The Mother City
The Mother City, Cape Town. Perched between the ocean and the mighty Table Mountain you will find bountiful sun-drenched vineyards, the freshest sea food and salads you have ever tasted, white sand beaches with the 12 apostle mountain peeks forming the backdrop and filling your senses from every possibly angle. There is no doubt that Cape Town touches every person who visits it and that’s why I couldn’t have been happier to explore it all with family and friends who joined us along the way.
With so much to see our climb up Lions Head in the dawn light on Christmas Day was the perfect way to start the trip, not only for the outstanding view but also to make extra room for all of the food and wine that was most definitely going to be consumed over the course of the day (and week). As we waited for the sun to peer over the mountain tops our ears were filled with the ever tuneful voice of JPs (Chris’s brother) rendition of “All I want for Christmas is you”.
For Christmas Lunch we headed to a nearby vineyard, Groot Constantia. Surrounded by sweeping fields of ripening vineyards and the blazing sun ahead we knew we weren’t in South East London anymore. Crackers pulled, secret Santa’s opened and bellies full to the brim, the only natural thing to do was to buy another 12 bottles of wine from the vineyard and head back to our apartment to play charades until the early hours of the morning. It seems Christmas’s abroad aren’t that different after all!
The rest of the week was spent jamming as many activities as we possibly could into the remaining days we had together. From shark dives to safaris, botanical gardens to dancing at Mamma Africa’s, we ended the year on a high!
Moving into the New Year we were joined by our friends Tom and Mel. With Mel growing up in Hout Bay, just half an hour from where we are staying, she had a whole reel of ideas and activities to keep us all busy for a few days. In true South African style she was keen to take us on a hike up Table Mountain up the Skeleton Gorge route. As her father likes to say “it’s not called Skeleton Gorge for nothing!”.
Skeleton Gorge is a known as quite a strenuous route. Starting out on the southeast slopes of the mountain and meandering across to the northwest corner, it covers a distance of about 6.2 km and gains around 930 meters in elevation. On quite possibly the hottest day of the year we set off through Kirstenboch botanical gardens and through the mystical rainforest that lined the first 2 hours of the hike. Sweating out the previous weeks Gelato’s we clambered our way up the boulders and ladders that paved the way ahead.
Reaching our mid-way point there was the option to carry on (now completely unsheltered) or to walk a few minutes to a reservoir to swim… I think it’s pretty obvious which we chose.
Splish splosh splash we brought our body temperatures back down to normal and thanked in our minds whoever’s idea it was to put this slice of heaven half way up the mountain (even if technically there were signs saying “no swimming”).
The remaining three hours of the hike was just as stunning as the first part. Winding our way along the front table we could view the vibrant coastline and floral mountain landscape.
Arriving at the top we walked an hour to the cable car station, enjoying a cold beer and taking in the view before making our way back down (in the cable car of corse).
After all of this exercise it seemed only fair to reward ourselves with a tram led vineyard tour in Franchoek the following day.
Nestled beneath towering mountains in the Cape winelands lies the elegant Franschhoek Valley. Known as the food and wine heartland of the country there was no doubt that this was going to be a great day!
Having to chose which vineyards we wanted to go to, we selected the stops which either included a minimum of 3 complimentary tastings or the potential for a cheese board.
Now, I don’t think it will come as news to many that I’m not exactly the most fancy of wine drinkers, the occasional glass of red but nothing much more. This is something I feel slightly ashamed of (if you knew my family you would know why), so I really wanted to get stuck in and discover what it really is all about.
Sauvignon to Chardonnay, Chenin Blanc to Pinot Noir (how fancy do I sound?!), Grenache Blanc, Roussane and Voignier. Swirling the perfectly cooled white wines around in our mouths we attempted to guess the words that would be used to describe the wines before taking a peek at the description. Spring blossoms and velvety tannins, nuances of apricot, honeyed beeswax, pencil shavings and…wait, what?!
It didn’t take long before we were confidently bullshitting our way along, vineyard after vineyard, grape after grape, finishing off with some cheese and a wine slush puppy (veryyyyy interesting). 19 half glasses of top quality wine and 18 bottles ordered back to UK by our friends Tom and Mel it was definitely time to head home.
With everyone now returned home we are filling our days with a bit of downtime before our final weekend with Archie and Zoe (who you met in Chris’s blog), before continuing on to Bali to be reunited with a few more special people. A huge thank you to everyone who made the trip out over the last three weeks, it really has been unforgettable.
