Cynthia'S Country Cottages Montagu

... the tourist information centre and we went for a stroll along the main street stopping for a beer in a local pub. Several white locals were watching the start of the South African rugby tour match against Italy. We stayed see, amid great cheers, RSA go into a convincing two try lead before driving down the other end of the street to Bloomenhuis, tonight’s accommodation.

Another lovely place! Patio doors open from our room onto a beautiful well kept garden and small pool. The ...

Today we are leaving Saltycrax and Cape Town. We get up early and program the GPS to take us to Swellendam via Hermanus. It picks a route that I would not have chosen, but it knocks an hour off the driving time. Once we get out of Cape Town the roads are really excellent. I would thoroughly recommend South Africa to anyone who loves driving. We drive through twisty mountain paths followed by dead straight roads with spectacular scenery. I absolutely love driving here and I'm am so ...

... been discovered by a farmer whose injured hand was miraculously cured when he dipped it into the water. They are now in the grounds of a large hotel /resort complex. A strange place which was rather reminiscent of a slightly upmarket Butlins, the area had suffered from bad flood damage last November ( obviously a recurring event) and two of the five pools were out of action but apart from this they had made a very good job of clearing up the damage ...

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.

... faster than we'd expected, arriving after only a few hours of mountain swtichbacks and two-lane "highway". One of the things I actually loved about driving in South Africa was how incredibly polite everyone was - people would drive onto the shoulder so that you could pass them more easily. This seemed to be completely in keeping with how friendly everyone is - they would go above and beyond anything I'd previously experienced to ...

... they proudly explained the long process of producing a good bottle of wine. They are keen to let you taste the wine and when they produce twelve types, it can take hours. Sometimes the staff would be too busy with other customer and so they came up to us with six different bottles of wine and asked "Would you mind if we just left us with the bottles to taste at your own time"? "Not at all" we happily replied. Cooper Out Love Dan & Kat

... none of the behaviour. The final party was something else. Obviously all kilted up, girls too. They had mini kilts with hotpants underneath, the hot pants had their names accross the bottom, think it took about an hour for the first bottom to be revealed. The venue was incredible, it was this massive outdoor restaurant just outside of town. Would fill you in on the rest of the chat now but have got to get some sun worshipping in. over and out. Spain & Co.

... to the road, to the Mosquitos that hit the windsheild. - Thank god the only thing that is straight down here are the pedals - left to right Clutch, brake, & Gas - If this was reversed I would have driven the piece of junk in the ocean where it belongs. Outside of the sheer fear of being delivered this glorified soap-box car on a one-way hill in Cape Town - some ****** shined the dash-board so bright that it creates a tremendous amount of glare ...

... drizzling stopped and I pitched my tent and there was a fire in the open fire place in the main house right behind the tables. This is where I spent the rest of the day, reading and keeping my back warm and it felt so good. At night, I tried ostrich steak, which his about the most tender meat other than real steak you can imagine, and fantastic in taste, as well as ostrich sausages. Warm, well-fed, safe. Paradise found.

... wouldn't have been surprised if the locals turned out to be aliens waiting to take over the world ... Then again, my imagination is generally a bit too overactive at the best of times ! Unsurprisingly, we left town very early in the morning with a bit of a screech of tires (no, my driving hasn't improved), heading on up the coast & back to civilisation... We went to Outshoorn, north of the coast where loads of farmers made millions in the ostrich boom at the end of the ...