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.