Here I am at Paddington, ready to board the Heathrow Express and ultimately via SAA to Cape Town. I like London, I really do. And this time round the weather was so nice, with green parks and the first blooms of spring. But why is it that I cannot wait to be back in Cape Town, with the mountains and the rains. Even in winter, Cape Town is my personal favourite.
We stayed in the very modern The Hempel hotel in London. Minimalistic, lots of art and lighting. Even had a painted elephant at reception. I felt that they were trying too hard to be trendy and arty.
We met at Llewellyn and Chrisna's house tonight. We listened to a guy that recovered miraculously from a serious head injury after an accident. We listened to a witness of how faith and prayers work in creating miracles. It was an awesome experience and gratifying to share the conviction of other believers.
Izak, my youngest son was here for the weekend to see the Bulls game against the Stormers (local team). He also visited us and we had a great lunch on Sunday with the whole family at home. Ernst and Catherine (and Arden - my grandchild) was also here. This is Arden and Izak just before lunch.
I was greeting with a special morning this morning early. The sun broke through the clouds and a thin mist was hanging over the vineyards. No breeze was blowing and the birds were celebrating the new day. I could smell the dew in the fresh morning air. So great to be back home.
Early morning on Saturday as we are being bussed to our plane that will take us to Cape Town, I saw this magnificent plane being pushed back. Where is it flying to? New York? Can't wait for the first time to get into one of these huge birds.
We had lunch at Ernst on Sunday and played with Arden a lot. His teeth is coming along nicely, but this was the first time that I managed to take a photo to prove it.
This is the remains of the pavilion on the Macassar beach. It is hauntingly beautiful on one of the most spectacular places on the False bay coast. Yet very few people know about it and visit the place. I hid my second geo cache in these buildings.
Now that the road is open, one can see how easy it would be to travel on the R300 if it is finally complete. The contractors are still working on the shoulder of the road and putting finishing touches to some of the bridges, but I can already see how the road will look when everything is done. This will take away a lot of the frustration getting to work.
I rate this hotel as one of the best in the world. The people, the food and the architecture is in a special class of its own. Without trying and with no pretention the hotel achieves a quiet style.
Look carefully and you will see this huge owl sitting under a tree. After lunch at Spier, I took Annelie with me to do some Geo-Cache-hunting. It took me some time to find this multi-stage. As I approached the Cache, Annelie said that I should please be quiet because I will scare the owl off, and there right in front of us (two meters away), was this massive, beautiful creature. (I think it is a Cape Eagle-Owl). What a privilege to see and to enjoy. I retrieved the cache, and then left quietly, trying not to disturb the bird.
Me and Annelie flew to Pretoria for the weekend. I took off the Monday and because Tuesday was a public holiday, we could spend four days in Blue-Bulls country. We had an opportunity to visit my parents in their retirement village, spend time with my youngest son and also see my brother and his family. On the Sunday, we had lunch at the Voortrekker monument on a hill overlooking Pretoria. It was good to see all the family and to just touch sides.
This evening we enjoyed a special fillet cooked by Adri in his new enclosed "braai-room". In addition to the meat a salad and sweet-potato was served. We started the evening on a 2002 Mischa Shiraz and completed it with a Guardian Peak SMG. We really had a special evening.
The Kurktrekkers (one of the wineclubs that I belong to), had a tasting experience at one of the local wine-farms. The farm is called Mooiplaas and Tielman Roos (owner) presented their wines to us. We started off by driving to the highest point of the farm where we could see the sun set over Table Mountain. Tielman's knowledge of the environment, the birds, the flowers and even insects was amazing. He has been farming here for the past thirty years and one can see this in the intimate knowledge of the terroir. The wines was impressive too, but the 2002 Cabernet was in a class of its own.
This afternoon was just so beautiful with the last sun-rays touching the tops of the hills. The air was crisp and clear after the rain and the clouds brilliantly white. The vineyards started to turn slightly red/orange. It was such a special sight.
My first grandson had his first sleep-over with us last night. It went quite well and when I had to attend to the little man in the morning, I just realised how Arden found a special place in my heart.
Early morning flight to Johannesburg and the first time that I could test out the new Star Alliance lounge in the new terminal. The architecture and lay-out is stunning, but they must still work on the content and service. I will give them the benefit of having just opened. I also saw that the British Airways lounge was also open...
I saw Tony and Lisa sitting in the garden as I left the middle block today - deep in discussion and I just had to blog it. It meant so much for me: to see great people busy developing thoughts on how to make the product and the company better. And then to see the environment that we are priviledged to work in. This is without doubt one of the most exciting companies to work for in one of the most unique settings.
I spent some quality time with my wife at La Pineta tonight to celebrate my 53rd birthday. We decided to try and visit all the restaurants in a fifteen kilometer radius from our home and tonight ended up at La Pineta. We have not been here before, had no recommendation, just made a reservation and arrived. We were pleasantly surprised with the skills in the kitchen. I had the Venison with a glass of Anura Pinotage, while Annelie selected the Kabeljou with a glass of Chardonnay. Excellent, excellent, excellent!
