This is part of the job, I suppose. I am catching the early flight to Johannesburg this morning. As I got onto the plane on this perfect morning, I noticed Table Mountain in the distance with the early morning sun shining on it. God created a beautiful planet!
The vineyard that I planted last year is growing well. Some of the vines produced their first (small) bunches. It gives me great joy to walk amongst the vines after work and to see how happy they are. I planted Pinotage and four Semillon vines, because I would like to (one day) make a truely South African wine.
Ernst and Catherine spent the weekend with us at Meerenbosch. The tranquility, good food and company was ointment to my soul. But what was really special was the time that I could spend with Arden (my grandson). This was so amazing and special to me.
While attending Mobile Congress Asia in Hong Kong, I had an excellent meal at Zuma's with Scott, his girlfriend, Tashy and Debra. The food was very good, but the Rhine Riesling and the Australian Pinot Noir was particularly impressive.
Me and Aaron were working to a tight schedule to travel from Dhaka to Hong Kong via Bangkok. Sitting in the business lounge at the Bangkok airport, we were working so hard on a number of tasks that we did not keep track of the time. We had to rush to the gate and almost missed our flight.
I have booked on my Emirates flight to Dubai at the brand new Cape Town terminal. Security and Passport control were smoothly executed. I do live in Africa, but this airport is as good as any, anywhere in the world.
Me and my wife had a great winetasting event last night. Members of our wineclub were confronted with eight unknown wines (four white and four red). We had to identify the cultivar and the vintage. My wife Annelie got 100% and I could do seven. We felt pretty proud of our achievement.
As I left the estate this morning to join my prayer group, God greeted me with this spectacular sunrise. It was as if He was saying that while I was sleeping, He was awake looking after us and that we have nothing to fear.
Ernst and Catherine dropped in and had supper with us. Annelie made her trademark pumpkin soup and we had cinnamon home-made bread with it. A bottle of Weltevrede Ovation complimented everything perfectly. It was wonderful to have the kids here.
The Vineyard Hotel is one of the best kept secrets of Cape Town. Built on the property that Lady Ann Barnard initialy lived on, the hotel boasts beautiful gardens and all facilities that one would expect from a top hotel. While waiting for breakfast, the guinea-fowls ware walking on the patio adding to the tranquil atmosphere.
Fundamo is now doing projects on four continents and growing fast. Our headcount is also much more than it was in the beginning of the year. We had to occupy additional offices close to the main offices. Today I had meetings at the new offices. I like the crisp and stylish branding.
Me and Annelie drove down from Bloemfontein by car. The Karoo was dressed in beautiful desert flowers and one could see that this arid region was blessed with a lot of rains. We had a lot of time to talk during the ten hour trip, but also stopped frequently. We had lunch at a farm stall close to Leeu Gamka.
