driving to the land of nod

london waits for no man

day six

Woz had visited Franschhoek before, almost ten years ago on his last trip to Africa. He and his friends had eaten lunch at a winery nearby where he said he had eaten 'the best meal' he'd ever had. We found the restaurant which had been built into a hill, with the cellar in the basement and the restaurant above, it was the perfect place to store the wine to avoid the heat from the sun above.

The lunch had to be fairly well planned in that we needed to get Nate off to sleep before we sat down. Too hot to walk around in his buggy until he fell asleep we got back into the car and drove through more national parkland until he finally nodded off.

Back at the restaurant, with babe snoozing, we sipped champagne and cooled down underground. With all the build up I was a little apprehensive that the meal would not live up to Woz's expectation, but thankfully it did and he was not disappointed.

franschhoek architecture

cemetery

franschhoek

After lunch Woz and I left Lindsay and Delilah to drive back to Cape Town while we drove further inland to Franschhoek. We drove through beautiful scenery to get there and once there we were not disappointed, least not with the beautiful cottage we stayed in. The town was very small, and nestled amoungst the mountains and surrounding wineries. The architecture was stunning, the setting picturesque and there was no shortage of restaurants, cafes and little boutiques to wander in and out of. Had we had a house in Africa somewhere we could easily have bought loads of beautiful furniture and other handcrafted accessories to furnish a house, but we didn't think it would quite work in our flat in London so we declined.


The cottage we stayed in was so lovely and inspired us to build something like it one day, where and when we don't know, but it's something to dream about. It was so simple, just the basic necessities yet beautifully done and decorated with individual crockery made by the owner of the property.

day five

Today Lindsay, Delilah, Woz and I drove out to the wine farms (wineries) in Stellenbosch just an hour out of Capetown. The landscape was beautiful, and the further we drove away the more mountain ranges were revealed. I don't remember a time when there was ever a view free from a mountain whether nearby or in the distance.

We visited four wineries and bought a bottle at three of those. The wine was all very good quality and dirt cheap when you converted it to pounds. We bought bottles of wine that would retail in the UK for about £15.00 for around £1.50.

Our favourite winery was JC Le Roux which is dedicated to sparkling wine. It was a beautiful property and we sat outside and had a gourmet lunch in the warm air. It was such a relaxing day.

sand dunes

cape of good hope

day four

Table Mountain dominates the landscape in Cape Town. It's size means that it never fades into the distance, and can be seen towering over the city at all times - except of course when it is completely hidden by cloud. It's a little eerie when this happens as for a newcomer to the city, the mountain is used as a means of navigation, however when it disappears you get a feeling off being lost in a desert of roads without being sure of where they are leading you.

This morning we had brunch with Lindsay and Deliliah before driving up to Table Mountain in the hope that the day would stay clear and we would be able to take the cable car up to the viewing point. Although each day so far had been warm, the cloud was incredibly unpredictable and would change several times daily. By the time we reached the cable car the sun was beaming down on us and there wasn't a cloud to be seen, it was however too windy for us to take the trip up and the cable car was closed.

From there we decided to visit Chapman's Peak again, this time in the light of day. We made it all the way to the Cape of Good Hope which is the most south-western point on the African Continent. To get there we drove for hours through National Park, seeing wild baboons along the way.

We were invited to dinner with Lindsay's family which was across the other side of town. We decided to avoid Cape Town (and the traffic) and drive along the coast and then through the rural areas outside of town. Looking at our map we navigated a journey and after driving along the coast for some time we headed inland. It wasn't long after we had turned off we noticed discarded rubbish covering the landscape, as we drove further we noticed some of the settlers homes (slums) that we'd seen on the way out of the airport. It was fascinating to drive past and thinking they would pass quickly we continued on. This wasn't the case though and we found ourselves getting deeper and deeper into the slum. We stood out like a sore thumb as we were not only driving a much nicer car than those on the streets, but we were the only white people. We dared not take a photograph and tried to find our way out using our very basic map. After about 20 minutes, having driven through kilometre after kilometre of makeshift housing, shops and roadside stalls we found our way out and back onto the major highway. By now it was dark.

When we arrived at Lindsay's house we told him of our detour and he and his family were astounded that we'd made it out without being carjacked, recommending we don't get creative with our driving again and stick only to the roads we know.

the first african sunset

chapman's peak

on the road

south african landscape

the beach

day two

This morning was Lindsay and Delilah’s wedding, the reason for our visit to South Africa. They had planned the ceremony to be held on the deck of a hotel on the beach, where those attending the wedding would look upon the couple with Table Mountain as the backdrop. What they didn’t count on was an almost unbelievable covering of mist which effectively left the wedding in a white out. Not only was Table Mountain invisible but so was the beach. We could hear the waves but couldn’t see them. Of course the wedding went ahead despite the weather and it was equally magical.

By mid morning after a lavish breakfast, the sun had come out and the fog cleared revealing the beautiful landscape. We joined all the guests in a brief frolick on the beach before returning inside to see the Bride and Groom cut the cake.

Only an hour or so later with the wedding guests now mostly gone Woz and I thought we’d spend the rest of the afternoon on the beach and returned outside only to find it had disappeared once again in the mist.

With that in mind we decided we’d go for a drive to escape the mist and headed towards Table Mountain, finding our way to Chapmans Peak.

On our way home we received a call from Lindsay and Delilah with an invitation to go for dinner with them to Lindsay’s favourite seafood restaurant. We had a great night with them and some precious time given all the people they had to catch up with while in Capetown.

spray painting ships in the harbour

day one

We arrived in Cape Town at 6.30am. After a 12 hour overnight flight we felt quite rested, having managed to get some broken sleep on the plane. We were fortunate enough to have as many rows of seats to sleep on as we wanted as the plane was barely scattered with passengers, around 30 in all.

My first introduction to South Africa was in the car on the way out of the airport as we drove past hundreds of makeshift houses, making up communities with no borders as they were built one on top of another, and another, and another, the members of which were streaming out in a steady flow to stand on the side of the motorway waiting to be picked up.

They were picked up in vans and utes, and as we sat in traffic we watched countless cars driving past, their passengers on their way to work, the open back tray of the ute heaving with people, cramped and sitting on top of each other. All of the passengers were black, with either a lone black person driving or occasionally a white person.

Normally I wouldn’t refer to the skin colour or race of those I write about, purely because it is irrelevant. However in South Africa, colour is everything, not just black and white but ‘coloured’ as well. You are acutely aware that you are ‘white’, and that others around you are not, that those who live in the settler towns are ‘black’, that those who stand by the road selling wares are ‘black’, and that those who are ‘coloured’ (the term they use for mixed race) fit somewhere in between. There is a social order which is a hang-up from the days of apartheid, and it is very clear that it has left a very distinct scar on it’s people.

As we sat watching the equivalent of cattle trucks driving past, ferrying ‘black’ people to work I was horrified and dumbfounded that they would not be afforded seat belts and seats in a covered van like all the ‘white’ people around them.

"That’s Africa baby" remarked Woz, a seasoned traveller in Africa … and so my education began.
After unpacking our bags we drove in to the city centre and down to the waterfront for fish and chips. After lunch we spent at least an hour watching traditional African dancers and singers in an amphitheatre on the waterfront. Nate loved the music and dancing and joined in at every opportunity, kicking his legs in his buggy and clapping his hands. For years I’ve loved the sound of African voices singing in harmony and I sat there I was pinching myself to think that I was sitting there listening to them in the flesh, in Africa. It was sitting there that I realised what an incredible education this is to Nate, although probably too young to really understand most of it at his age.

In the afternoon we met up with Lindsay and Delilah and went with them to their official wedding ceremony along with their immediate family. In South Africa a marriage is only legal if it is performed in an approved venue, and as they wanted to be married on the beach they had to have the official ceremony the day before.

After the ceremony we met up with loads of their family and friends where we had a braai (BBQ) to celebrate the occasion. Woz, Nate and I were made to feel so welcome by their family and felt immediately at home.