View from hotel

20/6/2014

Day 2

I landed at London, Heathrow just before 7:00 am, so of course we had breakfast at 5:30 am! Seriously airlines need to get their times sorted out when it comes to feeding their passengers. So we waited at Heathrow the whole morning and because of the time change it felt longer this is because England is an hour behind South Africa. Seriously Lara and I walked around nearly the whole airport to try and find free WiFi (also because we were very bored), which we eventually did. At last I managed to communicate with the outside world.

Then on top of everything our boarding to Athens was delayed, but at least we arrived to Athens on time. In the mean time my sister and I talked to my dad’s friends for a bit and then we walked around the airport a bit more. Then at last we were on our way to Athens, which I hope I can survive 7 days here.

Count down, here we go!!

21/4/2014

Morning dawned and we slowly got up. We had a late breakfast of the left over’s. Kieron thought it was better to pack up the  tent and then go and have a shower. We only managed to leave by 12:00 am. Family and friends left by 10:00 am. We took our time going back and stopped off at spur for a late lunch, so then only arrived back in Cape Town at around 5:00 pm. Kieron helped me pack the camping stuff away (which was a mission with another 3 people unpacking at the same time) and I gave him some of the food that I bought for him before he left to go back home.

A spring on the pass

Well, here is to next year’s adventure in the Cederberg which I call my home.

Now about this spring: Apparently Kieron stopped at this spring years ago when he was a kid and so we had to stop on our way down to fill up a flask full of spring water. The water tasted amazing!:) So much better than Cape Town water!

Kieron

Elephants – Stadsaal

Stadsaal

Stadsaal

Stadsaal

19/4/2014

Today we went wine tasting at around 10:00 am. After an hr we walked back to camp, made sandwiches and headed to Statesaal and Trekkieskraal to see some San paintings and formations. I can never get over how awesome the rocks are and I can never get over Trekkieskraal. All the places ar

Truitjieskraal

e made up of red sand stone and over years and years have formed caves and other formations. It is amazing! I love it. So of course I had to show Kieron.

The are so many places to explore there and also seeing the red rocks against the blue sky is still so beautiful to me. It takes ones breath away and it is hard to explain unless one has seen it. We explore some rocks and San paintings but at the end we ran out of time to see much of Trekkieskraal. Though next year we will definitely be back to explore even further since there are some places I haven’t seen and found before.

Can’t wait to do more exploring.

Sanddrift Bridge

Campsite

18/4/2014

We woke up this morning around 7-8 am. Had breakfast, showered, got dressed and tided up camp. That was around 10:00 am when we started out to the farm house to get permits for Stadsaal and Truitjieskraal for tomorrow. In the end I had to drive to Kromrivier to get both of them. This was an experience, because it was down in a valley and I had never driven down there before. Got the permits and Ron drove back up the pass. There is a problem, when someone comes down when someone is going up or the other way round.

Afterwards we went to Shelia for lunch. Which was awesome, then we saw my dad came walking back early from the hiking party. The rest of the family went on to climb the Tafelberg, mad I know. After lunch Kieron and I went back to chill at camp.

17/4/2014

Here is another adventure I had this year:

Cederberg, nature and beauty what more can one asks for? Of course there is nothing. That’s where I am with my boyfriend, friends and my insane family. I love this place so much. Every time I come here it feels like I am home.

This morning Kieron arrived around 10:30 am and we packed the car and headed off to the Cederberg. I happened to drive from Cape Town to Picketberg where we stopped and had lunch at spur. Then after a break Ron drove onwards and then hit the dirt track going to the Cederberg.

We arrived at our campsite at around 5:00 pm with just enough light to pitch the tent and get supper ready. We did eat in the dark, but at least the tent was up, which didn’t take that long but it was more blowing up mattress where a pain. After we had eaten hamburgers and putting on warm clothes we headed to find out if my family and friends had arrived safely, since they left so much later than us and they had. We talked to them for a bit and then decided to head back to camp to get some sleep. Though I had forgotten how cold the night could get in the Cederberg.

Driving to Cederberg

Beginning of Cederberg

Groot Constantia Manor House

Stunning view

Stunning view

The driveway

Main gates

The view of vineyards

More vineyards

Main gates

Groot Constantia

Klein Constantia

6/4/2014

This morning we took a trip to Groot Constantia wine estate. Though we should have taken a picnic lunch but it was nice to get out and since it was a beautiful day just to see the country side a bit. This wine estate has an incredible history to it and to me it is one of the most beautiful wine estates in the country but in the middle of a city. There is a museum, restaurants and wine tasting to be done. Though I would love to eat at the restaurant, there are other ways of eating like one can also take a picnic along with one and just sit on the lawns overlooking the vineyards. The view overlooks the ocean and on a clear day one can see all the way to the mountains by Betty’s Bay. This doesn’t happen very often.

Then afterwards we headed off the Klein Constantia which is the baby wine estate of the area. We didn’t wine taste because it was quite expensive but we did however look around, take photos and read the history of the wine estate. It is also in a stunning area of Constantia though Klein Constantia is more on the Tokia side and Groot Constantia is in actually Constantia side of Cape Town than anywhere else.

To me it was a stunning day to get out and about in that area of the world even though it was so hot.

The Franschhoek Wine Tram

Kieron outside the Franschhoek Museum

Wine tasting area at Holden Manz

Grapes

Farm drive way

Tram

Vineyards

Tracker Tram

Slave Bell

The farm house at Rickety Bridge

The Rickety Bridge river

The Entrance to Rickety Bridge

Tram home

22/3/2014

Yesterday, which happened to be the 22 March 2014 Kieron, his dad, Kirsty, Henry and I drove to Franschhoek for the day. We decided to go on the wine tram so we could go to the wine farms for some wine tasting. Since some members of our party where late we decided to take the blue route and leave at 13:00 pm. We would only do a few farms but this was ok with us. So Kieron and I decided to take his dad to the museum while we waited. This museum has always been my favourite since one of my ancestors was a French Huguenot who came out from France in 1688 and for some odd reason I have been quite proud of this.

Then after looking around the museum we headed off for lunch and we decided to try out this cafe which was very nice and not priced over the top which is amazing for Franschhoek.

Franschhoek is mostly a major tourist attraction now so that is why some of the prices at restaurants and shops are so expensive.

Then at 12:50 we got onto this tram. It has been creating like the old trams expect this time there is not rails across the road so they have just put wheels on it. There is a stage where we went on an actually railway but that is to be told later when I get there.

We had a choice between three wine farms because it was an afternoon time and there wasn’t going to be much time for all the farms.

So our first stop was La Bri but we didn’t get out we decided rather go to Holden Manz instead which was very interesting. Though I only drank a little wine since I can’t drink a lot. As we sat waiting for the tram to come back Kieron decided to take loads of photos.

We then decided to go to Rickety Bridge which was near the end of the tour. It is named Rickety Bridge for the bridge which one had to cross to get to the farm. This bridge was really rickety at the time before they built the new bridge only in 1996.

Ron decided that sitting around wine tasting and eating cheeses wasn’t good enough so he took my camera and went off on a photography mission. Only when it was time to go then we had to go off looking for him, which believe you me it took a while even with his dad and me trying to phone him.

Once we had found him, we then jumped on the tracker/tram ride back to the station, caught the actually tram back to town and then got put on a last tram and drove back to town.

I think we mostly enjoyed the tram ride more than the actual wine itself. Watching old houses and vineyards flash past one. It is one of the most of beautiful parts of the world. By just enjoying each other’s company since we don’t get together very often.

We decided to skip the last wine farm and go home so afterwards we got back in the car and drove home. We then had to go and buy ingredients for dinner so we went shopping. So we decided to braai burgers for supper, Ron’s style.

So here is too the next adventure!

15/3/2014

Kirstenbosch has so many trails going off in all directions one can certainly get lost. So the other day I was trying really hard to research information for this when I came across something interesting, a Heritage Trail. This trail seemed to give people a piece of history from the beginning until now, 1700s – 2014. This garden has historical value and an interesting past.

It was reopened on Heritage Day in 2013 and this trail seems to only go along the old section of the garden. It gives one a self guided tour and explains the history of the gardens and shows old photographs. I find this way a much more fun way to learn about something. It also shows one how the landscapes have changed back when the garden was first created and what it is today.

For me I haven’t been on this new and exciting trail yet so I decided to find out where this trail begins and it seems one can start at any point where there is a sign called Heritage Trail and it is a circle route for only 2 km long.

I find that it would be an excellent why to expand ones knowledge of the area and learn about the history.

So this morning Kieron and I decided to go to Kirstenbosch and actually walk the Heritage Trail and see what it in tales.

There are many entrances to the trail itself, but its best to start from the beginning. The start is from opposite the Magic Tree (or what the Magic Tree was) and next to the Useful Plants Garden.

This walk is actually very easy and it’s just the usually steepness up to the next path or lawn.

The trail leads itself to Pelargonium Koppie and from there is amazing view of the garden and the structure of the Treetop Canopy Tour. So at each stop there is a sign the history of the section written on it. Then it’s along to the Colonel Christopher Bird’s bath and the history behind the bath itself.

How Bird bought the southern part of Kirstenbosch and built the bath as a form of a water source to the house in 1811. The bath was built in a “Bird” shape.

The next spot was the Cycad Amphitheatre, where some of the oldest Cycad’s are planted. Some have been around for centuries and some are quite rare.

Pearson’s Grave is another stop. Pearson was a Professor at UCT as well as a caretaker who decided a need for Botany at UCT and Cape Town and also

Kirstenbosch Heritage Trail

Treetop Tour

A Heritage path

Table Mountain

Walking the Heritage Trail

Water bubbling

Bird’s Bath

Treetop Tour

Pearson’s Grave

Cycad Amphitheatre

Mountain

Mountain

Amphitheatre

Beginning of Treetop Tours

a needed link to the university.

The next stop was Matthew’s Rockery who was another caretaker from 1913 – 1936. His rockery was built in 1920’s of local sandstone.

He was also the first horticulturists to encourage use of indigenous plants.

The last bits of the trail goes past the only remaining section of Van Riebeeck’s Hedge, which was planted in 1660.

Down another path through the Concert Area, pass through the main restaurant, up through the Peninsula Gardens. Then last but not least through the Marquee Lawn (where the old tea room used to be). Then back to where we began.

The Heritage Trail is an amazing, interesting, beautiful walk. It’s like going back through the past and also through nature, which also helped reconstruct the gardens we know today.