Our first vineyard and Cape Town’s best kept secret

These aren’t one and the same, but there is a connection.  After visiting Robben Island (well worth doing and there will be a post about that shortly), we stayed around the dock area to visit Panama Jacks, a restaurant Eddie had come across in his pre-trip research.  It’s a fish restaurant on Cape Town’s docks and we were warned that you have to go through customs to reach it.  But we weren’t warned why it is known as Cape Town’s best kept secret – because it is impossible to find.

We’d picked up a flyer in our b&b, which had a map on it, showing the customs points and a big arrow pointing to Panama Jack’s.  It even had a picture of the restaurant, so you know what you are looking for.  It also tells you that Panama Jack’s is Cape Town’s best kept secret.  Hmm.

The customs officer very kindly gave us directions as we went through.  Something about a big red boat.  When we passed the big red boat, we knew we were heading in the right direction, which is some comfort when you are surrounded by roads that seem to lead nowhere and massive containers everywhere.  And some seriously big lorries.  But no restaurant called Panama Jack’s.

But we did find the Yacht club.  They weren’t surprised that we were looking for Panama Jack’s and gave us directions that sent us back the way we’d come – to the big red boat.  And a load of roads that led nowhere.   But we found another checkpoint and another guard to kindly point us in the right direction.  You can’t miss it, he said.  But we did.  But at least we spotted it, tucked down a side road, so we could screech to a halt, do a handbreak 360 turn and arrive in a squeal of tyres.  Sort of.

We entered thinking this had better be worth it.  And were told it was fully booked.  But, we protested, it’s early and you’re empty!  And some of your bookings might give up because they can’t find it!  We were told we could have a table as long as they had it back by 8.30pm.  (I should point out that we’d aimed to get there at about 6pm, for an early dinner and flop, exhausted into bed – after all, we had landed at the equivalent of 5am) 

The meal was wonderful.  And we were out at exactly 8.30, by which time Panama Jack’s was full and buzzing.  We decided it was all locals enjoying the pleasure of being amongst those who knew the secret of how to find it.

Bearing in mind our pending visit to my good friend Nicky Schmidt, who lives near the Contantia wine area, we chose a bottle of Steenberg Sauvignon Blanc to go with it.  It’s a nice crisp one, we were told, and that was spot on.  It was a lovely crisp, fresh, sauvignon, so we decided we’d visit their vineyard.

Nicky decided to make it the first stop, which was just as well.  Wine tasting has changed a bit since we were last here in 1988.  Then you just wandered up to the counter and chose some wines to taste, while the proprietor told you about the wine.  You could discuss it with him and then decide on which bottle to take home.

Not so in Steenberg. First you are invited to sit by the infinity pools, under a backdrop of beautiful Cape Town scenery.  There are a lot of places to sit and they are all full. Then a waitress comes and offers the first taste – along with a commentary learnt by rote.  This is a sparkling wine made from grapes from x area and you will find hints of this, this and that (three per taste, no more, no less) enjoy your wine goodbye.  And that was it, five times over  - because each tasting consists of five wines – no more no less.  All very beautiful, but not exactly the personal experience we had all those years ago. 

And it took a long time.  Almost as long as having a meal in a restaurant.  To be fair though, that could be because Nicky and I were catching up and talking matters writerly, while our husbands looked on with glazed eyes (so lovely to get one’s own back after all those tedious IT discussions he put me through).  It meant there wasn’t time to visit any more, as we had a table booked at Uitsig vineyard for dinner. 

Uitsig is another vineyard set in beautiful surroundings.  The food is excellent and the wine list includes several 250ml caraffes, so you can mix your wines.  We chose their own sauvignon blanc and their merlot, both lovely, the merlot with that vanilla smoothness you’d expect (which was lacking in the Steenberg).

To be honest, the purpose of the afternoon was to catch up with Nicky and enjoy a meal together.  The wine tasting was a bonus, because Nicky, knowing we'd called this a wine tour, kindly made sure we visited some.  Tomorrow, we’re off to Franschhoek, where the tasting begins in earnest.

But Steenberg will go down as Vineyard No 1.  And Uitsig can be number two.  Only 78 more to go!

Flying Backwards - Why does Business Class cost so much?

It's a question I often ask myself - normally when I'm looking for flights and fall over when I see the four-figure cost of going business class.  So, what do you get for the extra nought?

We discovered very early on in our planning, that the a return business class ticket to Perth costs considerably more than a business class around-the-world 29,000 mile trip.  Daft, I thought.  Well, let's get a bargain and go business, said Eddie.  So we did.

Before the trolls come out and condemn us for being frivolous and inconsiderate, we do have another good reason for this - our health.  We're not young any more and it takes us a long time to walk upright after travelling economy.  And, this is a wine trip.  So, here I am in the business class lounge in Terminal 5, where Eddie and I are comparing Chilean Sauvignon Blanc with Sancerre.  (Sancerre winns).

So, back to the question.  What do you get for those extra pounds?  Well, to start with, it took us all of twenty minutes from climbing out of our cab to reaching departures.  You have your own queue, and it doesn't have many people in it.  Then you go through security, again with no queue.  Then you get to your Business Class invitation only lounge, where, instead of the bun fight for a moulded plastic chair, you get to sit in comfort and help yourself to a vast array of food and wine.  The atmosphere is hushed.  No one goes rushing around grabbing food and drink and piling it on their plate saying 'wow - look at all this food and drink, let's tuck in!'  No, it's a bit more refined than that.  Well, it was until I walked in . . .

Another thing you get is a complementary treatment in the elemis spa.  Bearing in mind the above, I chose a power back massage.  This is the one where you kneel on a chair, like this.

You often see these in airports, with some traveller sitting on full display.  But, if you're travelling Business, it happens in a screened cubicle.

Once you've taken your fill of what's on offer, you wander down to your departure gate.  And get on the plane.  No bun fight for a moulded plastic chair here either, you are ushered straight on.  You might wonder why you'd like to rush straight on, when you're going to be on the plane for the next 12 hours or so, and I've often wondered what the advantage was.  Then I saw our seats.

You can stand!  So when you're politely offered a choice of orange juice, wine or champagne, you can stand up and toast the start of your journey after all those months of planning, in your own private little space for two (yes, we had champagne).  When you sit down, you can stretch your legs all the way out and there is still space in front of you.  Seats don't go back, they go forwards, at the touch of a button.  There is no one in front to fling their seat back just as you're about to take a sip of tea, no one to grab your seat and shake your head when they clamber out from behind.  There is no clambering at all - ever.  Oh, and no queue for the loo.

And the food.  Instead of being asked 'chicken or beef?' and having your food thrown at you, your steward gives you a  menu and takes your order.  It arrives on a tray with its own little table cloth.  You get metal knives and forks - your choice of wine from the list is served in a real glass.  It is very civilised - and the whole time you can stretch your legs out and wriggle your toes, gleefully grinning where no one can see you (the atmosphere is hushed in here as well, apart from the two passengers gleefully wriggling their toes and exclaiming - 'look how much room we've got!)

And then it's time to go to sleep.  So you press the button and your chair gently slides all the way forward until it is flat.  And you lie down.  I mean, you really lie down.  And sleep.  OK, it's not as comfy as your own bed, in fact it's a bit like camping, and you may well stay awake just to absorb the novelty of LYING DOWN on a plane, but it's still LYING DOWN.

So, when adding up all this, what do you get for the extra money?  Well, if you take into account the free drink, food, treatments etc, it probably wouldn't fill the gap.  But the one thing that makes the difference, is the fact that you're taking up the space of about three economy seats.  But BA have been clever in their design.  By making half their seats face backwards, they manage to fit more in than they otherwise would (at least that what I worked out with my limited knowledge of geometry).  So, flying backwards is another experience you get.  To be honest, if you're sitting in the middle like us, you really don't notice the difference, apart from take off and landing, but it's still novel.

So, what you're really getting for the extra is -

S P A C E.

Is it worth it?  Well, I'm off the plane now and walking normally . . . .

Before we go . . .

Are you all packed and ready then?

Why do people keep asking us this?  Honestly, they started before Christmas and we're not going until 3rd January!  Today is Sunday, we leave on Thursday - why on earth would we have packed already?  Maybe I've missed something - perhaps the longer you go away for, the sooner you have to pack.  I do know people who pack about a week before a week's holiday, so perhaps it is reasonable to assume that, as we're going away for three months, we'd have long finished packing by now.

Er, no.  Actually, we haven't started yet, although there have been rumors of a list that we ought to make.  In fact, we are seriously thinking about making the list tomorrow - or we may leave it until Tuesday, once we've sobered up a bit after New Year's Eve.  On Wednesday, we'll be taking son back to uni, so we may have to pack on Tuesday as soon as we've made the list - or maybe Thursday morning, as we don't leave until lunch time.

Does that answer your question??

Before you go imagining two people madly running around throwing things into suitcases at the last minute, we have not been idle in our preparations.  And that's apart from the weeks of planning, which means we have now booked absolutely everything, and have my 8 page brief itinerary and two inch thick file of booking references and map, plus Eddie's spreadsheet to prove it.

We have also been out and bought some useful items, which are sitting in a carrier bag on the floor of our bedroom, waiting to go into one of the suitcases.  Eddie has bought things like mosquito repellent and a gadget to weigh your suitcases.  I've bought things like kindle books, handwash and shower gel, while we've both been buying lightweight, quick drying shorts and t-shirts, which are surprisingly (or maybe not) hard to buy at this time of year.  I did however find the brilliant Regatta Outlet website, where you can buy out of season outdoor wear at very reduced prices.

And another thing we've done is buy and drink lots of wine from the places where we're going.  It's amazing how many places you recognise as you walk up and down the wine aisles in the supermarket.  But I think people are getting a bit fed up of us pointing at wine bottles and saying - 'we're going there!'  (Just wait until we get back . . . )

The other thing we've done a bit of lately, is think about all the disastrous things that could happen while we're away.  Things like the house burning down, one of the children having a serious accident, that sort of thing.  But the children have assured us that they can handle it - they are more worried about us.  Things like getting mugged, driving over a gorge, losing our passports, losing our way, losing our marbles, falling off a horse, phoning them up and saying we've decided to stay in the Cook Islands and not come home, that sort of thing.  Things I'd rather not think about (apart from the Cook Islands).  Maybe I'd better start that list to take my mind off it . . .

We haven't started yet but . . .

Have a look at the links above to see where we're going!  

I'll start blogging here as soon as we're away!