It was 9 AM before we woke up! We got to breakfast and had some more delicious local goat's cheese, eggs and bacon before packing up the car and setting off on a drive around the Paarl area. We drove through Wellington and and started up on a spectacular narrow, winding road over the mountain range to the east. It was built in the 1850s by Thomas Bain, and so well designed that it hasn't been altered since except for resurfacing.
Protea bloom and buds
It's a little narrow for today's cars, so one can't look at the scenery much with the other Sunday drivers on the road, but there were many turn-outs where we stopped and saw our first blooming proteas and many lovely pink grand duchess sorrels as well as other flowers, so we are feeling more hopeful about the likelihood of good wildflower displays further north. At one point we could look down on Wellington and Paarl and the beautiful vineyard-filled valley below.
Our first baboons!
Grand Duchess Sorrel
We stopped at the pass (1900') where there is a small collection of houses, B&Bs, and some ruins, perhaps from the construction of the road. There has been a recent fire so much of the native vegetation is gone, but we walked around and saw some brilliant green Malachite Sunbirds, White-napped Ravens and a life bird, the cute little Neddicky also known as the Piping Cisticola. We started down the east side of the pass which was unburned and spectacular, but there was no safe place to turn off except a few driveways with "no parking" signs in them!
We entered a wide valley full of espaliered fruit trees. The town of Ceres, from which the famous Ceres fruit juices come,is nearby. Bob said the village of Tulbagh was supposed to be very pretty so we turned off on a side road and drove through it. The main street looks pretty ordinary, but we could see some nice Cape Dutch architecture nearby so we turned onto Church St. and were stunned by the beautifully-preserved street of classic white Cape Dutch houses with their thatched roofs and similar, but individual, gables over the front doors. Each house has a plaque telling the dates and history of the building. It was really stunning! I went into one house which was a chocolatier shop where I got a fantastic slab of dark chocolate-covered marzipan! Yummmm!
We continued on our circuit and returned to Paarl and the Pontac Manor to clean up and rest about 5 PM. Most restaurants here are closed on Sunday, so we walked next door to the Cattle Baron Restaurant where we had eaten a snack when we first arrive in town two days ago. The menu is mostly beef, so we ordered rump with garlic sauce for RR and filet with Madagascar pepper sauce for me. I ordered filet, which I consider tender, but not very flavorful, only because it came in a 200 gm size and I figured just under half a pound would be enough for me. We also ordered a bottle of local pinot noir. Our young waitress who must have been new, brought the correct vineyard and vintage in a dark green bottle, but when she poured it, it was a white wine! In the dark restaurant, Bob couldn't see the tiny pinot noir that should n=have been written on the bottom of the label, so she reluctantly took it back. We got our steaks and finally the pinot arrived...and it was chilled to white wine temperature! Fearing that our waitress might dissolve into tears, we accepted it and tried to warm it in our hands! I think what had happened was that the white and red bottles of that vineyard, looking so identical, had both been put into the chiller by accident - or maybe I'm just being charitable. I think we'll continue to avoid steak houses in the future.
Back to our room to pack and set off north tomorrow. We may have spotty email access for the next week, but I'll send out blogs when I can.
BTW, Both our travel computers went on the fritz just before we left, so all our colmputer work is being done on my new ipad mini, whcih I'm aso just learning! Sigh!
XXX
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