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Published: March 6th 2016
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As indicated in an earlier Blog, Debra insisted we return to Hermanus to explore, more extensively, this community. In addition to playing golf at the very scenic golf resort of Arabella and the impeccably manicured Hermanus golf club, we enjoyed the majestic views along the shore trail that borders downtown. We stayed over 2 nights at a very comfortable B&B, Dorpshuys Hermanus, that was nestled in a very quite neighbourhood within a15 minutes walk of downtown. Two yummy dinners, a little shopping and touring some smaller communities such as Stanford, completed our 3 day adventure to this very popular area of the Western Cape. For those interested, there are some lovely properties in this resort area that could be purchased for appx $300,000 CDN. Got my hair cut while in Hermanus, $8.00 CDN plus tip. Not as cheap as when Debra does it, but much better than the $17.00 I pay at home. The guy in the chair before me was from Colordo. He said the legalization of marijuana is going okay. He didn't vote for it but said those that did are "happy and hungry" all the time!!
Our 2nd excursion away from Highcliffe House was to Capetown for
a couple of days. We've been there quite a number of times before, but there's always something new to see. We visited the Castle of Good Hope which is a very large Fort built by the Dutch in the late 1600's. It was still undergoing restoration so many of the sections weren't open. Before checking into our B&B, we toured Company Gardens, a nice park in the middle of the city, and walked along Long Street which is an eclectic mixture of restaurants, shops and open air markets.
The highlight of our visit was going to the Fugard Theater. The building was a converted Church in the middle of an area called District Six. At one time, before the mid sixties, District Six was a melting pot of people from all different, social, cultural and religious backgrounds. It was a culturally rich, thriving, vibrant community until the Apartheid regime, declared it a "whites only" neighbourhood, moved everyone out (over 60,000 people of all races) and bulldozed the area. On a previous trip to Capetown in 2010, we spent some time at the District Six museum which chronicled the diversity of the neighbourhood and the personal devastation of many of
the residents that were removed.
The play, titled "District Six, Kanala" ( Kanala is a Cape Malay/Muslim vernacular for please) was a musical and the performances were superb. It incorporated many photos of District Six from the sixties and it felt very much like the "French Quarter" of New Orleans for those who have been there. This was a "world class" production and the costs for prime seats was 240 rand each, which is about $22.00 CDN. We went to a late afternoon performance and had a very tasty Vietnamese dinner afterwards at a restaurant not far from our B&B.
Before heading back to Gordon's Bay next day, we stopped by Bo Kaap, a neighbourhood with brightly coloured houses and quite a few Mosques. There is a museum also but unfortunately it is closed on Sunday. A circutious route home took us by Century City which is a huge shopping complex outside of Capetown. In sitting outside one of the stores waiting for Debra, I was struck as to how similar it was to Square One in Mississauga, particularly the variety of people from many different ethnic backgrounds.
We are now less than 3 weeks before heading
back to Canada so we're watching the weather there closely and hoping there will be no snow on the ground to welcome us home.
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Sharon and Erich
non-member comment
Thanks for the update
Love reading your blogs and hearing about your adventures. Enjoy your next three weeks. See you again in NOTL.