Blogs from Noordhoek, Western Cape, South Africa, Africa

This is my last day in South Africa (for now). Over the last few days, I ticked off some of the main touristy things to do around Cape Town: cycled to the Cape of Good Hope, which was a truly stunning ride along the coast and stopped to see the penguins on the way. The next day I cycled to the "City Bowl", where I stayed with nice people I had met at a cafe weeks before in Heidelberg. They had kindly given me their contact info and offered me to stay at their lovely cottage. We also had supper together: absolutely delicious, and a great evening. From their place, I could conveniently explore the city and go to the Waterfront and to Robben Island, where Mandela spent most of his sentence. The guides are ex-prisoners ... read more

Tomorrow, the real adventure starts, I will leave my cocoon in Noordhoek and cycle east along the coast. But I don't regret staying an extra day here, I had been told Cape Town has lots to offer, and it really does. Plus, my hosts are such nice people, and their place is so comfortable that it is hard to leave! I had forgotten to mention that they had put little treats for me in my room when I arrived: cookies, chocolate, tea, coffee, etc. Today I did cycle though. Without luggage. It was for sure one of the best bike ride I ever did. I biked the Chapman Road. The scenery is spectacular and people are super nice to cyclists. The first 20 km were either up or down, never flat, but not too steep so ... read more

Two years ago Lindsey and I got married in Cape Town and held our reception in a gorgeous resort called Monkey Valley. This collection of treehouses sits amidst the Milkwood forest overlooking Noordhoek beach, on the Atlantic Coast of the Cape Peninsula. We had a lovely celebration in a fairy-light bedecked wooden room with a Hungarian Trio playing some of our favourite music. After our reception we stayed in Monkey Valley for a couple of nights and have wonderful memories of that time. We have wanted to go back and thought our anniversary would be a great opportunity to do so. We started our first day in Kommetjie, as Lindsey was playing in a school there. We lunched in the sunshine on the white sand of Kommetjie beach, looking out to the mountains across the bay. ... read more

K- 8 weeks on and we are back in Stellenbosch celebrating our seven year wedding anniversary..... and no - sorry, I have no tips about avoiding the 7 year itch except that upping sticks and traveling around the world doesn't seem to be doing any harm (or at least keep him/me in sight most of the time!) We loved it so much here that we have come back for a couple of nights (with a rented car!) and are treating ourselves to several gourmet lunches at various vineyards. Today's extravaganza was at Jordan Vineyards - stunning views, and rabbit ravioli with broad bean and asparagus (me), mussels en papillote (Mark); pork with baby beets etc etc (Mark); artichokes with barley, sunflower, smoked artichoke heart etc (me); fabulous Jordan sauvignon blanc and "The Prospector" 2008.................and for dinner- ... read more

K - There are apparently two words which are used by South African women (not sure about the men) to cover all eventualities. "Divine" is used to describe anything from there being no queue at a store to winning the lottery whereas "hectic" covers breaking a nail to driving your car off a cliff! On this basis we have been having a pretty divine time on the Western Cape. It is Winter here but we have had glorious sunshine nearly every day - and yesterday the temperature hit 23C / 76F! On Saturday Michelle and I plus some friends did a charity run at the beautiful Groot Constantina vineyard. Mark & Steve came along to baby and dog sit and take photos - all vital tasks of a support team - shame they missed me running ... read more