Protea Hotel Dorpshuis Stellenbosch

... way to Franschhoek (our destination for this evening's dinner). Excited to try the number 2 rated restaurant in the Stellenbosch area (according to trip advisor), we find out that Tokara's restaurant is closed. So we quickly tried the wine and also enjoyed the olive oil tasting that they had (to get something to eat). The olive oil was better. Not saying the wine was bad, but we were ...

... was a fruity mousse that was on the top. I enjoyed the salmon and avocado and the pineapple and ginger air but not together. I think there was too much "air" compared to the salmon. The beetroot tuile added an earthiness to the fruit that was unusual. It was very pretty though as the tuile looked like stained glass in a pretty violet colour. Parmesan and vanilla risotto with a sous vide egg I like egg and rice so this was a good combo! Bit more sophisticated than what I do ...

... coming down with pneumonia...again. However, all is well. Dave had to take a few days off and lie low. We missed dinner at our friends home, which was a disappointment. Also, I went on a township tour by myself. I don't think I could even begin to describe what an experience that was. I have NEVER in my life seen people living in such sub-human conditions. At the first stop we made, if our guide Laura hadn't been so upbeat and chatty ...

... land. from there we drove onto the nature reserve at the very tip of the peninsula. We took a cable car up to a small light house where the views were the best. People say that this is the point where the Indian and the Atlantic Oceans meet but this isn't really true, still it's an incredible spot especially on a day like that when the wind is battering you and the sun is shining. We saw some baboons with babies on ...

... a 4 hour stopover before boarding the British Airways flight to Cape Town. It was a long weekend in South Africa and BA had cancelled the 6pm flight, so we left JNB at 8pm. The 10pm arrival in Cape Town was 6am eastern Australian time, so we had been travelling for over 23 hours. The bags arrived quickly, so we were able to get our rental car and scoot up the N2 motorway and to our ...

... and places to stay, it is also a great place to arrange a wine tour, so you can sample wine without having to drive.We booked an all day wine tour with a company called Easy Rider Wine Tours. For a price of 300 Rand per person which included lunch, we were taken on a tour of four wine estates. The first stop was the Simonsig estate where we were given a tour of the wine factory and got to taste the the variety of red and white wines they ...

... we decided to wait it out since most things here tend to just work themselves out at their own pace... they call it "African Time." So we went for lunch at the Waterfront for only our second non PB&J meal since Argentina. The Seals and sunny skies decided to join our double date and we ate waiting for the sun to burn off the haze. After lunch we headed up to the top of Table Mountain for one of the most precious views of Cape Town ever... next time we are there we plan on hiking up ...

... which calms him down a lot. They let you practice sitting on an ostrich which is held in place by 'the box' (used mostly for when they pluck feathers). When you have a hang of this, they get another ostrich for riding. You hook your legs under the bird, grab each wing at the root, sit just aft of the water-hump, and lean back. I figured this was going to be like a pony ride, but no, as soon as I tell the guy I'm set, he yanks ...

... en doen erg hun best om met je te kunnen communiceren. Het is wel even wennen in het Engels, maar zij begrijpen mij, en ik begrijp hun. Aangekomen bij de familie Geldenhuys worden we hartelijk ontvangen door Oma, en hondje Tooby. Heb ik toch nog een beetje Joep hier..! We mogen overal gebruik van maken en ze zijn erg gastvrij. Norval heeft me het huis achter ons laten zien, hier zullen papa en mama ...

... at the non-arrival of whales on cue, flounced off. During their photo session the rest of us had had a fantastic view of the whales frolicking directly behind them. Another day, in Hermanus, we walked along the scraggy cliff tops in the golden late afternoon sun watching the whales just cruising by in the white-flecked water - hyraxes snuffled around our feet and butterflies flitted in our faces. In addition to the whales it is the Great White Shark season. To David's ...