Tuesday, February 10, 2015

February 2015 Day Trip

So we missed out on a January trip, but ventured out on the 5th of February. The weather forecast had been good, with clear skies apart from a sprinkling of cloud, which is ideal for landscape photos. Please click on the pics for a larger version.


A sprinkling of cloud indeed!


Well - looks like the TV shows had gotten their forecast cards mixed up yet again! Sometimes I think they prepare the week's forecast in advance and then shuffle the cards before presenting the forecast. Why do I say that? Well this was the view about 2 kilometres from the Cape Town side of the Huguenot Tunnel! 


Just after the tunnel.





So for a short while we had some quite heavy rain, but it was dry and just partly cloudy on the other side of the tunnel, and remained so for the rest of our trip.






One of our trip objectives this time was to visit the little town of Rawsonville. We had last briefly been there some years ago when one of Jacqui's nieces got married, and thought we would explore a bit during this trip. Some of the more interesting things we saw were:

One of the numerous Bottle Stores
plus a General Dealer (?)!

Just gotta love those
Satellite Dishes!


The extensive bridge over the river


The river (?) itself


From there to the other end of Rawsonville, quite close to the Goudini Spa entrance, for two fabulous cappuccinos and biscuits at the quaint "Dam Fine Cafe". Next to the cafe is the Kaniwari (Can't worry) Bar - but it was a bit too early to test drive! Absolutely delightful and friendly owners and staff and we'll try them for lunch sometime. Lots of locally-made produce on sale, and we saw for the first time, a Beer jam! Had to buy some to try, of course - it's a bit on the sweet side for my particular taste, but very good nonetheless.




Next on the schedule was a short trip around Worcester (can't believe how this once small town has grown!) and then onto the R43 to Villiersdorp. This was the view looking back towards Worcester:




Next stop for photographs - the magnificent Theewaterskloof Dam:

From there through Franschhoek to the Glen Carlou Restaurant for a superb lunch, after which it was straight home. 236 Kilometers later and a fantastic trip under the belt! Can't wait for next month.

The Glen Carlou Restaurant and driveway
 
The flags

The view from the balcony, with Paarl Rock just visible in the distance

Monday, February 9, 2015

December 2014 Day Trip

I am so far behind on updating the blog! But this is a start! Please click on the images to see a larger view.

At one stage not so long ago, Jacqui and I made a point of going out for a day trip once a month - mainly for the love of getting out, taking a few photographs, and then ending with a lunch before coming home. For some reason, this has taken a back seat for some while now, but December was the month to put matters right!

So off we went on a beautiful, but cloudless day. First stop was Simonstown, where we stopped at the harbour for a cappuccino at Bertha's and had a bit of a walk around. 

Bertha's
For hire
One of the rowing boats that has been there for years!

After our brief stop, it was off along the coastline, past Cape Point, through Scarborough and then we came to the beautiful Misty Bay.


Misty Bay

From there we drove through Kommetjie, and then took the fabulous Chapman's Peak toll road through to Hout Bay, where we had a light lunch at one of the pubs. And from there - home. A lovely outing, with a few photos to help us remember the trip.