Peninsula

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Cape Point Vineyards

Visitors to the Cape would normally associate wine with the Stellenbosch and Franchhoek areas, so big was my surprise to discover the Cape Point Vineyard on the Cape Peninsula just outside Noordhoek.  Although some reports show that vines were planted in the Noordhoek area as early as 1752, the Cape Point Vineyard's first vines were only planted in 1998.  The vineyard is situated on a narrow strip of land between the cold Atlantic and the mountain with the warm summers and cool…

3 Comments
12/04/2012
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Fish on the Rocks

Everybody loves fish and chips and every city or town has a good fish and chips shop on a corner somewhere.  But good isn't always best and for the best fish and chips around one has to head past the harbour at Hout Bay and down to Fish on the Rocks.  Africa's favorite (as they put it) fish and chips shop was started by the Brodericks 23 years ago and has become a very popular stop for both locals as well…

5 Comments
04/04/2012
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Cruising to Seal Island in Hout Bay

Every morning hundreds of tourists head out on a tour of the Cape Peninsula with most of them making one of their first stops of the day at the Hout Bay harbour for a cruise around the Sentinel Mountain to Duiker Island, more commonly known as Seal Island.  Standing on quay side you have a choice of boats to make the 45 odd minute trip to the island and back with several operators offering tours.  Our choice for the day was…

3 Comments
03/04/2012
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Hout Bay Harbour

Mention the word "waterfront" in South Africa and everybody would immediately think of the V&A Waterfront on the Cape Town harbour.  What few people know is that the first harbour front emporium in South Africa (actually in Africa) was developed in Hout Bay on the Cape Peninsula.  Fourth generation Hout Bay resident, Stanley Dorman, designed and developed Mariner's Wharf in the Hout Bay Harbour after visiting similar developments all over the world.  Mariner's Wharf opened in 1984 and today is…

4 Comments
02/04/2012
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Slangkop Lighthouse in Kommetjie

I hope to one day have the opportunity tick off all the lighthouses on the South African coast on my list of places visited.  A lighthouse is just such a powerful symbol and the fact that each one is unique means that when you visit one its not a case of saying "just another lighthouse".  In January I had the opportunity to tick the Slangkop Lighthouse in Kommetjie on the Cape Peninsula off my constantly growing list of places to visit.  The…

3 Comments
29/03/2012
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Sunfish on the beach

Taking a walk along Noordhoek Beach in the Cape I stumbled on a dead sunfish.  This was only a baby, but still something very unusual to see washed up.  Sunfishes are so called because of their habit of drifting at the surface as if basking in the sun.  There are two species of sunfishes found in the waters surrounding Cape Town, the Ocean Sunfish (Mola mola) and the Sharptail Sunfish (Masturus lanceolatus).  Now I'm no sunfish expert so I'm not going…

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19/03/2012
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Noordhoek beach

Cape Town, the second largest city in South Africa, has a rural backyard.  "Huh?" you ask.  The Noordhoek area on the Cape Peninsula is about 30 minutes from the city centre, yet it has a country town feeling to it with farms, small holdings, charming little shops, restaurants and bars as well as lots of open spaces.  The showcase of Noordhoek is the 8 km long unspoiled strip of sandy beach stretching from the foot of Chapmans Peak all the way to Kommetjie. …

3 Comments
16/03/2012