Let's get this party started...
Our last morning in Hermanus, and also on the Garden Route, had us up and about early. We had a fairly full itinerary with an aim to be back at Paula's pad in Camps Bay, CT in good time for her 50th birthday pre-party party.
First off was a walk along the famed cliffs of Hermanus. The weather was blowing a good strong puff, so we coated up and headed out. Another wonderful coastline with views every which way and it was approximately 5 minutes before we saw the first whale of the day. They come very close the shore in Hermanus, and with the naked eye we watched as he (she?) rose in and out of the water, even giving us the spectacle of a couple of breaches. Very special to see, although with neither an SLR nor any real photography talent, I've got no picture to prove it!
Our one other stop before the drive back to Cape Town was the Paul Cluver vineyard in the Elgin Valley. A very elegant estate producing superb wines and boasting over 100km of mountain biking trails. It's been really astonishing how many places we've seen and people we've spoken to already on this trip that fit with The Slow Cyclist ethos and vision. All great for Duncan and it would be amazing to come back here in a few years on a TSC trip. Who's up for it?!
A few good wine tastings later and we're back in the VW with a few (more) bottles for the final leg back to Cape Town. We were met in Camps Bay by Paula, Elaine, and new friends (to me), Hazel and Ash who had arrived from the UK that morning. Out by the pool, making the most of the one sunny day forecast, although somewhat marred by the immense smoke coming off the fires on Table Mountain behind us, along with the buzzing of helicopters as they fly from fire to ocean, scooping up water in an effort to stop it spreading. It's not a serious threat to Camps Bay at the moment, but was less than 2km from Paula's place 24 hours ago.
Early in the afternoon the party proceedings kicked off when a team of hair and make-up artists arrived to primp, pluck and pull the ladies into their 1967-themed outfits. Paula had unambitiously decided on going as Barbarella complete with custom-made outfit; the rest of us had set our sights slightly lower, but once the professionals had worked their magic on us, the effects were on a whole different level than I had anticipated! Paula emerged, transformed from corporate superstar into 60's superglamgal. Personally I probably looked more like a drag queen, but still fabulous darling, of course!
The party was at The Stack, a private club in CT, who make a rather delicious, but lethal gin cocktail of the same name. As guests arrived and the gin went down, DJ Tess upped the tempo on the tunes and it all kicked off. In a good way. In fact, in such a good way that while you can see from the photo that Duncan and I wore matching boy-girl outfits appropriate to our gender, at some point during the evening they swapped (the outfits, not our genders) and D spent most of the night getting compliments about his lovely legs.
Back at the ranch, a round of bacon butties and we all fell into bed. Early start tomorrow. Yikes.
First off was a walk along the famed cliffs of Hermanus. The weather was blowing a good strong puff, so we coated up and headed out. Another wonderful coastline with views every which way and it was approximately 5 minutes before we saw the first whale of the day. They come very close the shore in Hermanus, and with the naked eye we watched as he (she?) rose in and out of the water, even giving us the spectacle of a couple of breaches. Very special to see, although with neither an SLR nor any real photography talent, I've got no picture to prove it!Our one other stop before the drive back to Cape Town was the Paul Cluver vineyard in the Elgin Valley. A very elegant estate producing superb wines and boasting over 100km of mountain biking trails. It's been really astonishing how many places we've seen and people we've spoken to already on this trip that fit with The Slow Cyclist ethos and vision. All great for Duncan and it would be amazing to come back here in a few years on a TSC trip. Who's up for it?!
A few good wine tastings later and we're back in the VW with a few (more) bottles for the final leg back to Cape Town. We were met in Camps Bay by Paula, Elaine, and new friends (to me), Hazel and Ash who had arrived from the UK that morning. Out by the pool, making the most of the one sunny day forecast, although somewhat marred by the immense smoke coming off the fires on Table Mountain behind us, along with the buzzing of helicopters as they fly from fire to ocean, scooping up water in an effort to stop it spreading. It's not a serious threat to Camps Bay at the moment, but was less than 2km from Paula's place 24 hours ago.
Early in the afternoon the party proceedings kicked off when a team of hair and make-up artists arrived to primp, pluck and pull the ladies into their 1967-themed outfits. Paula had unambitiously decided on going as Barbarella complete with custom-made outfit; the rest of us had set our sights slightly lower, but once the professionals had worked their magic on us, the effects were on a whole different level than I had anticipated! Paula emerged, transformed from corporate superstar into 60's superglamgal. Personally I probably looked more like a drag queen, but still fabulous darling, of course!
The party was at The Stack, a private club in CT, who make a rather delicious, but lethal gin cocktail of the same name. As guests arrived and the gin went down, DJ Tess upped the tempo on the tunes and it all kicked off. In a good way. In fact, in such a good way that while you can see from the photo that Duncan and I wore matching boy-girl outfits appropriate to our gender, at some point during the evening they swapped (the outfits, not our genders) and D spent most of the night getting compliments about his lovely legs.Back at the ranch, a round of bacon butties and we all fell into bed. Early start tomorrow. Yikes.
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