kleinplaas dam

Went for a short walk at Kleinplaas dam. Beautiful day, lots of water, we could clearly hear all the frogs in the "swamp" below the dam.

doolhof

We had a picnic at Doolhof near Wellington. Beautiful valley and some interesting wines.

bettys bay

Spent the day in bettys bay.

just a breather

"The only way to keep your health is to eat what you don't want, drink what you don't like, and do what you'd rather not." - Mark Twain

outdoor movie at kirstenbosch

We went to Kirstenbosch for the first screening of their new outdoor movie's. They will be showing a movie every wednesday evening after sunset until April next year. We were a little early so spent an hour wondering around the beautiful botanical gardens, followed by a delicious dinner from one of the food vendors at the venue. And then it was the movie "Where the Trail Ends", which was pretty good.

misty cliffs

We spent the afternoon relaxing on the rocks at Misty Cliffs.

kleinplas dam

Ansie and I went for a walk at Kleinplaas Dam. The dam is very full after the rain, and the area is looking really nice at the moment.

tokai

Went for a short walk in Tokai forest. It's been a very long time since we've been there, and it looks like the selfish people at Cape Nature have been chopping down more of the beautiful pine trees to make space for the alien vegetation / Port Jackson.

swimming at kleinplaas dam

We went for a swim at Kleinplaas dam in the scorching heat. The water level is very low, lower than I've ever seen it... But the water temperature was just perfect to cool down. Still one of my favourite spots.

segways at spier

Last week Ansie and I went to Spier to ride the Segways! We've been keen to give it a try for many years now, but just never got around to doing it. The Segway is way cool and seriously fun to ride, I would definitely recommend it. I'd really like to get one but unfortunately they're not very practical for our area... definitely a nice toy!

lotheni

My good friend Jean travelled all the way from London to get married in the Natal Midlands during the easter holidays. It was a beautiful wedding and very nice to see Jean again, and meet his new wife.

Ansie and I decided to spend a week at one of our favourite places in South Africa, Lotheni in the southern Drakensberg. Lotheni has NO electricity or cell phone signal, everything works with gas. But it does have huge mountains, many beautiful freezing cold rivers, natural pools and waterfalls. It's the perfect place to do nothing, rest, and swim.

I think we really needed this week away, it was perfect...

weekend in greyton

Ansie and I spent the weekend in Greyton on the farm Tarentaal kraal. On Saturday morning we went to the local market for cheese, pesto, farm bread, a brie and fig quiche, and cheese cake. We also spent some time browsing the small shops in the village. On Sunday we had a nice lunch at the Abbey Rose, they have a nice little chapel and a pretty garden out at the back. The rest of the weekend was spent relaxing and enjoying the views.

On the way back we discovered an interesting and very scenic "alternative" dirt road to Hermanus, definitely worth exploring on a future trip out that way.

walking on the mountain

We went for a walk on table mountain last sunday, starting at constantia nek, up the very steep path to De Villiers dam, then Alexandra and Victoria dams, over Woodmead dam to Kasteelpoort and back. A rough measure puts the distance at 14km.

Nice views, and a very hot day. Ansie and I are burnt crispy lobster red. After all these years we still forget to put on sunscreen...

butterfly world

I spent yesterday with Tarryn and her daughter Kyla at Butterfly World. I haven't seen Tarryn in (way too) many years, and it was so nice spending the day talking, and catching up, and just spending time together and relaxing. I like spending days like these enjoying life with friends.

kleinmond and betty's bay

We drove out to Kleinmond and Betty's Bay on saturday. Some sight seeing, browsing the small shops and relaxing on the beach.

busy but relaxing weekend

My good friend Pete and his wife Aileen, from Johannesburg, spent a few days with us here in Cape Town. The weather was absolutely perfect, so we were fairly busy, doing sunsets by the sea, the Tokai food market, Silvermine dam, the Tibetan Tea House in Simonstown, walking on Slangkop and the beach here in Kommetjie, and just relaxing and catching up.

just a breather

A quick walk to our local beach here in Kommetjie. I think the people in Gauteng are right, the winter weather here in Cape Town is absolutely crap, as can be clearly seen in the photos ;-)

quick trip to greyton

We took a drive out to Greyton after the orienteering event on sunday. It's a lovely little town with lots of small art shops, deli's, restaurants, dirt roads and a few horses walking around town.

We spent some time exploring and walking around, followed by a nice lunch at the Oak and Vigne cafe, and then we drove the "alternative route" / scenic dirt road on the way back home.

driving around the country side

The last few weeks we've been doing a lot of work around the house. Some more painting, and fixing / fitting small bits and pieces here and there. Plus, I had a bad stomach thing that took me down for about 4 days. So yesterday we finally decided to take some time out, and do a little trip to the country side.

The main goal for the day, was sight seeing, cheese and beer! We were, perhaps a little too successful, with the cheese, and got about 3kg of Gruyere at Klein River cheese farm. Mature 10 to 12 month old Gruyere cheese is one of the best things you'll ever have!

Unfortunately Birkenhead brewery was closed. But I managed to get a few six packs from a small country shop.

Along the way we discovered a lovely little farm stall / restaurant / wine shop called Van Brakel Stoor, at the intersection of the R316 and R326. I just love that name, and the owners are super friendly.

We also had, probably one of the absolute best lunches we've had since moving to Cape Town, at Pascal's Bistro in Napier. I had the pork stew with mash, which had awesome flavour, and Ansie had the chicken pot pie, with red wine and mushrooms, just perfect.

The drive out to Stanford and Napier is really enjoyable, nice views of rolling green hills and mountains in the distance, and lots of small shops and places to explore along the way. A really nice day out.

a relaxing weekend

My good friend Brett spent the weekend with us here in Cape Town. We did a lot of sightseeing, some walking at Jonkershoek and Silvermine, with a nice lunch at Fairview, and sunset at Misty Cliffs. Then breakfast at the Cape Farm House and even a quick stop in Simons Town. Lots of catching up and chatting like old times. It was a really awesome weekend, and we had a really good time. The weather was perfect too...