RSA III - The Garden Route to Wine Country
We rented a car in East London and headed for the Addo Elephant National Park, just inland from Port Elizabeth. Lo wanted to see them “up close” if possible. This time it didn’t take Bona Undlovo to see the HUNDRED+ elephants congregating at a watering hole within 50 metres of us…we just sat and watched, clicking a million photos and gaping at their massive units, which they practically drag along the ground…ouch! We definitely got our "close up"!
Our next stop was the Storm’s River mouth in the Tsitsikama National Park, which is the gem of the Garden Route. This park, which reminded us a lot of BC, is home to some of the last old-growth coastal forest in the country and some amazing rocky coastline. We did some great hiking around the area, including the first leg of the famous Otter Trail.
Leaving the coast at George, we took the steep Outeniqua Pass to Outshorrn, where we picked up the wine Route 62 (akin to 66 in the US. We were amazed by the sudden climatic change from wet and foggy on the coast to stunningly dry and sunny in less than an hour. You could see the Outeniqua Mts. blocking the clouds from spilling into our valley. The drive to Montagu, where we stayed in a beautiful B&B, reminded us of a compact version of Nevada, with broad hot valleys bordered by steep mountains. We had arrived in wine country!
Cate and her husband Ian met us at a small guest house on a vineyard near Rawsonvillle and we felt like kings as we wined (at home and at numerous local tastings) and dined through the weekend. The small valley behind the main house had an incredible rock swimming hole that we visited at least once a day.
On the way back to the coast, we stopped in at Fairview (try their low-end “Goats do Roam” red) and had their “master” tasting. We hit it perfectly…an hour to closing and a fun server. WOW! We had very healthy tastes of some amazing wines and gorged on various goat cheeses to cleanse our palates between rounds. The photo below shows pretty much how I remember the tasting...a nice image, but pretty blurry! As you can also see, we lost some inhibitions.
Our next stop was the Storm’s River mouth in the Tsitsikama National Park, which is the gem of the Garden Route. This park, which reminded us a lot of BC, is home to some of the last old-growth coastal forest in the country and some amazing rocky coastline. We did some great hiking around the area, including the first leg of the famous Otter Trail.
Leaving the coast at George, we took the steep Outeniqua Pass to Outshorrn, where we picked up the wine Route 62 (akin to 66 in the US. We were amazed by the sudden climatic change from wet and foggy on the coast to stunningly dry and sunny in less than an hour. You could see the Outeniqua Mts. blocking the clouds from spilling into our valley. The drive to Montagu, where we stayed in a beautiful B&B, reminded us of a compact version of Nevada, with broad hot valleys bordered by steep mountains. We had arrived in wine country!
Cate and her husband Ian met us at a small guest house on a vineyard near Rawsonvillle and we felt like kings as we wined (at home and at numerous local tastings) and dined through the weekend. The small valley behind the main house had an incredible rock swimming hole that we visited at least once a day.
On the way back to the coast, we stopped in at Fairview (try their low-end “Goats do Roam” red) and had their “master” tasting. We hit it perfectly…an hour to closing and a fun server. WOW! We had very healthy tastes of some amazing wines and gorged on various goat cheeses to cleanse our palates between rounds. The photo below shows pretty much how I remember the tasting...a nice image, but pretty blurry! As you can also see, we lost some inhibitions.
posted by G.Mann at 11:17 PM
0 Comments:
Post a Comment
<< Home