Wine touring

SOUTH AFRICAN WINE TOURING!

South Africa has some amazing wines!  We chose a tour company called Cape Fusion and our guide Ryan was a lot of fun. He was very easy going and altered the tour based on the things we liked. Our first afternoon was spent in the Constantia wine region not far from Cape Town.

 We visited four wineries, Starting with lunch at  Constantia  Glen which consisted of a cheese platter and a meat charcuterie with wonderful baguettes and a flight of different wines.  We purchased two reds, not sure if they will make it home or not.







Next was High Constantia which was a wonderful small family estate winery who specializes in champagne.








Our host was the wine makers wife, she provided us with the usual glass of several different reds and was easy to talk with as we sat on the terrace over looking a convent in the background. Needless to say we bought more wine!

We ended the day at Steenberg which was completely different from High Constantia in that it was very contemporary.  The tasting size is very generous in South Africa so a 'lie down' was in order after our tour today.

 After our lie down we headed out to a great little pub 'Tigers Milk' on Long street before calling it a day. Our Airbnb apartment is located in a very central location between long and Bree street which is where all the pubs and restaurants are. You can even take your wine home with you if you don't finish the bottle.  Funny thing, that never happened.

Our second day with Ryan was in the Stallenbach wine region.

                       





Today we started at Fairview for a cheese and wine pairing. The wine tasting room was stunning as was the cheese and wine.  It was only about 10 in the morning so Bill was struggling with wine but enjoyed the cheese.

Bill had been chatting with Ryan on the sly and arranged a quick detour into a huge car museum so the Brian could enjoy his passion for a few minutes. Pretty cool to see a diverse collection of cars all owned by one family, something like 340 cars from model T to Formula 1 cars, we only saw 80 but were they ever beauties.

 Our lunch was booked at Delaire Graaf restaurant located on a beautiful property over looking the valley. The sommelier recommended a pinotage that was the best I've tasted yet and the food as well as the presentation were amazing.

Then it was off to Rust en Vrede which is a medium sized family owned winery.  It was a lovely farm located in the middle of no where so it was very peaceful. (that is until we arrived)!

Ryan had decided he wanted to take us to one last winery called Meerlust before we called it a day.  Meerlust has been making wine for 8 generations and specializes in reds. We made it just before closing and were very happy we did.  The reds were amazing.  We purchased 2 more bottles to take home. Much to my surprise SA Merlot is one of my favourites. Hopefully they make it home in our backpacks!

Wow what a day!  South African wine country is very similar to that of our Okanagan but they definitely know how to make red wine.  Ryan was a great tour guide and fun to hang out with.  We won't see him for a few days as our next tour is not until Monday.  We tried to book a walking/eating tour with him but he was booked.

We decided to check out the harbour at V&A waterfront which is a short cab ride from the apartment. We had never tried Uber taxi so thought I would give it a try.  I downloaded the app and ordered the ride and within 2 min the driver was here and we were on our way. It is all charged through the credit card on file so no cash changes hands. Worked like a charm.  We had a tasty seafood dinner at the harbour house restaurant

Travel days

Our first day of our adventure is underway but we had a few minor set backs. We arrived at the airport early thinking we would start off with a nice breakfast before our day of travel to Frankfurt. However when we unloaded our bags we were short a backpack so Alex and Brian drove back to the house to retrieve it. No biggy we still had 1.5 hours to spare. Next was security, everyone made it through except me. Something in my back was a concern so they completely emptied it rescanned it and search it again before they determined it was my jewelry bag at the bottom of the pack that was the issue. Phew made it through without being detained!  No time for breakfast now but at least we were going to make our flight to Vancouver, or so we thought!  The incoming plane could not land due to fog so our flight was delayed. This put our connection in jeopardy so thankfully air canada came though and put us on their next flight in 20 min and we made our connection. So we are good to go, our 3 bleeps are done so it should be clear sailing for the rest of our trip. Lufthansa air is very accommodating, Brian was smooshing with the flight attendant and he served us numerous rounds of drinks including the first class wine in real wine glasses, yippee.  He also told us we were his favourites and gave us business class comfort kits which included travel socks,  lip chap, hand lotion, tooth brush and paste (too bad Brian had to buy one in Kelowna
Airport because he packed his in the bag that was checked to Cape Town),and an eye patch. We arrived in Frankfurt in a bank of fog and found our shuttle to our day room hotel so we could catch some zzz’s however our room was not ready so we headed to the bar for a night cap. It was 9am in Frankfurt on Sunday morning but the lovely young lady served us anyway. Got to love Europe!
After a very stiff vodka and orange juice we headed to our rooms. We had decided to catch the shuttle back at 4:30 so we set out alarm and went to bed.  Well…. Setting an alarm after travelling for 12 hours and a morning/night cape proved a little difficult. Bill and I missed the first shuttle but luckily Joyce called us and we made the next one. Arrived in Frankfurt airport  and I experienced the most thorough body search ever.  German custom officers are very frisky!  Phew made it though and found a place for dinner. (Our body's thought it was morning but it was actually 6pm.)We couldn't decide which sausage to try so ordered a shared platter of 5 different sausages, beers and wine.  Breakfast of champions.   We then found our departure gate and a bar for a second round before we embarked on our next 11 hour flight to Johannesburg with South African air.  This flight went smoothly and we were able to get about 4 hours of sleep, breezed though immigration and security and are now on our final leg to Cape Town.  Other than a few minor glitches at the beginning the 48 hours of travel have been worth it. Free bar service helps!

South Africa, Zimbabwe - The Adventure Continues

AFRICA HERE WE COME!

Well our next adventure is planned, booked and we are ready to go. Joyce and Brian are joining us for our adventure in Africa!  We leave January 23, 2016 on a two day flight into Cape Town where we are spending a week tasting South African wine, sightseeing, checking out a secret supper club, a cooking class, a township tour and the boys are doing a shark dive while Joyce and I do some shopping.

We then join our G Adventure tour for 13 days as we travel down the cape point, then fly to Joburg and embark on a 7 day Safari through Kruger National Park.  Then we fly to Livingstone to see Victoria Falls and take a few days to relax before coming home.

We are all super excited and hope to sample some great wine, authentic South African food and see the Big 5 on the safari.  

Victoria Falls is one of the greatest attractions in Africa and one of the most spectacular waterfalls in the world, Victoria Falls is located on the Zambezi River, the fourth largest river in Africa, which is also defining the border between Zambia and Zimbabwe.

Victoria Falls is the only waterfall in the world with a length of more than a kilometer and a height of more than hundred meters. It is also considered to be the largest fall in the world.

The noise of Victoria Falls can be heard from a distance of 40 kilometers, while the spray and mist from the falling water is rising to a height of over 400 meters and can be seen from a distance of 50 kilometers. No wonder that the local tribes used to call the waterfall Mosi-o-Tunya “The smoke that thunders”.

STRAY CAT CATAMARAN

What an amazing afternoon of sailing.  I've always dreamed of sailing on a catamaran and yesterday's adventure was more than I ever could have imagined.  On Saturday we were having dinner at Bearchers and the live entertainment was the "West End Players" with lead singer Brian James.  This guys knows how to play guitar!  He recently returned home to Roatan after a 10 month tour in Europe.  We met a couple from Red Deer and spent the evening dancing and enjoying some very good live music. Shut the place down and managed to find our way home.  During our conversation that night we learned the band was going to be playing on a sunset cruise on Thursday afternoon.  When we arrived on Roatan I signed up to a facebook group which gave you details of events going on that day.  Thursdays mornings event was the sunset cruise, so we were able to get two tickets.  Captain Dave was a cool character and promised to take good care of us as we were the first to purchase tickets.

When we arrived at the dock he called us to the front of the line and we jumped aboard to find that our new friends (who knew the drummer) had secured front row seating on beach chairs about two feet from where the band was playing.  We set sail, grabbed a beer and listened to great music as we cruised down the coast of Roatan to South beach.  We stopped for a snorkel and then set sail again.

This was our view from our seats.  The Sun came out on our way back to West Bay and we were able to enjoy a beautiful sunset as a backdrop.  

Brain James is a great player.  He played a mix of ACDC, Michael Jackson, Billy Idol, and Carlos Santana as well as some of his own music.  He has a great little tune called "West End Girls" which I'm sure there are many stories about. 

They played until the sun set and then we disembarked with plans to meet Dwight and Sharon for dinner.

 This I think was our highlight of the vacation.  It was such a hit that Captain Dave is setting up another sailing for the coming week before Brian heads back to L.A. to do some recording.  

The Meridian at Light House Point

Yesterday we were hobnobbing with the rich and famous.  We hiked up to the Meridian a short walk from our B&B to see if we could rent some kayaks and do some snorkeling.  It is a private condo resort that is not complete yet and the restaurant is open to the public.  We figured is we bought a beer or two they would let us hang out for the afternoon on their beach chairs.  We were right!  It's a perfect place to be when the cruise ships are in port.  Their were only a few people there and their beach chairs are in the shade if you want them to be.  

 The bay out front is very shallow and full of coral so we were a little nervous about doing some snorkeling.  So we decided to rent a kayak to see if we could find a safe passage out to the reef.

This is the view around the point looking back onto West Bay.  We had managed to snorkel from the beach to this rock the other day but the winds picked up so we went back in.  The winds have shifted and the bay was now calm again.

The rock looks very different from water level, it kind of blends right into the rocks on shore and you almost miss it until you have passed it and look back to shore.

The water appeared very clear today and we could see down to the coral but there did not appear to be any fish.

So we decided that we could manage a snorkel and come back and see what there was to see.

The Sun was shining so the coral was a lot brighter than it had been and viability was much better.  There were lots of fish and different formations of rock with amazing crevasses.  Today you could actually see the edge of the reef where the big drop off was.  We snorkeled almost all the way to the big rock and back.  We managed to get back to shore with Bill only getting one scrape on his calf.  It looked nasty until we cleaned it with alcohol swabs and put polysporn on it.  We spent about 5 hours here, relaxing and enjoying the cold beer.  If we had a spare 500k and nothing else to spend it on this would be a great place to relax.  But for now $40 was all we needed to enjoy a great afternoon. They even have a fresh water shower on the beach to rinse off after you get out of the saltwater.  

 The little waitress at the restaurant has a thing for Bill and is attempting to teach him how to speak Spanish.  We have learned a few more words and it's been entertaining.  His new name in Spanish is Pedro because she didn't now a translation for Bill.