Asara Wine Estate & Hotel Stellenbosch

... Lindsey made sure that there were 12 different courses between them. The amuse bouche came and it was a shot glass of porcini soup. Not a good start, as if you know me, I hate mushrooms. Wasn't terrible, but I could have done without it. Amy and I both started our real meals with the crayfish (South Africa's version of lobster). It was great. I was glad that we both got this as it ...

... sports and other activities like that. We went to 3 wineries before lunch each very different in character Skilpadvlei, Neethlingshof and Warwick. After lunch we did wine and cheese at Fairview and final stop was Grande Provence. By Fairview I had given up and had had too much wine as was not feeling too great. Steve as usual was more than happy to carry on. Wine tasting as always is great fun. Our overall thoughts were that the ...

04 August - Stellenbosch Dinner last night was a resounding success - and not just because of my chicken, which was as good as usual. But the dishes prepared by the other guests were equally good: Flavored rice with sun-dried tomatoes and pumpkin seeds prepared by the Dutchies and broccoli baked with cheese on top by Muriel, along with her South African-style pumpkin. It was all washed down by one of the more palatable red wines I have ever drunk: a 7-dollar, 3 ...

... On the afternoon of the second day I went over to the other wing of the centre to help with the babies. This is actually a lot easier because, although there's a lot more of them you don't have to worry about who's speaking English or Africaans or Xosa and what the hell they're talking about. Also there's not the constant tantrums and the fighting which can be very wearing. Me and some of the other girls from my building booked a ...

... It's quite the toursity area! After being there a while, we headed back to the hostel and took time to get to know each other better. Overall, the day was very engaging and interesting. I would recommend a Robben Island tour to anyone. Information I Learned Today - By 2020 it is predicted more people in Africa will die each year of AIDS than are born - The unemployment rate of South Africa is insane, with many sources citing it is as high as 47%.

... worth the visit. I'm sure a few of you would recognize the Pierre Jourdan flagship label if you saw it. Stopping in the tiny, yet beautiful town of Franschoek for lunch, we walked around and sat at a great bistro where the food continued to impress my most demanding palate. Next stop on our wine tour, which had begun to slow in pace as we continued to drink ...

... is much like living in the states during the late 60s and 70s. Paarl area is scarred by racial prejudice and economic imbalance, oppression and manipulation, hope backed by a complete mistrust for everyone that is not like you... and best of all its always someone else's fault. We live in an old white area... juxtaposed with the colored school we teach at. The students come in from decrepit homes built when the government forced the people out of the white area and into the slums ...

... themselves. Our guide was surprisingly cheerful about the whole thing -guess you have to be by now, but he was only on Roben Island for a year (out of 5 that he was in prison), and actually preferred that location over the other prisons for being nicer conditions. But of course, it's still a prison. And then we took a ride around the Cape Peninsula - Cape Town is on the very north side of a big north-south peninsula which ...

We love Cape Town....it's so like Melbourne that if we ever decided to live in South Africa this is the place we would live. It was great to live in a house, be driven around by a car instead of a truck and actually unpack our bags. We had a massive throw away of all our old travel clothes and went mad in the shops to re-fill our bags with new clothes. It was one big reunion when we arrived into Cape Town - not only were we staying with our friends from work who have now ...

... there were squadrons of show planes (like the Canadian Snowbirds) and fighter bombers (Stealth Bombers) getting ready for the Air show on Saturday. We drove around the Cape Town waterfront, where I caught glimpses of Table Mountain, Lions Head and Signal Hill through the buildings. I wanted to go up the Mountains but Sheila pointed out the traffic up there, which was a silver line from bottom to top. She indicated that there is a tram to go up there but it takes about a 2 hour ...