Thursday 17 March
By Thursday we were back in the routine of tea and rusks and the 6:30pm ritual of 7 de Laan with Hod. We filled Thursday with some errands in town, explored some of the hidden courtyards (found an excellent juice bar for a much needed hit of fresh juice) and not so hidden malls of Stellenbosch and later in the afternoon met Hod for tea and scones at Hillcrest Berry Orchard up in the mountains. I'd been there with the family when Mum and I travelled a few years ago on a cold wet day, but today the sun was out and the mountains and the crags just looked spectacular.
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| On the road to Hillcrest |
That night an older cousin, Courtney who studies at Stellenbosch uni came around for a quick dinner and Jono cooked up a African/American fusion dish of chicken and veges with beans and pap on the side. Lekker!
Friday 18 March
By 10am the renault is packed and all three of us are road tripping our way to the bottom of Africa and Cape Agulhas. As a final jol in our SA adventures, Hod had arranged two villas in the nature reserve for us and the Stofbergs over the Human Rights Day long weekend.
On the way we went past a township near Sir Lowry's Pass and if it weren't for the shacks I could have sworn we were in Australia with the eucalypts and landscape. Possibly there are places far out west in Aus that look just like it, that do have the shacks and that I don't know about.
We stopped in Stanford for a couple of toasted sandwiches at a place warmed by a wood fired pizza oven and brightened by walls of paintings by local artists. From there we made our way to Agulhas, stopping along the way to look at the bird life, including the blue crane and an empty ostrich egg.
After stopping in at Struis Bay to collect the keys we headed on past the bottom of Africa (Hod made us look away!) and into the nature reserve. The two villas were two of six there and were STUNNING! I always say that where there's a thatch roof, there's a good holiday and again this was true! Each villa had two bedrooms and two en suite bathrooms, a potbelly fire for colder nights, a braai for the balcony and a view directly across the rough land into the rough oceans.
The Stofs arrived not long after us, so it didn't take us long to get exploring the sheltered lagoon, skimming rocks and discovering that every shell we picked up contained a hermit crab! Great times for the kids and kids at heart!
We were treated again by a very tasty Rijk-style braai for dinner and then all slinked away to climb into our whitest white sheets and listen to the crashing ocean outside.
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| The villas. The moon was the closest to the earth that it had been in 150 years and we were at the bottom of Africa. |
Saturday 19 March
Plan was: family walk, see the lighthouse, find some huge sting rays and check out the bottom of Africa.
The family walk was meant to be a one hour there, one hour back kind of jaunt and it sounds harder than it is, but with three kids and four easily distracted adults (Granny stayed at home) we didn't stray far from the villas… The skimming rocks were even better on that side of the reserve and there were heaps of dead things on the beach to keep the boys happy and loads of pretty rocks and shells to keep the girls happy! After such an exhausting walk (and with the villas still in clear view) we rested on the sun heated rocks and dug into some cupcakes and a hand full of lollies.
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| Rock Angels. |
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| The Stofs |
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| From the top of the Light House. |
After a lunch we did not need we headed back towards Struis Bay and the Cape's lighthouse to check out the museum and climb to the top (three flights of stair-like ladders, a further indoor ladder and a rusty outdoor ladder)… it seemed higher from the top than from the bottom.
From there we headed into Struis Bay proper to check out the jetty and a famed sting ray that was meant to be as wide as a man is tall. It was pretty big and he did bring his friends and come right into the shallow water and even ate from some kid's hand but he wasn't THAT big. Hod was not impressed! So we all cheered up with icecreams afterwards and topped off the day with a trip to the southern most tip of Africa!
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| At Struis Bay jetty |
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| I guess he's pretty big. |
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| Just another typical braai with toasted cheese sandwiches and pumpkin and cream cheese included. |
Sunday 20 March
Unfortunately today we had to bid farewell to the Stofbergs and head back to Stellenbosch, but we did delay our farewells by checking out the rock pools again, going to a shipwreck museum, taking a long lunch and stop in at Kleinmond for tea on the way home. All the same, it was so hard to say goodbye to our lovely and very generous family who live so far far away.
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| Rijk and Jono |
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| Granny |
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| Stof ladies |
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| Jono, me, Gillian, Rijk, Dayna, Emma and Hod. Thanks Caitlin who took an excellent photo! |
Monday 21 March
Urgh! Packing day! A day filled with trip admin, excursions to the post office, a trip to Checkers supermarket to source some Mrs Ball's chutney for the birthday girl, Ange who we would see in London, sadness, a final episode of 7 de Laan and a good Aussie roast to bid farewell to our good Aussie aunt (even if she did defect 50 odd years ago).
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| We did one last lap of Jonkershoek for good luck. |
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| Checkers findings |
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| Mrs Balls. Apparently the best |
Agony. We did not want to leave. The Backpacker bus we took from the Cape Town airport the week before picked us up bang on the dot and scooted us to Cape Town airport. Saying goodbye to Hod was the hardest goodbye of trip. We will miss her generosity, personalised and thoughtful graces, well stocked rusk jar, 7 de Laan addiction, strength and perseverance, stories, love of Andre Rieu and for being my adopted grandmother. We cannot wait to get back there!
From Cape Town we get stuck into the Bloody Marys en route to Abu Dhabi and from there head on to London and arrive early on Wednesday morning to be greeted by the pound, the tube, spring and Ms Yates!
Action shots
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