Road trip to Franschhoek and along the Garden Route with Bin

We were incredibly excited for Bin’s long awaited arrival and visit to meet Harrison. Harrison immediately had a lot of laughs and smiles for Bin, making sure he won her over straight away!

Within 24hrs of landing we whisked Bin away for our mini holiday. We drove along the garden route (the coastal route between PE and Cape town) straight to Franschhoek (link to previous post for details on Franshhoek) making a mental note of places to stop on the return drive. We stayed for 4 nights in Franschhoek in a cute cottage with stunning views of the Franschhoek valley floor and surrounding rugged mountains. We ventured into Cape Town on Thursday, primarily to attend an interview with the Australian consulate to obtain Harrison’s passport. Thankfully Harrison passed with flying colours & the passport should arrive within 10 days! Seeing we had all visited Cape Town previously, after the interview we meandered along the coastal road marvelling at the cliff hanging houses of Clifton and beautiful beaches whilst making our way to Constantia. We are all interested in fine food, so I guess it was inevitable that the focus of the holiday unintentionally turned to gastronomy. Months ago Jen had read positive reviews about the restaurant La Colombe (at Uitsig Winery) so we decided to visit when next in Cape Town. The food was exemplary, particularly the duck terrine, porcini dusted fillet steak, trio of veal with foie gras and incredibly tender pork. The complimentary handmade Belgium chocolates with coffee were also yummy, although definitely not needed after the 3 course, plus taster & cleansers! It is a meal we will remember. Harrison also won over the hearts of the waiters. He gave his undivided attention to the waiters whenever they attended to us- it was hilarious!

Our other days in the Cape were spent wine tasting, perusing the shops of Franschhoek and partaking in more long-lunches. Our other note worthy lunch was at La Grande Provence, a winery which is over 300 years old. Lunch was eaten in the garden of the 18th century Cape Dutch Manor house under a canopy of 300 year old oak trees. With the perfectly manicured gardens, lush vines and rugged mountains in the distance it was an incredibly picturesque location. The food was delicious and matched the setting and atmosphere. Franschhoek seems to be one of the rare cities in the country that has some interesting art shops and boutiques. Bin purchased a piece of Ardmore pottery, whilst we bought a lithograph of a baobab tree.

On the return drive to Knysna we detoured via Hermanus, a town considered to be the best land-based whale watching destination in the world. Within the small bay of Walker Bay, we must have seen at least 100 southern right whales. Whilst most were just 'floating' in the water, others were more active by breaching or lifting their tales. It was an amazing sight!

We struck gold when booking our accommodation for a couple of nights in Knysna. We stayed in an amazing townhouse on Thesan Island which was directly on the waters edge of the lagoon. The living room and outdoor decking were built on stilts which perched over the water at high tide. Incredibly relaxing at the end of the day watching the sunset over the lagoon accompanied with a G&T. Whilst a little kitch and definitely reminiscent of the style of housing in ‘The Truman Show’, Thesan Island was an easy place to be based for a couple of days. It was relaxing to stroll around and very central to the shops, waterfront, Leisure Island, Mitchell Brewery and the heads.

The last town visited on our road trip was the surfing mecca town of Jeffrey’s Bay. Unfortunately the weather was a deterrent for the surfers at Super Tubes (not one surfer in sight!), however we looked at a few of the hundred surfing shops in town and visited Walskipper for our seafood fix for lunch. Harrison was a great little traveller and coped well with the constant movement in & out of the car during the holiday! It was also a well deserved relaxing break for Pete and Bin.