The Cast:
Karin - Mom (30-something)
Caitlin a.k.a Cat - Daughter (almost 10)
Granny (birthday girl) & Grandad
The Baths, Citrusdal
FRIDAY
Our long weekend away from home entails a rather tedious 3 hour drive from Cape Town, liberally sprinkled with the even more tedious “are-we-there-yet?’ But we reached our destination and on Friday evening I found myself immersed in the hot waters of 'The Baths' in Citrusdal inland up the West Coast.
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| The cottage - home for the weekend |
Cat's always first in the water |
SATURDAY
A morning spent in the little town of Citrusdal netted us a Spar, a Pep Store (for the essentials) and a drankwinkel* (also for essentials). The local farm workers come to town in force on a Saturday morning, thus it was that we spotted many of them enjoying a case of “saturdaymorningbeer” on the side of the road at about 10:00 am.
The rest of the day was spent in a flurry of farm stalls, wine tasting and frantically wrapping gifts for mum’s birthday.
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| Local farmstall |
Sign in the farmstall |
Dinner is at McGregor’s, a gem of an eatery, hidden away in the middle of the mountains. Drinks on the deck first, chilled Chenin Blanc and a gorgeous sunset. Menu, service and food were outstanding, it’d be hard to find better than this in Cape Town. After dinner we headed off to a private spa room and languished in the jets of steaming water. Chai tea and bed – or should I go with champagne rather?
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| Grandparents rock! |
Tequila - fun times! |
SUNDAY
It’s not easy to sleep in late when you’re in the mountains. Something about the fresh air gets you up far earlier than any self-respecting sleepaholic should. We started with an early morning spa watching the sun rise, then took to the hills. The Buchu** Trail is a tiring climb up the ridge above the kloof*** to the lookout point at the top, but stunning and well worth the view. Just mountains and fields as far as the eye can see. The walk back down was beautiful, through many indigenous plants and fynbos.
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| Lush walking trails |
The locals |
Back to the cottage for a full English Breakfast (even though it was lunch time by then), and the rest of the afternoon was spent lazing in a chaise, a good book, dappled sunshine, and a nap. Until the baboons arrived. These mountain creatures look really wild & disheveled, not at all like their Cape Point counterparts who seem to know the value of looking well-groomed for the tourists. They disappear as fast as they appear though without causing too much trouble.
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| The deck at McGregor's |
Chocolate milk for Cat |
And on a beautiful Sunday evening, I again find myself on the deck of McGregor’s sipping icy Peroni (and chocolate milk for Cat), and wishing for a dial up connection. Very hard to get online in these parts but I suppose that is the point of being in the middle of nowhere.
MONDAY
While ambling around the resort we happened upon the mountain pools. A series of warm spa pools built like steps into the mountain, flowing into one another, and finally into a cold pool at the bottom. Cat braved these therapeutic waters, but I’m a bit more squeamish - if it’s very deep and I can’t see my feet, I’d rather stay out. A hurried trip back to the cottage to collect a cooler bag full of Heineken and we were soon ensconced in one of the higher (and warmer) stone spa’s, amid the treetops where our only company was a nosy ferret and iridescent blue and red dragonflies.
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| Mountain pools |
Cat braves the ice cold waters |
An afternoon stroll down the road to the old mill house, and then to an abandoned fruit warehouse netted some beautiful photographic opportunities, and plenty of blisters. Cat has made a new friend, Carrigan, and the girls get together in the evenings to watch cartoons on the portable DVD player (wonderful invention, especially when you’re in the middle of nowhere with children). They share a birthday, albeit 5 years apart, but like summer romance, holiday friendships are quick to bloom, and intense.
TUESDAY
The car is packed to capacity. A hurried breakfast, brief glimpses of the baboon, a last swim for Caitlin and Carrigan, and, after cramming all our clothes into bags, we hit the road. The upside of leaving early is that we can wend our way slowly home, along the scenic route. We make a quick stop at Kardosie at the top of the Piekenierskloof pass to stock up on assorted herbal and rooibos teas and honey and then continue on towards Piketberg. From there we turn off and head towards the west coast, Velddrif, Tietiesbaai, St Helena Bay and Paternoster. The scenery is beautiful, if a bit monotonous, but we do stop just outside St Helena Bay and stretch our legs at the Vasco da Gama Monument before continuing down the coast. No drive through Paternoster is complete without a stop at “Die Winkel op Paternoster”. Their homemade koeksisters**** are like nothing on earth, and they have an amazing array of pickles, chutneys and atchars*****. You can pick up anything from souveniers to books, real veldskoene******, antique glass bottles to potholders or a tin cup.
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| Paternoster |
Vasco da Gama Monument, St Helena Bay |
Back at home we discover two dogs very happy to see us, one dog with attitude at being left behind, and one chewed up bed. But it’s good to be home and sleeping in my own bed again. I only have one question, why does it takes 2 days to unpack when you can cram everything into a hold-all and be out the door and on your way in less than an hour?
South Africanisms:
*drankwinkel - bottle store / off license / liquor store
**Buchu - a type of herb species - more on Buchu
***kloof - mountain gorge
****koeksisters - plaited deep fried syrup soaked treats
*****atchar - a condiment of mangoes, spices, honey and balsamic vinegar
******veldskoene - shoes made of untanned leather
