houdenbek

We spent the weekend in the lovely Houdenbek cottages in the Koue Bokkeveld, Cederberg. The whole area is extremely dry but on this farm they have a huge dam where we could swim in the ice cold water on, what was, a very hot and sunny day.

We also popped in to a small saturday morning bazaar at Die-Dorp-Op-Die-Berg for some traditional potjie kos.

On our way home we decided to take the scenic route over the mountain and via the R355 back to Ceres, we passed this small shop in the middle of nowhere...

And discovered the very interesting Tankwa Padstal, also in the middle of nowhere...

velddrif

We spent the weekend in Velddrif, relaxing, exploring the small farm shops and driving around looking at flowers.

kapteinskloof

Kapteinskloof is located on a farm between Piketberg and Aurora. It's the perfect place to go when you want to get away from everything, enjoy some piece and quiet, cool down in a beautiful pool surrounded by mountains, or explore the local villages like Redelinghuys, Elands Bay and Aurora.

draaihoek

We spent the weekend at Draaihoek on the west coast, near Elandsbaai. It was nice being in this area again, we drove through to Aurora, Elandsbaai and Redelinghuys on saturday.

The food at Draaihoek is really very good. I spent some time talking to Michael, the chef there, and he is a very nice guy who really cares about his food. Pork terrine, stuffed chicken breasts, slow roasted smoked eisbein and oxtail stew are just a few of the things we had there.

paternoster and yzerfontein

We spent a few days in Paternoster and Yzerfontein, driving around in the area and exploring all the small towns and parks.

weekend in yzerfontein

We decided to go to Yzerfontein for the weekend, because the weather bureau predicted the first serious winter rain for the year, which meant we couldn't continue our painting at home. We found a nice little place called Surfsong, which has a lovely view of the sea.

On Saturday we drove out to Darling and had lunch at Evita se Perron, and browsed around the little town. But the rest of the weekend was spent doing nothing but relaxing...









The rain also brought some fairly big waves. Here's a video clip I took from the rocks, perhaps a little too close to the waves :-)

riebeek kasteel and yzerfontein

We drove out to Riebeek Kasteel for the day. Stopped at Het Vlock Casteel for some olives, wine and sauces, and then wondered around town browsing the little shops.







On the way home we decided to do a big detour through Darling, to have a look at Yzerfontein, a very nice little coastal village. I think we need to go there for a weekend break soon.

elandsbay

We spent the weekend in Elandsbay for my birthday. We've been here before, and it's a really isolated little village, only 250km from Cape Town. The area is very dry, but beautiful. Nothing beats the place if you need to relax, cause there's really nothing to do except walk on the beach. Unfortunately the water is freezing cold.



On saturday night we went to the (reasonably) famous muisbosskerm for dinner. Certainly worth doing once in your life. The "restaurant" is really a bunch of people who prepare traditional food in a "open" kitchen built in the middle of nowhere next to the sea. So you just sit around and relax, watch them while they prepare the food and then eat for hours on end...