Klippe Rivier Country House Swellendam

... rolling valley surrounded by mountains in the distance, were still covered in vineyards: Route 66 claims to be the longest wine route in the world. We needed cash (not as many places take credit cards as we had imagined), and found an ATM in Robertson, a bustling, clean and well kept town.

A quick stop for petrol in the predominantly black township of Ashton, and 20 minutes later we rolled into the deserted but quaint town of Montagu (shops close Saturday afternoon). A quick browse ...

... a whale. Would you believe it there one is, just playing there a little way out, he jumps up and splashes down, then rests a little before doing it again. All that time looking, then just as we are about to leave we see one.

The drive to Swellendam is just as fun as the drive down, miles of perfectly straight road where we see what the car can do, followed by a drive through the mountains, I wish the car was a 1.6 instead of1.4, but these VW's really are nice cars.

Swellendam, Western Cape, South Africa frontal

Have just returned to Cape Town from a short visit to Montagu, a small town about 2 hours drive east on the edge of the Little Karroo. The town was first settled in the 1830s by Boers who were escaping from British rule in the Cape, (they do not seem to hold this against us, we found everyone very friendly!), it is now a popular tourist destination and a week-end retreat for Capetonians. However it has remained largely unspoiled and is a pretty little town ...

We set off for Montagu and Route 62, calling in at the Olympia Cafe in Kalks Bay for a take-out coffee and a quick look at the harbour and the local fish. Then we hit roadworks for 30km.... Finally arrived in Montagu late afternoon, which is a beautiful little village set in a gorge. We found a very nice place to stay, wandered around a bit and then found a very nice place to eat dinner, in the courtyard of a Cape Dutch mansion under a 100-year-old pear tree.

... For example, after asking someone for help in locating an ATM in Cape Town, having tried a nearby ATM that seemed to be broken, the woman offered to leave her office and come with us to see if she could be of assistance.) After checking into our incredibly cute cottage room, we left for De Hoop - an almost 90,000-acre coastal reserve apparently mysteriously seldom visited, given its incredible beauty. We ended up on the "long road ...

... out an astonishing # of miles of caves. The first portion - accessible to visitors who pay for the 'standard' tour - is impressive enough - though compared to the caves we visited in Northern Thailand, they are presented in a much more commercial way, understandably given the # of visitors. There is another tour though - the 'Adventure' tour for the more intrepid. NOT ME, said I, right from the start. Given my propensity to claustrophobia, this was not an experience I had on my ...

... country kitchen type serving rustic and wholesome food. Steve had springbok carpaccio and I couldn't resist the sushi plate. The carpaccio was lovely and lots of it and the sushi was just ok but I should have expected that given we weren't near the coast but I just wanted sushi! Main courses were very good. I had a steak that was huge and cooked to perfection and Steve had kudu, sprinbok and ostrich also cooked to perfection.

... they referred us to was just as beautiful. It was called Augusta de Mist and it was an old Cape Dutch farm house with a few private cottages spread out on its property surrounded by incredibly landscaped gardens. Again, because we were the only guests, they let us have the luxury suite which was a gorgeous cottage on its own with a fireplace, jacuzzi tub etc. Man, I could get used to being spoiled like this ...

... and sit on the bed and go now what? Yeah I haven't had any of those lately, man that's nice. Anyway, what the hell was I talking about? Oh yeah, so it was more of cliffs towering above me, frothy surf and fury below, miles of butter beach behind me, and cloud wreathed mountains on the horizon across the bay. Which sounds pretty, but believe me, it's got nothing on being there. I made it to Hermanus, a little seaside resort town, and met up with a Canadian girl Carmella ...

... just a bedroom that opened right off their living room, no common area, no sitting area, nothing. They also had a 'cottage' but that had only twin beds, so we passed and went back to the Wilderness TIC to try again. This time we had better luck. They sent us to Clover Leigh, just down the road on the banks of the lagoon. This was what I would call a motel, but each room was its own little building. We had room 3, a little box that backed onto the woods and ...