They have breached the lagoon

It was a big thing for me to be part of the process of breaching the lagoon. There were so many telephone calls and meetings, but in the end the beach was opened up mechanically. Was it the right thing or wasn't it? One will never know.

Johan and a perfect steak

There is so much about a perfect steak. Is it in the quality of the meat, or the marinade, or is it in the herbs and spices or the temperature of the grill, or the time before you turn it over, or all of the above? Johan got pretty close to the perfect steak one night.

Honey-sandwich

Why is it that over time, as we get more trained to be civilized, we cannot enjoy a honey-sandwich with the same gusto as a one-year old?

Video games

The old Wii games station became a big hit with Arden (our six year old grandson) during their stay with us. I supervised and played with him, but soon realised that in this new digital world, my almost-sixty year old reactions were no match for his.

Cardboard box

How easy is it to turn an old cardboard box into a brand new house - with a door and a window? How much joy it creates when occupied by the three grand-children when they occupy it?

My sons and their partners

My two sons and their beautiful wifes: I wish I had more time to listen to them, to hug them, to dream with them and to be with them.

Adri and Willie's wedding

Marriage is the joining of two different individuals into something much bigger. We witnessed this wonder again when we attended Adri and Willie's wedding. In addition it was also a special opportunity to see family and friends again.

Nostalgia

Hempies du Toit from Annandale made a limited edition wine with his late dad based on an old Cape style. He named it Nostalgia. It was appropriate for me and my two sons to open one of only 500 bottles and enjoy it with the family.

All the kids at home

We are so thankful to have all of our children, grandchildren and grandchildren-to-be with us at de Wijnlanden. We celebrated Xavier's birthday, Izak and Julia's expecting and just being together.

Heritage koeksisters

Koeksisters is as a traditional dish as you can get. Annelie and I decided to bake some on Heritage day. They turned out to be pretty good.

Snapscan Zapper

On the weekend away with the manne-support group, we had lunch in Rooi-Els at Something Els Restaurant. It was the first establishment that I saw accepting both Zapper and Snapscan.

Clear fish pond

The filter and UV lamp that I installed a few weeks ago have started doing the trick. The pond is now crystal clear and one can see the fish much better now.

New look

A beard and much longer hair, combed back. A totally new look.

Alan Mullins

Alan Mullins is one of the best known wine experts in South Africa. He is the brains behind Woolworth's wines, but also a well-known judge and winemaker. He entertained us with his expertise and stories.

Start-up excitement

We held a board meeting of Domestly (a recent private equity investment) at de Wijnlanden. It was good to see the excitement of the young entrepreneurs talking about the challenges.

Better on the outside

With every conceivable toy inside the playpen, one would have thought that Xavier would have enjoyed just playing with them. But the fact that he was restricted in his movement made him long to be outside.

One feet

Life is hard on two feet as it is. But if you loose one leg because of a fracture in you ankle, it becomes even more challenging. I am going to be on crutches the next few weeks.

Mite treatment

Grapeleaf blister mite (knoppiesblaar) damages the leafs of vineyards during the budding process. That is why it is so important to control this disease as the buds start to form. I sprayed the vines with a mixture of Lime Sulfur this morning to fight the mites. Really stimulating things that I do nowadays.

Pilgrimage

Almost sixty kilometers by foot in two days is hard on the feet if you are not used to walking. Nevertheless, I have fond memories of joining Hannes Theron and others on the last two days of his pilgrimage. There was so much that got spoken, but it was also the moments of silence that was special.

Arden caching

Went caching with Arden this afternoon. The oupa-grandson team had a lot of fun, with a 66% success rate. During the process we explored local parks and crawled underneath a fence (twice) to hunt down a few caches. I am so glad that at least someone in the family like my eccentric hobbies.

Dave Hughes

As part of the wine icon theme for the Kurktrekkers wine-club program, we were fortunate to be entertained by Dave Hughes - recognized as one of the top wine experts in the world. He shared his memories with us as well as a perspective of the future of wine making.

Golden Ale

Before dinner we savored two bottles of Black Coat - a home brewed beer made by Ernst, my son. The golden ale was very crisp with notes of honey and hops. "Jy kan maar, my seun".

Maserati

Maserati is one of the sponsors of the Exit conference. The speakers were driven from the hotel to the Sandton convention center in one of these cars. Interesting experience.

Horizontal tasting

Annelie and I were fortunate to taste a horizontal tasting of de Trafford's Elevation, starting from 1997 all the way thru to 2011. We tasted some exceptional wines. The drive through the valley in the late afternoon sun was also very pretty.

Wisps of Cloud

There was a light mist rain behind the mountains. Wisps of cloud streamed down the front into the Somerset-West basin. Only God could paint a picture like this.

Annelie and Nina

We were very happy when Ernst and Catherine agreed that Nina could sleep over at de Wijnlanden with us. Our pink little grandchild is more than welcome with ouma and oupa.

Himalaya reunion

Annelie and I traveled to Johannesburg to attend a re-union dinner of the people on the Himalaya trip. Cas and Sabera hosted as at their home and it was wonderful to see everyone (except Anthony) again. LC showed us some of the spectacular photos that he took and we relived the wonderful experience again.

Collecting water

The water tanks have been installed, connected into the system. I woke in the middle of the night, hearing the rain and knowing that the rain-water is busy collecting in the tanks. We are now ready for drink shedding.

Mint reduction

Sunday lunch was a shoulder of lamb in the oven, served with a fresh mint and caper sauce - one of my best efforts yet. The wine (a 2008 Fusion V from De Toren) was a perfect companion.

Cape Town by night

On the way to winetasting at Hazendal, I took the Polkadraai road. The view of Cape Town as the sun set, made the trip worthwhile.

Johann demission

We attended the demission of Rev Johann Botha in the VGK Stellenbosch. The three hour service was filled with so many wonderful moments: thought-provoking, emotional, spiritual and full of a realization of thankfulness. God was truly present through the Holy Spirit.

Annandale

The youngest wines that we tasted at Annandale was a 2005. Famous winemaker, Hempies du Toit, hosted us at his winefarm and shared his wine-making philosophy based on time-tested traditions. In a modern world with instant-gratification mentality, it is special to find wines left on oak for up to eight years and to still taste freshness on a twenty year old wine. That is why it is so apt to see the cobwebs everywhere in the tasting room.

Christo Davel

It is appropriate that Christo Davel's new startup should be behind these mysterious double black doors in one of the side-streets of Cape Town. As always, I felt privileged to go behind this door to have a more in-depth chat about what he and his team has been coking up.

Sunset Meerenbosch style

There are few placed that I know where the environment are so beautiful and peaceful when the sun greet the day. Only the sea and the birds can be heard.

First event cache

Attended my first event cache on Sunday. It was a time to meet some of the self-declared addicted geocachers and to learn some of the "tricks of the trade". It was great to meet Neil, Theunis,Andre, Elize and Wynn.

Comfort food

I love making paella when I need a bit of comfort food. This time I got the balance spit-on. Just enough chilly and the rice and vegetables in the right quantities. I decided that an old Spanish Rioja would be a good companion; and it was.

Willie braai

Willie was forced to braai wors for everyone at his bachelor party. As a ultra-techie it was clear that this was a new experience for him, yet, he did very well: delivering meat for everybody's taste, ranging from rare to well-done.

Bloemfontein trip

At the airport again. This time for a short hop to Bloemfontein. Looking forward to attend sixty-year birthday celebrations of my brother-in-law, Izak and his wife.

Xavier visit

Strange how something simple like strapping Xavier (my youngest grandchild) into his car-seat, gives my so much pleasure. As he looks at me, I feel as if - for that moment - a special bond existed between the two of us.

End of the journey

The journey back has started. A short taxi ride to Leh airport, New Delhi, then Emirates to Cape Town via Dubai. It was an amazing journey: saw the beauty of God's creation and made friends for life, but now I can't wait to be back at de Wijnlanden.

Pangong Tso

It took us five hours from Leh to Pangong Tso: a 134 km long crystal clear lake (altitude 4350m) amongst snow covered mountains. The border between India and China runs through this remote expanse of water. En route, we were once again treated on the spectacular beauty of the Himalayas. We saw wild yak, stallions and marmots. We stayed as long as we could before we started the long journey back, arriving in the dark at the hotel.

Altitude sickness

The high altitude took its toll on the fifth day while we crossed Changla pass (altitude 5320m). I suddenly felt very dizzy and my heart rate shot up to almost 180. Fortunately, we had oxygen in the car and quickly drove down to a lower level.

Nubra Valley

The Nubra Valley is a semi-desert area north of Leh high in the Himalayas. It is only accessible over the Khardungla Pass. The rugged, snow-capped mountains, the desolate, sand-swept plains and the small rivers, fighting to take melted snow to the ocean provides for some of the most spectacular pictures imaginable.

Khardungla pass

The Khardungla pass is the highest pass in the world accessible by motorized vehicles. At 5600m, it is as high as Kilimanjaro. We passed over the summit with light snow falling.

Sarchu to Leh

Annelie woke up early on her birthday in an ice-cold, strange land. We had to start early for the eleven hours journey to Leh, capital city of Ladakh province. The route took us through desolate but spectacular desert country and over three passes (Namkila - 4950m, Lachulangla - 5090m and Tanglangla - 5332m). We started feeling some of the symptoms of altitude sickness.

Day One

On the first day of our trip in the Himalayas we traversed two mountain passes (Rohtang - 3950m and Baralachala - 4800m). We stopped at Kokhsar for lunch and ultimately arrived late at night in Sarchu, where we stayed for the night. On the way were snow-covered peaks, rushing streams of water, dense forests, high altitude lakes and domestic animals on the road.

Manali

Manali is a small village at the base of the big mountains. We stayed in a beautiful old hotel with a view of the valley and prepared ourselves for a two-day trip to Leh.

Kullu

Our trip to the Indian Himalayas started with a short flight from New Delhi to Kullu. We marveled at the the mountainous valleys and the fast-flowing river as we approached for landing, but realized that these peaks were merely foot-hills of the real mountains.

David and me

David is friend of mine that travelled widely in the sub-continent. We hosted him and his wife for one night when they visited Cape Town on a speaking trip. I specifically dressed in a kameez in support of him at one of his speaking assignments.

Pierre and Elsa

We attended the wedding of Pierre and Elsa in Robertson. It was fabulous to witness two individuals finding one another at a later stage in their life. Friends and family joined in the celebration, including many children from the orphanage where Elsa works.

The two dogs

Basie and Nonnatjie have been with us for six years now. As they grow older they became more placid,nestling up to one another more frequently.