Extreme hosting in Hermanus; kind cosseting in Knysna; hanging out in Uitenhage, Morgans Bay and Kokstad
From Cape Town it was a quick 120km drive to the lovely coastal town of Hermanus, famous for whale-spotting and for being the home of old friends Paddy and Zoe Probert.
In fact, Paddy was the best man at Roy’s wedding in 1976 to his first wife, Julie, in Salisbury, Rhodesia (now Zimbabwe) – so they go back a long, long way. Paddy and Zoe are now retired in Hermanus… or as retired as such a relentlessly on-the-go personality as Paddy could possibly be.
From our arrival at their gorgeous golf-estate home on the stroke of noon, the pressure was on to show us the best of beautiful Hermanus, starting with a spot of whale-watching.
With Paddy at the wheel, it was a race to visit three of the wine estates in the neighbouring Hemel-en-Aarde Valley. The phrase “hemel en aarde” translates aptly as “Heaven and Earth”.
First up was Sumaridge Estate, where some raclette, complete with cornichons, boiled baby potatoes and caramelised onions served to line our stomachs avant le déluge, so to speak. Here we tasted four white wines and drank quite a lot of another pink one.
Second was award-winning boutique winery Domaine des Dieux, which doesn’t yet have its own cellars, but operates out of a nice little hut. We already like their wines, and especially the MCC (Méthode Cap Classique), having tried* them last month at a wine-pairing dinner at The Living Room, Summerhill Estate, in Cowies Hill near Durban.
(*More than tried them, to be honest; got rat-assed on them would be more accurate.)
The little video above is of Roy whacking the cork end off a bottle of MCC with a sabre – a great party trick!
Third was Creation Wines, where Paddy had phoned ahead to order not one but two bottles of delicious viognier – a classic Rhone variety, apparently. By this time, things were getting a little blurry.
The viognier duly knocked back, time was of the essence – we had to get back to Hermanus Bay for sunset… and, of course, another bucket or two of wine.
Dinner at the Fisherman’s Cottage in Hermanus is understandably murky in my memory, though I do recall log fires, a great atmosphere, and plates of snoek en patat – snoek fish with sweet potatoes.
The Morning After
Morning saw us at breakfasting at the equally excellent Betty Blue Bistro – and that with surprisingly hearty appetites.
The green juice is mine, by the way; Roy was sticking to coffee. Under the circumstances, don’t you think he’s looking remarkably bright-eyed and bushy-tailed?
Thanks again for your memorable hospitality, Zoe and Paddy!
Knysna
Having torn ourselves away from the manifold delights of Hermanus, it was a 410km drive to Knysna and our friends Michael Sturrock and Karin Jenkins.
Hearing that my head-cold had by now gone to my chest, kind Karin set about making a hot toddies, ordering me to rest and generally making such a fuss of me that I almost burst into tears. Thank you, Karin!
Michael and Karin’s lovely home on Red Bridge Road, overlooking the Knysna River, is built on property that used to belong to Michael’s fairly famous Scottish grandfather, Frederick Sturrock (1882-1959), Minister of Transport in the war cabinet of General Jan Smuts. (Sturrock Dry Dock on Cape Town’s foreshore was built in 1943 and named after him.)
Among those who lost their homes in last year’s terrible bush fires were Michael and Karin’s good friends, cordon bleu chef Peter and his wife Vivienne Vadas. They happen to run Pembreys Bistro – the best restaurant in Knysna – so it’s natural that that’s where we went for dinner.
From the steak tartare, the herb-crusted roast marrowbones, the impeccable mushroom and walnut ravioli with truffle mascarpone and the delicious platter of veggies to share, to the delectable Amarula crème brulée, it’s been a long time since we’ve had such a satisfying meal.
Apart from Pembreys, Michael and Karin also recommend East Head Café (#2 on the list) and Île de PaÏn (#3).
Come morning, it was a pretty special breakfast, too: Chef Karin was trained at Cape Town’s top-rated Silwood Cookery School and worked at Boschendal Estate in Franschhoek.
Karin’s home-baked health bread was toasted and served with smoked salmon and scrambled eggs new-laid by her own hens here at the River House.
Thanks again for your generous hospitality, Michael and Karin!
Knysna to Uitenhage
Today’s 252km drive started with these stunning views from the Knysna Heads before we set out to enjoy one of the prettiest stretches of the Garden Route.
Sadly, large parts of the countryside were on fire.
Roughly this time last year, unprecedentedly ferocious and widespread wildfires did enormous damage in the Knysna area. In fact, Mike and Karin’s River House narrowly escaping being burnt to the ground, a fate that befell some 1,300 other homes in the neighbourhood. (Shockingly, at least half of them were not insured.)
Uitenhage
It’s unclear why Roy booked a night’s accommodation in the industrial town of Uitenhage, rather than in Port Elizabeth. It can only be that he’d never been to Uitenhage before.
As the sole guests at The Englander guesthouse on the edge of town, owned by one George England and managed by his Afrikaans mother-in-law, Estelle, we had our pick of the six bedrooms. (In the unlikely event that you ever find yourself in need of a bed in Uitenhage, we recommend Room 4 for its heavily colonnaded bathtub.)
And with signs emblazoned on almost every surface, even etched into windows and mirrors – sagacious signs, admonitory signs, philosophical signs and others that were downright hilarious! – you could never feel bored in such a place. Here are just a few:
Come dinnertime, “You can’t go wrong with the Spur,” said Estelle firmly. “After all, the Spur’s got everything.”
Roy and I hadn’t set foot in a Spur Ranch since we used to take the children there in the 1990s – that was they before they attained the age of culinary reason.
But in Uitenhage, the local Wild Rapids Spur was literally our only option for, and to honest it was pretty good.
The place was packed on a Friday night, and Emmie and her trailing trainee Rosario did a great job. The starter combo of calamari and deep-fried mushrooms delivered a year’s supply of omega-sixes; Roy gave the thumbs-up to his double pork chops with veggies, and I enjoyed my pork ribs and chips far more than I should have. With a Hunters Gold cider and a half-litre of Castle draught, the whole bill came to R369.
Uitenhage to Morgans Bay
Morgans Bay was my alternative to Komga, a shit-hole in the Transkei that Roy had briefly thought might be a nice place to overnight. (After Uitenhage, I was having none of it.)
Morgans Bay meant an extra 60km each way from the highway, but well worth it that to be right on the beach. Unfortunately, we booked (via Airbnb.com) at the Mitford Hotel, which had its origins back in the 50s as a Mitford Holiday Flats, rather than the bigger, lovelier and far more famous Morgans Bay Hotel.
To cut a long story slightly shorter, we spent the last night of the journey at Ngeli Forest Lodge, near Kokstad, before heading home to Umhlanga.
Statistics
For those who care about such things, our two-week trip from Durban/Umhlanga to the Cape and back entailed 3,935km. Our Renault Captur did it on 765 litres of petrol. The current petrol price is R17.08 (about one British pound) a litre.
All in all, it was a great trip. Thank you, Roy!
Wow! A spectacular blog of your return leg along the Garden Route. Good to have so many friends in place, wineries en route and recommended restaurants. I thought you were lucky to escape from Paddy without permanent injury to your metabolism. That husband in the orange scarf had a narrow escape, no doubt rescued by the quick reactions of his wife. I am not so sure the old mariner did recover that well. I think, if you look closely at the photograph you took at the breakfast table, Roy had matchsticks holding his eyes open! An interesting read about an area of which I was unaware. Thank you.
What a trip! I have enjoyed reading the full Cape Road Trip. Thanks for the heads up on where not to stop or stay! Interesting and oh, so amusing as always, i love reading your blog.