CAPE TOWN
THIS IS WHAT HAPPENED
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I always start with "This is what happened" because what we plan often changes, often by the day.
By the time I get to fill in these pages, which set out the outline of our trip, with what we ACTUALLY did it can be a million miles from what we thought (or I hoped) we were going to do, mainly as a result of last minute better ideas popping up.
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Just like the last minute better idea of not setting out late December to join Miles in Dubai, even though we had booked our flight into Dubai and back to the UK in late January. Booked, paid for, seats decided, got the T shirt. Even if flying out near Christmas meant there was no way on God's green earth we could afford our normal luxury blow-out of Business Class seats.​​​​​
Nope, no chance, not at that price, no siree!
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So no cheery photo of Sara secure in her pod, big smile on her ready for flat bedded face. And to be fair, the Christmas surcharge was almost us in economy, but not quite.
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Until we changed our minds. We decided not to go straight to Dubai but to go to Cape Town almost three weeks earlier. Which involved paying B.A almost as much again to change our flights, routes, dates etc, as it would have to have flown Business in the first place!
As alluded to on the HOME page, we got pissed in the pub with our very good friends Sharon and Theo who were attending the wedding of the daughter of our equally very good friends Geoff & Sue Frost in Cape Town. Sharon & Theo had booked a lovely three bed apartment in Hout Bay for Emma & Craig's wedding, but two of their children rebelled and decided not to come.......... One spare bedroom! Three bottles of wine in - Why don't you guys come out! "Yesh pleeshh" said Sara. Job done. One hour later the incredibly kind Emma and Craig sent us a formal (and most unexpected, but most gratefully accepted) invitation to their wedding in wine country near Franschhoek,, plus goodness knows how many pre, during and post events and dinners.
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We then totally rearranged our dates, flights, dog sitters, house minders, paid out copious amounts of moolar to British Airways for a considerably longer flight, bought a sharp new lightweight suit and trendy shoes, lugged a whole extra suitcase halfway round the world, all in the name of having a bloody great time with a group of 10 or more really good friends, and meeting a load more new ones!! What could be better?
As you can see we were all pretty pleased to be out of the rather cold damp English December and into the warm dry South African Summer. Joining Geoff, Sue, Jim, Sydney, Guy, Phillipa, John, Linda, plus the wedding party, plus being introduced to new faces every 15 minutes. Plus beers at £1.50, great wines at £12 a bottle in a top restaurant serving fresh grilled fish for £!0. This I could get used to. That is how to start a holiday!!!
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Enjoy it while we can is our motto, as we have a funny feeling it won't be like this in Dubai price-wise!
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DAY 1 - FRIDAY - So began the three locations/seven events wedding programme, talk about the 'Wedding Planners', this was planned to the minute. Day 1 was settle into our amazing aprtment, then walk down to The Lookout restaurant in the harbour at Hout Bay. The cast assemble. EVENT NUMBER ONE - A superb dinner was had by all. Fresh fish andfine wine overlooking the sea and the view of our apartments.
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DAY 2 - A bit of a rest day and then off to MOJO MARKET in Sea Point, Cape Town, to catch up with Sharon's brother Gary and wife Tammy,
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DAY 3 - SUNDAY - Geoff and Sue kindly picked us up in their 45 year old Mercedes for a trip over Chapmans Peak to Noordhoek and round in a circle via Constantia, before dropping us back at The Lookout for EVENT NUMBER TWO - Long lunch with a great band. The results were as predictable as they were fun.........
DAY 4 - EVENT THREE - THE GENTLEMENS LUNCH - Held at Constantia Glen Winery with 12 of us. Beautiful setting, lovely private room, great group of guys. There were a whole big group of Emma & Craigs (younger and closer) friends around, they just didn't make the cut for a PROPER lunch, with napkins, wine glasses, cutlery etc. I think the others had a burger on the beach somewhere, not my problem. As this events resident WEDDING CRASHER I take my meals and invitations where I can find them, and devil take the hindmost.
As was by now 'par for the course' we departed our superb lunch, courtesy of our great host Geoff, and returned to base. Base being CHAPPIES, aka, The Chapman Bay Hotel, a haunt of the Frost family for many years, even generations, where we drink the by now mandatory and famous 'Klippies and Coke', or 'Fighting Juice' as it is sometimes known (outside the gentile boundary of Hout Bay I assure you, here it's pet name is Chappies and Coke). A cocktail comprising Klipdrift Brandy and old school bottled Coke with a bucketload of ice. Not for (1) the faint hearted (2) those already pissed (3) me. Wedding Crashers need to keep a clear head to be able to check out where EVENT FOUR might be taking place..................
OFF TO PAARL AND FRANSCHOEK
DAY 5 - TUESDAY - Drive 1.5 hours to Paarl and book into the Cana Vineyard Guesthouse (£105 a night, absolutely lovely inside a working vineyard), then EVENT FOUR - a party in the evening at La Grapparia Bistro on the Spice Route, amazing views all the way back to Table Mountain, massive long table, terrific thin crust pizzas, just how I like them. perfect sunset, By now the crowds were growing as people flew in from all over the shop so lots of new people to meet, and a reasonably early night before the big day.....
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EDITORS NOTE: In this travel blog I do quote prices and costs every so often. This not for any reason other than to remind me of the contemporary prices and to compare countries and their differing values. To me it is relevant that when we travel to Cape Town and around the Western Cape - which reminds me SO much of the best, best parts of California - the quality of everything, food, drink, roads, landscapes, service, friendliness, hotels are ALL at the highest level possible while at the same time prices are crazy cheap. 22 Rands to the pound giving a purchasing power of around 2-3 times what a pound buys in the UK. So a steak in a great restaurant might be £12, a delicious starter £4, you get my drift. It will be fascinating in a week or so to compare the prices in DubaI!! I have a horrible sinking feeling that this broad smile I am wearing right now may be wiped off.
DAY 8 - Friday - Day in Franschhoek
So after yet another lovely dinner, hosted yet again by the family, we get ready for EVENT FIVE, the reason all these lovely people have gathered from the four corners of the globe.
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THE BIG DAY
DAY 6 - WEDNESDAY - THE BIG DAY at Bakenhof Wedding Venue in Wellington. Another beautiful venue with yet more amazing views and more lovely food and top notch South African wines galore, plus more excellent speeches than you couls shake a stick at - plus tears! Please savour a few pics for the memory bank.
As you can see above Mrs H and I started the day suited and booted - and ended it bladdered. No surprise there.
And last but in no way least we have to give credit to Emma's GODFATHER. Theo!
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Theo gave a blinder of a speech in his role as Emma's Dutch godfather. Seven minutes long, completely unscripted (he says), wide ranging, emotional (he only broke down and sobbed twice, or was it three times?. The sobbing made me laugh (sarcastic cold hearted brute), made the bride cry along with Theo, and made the room break into spontaneous applause.
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Job done! Follow that father of the bride, groom, groom's father, best man.... They all tried....manfully.
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Only the bride's father came close.
I am obliged to say that under the Wedding Crashers Oath of Keeping in With the Big Man that pays the Bills. Page 8, para 3. But the truth is he nailed it (or am I just saying that?). Could I even really hear the speeches due to oddly placed loudspeakers? We will never know.​​
AND THEY THINK ITS ALL OVER....
It's never over when it comes to the FROST FAMILY!
DAY 7 - Thursday - for the AFTERPARTY at Underoaks Pizzaria. EVENT SIX. Yet another superb venue with the by now mandatory amzing views over rolling farmland and vineyards, and the contimuation of the by now legendary hospitality of our hosts.
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Then location change, number three, a drive to Franschhoek and book into Ashbourne Boutique Guesthouse in the middle of town for EVENT SEVEN, a dinner for the Kent Group at Frank's in the high street. Another cracker.
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DAY 8 - A day for wine tasting in this, one of the worlds foremost wine growing towns in one of the worlds best wine growing regions. So what fool would NOT take the world famous WINE TRAM!!??
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Most of the wedding party and all of the Kent group so it turns out. Only the intrepid duo of 'Me and Er' dutifully booked our tickets and waited patiently at the Tram Station for the wonderment that was to follow...
The WINE TRAM is a great marketing exercise, it certainly drew us in. The rumour flying round Franschoek was that seats sell out fast, so BOOK NOW to avoid disappointment. At our lovely hotel the waitress repeated this advice. Sara was insistent that we Wine Trammed, so we booked. We arrived at the Tramshed to find it eerily quiet and we had time to consult the big map on the Tramshed wall. Ah-ha, we visit 8 wineries on our route, BUT only three by tram, which travels in a dead straight line from the shed to the furthest winery, about a mile away, then comes back via one other, before landing the gulible tram folk in the third one just 10 yards from the aforementione Tramshed. At this point you get on a bus for the remaining 90% of the journey. SO like British Rail. So we and about 15 others boarded our tram with plenty of seats to spare.
To make matters worse (or as it turned out - better) the main body of Kentish folk simply drove to Rickety Bridge where we debussed from our rickety tram, and were there waiting for us, already well into their tasting. In the ensuing rush to get a tasting in (tram folk only get 40 minutes before being ushered back on board), I mistakenly order a whole box of FUDGE to go with my wines. I mean - seriously? It was described in Afrikaans and sounded like a snack with Basil, my favourite herb, tasty! It was actually a pound of melted sugar in fudge form.
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Suffice it to say we were kindly kidnapped by the main body, bundled into a car, and taken to yet another excellent vineyard for yet another tasting where I lucked out by sitting with a team member (who shall remain nameless, Guy), and who gave me his tasting glass to add to mine, so double bubble!
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Then on to EVENT EIGHT which was dinner at French Connection and the final goodbyes as on the morrow it was going home time for some, Going straight to kidney dialysis for others. Heading for the hills for us.
The end of an amazing wedding week, seven whole days on the piss. Lunchtime and evening most days. Eating, drinking, laughing, singing and dancing for seven days straight takes some doing, and doing it we did, nobody flaked out, just great fun.
So two final pics to sum up the last days with the group. For us it is off into the wild. We are off 150 miles north to the Cederberg Mountains and a little house on the prairie. My choice, definately not Sara's.......
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
i've seen this in books so I'm going to give it a shot!
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We normally travel completely alone, just us two, changing venues every 2-3 days, speaking to no-one much. This has been a great change.
It has been a privilage to be able to join a team of our friends, meet a great bunch of new people, in a superb location in a lovely country. So a massive thank you is due to Emma & Craing for inviting us to their wedding. To Geoff and Sue for their superb hospitality, To Sharon & Theo for the use of their spare room and the germ of the idea in the first place.
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And finally a big thank you to everyone who knows me. I have no idea why everyone on the radio says that, but it's a thing apparently.