25 January-27 January.
We put in for leave and my BF and I took some time out to spend the weekend in Stilbaai.
I can't sit idle, even when on holiday, so we borrowed my brother in law's SUP's, and planned to take our mountain bikes too.
On Friday morning we were up bright and early, and the plan was to be on the road by 5am.
Loading the bikes took a little longer than planned, so we only set off around 05:45.
The sky was already getting light, and it promised to be a fantastic day. We took the N1 to Paarl, cruising at 100km/h so as not to have the bikes blow off the rack on the back. We opted to take Bainskloof Pass rather than the tunnel.
I only got slightly lost in Worcester and then we were on our way to Barrydale where we were looking forward to a milkshake at the famous Diesel and Creme.
We arrived just before 09:00, and while my BF tried to decide what milkshake to have, I took in the interior of the quirky restaurant. It's a really cool set up.
We were warned the milkshakes were huge, and to either have food or a milkshake. But, we were hungry. I got the Cruella De Ville (Belgian chocolate with strawberry compote) and my BF got the Oreo Cookie.
For food I went with the omelette and my BF got the flapjacks.
The milkshakes, while impressively large, weren't as good as we'd hoped. Mine tasted like regular store-bought chocolate ice cream. And the Oreo one barely had any cookies in it.
The omelette was quite good, and the flapjacks looked and tasted as if they had come out of a packet.
Ah well, live and learn.
Fuelled, we checked the map and chose to go on the R62 to the R323 to Riversdale rather than the R324 to Heidelberg. What we didn't realise was that it was an unmarked dirt road and not a tar one linking the R62 to the R323. I realised something was wrong when we arrived at Ronnie's Sex Shop - I had thought of visiting but it didn't seem like all it was made up to be. So I got to see it in the end, but we just turned around, found the turn off we were meant to take, and hit the dirt.
And dirt it was - that horrible powdery sand that sticks to everything! The bicycles and cars we absolutely coated.
The rest of the drive was uneventful, and we arrived in Stilbaai around 11:30.
Wow, what a quaint little town! I fell in love with it immediately and it took me back to Mangawhai in New Zealand - we were there almost exactly a year ago.
We were staying in a rondavel right on the river. It was quiet, peaceful and absolutely beautiful.
We unpacked and cleaned off the bikes, then walked across the road to look at the shops and stock up on drinks. Then we went to the Spar to find some provisions for the braai. Ons gaan nou braai!
The afternoon was spent braai-ing, reading, SUPing, and swimming. The sea was so warm! And after dinner we went for a sunset SUP along the river.
By the end of the day it felt as if we had been away several days.
...
Saturday 26th
My alarm went off at 5am. Why so early?
Well, it was my birthday and I wanted to watch the sunrise.
We set off for the beach and were treated to an amazing sunrise and the promise of another great day. The sea was warm so we had a swim, then headed back home where my BF treated me to his fantastic homemade french toast.
Belly's full, we took the SUP's out on the river before the wind picked up.
By 10:00 the clouds had rolled in and the wind picked up. Determined not to let that deter us, we took the bicycles out to explore the town. The weather couldn't decide if it wanted to be cloudy or sunny, but the wind stayed constant. After about an hour and a half of cycling, we returned to our house and got ready to go out... to Inverroche! Gin tasting for me and rum tasting for my BF.
It was a different and tasty experience for me, but the rum wasn't as nice as my BF had hoped. He did however enjoy the ice cream they had on offer!
We were getting hungry and drove around a bit to try find a place to eat. Nothing quite jumped out at us and we eventually settled on a place called Allegaartjie.
I had the fish and chips and my BF had a toasted sandwich. The fish was over-done but had a delicious butter-lemon sauce. The toasted sandwich was average. They had milktart too, and we got a slice to have after dinner. R18 for like, 1/5 of a milktart! And it was pretty tasty!
We took a drive to Jongensfontein, which was a lot busier than Stilbaai!
That evening we braai'd, and took the SUP's out on the river as the sky darkened.
Last year I spent my birthday in New Zealand. This year in Stilbaai. Both were awesome!
...
Sunday 27th
We got up a little later, but were heading to the beach by 07:00 for a morning swim. I love how much warmer the water is there than in the Cape!
When we got home we took the SUP's out one last time, then rinsed them off and left them to dry.
Time to don the bicycle helmets and go exploring, this time towards Preekstoel. We followed the hiking signs in the Stilbaai Oos Nature Reserve, and encountered sandy jeep tracks. We pushed on for a few kilometers, but eventually turned around - we didn't know if it was a loop, and we couldn't get back too late as we had to check out by 1pm. On our way back the beach looked inviting. With no "no bicycle" signs to be seen, we made our way back along the beach.
It was hard going! If the sand wasn't soft, it was wet and grabbed at the tyres. A workout of note, I was ready for another swim and looking forward to lunch! When we eventually got home, we lit he fire and then drove to the beach and had a swim to cool off. Back home, we packed up our stuff while we waited for the fire, then braai'd some wors and had boerie rolls for lunch.
All too soon, it was time to head home. A final sweep of the house, we jumped in the car at set off for Heidelberg.
Here we stopped at the Blue Crane Farm Stall. I was ready for a pie but decided to wait until Peregrine Farm Stall. My BF got a bag of delicious ginger cookies though!
The drive was uneventful, and despite many uphills and the drag from the bicycles, my car was doing very well.
As the k's ticked by the draw of a pie had me salivating. My Mom had been updating us on the fires, and when I checked, all roads were open. Murphy's Law, when we reached Botrivier, Houwhoek Pass had been closed. No!
We looked at other routes - coast wise would take too long and we'd miss out on the pies. Our other option was the Highlands Road. The bikes had been cleaned... did we really want to take another dirt road? For a Peregrine pie? Yes!
So off we went. It was fine for the most part. But then we encountered idiots doing 80km/h through that fine powdery sand in zero visibility. Needless to say, the bikes got a fresh coat of sand! But we got our pies! And we stopped by The Orchard fro chocolate chip cookies.
On the N2, the sign boards said there were delays from the R300 due to an accident. Alternative routing would either take us through Gugulethu or on the R300 where there were also delays. So we sat in traffic. Then my Mom messaged to say Lion's Head was on fire. Great.
After 30 minutes sitting in traffic, we were on the home straight. At home, we unpacked, ate our pies (yum!) and then set off to watch the fire fighters at work. What a blaze! Major kudos to the guys on the ground!
At the end of the day, a great weekend away. If I had the money I'd definitely buy a place in Stilbaai. Now, when's the next holiday?!
Topic: My African Dream (Read 231957 times)
