Craven : South Africa 2019 TR #4

[craven morehead]

Just prior to walking around Bo-Kaap. I had actually jumped in the Beamer and gone across to CPT AP to fetch the wife who as mentioned in my intro had a long journey over due to a change in circumstances with both work and family. So she had to endure EMD-BNE (Y) BNE PER (J) - JNB (Y) on SAA row 68 first time Int Y in 10 years and then CPT (Y) SAA So the plan was to keep her on the go as long as possible and tune into local time. So after admiring the colourful neighbourhood of Bo-Kaap we set off on foot down to the V&A Waterfront. A nice walk with no real sense of danger just the usual beggars and drunks found everywhere and we are as pickpocket aware as you can be. I am certainly in the habit of spreading my cash/cards around and in places that would trigger alarm bells if touched! So now down to the beautiful Waterfront for a walk around and a bit of lunch.

Almost down to the Waterfront and looking back up the street : TM is hard to beat for a backdrop.


Playing tourists ! I was hoping the lass I asked to take the picture could line the frame up with Table Mountain in view in it's entirety I made sure I did when I took their photo. OCD kicking in again!






Now I've seen plenty of the blueball monkeys in my time but never the red dot variety


Time for a feed and we hadn't really got too far into the waterfront as such but this place looked okay. The Capetown Fish Market :


Looking out from our table



Cheers honey !! Nice of you to join me in this foreign land Weissbier for me and Cider for Mum



So the wife decided on a starter of :
CALAMARI
Deep-fried calamari strips in a savoury salt-and-pepper crust, served with tartar sauce R60 forgot photo followed by Vis & Skyfies ( Fish & Chips )

FISH & CHIPS *
The South African classic in CTFM style. Grilled or deep-fried 200gm, served with chips and tartar sauce normally R84 but Monday special was R60 ($6)

My mate told me I must try a curry while down in the Cape :

PRAWN CURRY *
Prawn meat and fresh vegetables in a coconut curry sauce, served with savoury rice R148

The curry was hotter than I expected (not sure why) maybe the coconut bit but it was absolutely delicious. Probably about 2/3's as hot as the hottest Vindaloo I have had. Keeping in mind I am no expert on food let alone curries !!





Time to go for a gallop and walk off our very enjoyable lunch. All up with drinks ~ AUD$40 out of pocket

 

[craven morehead]

Some random shots as we walked around the precinct :









Snoozer








Somebody loves Giraffes !! Interestingly the Afrikaans word for Giraffe comes up as Kameelperd ( Camel Horse ) or Camelopard ( Camel Leopard ) not 100% sure which is correct.



Giving the kids more ammo to abuse us for taking selfies :

 

[craven morehead]

More V&A Waterfront : We decided to jump on the Cape Wheel for a good view. We weren't disappointed. I think we did about 5 laps for R150 each.

















Love this shot

 

[drross]

Are you going to the wine areas? If so Babylonstoren in Franschhoek is worth a visit. It’s all organic and they have a herd of ducks for controlling the snails. They hire the ducks (complete with herder), to other wineries

And their restaurant called Babel is absolutely delightful

 

[drross]

Only there 4 weeks ago so absolutely loving the photos

 

[craven morehead]

It was getting late in the afternoon by this stage and Mrs CM was starting to fatigue. So we grabbed a coffee from the V&A Waterfront Food market and sat down for half an hour and watched the world go by as the sun began to set. Plus a few more random shots.



Rough neighbourhood Even Red Bull use what looks like an armoured vehicle for promos



Nobel Square : here we have sculptures of : Albert Luthuli - Desmond Tutu - FW de Klerk - Nelson Mandela (4 x Nobel Peace Prize Laureates)











All types of food available in here : We grabbed our coffees and sat outside on the picnic tables here.







After this we decided to walk back to the hotel through the canal district. It would be a relaxing and quiet night with room service. It had been a massive day and a half for the wife and in the end I had to wake her up for dinner. Great first day in Capetown with good vibes.

 

[vetrade]

Must commend your wife for her stamina to do so much sightseeing straight after some lengthy flying time!
Loved CPT but your great pics tell me we could / should have seen more around the V&A Waterfront - must check out the views from the wheel next time.
Enjoying your TR CM.

 

[Cossie]

Camelopard is an old name for a giraffe, meant to be from a mix of camel and leopard, due to the colouring.

I have to add that the giraffe is our favourite wild animal as well.

Definition of CAMELOPARD

giraffe; camelopardalis… See the full definition

www.merriam-webster.com

Love the photos, looks like a great trip.

 

[Flying mermaid]

And their restaurant called Babel is absolutely delightful

my niece had her wedding at Babylonstoren so we stayed there for 2 days and all the meals were terrific.

 

[craven morehead]

Camelopard is an old name for a giraffe, meant to be from a mix of camel and leopard, due to the colouring.

I have to add that the giraffe is our favourite wild animal as well.

Definition of CAMELOPARD

giraffe; camelopardalis… See the full definition

www.merriam-webster.com

Love the photos, looks like a great trip.

@Cossie many thanks.

 

[craven morehead]

Next day we walked 100m or so up the road from our hotel and jumped on the Big Red city sightseeing bus and purchased a day pass and also TM Cableway tickets :



It was only about a 20 minute trip up to the Cableway station with some good commentary on the way. We were keen to get up the top of of Table Mountain and were hoping to have a nice lunch whilst there but as are the vagaries of the weather in this part of the world the cableway had been suspended 30 minutes before we arrived Some great views even from this vantage point and I decided to bring out the better camera and have a muck around. We hung around for an hour and had a coffee and chilled in the off chance it would recommence. It ended up being closed for the rest of the day as it turned out. Anyway after coffee we had decided to jump back on the bus for a city tour. Next day I found a website to monitor whether the cableway is open or closed. Will keep an eye on this. Tickets can be credited if need be.



Looking back towards Lions Head



Playing around with the longer lens. I have bugger all idea what I'm doing photography wise but had purchased a good lens in HKG AP on the way to JNB the first time. Specifically to use in Kruger National Park









They were still bringing people down




Some local birdlife

 

[craven morehead]

The bus tour took us around the coastline of Camps Bay, Clifton, Bantry Bay, Sea Point etc and we jumped off once we got back to the Waterfront. Some of these places are just spectacular around this coastline. I'm thinking lotto win has me a holiday apartment in Camps Bay

 

[craven morehead]

Some more shots from the bus ride :

 

[craven morehead]

After a few big days which resulted in room service for supper we finally had time to avail ourselves of the in house restaurant : The Famous Butchers Grill So channeling my inner @amaroo in I went to test out some of the local offerings nothing fancy here but a carnivores delight no doubt! A nice ambiance was provided with a guy on piano and guitar playing some tunes with a twist to suit the mood and volume restrictions of the place. It was quite well done.





Chefs recommendations on how one should order their meat.



Fairly simple menu. Stick to what you do well hey ... There were other options but I'm not one to order seafood in a chop shop !! Seafood will get it's turn later.



So what does one do when compiling a TR for AFF ? It is my duty to try something new and report back. So tonight it was going to be Ostrich for mains after a starter of Garlic Snails with a cheesy sauce. Now snails I've had previously in Paris many many years ago and are in my opinion nothing to rave about unless I'm missing something. I chose them for entree because I didn't want to fill up too much before trying the big bird. They washed down well with a young Pinotage.



So having never eaten Ostrich before I went and spoke to the Chef. His recommendation was that I should order it medium as it was soft meat. I picked a 300gm fillet from the cabinet and this is what it looked like prior to being served.



Served up with a BBQ, peppercorn and mustard seed glaze and a small serving of mushroom sauce. A simple meal presented with sweet potato chips and a side of Bacon, feta & avocado. Now, what was it going to taste like ??



Having asked the Chefs recommendation on how to cook the fillet and his suggestion being medium I think due to the thickness of this cut that it ended up more medium-rare. Excuse the dirty cutlery! All in all I enjoyed the Ostrich and would rate it somewhere better than an average steak but not in the class of a good steak.
Certainly nowhere near as gamey tasting as I would have expected ( I was thinking / expecting something like Kangaroo ) I wouldn't have a problem eating it again but would choose a good fillet any day. I also spoke to the manager who mentioned the best Ostrich he had tried was available in the Eastern Cape.



Washed down with a local young Pinotage. I must say most of the wine being offered was young with the most mature one I found only a 2015 vintage. I'm not one to skimp on a good wine if it's available and I'm in the mood but these were young and at ~ R200. It did the job oh and Mrs CM doesn't drink wine so I had to finish it.






A decent in house restaurant for sure and we will give it another workout later in the week.

 

[craven morehead]

Today our plan was to drive from Capetown to Cape Point via Simon's Town ( red dot ) then around to the Cape of Good Hope the most South-Western point of the African Continent. The return trip was to be via Hout Bay where a mate suggested we have a seafood dinner. We thought this would be a good way to cover a fair chunk of the Cape Peninsular. Google maps sent us on a slightly different course on the way down which I initially thought was a dud but it all worked out in the end. Today would probably be the highlight of the trip as it turned out for so many reasons. From stunning scenery to some serendipitous timing ( as a result of Google maps routing ) and eventually a fantastic meal to finish off. This will take a few posts to cover so please bear with me I think it will be well worth it so after breakfast in the hotel we headed off and tracked behind Table Mountain and originally heading for what I assumed would be Simon's Town before Google Maps sent us up, over and around Simon's Town on a picturesque drive. We would eventually come back through the place after following the coastline on the return trip.









Heading blissfully for Simon's Town I thought



Before a route change just up a bit further which would bypass Simon's Town : Right turn Clyde this took us up over Plateau Rd which would take us past the Naval Barracks which I initially thought was the end of the road and that Google was buggered! We pushed on to discover some stunning views and lovely countryside as we topped and then descended the mountain.



Looking over Simon's Town and False bay.



Coming down the other side : Baboon warnings are common place.

Our first sighting of Ostriches on this trip.

 

[henleybeach]

Our first sighting of Ostriches on this trip.

Don’t eat them
Fantastic photos. Lovely scenery , can’t wait to get there one day , maybe when the Aussies are playing cricket

 

[craven morehead]

Don’t eat them
Fantastic photos. Lovely scenery , can’t wait to get there one day , maybe when the Aussies are playing cricket

Whoops !! Sounds like a good plan I might do the same. Go back for the cricket.

 

[Denali]

I thought Cape Agulhas was the most southern point......As thats one of the spots we're planning on going to (as we will be at Gansbaai anyay).

cheers and thank you, loving the pics/report

Edit: just re-read your post, you said southern-western point

 

[Flying mermaid]

We did that drive on a Sunday a few years ago. Huge mistake - literally bumper to bumper traffic most of the way!

 

[craven morehead]

I thought Cape Agulhas was the most southern point......As thats one of the spots we're planning on going to (as we will be at Gansbaai anyay).

cheers and thank you, loving the pics/report

Edit: just re-read your post, you said southern-western point

You are most definitely correct vis a vis Cape Agulhas. Cape of Good Hope is most South-Western point.