A Journey to the Bottom of the Continent

Africa » South Africa » Western Cape » Hermanus
April 14th 2008

Published: April 14th 2008

It seems that we are being slowly but surely sucked into the Cape Town lifestyle, with the weather still beautiful despite the slow shift into autumn. We have been taking advantage of living so close to the sea front with regular jaunts on the front, as well as just seeing family and friends.

Movie Stars

The husband of an old university friend of Jan runs an overland trucking company, and as part of his advertising was having an on-line video made. So in order to add some reality to the video they asked us to be extras and be seen on the truck during several of the scenes, and we decided to take Laun with us in order to spend some time with her. Now we never realized quite how boring and time consuming filming could be. 5 times we drove over Chapmans Peak, just so the videographer could get the perfect shot.

From there we headed down to Cape Point, where as soon as we got out of the bus we saw baboons, and unfortunately not the nice kind as we had seen a week or so before. No these were the serial thieves and opportunists, who would see a poor unsuspecting tourist eating a sandwich and would swoop down and pilfer anything they could lay their paws on! In some respects it was amusing, but in many others quite scary, as they would literally come from nowhere and initiate a perfect snatch and grab operation.

On the way out of the park, we came across an ostrich farm where we had a few more shots, by this time the three of us were getting a little grumpy and slightly bored, not due to the quality of the bus, which was very comfortable, but by the number of takes that each shot required. Before the bus headed to Stellenbosch we hopped off and later on we found that they were still filming until after dark! Our life as the new Bardgelina was sadly over before it began!

Only a Short Stroll

On the following Sunday we went for our traditional weekend mountain walk with Jans’ father, Ronnie, and his good friends the Pachters, of whom Rodney knows the mountains around Cape Town inside and out. As this is open to all, we invited our friend Saul, as well as the guide and driver from the filming from earlier in the week - William and Jaques.

We were told that it was going to be our standard 3-3 ½ hour hike, and so off we headed up a steep hill, until we got onto the flat. After 1 1/2 hours the cries of where are we going to stop for our sandwiches started emanating from Ronnie, to which he was told we had further to go. In the end we were taken to a beautiful set of rocks, which most people miss if they are not aware of them, for our tea and sandwiches. Then it was time for the descent, now this was not a nice path, with lots of loose stones. From talking to people after our descent not one person would advise going down the route we did.

Any way our short hike took a mammoth 5 hours and then the 2 of us plus Saul scooted on ahead during the descent. It took the others at least an extra 45 minutes.

Fun in the Sun

That afternoon we were going to crash a friend of Sauls’ birthday party at Kirstenbosch Gardens, but we made the initial mistake of sitting down. After much effort, we finally roused ourselves and headed off to the gardens, where we joined in the fun for Gaby’s birthday. One of her friends there turned out to be Jan’s cousin Zara, who told us to call her mother and visit the family on their farm in Stellenbosch.

Zetlerbosch

We called her mum, Beverley, and arranged to go to the farm, along with Jan’s gran, and our friend Dani, who not only decided to visit her family in J’berg but wanted to come down to Cape Town for some sun and some fun.

So off we headed an hour out of Cape Town in to the heart of Wine Country, where Jan has several cousins with their own farms and shops. We went to the largest of these Mooiberge, but first lunch with Zara’s mum. We were expecting to go to a nearby restaurant or coffee shop, but we were greeted by a table set for us all laden with fresh vegetables and fried fish, she had made lunch for us plus her husband, which was delicious.

Afterwards we were taken for a drive around the surrounding area, first of all to see the new must go to wedding venue, which was set in the most stunning surroundings, and then to the Ernie Els wine farm, which was magnificent.

This was then followed by a tour of the family packing factory, where we were shown how the products were packed for the main retailers in the country, which is incredibly labour intensive as well as meeting strict requirements. We came out to see a tiny horse, which apparently just walked into the farm one day and has now become a mascot.

After this we went to see another part of the family, at their farm and farm store. It was a really amazing day, and we were astounded by the generosity of the family, as not only did they take time to show us around, but we were presented with loads of fresh vegetables, from broccoli to beans, and sweet corn to butternuts, as well as peppers and dried fruit. It has taken a while to finally finish all of it off.

Madam Zingara

We did a family outing to an amazing experience, a place called Madame Zingara. The restaurant itself burnt down a few years ago, and from the ashes came the concept of a moving venue with entertainment.

It is held in an old Spiegle Tent, and there is in effect a cabaret between the courses of exceptional food. No one would ever starve there, even the vegetarian had too much food, but Stephen managed to help himself to 3 portions of the lemon tart! There were strongmen, contortionists, trapeze artists and the highlight of the evening were the musical numbers. They had 4 very very very large African ladies singing, who had voices to put Shirley Basset to shame, they also made the Michelen Man look skinny! They kept us dancing until close to midnight, and then we followed this up by visiting a local club to see what was going on there.

The Niall Campbell Inspiration

As we have said in the past we have been jogging on the beachfront, but with Niall having completed the London Marathon and Zara mentioning that she wanted to run with the Atlantic Running Club, we have been inspired to increase our mileage. Stephen has now done a couple of runs with them, including from Seapoint to Camps Bay and back, for those who don’t know Cape Town that is about 10ks and is a very scenic run, but unfortunately most of the way there is all uphill. Jan is also going to do one of their pack runs, and will see what she thinks.

Cape Agulhas

This is the Southernmost tip of Africa and is the technical location where the Atlantic and Indian Oceans meet. We did a road trip from Cape Town with Tony and Sherice and had a great time, not only visiting the point, and seeing the lighthouse, but at the hostel where we were staying had a lot of fun talking to the locals in their bar, as well as walking along the beachfront and the harbour.

We almost fell foul of the South Africans licensing laws with the off-license closing much earlier than we realized, 5pm and closed on Sunday, but we managed to get a bottle of plonk to drink and relax as the sun was setting.

On the way back we decided to take the scenic route and stopped in Hermanus, where Jan’s family used to have a holiday home, and where we had a very nice lunch, and the girls indulged themselves in some retail therapy. Jan is still in croc heaven having bought her first pair of Crocs after being told how comfy they were for months by various people.

Happy Passover

We’d like to take this opportunity to wish all of our Jewish friends a Happy Passover, and enjoy your Matzah - remember it is called the Bread of Affliction for a reason.

All our love

Jan and Stephen