came in by helicopter, chain -sawed his horn off and left him to die. 

The bloody Chinese and their homeopathic medicine have a lot to answer for.

Take Viagra instead you yellow skinned devils !! 

An overnighter at a lovely B&B in Knysna followed before we headed off into the rain on Friday the 13th. 

It was industrial strength rain, heavy and prolonged. 

Some 20 kms down the road Mrs Coy hit me with " I've left my dress in the wardrobe ". Oh deary deary me !

And then the driver's side windscreen wiper disintegrated. More deary me's. The drive back to Knysna was not nice. A bit like going through a carwash.

Anyhow, a new wiper blade later, with dress and wife re-united, we headed off to Storms River where the suspension bridge is one of the iconic spots to be photographed. Didn't happen. Said bridge under major repair. 

Told you it was the 13th. 

What is more, the girls at the entry toll booth failed to tell us about the work and took our £10 fee with poker faces. Grrrrrrr.

Forgot to mention that along the way we stopped off at Bloukrans Bridge to check out the world's highest bungy jump. Oh   my    God ! Very scary. So, good on you Vicky for taking the plunge. Impressive bottle shown.

That night our accommodation was a luxury chalet at The Fernery ( check it out ) a dramatically located complex clinging on to a cliff overlooking the Indian Ocean . 

Of course , it still being the 13th, all was shrouded in mist and rain - the expensive view being left to the imagination. Double grrrrrrrr.

Things picked up the next day. The rain eased and once through the fabulous Meiringspoort gorge we were treated to blue skies and the semi-desert of the Little Karoo; an arid, bleak and barren landscape. Starkly beautiful .

Overnight, another splendid B&B in Prince Albert, a town more relaxed than a very relaxed thing. Should have called it 'Valliumville'. 

Even more relaxed is Barrydale, where we are now. Should have called it 'Prozacton'.

An excellent meal in the querky local pub, once a gay stronghold, saw us ready for the drive back to Somerset West the next morning over a couple of mountain passes through gorgeous scenery, weather getting warmer again.

It has been a splendid trip, through diverse, eclectic scenery, fabulous food never far away. Senses satiated, or what ?

Ciao. 

The Travelling Coys

Life's Highs and Lows

Since last I blogged, I have watched little brother sign his life away ( I hereby declare that I will not blame anybody etc. etc. if we plummet to earth ) and then soar and swoop over the outer fringes of Cape Town, albeit attached to an expert with a parachute, before landing like a butterfly with sore feet. Thereafter a drive along Glen Road to see where the very rich people of Cape Town - or Russian/Chinese oligarchs - live, looking out to sea.

Hope you noticed soar and sore and see and sea ??

What next ? Balls and bollocks maybe.

A load of, perhaps !

Cape Town Waterfront, our next stop, is a pretty sophisticated strolling about sort of place. Elegant shops, loads of good places to sit, drink coffee and watch the world go by, all with Table Mountain as a backdrop. Here, the city feels a wealthy, safe place. 

But the better off South Africans ( mostly white ) fear that Jacob Zuma, their president, is taking the country down the Mugabe route. Corrupt politics; siphoning off public funds for his own benefit. Not good for the people, not good for the nation's future. Sad, because this is a splendid place. Time should see a better educated black middle class. How long it will take is anybody's guess.

Off on a tangent again !

Getting back to the Waterfront. We had a real treat at the newly constructed African crafts market place, a very large, covered building with acoustics that were perfect for a township acapella group of around a dozen men from Khayelitsha. Think Paul Simon and the Ladysmith Black Mombaza band who sang on the Graceland album.

Hard not to love buskers as good as this. They take the pain out of wandering around shops . Couldn't help but buy one of their CDs - a sound unique to SA. 

Didn't buy any crafts.

And a couple of days later it was off to the golf course for a round that got of to an auspicious start for me. My drive off the 1st tee was painful for Alistair and Terri. They nearly wet themselves laughing, as I nearly hit the ball. A mighty swing propelled said object all of 6". Downdraft, not contact with the club, being the method of advancement.

Things got no better and the Scottish Coys were soundly wupped by the lad from Yorkshire, who racked up par after par.

 How many ? Well, only six. But that was six more than us.

Golf heh ? Not a game for the easily embarrassed , or, ageing blokes like me.... It would seem.

A return match is to follow next week on 'Pensioner's Tuesday' at the course. Says it all. Not sure if they have a nurse in attendance.

Well. Toodle pip for now.

Stuart Parfree Coy

Just The Two Of Us

It's Wednesday evening here in South Africa and I thought that it was about time to provide an update on what's been happening and what is yet to happen going forwards.

The first thing to report is that Stuart and Terri have now left us for six days having set out yesterday to travel the garden route and enjoy all the experiences that this particular part of South Africa has to offer.  Linda and I have done it twice previously and all that we could do to supplement the amazing research that they had done prior to departure was to recommend a thoroughly good pie shop that we visited on the route last year! No doubt that there will be updates to this blog from big bro over the week but will there be any photos to go with them?

The weather continues to be magnificent with blue skies from morning until night enabling us to showcase the major places of interest without fear of weather disruption.

One of the places we visited on Sunday was the Cape of Good Hope which for many years was believed to be the Southernmost tip of South Africa and the place where the Atlantic and the Indian Oceans met. In fact it isn't here but is at Cape Agulhas which lies some 90 miles to the east of Cape Point. 

This is a wild, rugged but truly scenic place and is a must visit site for anybody coming to Cape Town. Whilst we were here on a very benign day it must be a place to be avoided when the winds do blow and the coast around Cape Point has been the site of hundreds of shipwrecks over the years. One of these, the SS Lusitania (not the one you are all thinking about) sank off The Cape in 1911 and the result was the construction of the Cape Point lighthouse. It is a haven for over 250 species of birds and innumerable wild animals including antelope, ostrich and baboons, the latter incidentally not to be messed with!

The journey down from Cape Town is quite arduous as you pass through a series of very busy and very touristy seaside holiday resorts. Perhaps the nicest of these being Simons Town which despite being the smallest of several settlements is actually home to the South African navy? Whilst we were there we were lucky to espy the only remaining vessel in their fleet which was in port for the fitting of a new coal fired boiler and a Tom Tom navigation device. The town is perhaps more famous for its colony of African Penguins that live at Boulders Beach which is a place where the penguins cohabit perfectly happily with sunbathers and swimmers.

Everyday brings highlights here and the food continues to prove faultless at any of the restaurants we frequent. Have a look at the Trip Advisor reports for Stephanie's Place, La Pineta or Vergelegen. Even more importantly, check out the reviews on Alistair's BBQ's. If BBQs earned Michelin stars, three would be the minimum awarded.

Final words tonight are on golf as three of us took to the fairways of Somerset West Golf Club on Monday with the winner being declared from the golfer who scored the most pars. It was a touch worrying when my former 3 handicap elder brother drove it a stunning 6" off the first tee! I did let him have another go which did then see the ball travel a magnificent 200 yards plus down the middle of the fairway but this was as good as it got. The end scores were Terri, nil point, Big Bro, nil point and me, only 6 pars😆. Battle recommences next Tuesday when we have blagged a round on pensioner's day for the exorbitant sum of £8.00!

One last thing, we did try to visit the vineyard of one of the world's most famous golfers but it was closed! Photo attached at the gates but we will be there for wine tasting next week.

Side Note - Before I publish any blog, I read it through to Linda, an expert in wordage and punctuation. The only response I got tonight was, "how did you know about the boiler and the Tom Tom device?" And she isn't even blonde!!

Up, Up and Away

Little did I know it but Linda was quite worried when I received my Christmas present from Sarah last year. You will perhaps understand when I tell you that it was a gift voucher which enabled me to jump off a mountain with hopefully, an experienced paraglider, in Cape Town. As for me, I thought what a brilliant present and now to top that one, I'm looking forward to receiving a bungee jumping voucher for my next birthday!!

Anyway, yesterday under crystal clear and beautifully warm South African skies, the moment of truth had arrived as I was scheduled to make my tandem jump. In fairness, this wasn't a new experience as I had previously launched off a much higher mountain in Queenstown, New Zealand.  On that occasion, the flight went beautifully until the latter stages when my pilot sent us into a spiral downwards from a few hundred feet causing me to almost bring back that morning's breakfast as the G forces hit me.  It was close but I managed to retain my stomach contents and a perfect landing was executed.

Part of Linda's worry was that the vigorous health and safety policy in New Zealand might be a touch more lax in South Africa. Well her worries were unfounded as I was introduced to my pilot Mias, who confidently informed me that mine was to be his third tandem jump and that of the first two, only one had gone wrong and his passenger escaped with just a couple of broken ribs.....? I am only joshing about his number of tandem flights but the story about the broken ribs was in fact true.

The funniest thing of the whole event were the preliminaries when I was asked to sign a number of disclaimer documents, the most notable one advising me that parasending was dangerous and on occasions fatal!! I signed all the papers with a smile because I have always gone through life with a fatalistic attitude. If my time's up, so be it and I felt that Table Mountain provided a fitting backdrop if this was the way it was all going to end.

So without further ado, I was strapped into my harness, the umbilical cord was attached to Mias and final instructions were given for launch.  Not even a countdown like an Apollo launch. Walk and when I say, run.....!

A picture perfect take off (despite his heavy load) and away we sailed into the blue skies above Cape Town and its seaside suburbs. Quite simply it was a short but outstanding flight enabling me to get great views of Table Mountain, Signal Hill, Lion's Head and Robben Island where Nelson Mandela had spent so many years in captivity.

I had pre-warned Mias about the spiral effect and great credit to him that he manoeuvred us into a landing position without the need to make me feel sick. Mind you as the photo below demonstrates, it was something of a hard landing and I'm no longer 6'2"!!

In truth it was a picture perfect touchdown and I was tempted to head straight back to the top of Signal Hill to repeat this brilliant experience.

There is a video of my flight which I'm not going to post here but I hope the photos below demonstrate the fun that I had and perhaps serve to explain why I was hyper for the rest of the day as my limited supply of adrenaline coursed around my very old body.

Thanks to Sarah for the opportunity and thanks to Mias from Linda for returning me safely.

Lazy-Hazy-Crazy Days of Summer

For many of you that have read my previous blog postings, I did get into the habit of using a song title as the heading and then went on to give a little information about it. Well today, I am back to using a song title but that's where it ends! You'll have to do your own research if you want to know anything more about this famous lyric.

And so back to South Africa and a post to follow up on the last one from my Big Bro. He is starting to think a little more deeply about this wonderful place and the pretty grim underlying problems that it experiences but when you start to do this, it can put a dampener on the many positives. This is the fifth visit for Linda and me and despite my aforementioned comments, we have developed a love for the Western Cape and really hope that over time it does become a more equitable society.  Aaaaaagh....! Now I'm becoming too serious! 

Back to the holiday and what an amazing time we are having with endless days of warm South African sunshine. Our house is in the most spectacular location which allows us to watch the sun rise over the Hottentot Hollands mountains and then watch the effect of it setting at the end of the day producing wonderful colours. It is simply impossible to get fed up with the views - hopefully some of today's photos demonstrate what I mean.

Over the last couple of days we have visited the Kirstenbosch Botanical Gardens and driven the road between Gordon's Bay and Betty's Bay which in my eyes is possibly one of the most beautiful pieces of road on the planet. Stunning is something of an understatement.

Kirstenbosch was founded in 1913 and sits on the Eastern slopes of Table Mountain. It was founded to preserve the country's unique flora and fauna and with a very rare exception grows only plants indigenous to South Africa. Unfortunately at this time of the year the majority of those plants have bloomed but it still remains a lovely place to wander around. The land was bequeathed to the nation in 1903 by Cecil Rhodes who was the founder of Rhodesia.

The 25 mile drive from Gordon's Bay to Betty's Bay needs to be undertaken on a blue sky day to see it at its best and boy did we get one of those days. When Linda and I travelled this route last year we experienced the total opposite with leaden skies and clouds covering the mountains and we were so pleased that Stuart and Terri were able to experience it at its best. 

Betty's Bay sits 96kms from Cape Town and is no less than 13kms long, one of the longest villages 

in the world. It's very much a holiday destination and only 18% of the homes here are occupied full time. It seems a shame. It's also home to a colony of African penguins at Stony Point and this is a wonderful place to see these delightful creatures wandering around in their natural habitat. Far less congested than the colony at the more famous Boulders Beach and only 50p each to wander along between them on a purpose built boardwalk. One final recommendation is to sit on the terrace and enjoy great coffee, pancakes and scones at Cafe Jack's, a restaurant and B&B run by an English couple who emigrated here 15 years ago.

Lots of photos today to accompany the post and I am uploading it just before we head off to Cape Town where I shall be jumping off Signal Hill strapped to an experienced paraglider?? I hope it's not my last post but if it happens to be, it's been nice knowing you all!