Farewell to the Wilsons

Friday 15th February

Cape Town

From our apartment, it was a short walk to the Victoria & Albert Waterfront where we had breakfast. The Waterfront is situated in the heart of Cape Town's working harbour with the dramatic backdrop of Table Mountain and is reported to be South Africa's most popular visitor attraction. We certainly found it to be very entertaining. After a breakfast overlooking the harbour, we the strolled around looking at the sights and enjoying the entertainment. A 55m tall ship, the Lord Nelson was in the harbour. She was purpose built to be sailed by physically disabled and able-bodies people and is sailing around the world. This amazing ship will visit more than 30 countries in all 7 continents, cross the Equator 4 times and cover 50 000 miles in 2 years. Really awesome.

The Lord Nelson

Victoria & Albert Waterfront - Cape Town

The waterfront reignited many fond memories of our previous visit 12 years ago and we relished the chance to re-live some memories.

Later in the afternoon, we crossed the cape peninsular to Simonstown, the home of the South African Navy situated on the shores of False Bay. We had heard great reports of a place called The Captain's Table so we booked a table for dinner. The food was good but the service left much to be desired. If we were ever in Sinomstown again, perhaps we would give it a try but we would certainly not undertake the hour drive to go back.

Saturday 16th February

Ian and I met up with Heather and Mike as well as Tracey shortly after 09:00. Today was to be a day out in the vineyards. On Tracey's recommendation, the first stop was the home of JC Le Roux, South Africa's best known producer of sparkling wines situated in the Devon valley of Stellenbosch

What makes the Wine Tasting at JC Le Roux so different to other wine farms, is not the fact that you are tasting sparkling wine, but the fact that it is paired with items like nougat and chocolate. We were given a selection of 5 different wines and each was paired with a different chocolate, nougat or turkish delight. A really enjoyable experience.

Tracey, Ian and I at JC Le Roux home of sparkling wine.

Wine tasting at JC Le Roux

After all that sparkling wine, we needed something a little different so Fairview, situated in the beautiful Paarl area was the next stop. Fairview’s wine and cheese tasting room has become one of the most popular Cape wineland destinations but due to the sparkling wine tasting a little earlier, we all elected to taste just the cheese. We were given a selection of 8 different cheeses to taste some cows milk cheese, one goats milk cheese and one, a blend of goats and cows milk. 

The climax to our wine route drive was Rhebokskloof wine estate, nestled between the granite hills of the Paarl rock mountains. Ian and I had visited Rhebokskloof 12 years ago and we were not disappointed by our return visit.

What an experience to sit on the patio of the original Cape Dutch farm house beneath the oak trees and look out over the rolling lawns towards the lake (or as Mike would call it, a dam) and enjoy a lovely lunch with family. Certainly an afternoon that I shall not forget in a hurry.

Lunch at Rhebokskloof 

We rounded off the day with a relaxing braai (BBQ) at the home of Paul and Hildegard and it was quite late in the evening before we bid them all a fond farewell. 

Ian and I with 3 generations of the Wilson family