Blogs from Gordon's Bay, Western Cape, South Africa, Africa - page 2

We've decided to return to Gordon's Bay and finish our "winter getaway" returning home on April 4th so will start sending blogs again.We were glad to have come home for my sister's funeral service and to be able to spend time with family. It was a very appropriate service and Linda would have been very pleased. All her family were there as well as a lot of good friends many of whom gave her great support during her illness. She will be greatly missed!!!Just before we were called home, we had just left Gordon's Bay and drove for a couple of days to the Drakensberg area which borders Lesotho. Lesotho is a separate country but surrounded by South Africa. On the way, we stopped at Graff Reinet which is in the "Free State". Close by was ... read more

Did our usual wine tours on Saturday and had lunch at Hartenberg Winery. The food and wine was good but not quite as good as Somerbosch last week. Also visited Beyerskloof winery which are noted for their Pinotage which we bought a bottle along with their very nice port. On the way to Stellenbosch we stopped by a craft market in Somerset West which offered many unique local crafts that we found quite interesting and certainly not the "run of the mill" craft market. Attended an outdoor concert in Helderberg park which is in Somerset West and about 20 minutes from Gordons Bay. The band was The Shiraz who originated in England and were formerly called The Dooley's. Apparently they were quite a competitive band to Abba back in the late sixties early seventies Jane and ... read more

Our Hosts, Jim and Jane took us to Triggerfish Brewery which is managed by their friend Christine. It's a micro brewery situated in an industrial area that is scheduled for re-development. Sampled a wide variety of brews and settled on a couple which were very good. The beer market in South Africa appears quite similar to Canada. The mass market is dominated by big companies and consumtion of large established Brands is declining and being replaced to a large extent by micro breweries such as Triggerfish. The young beer drinkers don't want to drink their fathers beer brands. Also went on the hunt for local oysters for Friday night burger night. Found a local fish store close to the apartment and purchased a dozen from the East Coast (Indian ocean), out of the Knysna area. Unfortunately ... read more

Today we were invited to a picnic lunch at Vergelegen Winery by Harry and Susan, our friends from France who are "wintering" in South Africa and have done so since 2006. This was a fabulous introduction to South African Wine Country. There were tables set amongst Canphor trees which are quite majestic and some of them at this winery were over 300 years old. As you can see from the pictures, this winery had exceedingly attractive grounds that added considerable to the overall experience. The food and wine of course were "top drawer" and the weather was a beautiful summer day with a gentle breeze. We also visited a winery and coffee roaster in the same area called Lourensford which we had a wine tasting and we picked up freshly ground coffee. Overall a very pleasant ... read more

I arrived at Gordon's Bay to beautiful sunshine on the hills, which was a great first impression to what lay ahead. It soon became a warm family environment at the appartments we all lived in and i have met such a wounderful group of friends who have been great company and support throughout! The time so far seems to have flown by, i have worked at the Nceduluntu Educare centre in Nomzamo which has been incredibly rewarding! The centre was set up recently with funds from the GVI charitable trust for families who cannot afford care for their children, they pay R1 a day (the equivillant to 1p a day in the UK) and the children are cared for, fed and educated by the volounteers (programs running from two weeks to a year with a constant ... read more