For the last two summers we spent part of our December holidays in Montagu on both occasions and the town has crept deep into my heart. This year we're not heading that far west and I already miss this beautiful place. On our last visit I actually said that if I could find something there in my line of work I would really consider moving there. So as you can gather, this is a "I miss Montague" post,The picture was taken from…
Although it looks like a lighthouse it isn't a lighthouse, not quite. It does have a light though. What is it then and where did I see it? It is a beacon at the end of the breakwater forming part of the Port Elizabeth Harbour wall.
In all the years working as a tourist guide I drove past Wilgewandel near the Cango Caves countless times and never stopped. It wasn't that I didn't want to, but there was just never time on a busy itinerary. I often just referred to it as the place with the camel rides. That was until a visit to the Cango Caves with the family while on holiday. Drama Princess really wanted to ride a camel and the nagging started when we…
In South Africa a braai (and please note how I say braai and not barbecue as barbecue is a chips flavour) is as part of the nation's heritage as ice is part of the North Pole. In my opinion a braai is also just a proper braai when you start with burning wood to create coals. But that is a discussion for a whole other day. Something that is very much part of the braai culture is potjiekos. Potjiekos literally translates…
Ornithologists, or just plain bird lovers for those who don't know the big word, visiting the town of Montagu in the Western Cape gets drawn to the Leidam like a mouse to cheese. For the last two years we spent a week in Montagu during our summer holiday and during both visits I spent some time just watching the birds in the trees around the dam. The Leidam was originally built to supply water to the town via canals with each…
During the hot dry summer the Karoo veld can be somewhat of a bleak affair, but during the winter it's a different matter. Aloes bloom in all their fiery glory decorating the landscape like Christmas lights. Aloes, like proteas, are often found in the most unlikely and inhospitable places, growing in hot temperature and low rainfall areas and not needing the delicate hands of somebody with green fingers to nurture it. One of natures natural wonders.The post is part of the…
I remember the first time I went to Spier Wine Estate after Moyo opened thinking that it so doesn't fit in with Spier and it surroundings at all. But just walking past the outside and going inside to experience it are two totally different things and after having lunch at Moyo's the other day I have so changed my opinion. Its the difference between Spier's Cape Dutch and colonial look and the free spirit African feel under the ancient oak trees that make the two ideal…
Most small towns around South Africa's histories are very closely woven into that of the church and often these towns got started because of a church. In this case the town of Robertson in the Western Cape is no different. In 1728 a large piece of land which fell within the very large boundaries of Swellendam district, was let to a Mr. P Joubert. Soon farmers requiring grazing for their sheep started moving into the area, many purchasing land from…
Cape Point is a many historic tales and legends. In 1688 Bartolomeu Dias passed around the point in a storm without even knowing it and only got to see it for the first time on the return journey. He named it Cabo Tormentosa or the Cape of Storms. Its also off this point and coastline that the mythical Flying Dutchman under the command of Captain Hendrick van der Decken is doomed to sail into eternity. Cape Point is also one of the biggest tourist attractions…
While having lunch at the Twelve Apostles Hotel, I took a walk around the restaurant between the starter and main meal to snap a couple of pics and stumbled on their wine room. Its not so much a wine celler, as you don't go down steps into a dark stone room full of vintage wine and cobwebs, but a seperate cold room to store and display their wine in. But that doesn't matter. Now I'm not much of a wine drinker…