16 May, 2001:
We have rented a car and we are off to Stellenbosch for a few days to tour the wine country. We meet up with Lars' parents at their hotel and pick up the car. We are off by 10 AM and head out of town. It turns out to be a surprisingly short drive to Stellenbosch - we are in the area within 40 minutes.
We take advantage of this and tour a couple of wineries before heading into Stellenbosch. Once in town, we look for a B&B - it is the low season so we have a few options. In the end, we pick Malan's Guesthouse - a short distance out of the center of town. It turns out to be a charming place and we feel like we will enjoy it.
After dropping off our bags, we head off to one of the wineries for lunch. It is located on the slopes of a hill with a stunning view down the valley. The weather is still good and we sit outside and have lunch with a bottle of wine. The rest of the afternoon is spent touring some other wineries. It is good fun tasting all this wine - and we are starting to pick up a few bottles to take back with us.
Upon returning to our B&B, we take a short rest before walking into town for dinner. Italian food with some good local wine. It is a short walk back to the B&B.
17 May, 2001:
After a slow start to the morning, we head into the breakfast room and an amazing setting and breakfast await us. We are given many options and we get our fill of some fantastic home made dishes.
Today we spend our time wandering around the town of Stellenbosch. In the morning, we visit the church and then go to the village museum, which has done a wonderful job of restoring a number of old buildings. Then we do some shopping before having lunch. And of course, more shopping after lunch.
After a late afternoon nap in the B&B, we wash up fro dinner. We have made reservations at the Wijnhuis, in town. We walk back into town and have a wonderful dinner and a bit too much wine - well we are walking, so it does not matter! We spend quite some time at the restaurant, sampling a number of different bottles.
18 May, 2001:
Today we focus on touring as many wine cellars as we can. We have a hearty breakfast and then drive around the countryside. We do end up tasting a few bad ones, but we are fortunate in that we taste far more good ones and even a few excellent ones. We add to our collection.
Tonight we have dinner at the Fish Monger and then spend some time walking around the town at night - it is very quiet.
19 May, 2001:
Lars' mother very much wanted to have a shot at seeing some whales, so today we make a daytrip to Hermanus to see what we can find (even though it is not quite yet the season). We have a wonderful drive through the countryside with the terrain often changing. One minute we are driving on a serpentine ocean coastal road that hugs the cliff, next we are in a valley with hills jutting up on both sides.
Once in Hermanus, we walk along the waterfront, while keeping our eyes peeled for whales. We find a nice restaurant down the cliff face right on the water that provides us with a perfect vantage point. We eat while we watch. We are hopeful as the waitress has told us that they saw a few yesterday.
Jacqui, however, is not feeling well, so Lars takes her back to the car to rest, while we finish off our meals. Once we are done and paid up, we struggle back up the steep stairs to the top of the cliff and head back to to car and drive back to Stellenbosch. We take a different road back and along the way we stop at the Vergelegen estate.
It is a beautiful estate that makes wine. We first taste the wine (and pick up a few bottles), and then go for a walk around the estate. It is beautiful and is well kept. It must be nice on summer afternoons. We carry on back to Stellenbosch, arriving at our B&B. We spend the rest of the afternoon taking it easy. We have a quick, light dinner and then put Jacqui to bed.
20 May, 2001:
As Jacqui is not feeling well this morning, we decide to head back to Cape Town. We drive via Franschoek, another nice small town, on our way to the highway. Then straight to Cape Town. We arrive back at the Waterkant at noon and try to find a doctor that is working today. We have decided to take Jacqui to a doctor in case she has malaria - we would not want to fly if she is that sick. She has all the symptoms, but in the end it turns out to be the flu.
We take her back to the B&B and put her to bed. In the meantime, Lars starts packing the bags. In the evening, Lars has dinner with his parents while Jacqui is confined to her bed - she needs to get better before we fly.