29 Sept - Greyton

Last night was one of the coldest so far - thank goodness for the electric blanket.
Drove along the farm road to Greyton which is mainly sheep and dairy farming area. We could not believe the size of the cows udders!! Together with wheat they also grow a lot of barley for SAB.
Spent most of the day strolling around the quaint town admiring the lovely old homes and shops at the base of the Sondeinde Mountains. No matter where you are in town you have a lovely view of them. Greyton has lei water (little canals) whereby residents can apply for this water and the municipality will channel the water to their property for half an hour once a week. The resident then stores it in their own little dam. The lay out of the properties is similar to a lot of towns in England with the house close to the road and the main garden at the back.
The one restaurant/pub had the most amazing Dolls House. It took the couple 12 years to build. The main bedroom cost R60000 to build with special imported wood and inlays.The instruments in the music room actually worked. We were fascinated with the detail.
I bought some soap in the one shop and apologized to the lady for wasting her time with such a small purchase..her reply was..this is a big purchase for a Thursday in Greyton!!
We were walking down the main street and bumped into Gay Mc Cormick, Basil and Cliff were work associate's a few years ago. Gay immediately invited us for supper.
We had a most enjoyable evening with them in their lovely Cape style home which also has an amazing view of the mountains.
Camped Back at Oewerzicht and it was a much warmer evening.

27 Sept - Franschhoek

Work at about 2:30 this morning to an almighty noise ...we had forgotten to angle our awning to allow run off and it filled with rain water. The weight, together with the howling wind collapsed the awning breaking 1 pole and bending another. Subsequently we had a late start to our wine tasting as Basil had to do some repairs.

Started at Haute Cabriere with delicious champagnes.They are one of the few successful Pinot Nior growers in SA and their cellar is underground.
We then went on to Franschhoek Cellars where we tasted their wines and Bellingham wines whom they have bought out.

There is Little tram that runs from town out to some wine estates.

It was rather chilly today and rained on and off all day so spending the day wine tasting was about all we could do!!!
Franschhoek is a lovely town with the main street lined with wonderful restaurants.

Lenny and Gavin Henderson (Basil's cousin) came through from Wellington and met us for dinner at Franschhoek Station Pub and Grill. They have 22 diferent craft beers on tap..Basil and Gavin tried but didn't manage to get through all of them!!! It was great catching up with them again.
The sign above my head is the name of one of the craft beers!!

26 Sept - Hermanus to Franschoek

Had a late start to the day followed by a delicious breakfast at Sandy's lovely retirement home. Said a sad farewell to her and took the beach road through Hermanus to Stanford where we went for a beer and wine tasting at Birkenhead Estate.
Drove on through beautiful country side passing field after field of wheat in the Caledon area. The fruit trees are also in bloom so all in all, with the wonderful mountains, it makes for a really stunning drive.
We past the huge TheeWaterkloof Dam and then went up the Franschoek Pass. It is a wonderful view of Franschoek when descending the other side.
The wind blew so hard today that at one point Basil thought we were going to be blown over in the Lorry.
We are staying at De Hollandsche Moulen just outside Franschoek. We have put up our awnings to protect us from the wind and expected rain.(R120 pp)

25 Sept - Cape Town to Hermanus

Woke to a beautiful warm morning with no wind. Said farewell to Jules and Andy and meandered around False Bay to Hermanus via Gordon's Bay and Betty's Bay, where we stopped to see the cute African Penguins. The scenery of mountains and sea along that part of the coast is beautiful.
Drove on through Klein Mond and then arrived in Onrus.
Had lunch and enjoyed catching up with Sandy before going whale watching. We then went out for a lovely dinner at Lemon Butta in Hermanus. We could even see the whales breaching from the restaurant.
The picture of the tree in front of the garage belongs to the Henderson's who live around the corner from Jules and Andy..Quite a talking point!!!

24 Sept - CapeTown

Drove to Basil's ex boss' property in Noordhoek as he wanted us to quickly lay his foundations for him!! Took a couple of photos for him and told him we had planted a few wild flowers instead!
Stopped and did a little shopping and went on to Jules and Andy (Tams and Paul's friends) in Rondebosch where they have a magnificent home built in 1875. Jessica aged three made us tea on arrival!
Had a very tasty lunch including some braaing as it is Heritage day.
Drove up to Rhodes Memorial where we went for a lovely walk through an avenue of old Cork trees which, unfortunately they want to cut down as they are not indigenous and various types of Proteas. There are lovely views from up there.
Back at Andy and Jules beautiful home for the night.

23 Sept - Cape Town

Left early so we could meet Brian Snelling (he worked with Basil at Tongaat) at The Cable Car Station. We didn't know what we had let ourselves in for as we are both unfit especially me. It took us about two and a half hours to reach the top..a real sense of achievement. From being really hot on the way up, when we reached the top it was 8 deg and breezy ..so rather chilly!
Caught the cable car down and drove straight out to Constantia Glen to meet Colleen, Brian's wife for lunch. What a special place overlooking the vineyards.
Spent a wonderful relaxing afternoon there and then on our way back popped into a lovely nursery in Constantia to admire the Proteas.
We are back at our same camp site.