Porterville is a area located a few hours outside of (155km) Cape Town to the Northeast at the base of the Olifant River Mountains. This is a part of the country where there are BIG thermals which makes it an ideal place to fly XC (cross-country). We joined our friends Ian and May for a weekend in Porterville so the boys could do some big air paragliding.
View from launch out over the valley
We rented a quaint little house for the weekend that was a five minute drive from the launch site. The house was tucked away in the mountains and was so remote and quiet it felt like we were on another planet. We had an amazing Braii in the evening and enjoyed an awesome sunset over the valley.
Kingsley May and Arwyn
Kingsley and Ian launching and very hopeful for an epic XC flight. Sadly the winds just did not cooperate and Kingsley sunk out after about 20 minutes and landed (safe and sound) in a field surrounded by a barb wire fence. He somehow managed to get tangled in the barb wire and fell while trying to climb out and over the fence. He ended up with a puncture wound in his hand and a deep gash in his leg which put an end to the flying for the day.
Kingsley Paragliding in Porterville from
Lynn Wood on
Vimeo.
Kingsley and I had another adventure at the local clinic in town where he received a tetanus shot and had his leg wound glued together in lieu of stitches. The Sister (nurse) who provided the care was very competent but evidently not as "gentle" as I usually am when I care for Kingsley. Kingsley was stunned when the Sister did not count to 3 prior to giving him his tetanus shot.
Labels:
Cape Town,
Travel Adventures
Our first few nights were spent at
Hedge House a quaint, attractive, high quality B&B tucked away in the beautiful suburb of Newlands. Judy was a lovely host and couldn't have been more helpful. The breakfasts each morning were amazing. Fresh fruit salad, homemade yogurt and eggs (perfectly cooked) with bacon and tomatoes.
Another highlight of our stay at the Hedgehouse was playing with Chox the OCD dog. He brought us a tennis ball the minute we walked through the gate which we happily threw a few times for him. He then followed us to our room and sat for hours at the door patiently waiting for us to play with him again. Once in the room we read a brief note asking guests not to throw the ball for Chox as he is obsessed with the tennis ball and has been diagnosed with OCD. Poor Chox - we actually felt a little bad that we had gotten him all riled up!
The second hotel of our trip was the
Cape Heritage Hotel which had a genuine boutique feel with only a small number of rooms in a converted historic building. Our room was very large and spacious and we found the service at the hotel to be excellent throughout our stay. There was also a hot tub on the rooftop deck which we didn't have time to use but looked very cool!
This Cape Heritage hotel has a vine in their courtyard that was planted around 1771 and is believed to be the oldest fruit bearing vine in the Southern Hemisphere. This tenacious little vine survives unwatered apart from the Cape's winter rains. It is still flourishing today bearing fruit and produces about 20 litres of excellent wine every year.
Lastly we spent two nights at the
Silver Mist Lodge in Constantia Glen. The entire wedding party was staying at this hotel as it was close to the wedding venue. We found the lodges to be rustic and simple but clean with everything we needed. The lodges are on the mountain-side, just next to Constantia Neck with beautiful views and surroundings - forest and vineyards, clean mountain air, birdlife and oranically managed vineyards on the estate where they produce their own wines.
Labels:
Cape Town,
Travel Adventures
Lion's Head in Capetown is where Kingsley witnessed paragliding for the first time many years ago and absolutley fell madly in love with the sport. The last time we were in Cape Town it was too windy to fly off of Lions Head but this trip the wind gods were on our side so we were able to fly! I flew tandem with our friend Ian and Kingsley had a short but inspiring solo flight.
The hike up to Lions Head takes about 15 minutes from the car park. Ian and Kingsley paid 2 guys about $3-4 dollars to hike their paragliding packs up for them. This was probably wise because it gets very hot in the middle of the day in Capetown.
View from launch!
Labels:
Cape Town,
Travel Adventures
Stellenbosch is located about 50km outside of Capetown and is far and away one of the most scenic wine regions we have ever visited. In my opinion it puts the Napa Valley and New Zealand wine regions to shame! Kingsley and I spent 2 nights here visiting a few friends and checking out some of the local wineries. I could have spent weeks here there was so much to do and see.
Delaire Graff Winery and Thelema - were two of our favorite wineries.
Photo with Thomas from Thelema wines.
Beautiful breakfast at the Wild Mushroom Boutique hotel in Stellenbosch where we stayed. If you are staying in Stellenbosch and have a car I would highly recommend staying at the
Wild Mushroom. It is located a bit out of town (about 10 minutes) but the accommodation and service were top notch. Also we had a lovely dinner in town at
Oppie Dorp. Where else in the world can you order a biltong salad as a starter! It was fantastic. The town of Stellenbosch and neighboring Paarl both have a very strong Afrikans feel to it but luckily it seems Kingsley and I dont look too touristy as the waiter at Oppie began speaking to me in Afrikans when we first arrived.
View from Guardian Peak restaurant and winery - the sunset here was gorgeous!
Beautiful view over deck out into the vineyards. It was harvest time while we were in Stellenbosch so the entire city was a hive of activity. And we got stuck behind our fair share of tractor trucks overloaded with grapes!
Wine tasting at Asara. We loved their Sun Dried Dessert wine so bought a few bottles to bring back to Singapore.
Labels:
Cape Town,
Travel Adventures
Kingsley and I just spent the last week in Cape Town to celebrate the wedding of one of Kingsley's dearest friends, Doug and Alet. Doug and Alet have been together for 16 years and have two boys together and finally decided to tie the knot. Kingsley was asked to be the Best Man at the wedding which was a very special honour.
Alet's Hen Party was so much fun. Many of her Dutch friends and family flew in for the wedding so I got to hear lots of fun stories about Alet's adventures in Holland before moving to Cape Town.
Best friends from University reunite. These guys got into all sorts of trouble together at University of Cape Town.
Pre-wedding picnic at Babylonstoren winery and farm.
Groom and Best man looking very smashing on the wedding day.
Alet walks down the aisle from
Lynn Wood on
Vimeo.
Labels:
Cape Town,
Travel Adventures
After 4 very happy years in our beloved #03-27 condo at Waterplace our lease was up and the unit sold so we spent the last few months looking for a new place to live. We moved into our new place last week but as we are still in the midst of unpacking and getting settled I will share a few pics from the place we have called home these last few years.
Labels:
Living in Singapore
