Panoramic view from Tabel Mountain

The view from the top of Table Mountain must be one of the most beautiful city views in the world with Cape Town at your feet and stretching away in the distance to the right and Table Bay and the Atlantic Ocean azure blue on the left.

I've pointed out a couple of Cape Town's main landmarks as seen from one of the lookouts on top of Table Mountain.  I will still follow this post up with a post discribing our visit to Table Mountain.

Our trip up Table Mountain was sponsored by Table Mountain Aerial Cableway.

Montagu Nature Garden

While exploring the town of Montagu in the Western Cape I discovered the Montagu Nature Garden on the outskirts of town.  I wouldn't really call it a garden, but rather a nature reserve as it covers quite a big area.  The Montagu Nature Garden was established in 1954, the year that Montagu celebrated its centenary.  Montagu Nature garden is situated in the most southerly part of the succulent Karoo “biome.” It has the distinction therefore of having flora of 3 regions of the Western Cape – succulent karoo, fynbos and renoster veld. Although you can visit the reserve at any time, the best would probably be in spring when the excellent variety of Vygies (mesembryathemums) are blooming and covering the reserve in a blaze of colours.

There is a 1,7km circular walking trail within the garden that takes visitors to the top of Bessiekop for a magnificent panoramic view of the town and the surrounding Cape Folded Mountains. Ours was unfortunately a hot day and the kidz were in a hurry to get back to the caravan park and into the pool so I didn't get to the the whole walk.  Next time, I promise. 

At the end of the walk there is a dam with a stream and lush lawns which provide a welcome break after the walk. It kinda looked out of place compared to the rest of the reserve, but the area is well known for its abundance of water in the dry Klein Karoo.

Cruising the Breede River at Viljoensdrift

There is probably no better way to enjoy the Viljoensdrift wines than leisurely cruising along the Breede River on a sunny day.  The Viljoensdrift wine estate offers one hour cruises up and down the river from their shop and tasting area on the farm and although we're not wine lovers (and you don't have to actually drink wine to go on the cruise), we decided to go for the outing.

The boat seats about 40 people and most of our fellow passengers bought wine from the estate before the cruise to take along.  Ours was a nice hot sunny day with no wind and it was ideal for cruising.  Just to show how laid back it was, Chaos Boy who doesn't sit still for long on the best of days were up and down the steps and literally hung from the rafters next to the boat's captain... and nobody even batted a eye lit. 

I think the most innovative idea that goes along with the cruise is the fact that passengers get given a "Create a picnic basket" menu containing items from the deli on check-in at the wine estate.  As you board you get given your picnic basket and wine to take on board.  As we were going for lunch after the cruise we didn't order anything to eat, but the family next to us did I got the opportunity to take a snap of them tucking in.

Viljoensdrift Wine Tasting

While visiting the town of Montagu we didn't really venture through Cogmanskloof into the Robertson Valley area and rather explored our immediate surroundings.  One morning we did decided to venture through the kloof with our camping neighbours and ended up at Viljoensdrift Wine Estate near Bonneyvale for a river cruise on the Breede River. 

We had about an hour or so to wait (or waste, which ever word rocks your boat) before the cruise departed so while the women and children sat out on the deck, Bertie (the neighbour) and myself decided to have a closer look at the wines that the estate has on offer.

I'm not a big wine drinker, not by a long shot, but I really enjoy wine tastings.  Sometimes I can pick up the fruity (or chocolate or chili or whatever else) fragrances and tastes that they say you are supposed to taste in your mouth, but being somebody who prefers a sweet wine I often just try not too pull my face.  Viljoensdrift has a couple of very nice wines with my favorite being, surprise surprise, their dessert wine.

Sacrid Ibis

A Sacred Ibis sitting in a Sweet thorn tree at the Montagu Leidam

Old Mission Church

The sun peeking past the old Mission Church containing the Montagu Museum

Fishing at Montagu Caravan Park

In the post about Montagu Caravan Park I mentioned that the caravan park has a dam that is a very popular fishing spot with the campers.  At times the kids (and adults) were lined up next to the dam casting and reeling in.  Now I'm not a big fisherman.  I enjoying doing it for 15 or 20 minutes and then I get bored, so I don't really have the patience to be a fisherman.  I'll rather sit and watch animals in the wild or go for a walk somewhere with my camera in my hand.  The Kidz on the other hand headed up to the dam every day and luckily there were two dads (and one mom) who took them under their wings as far as the fishing went and helped them out with the rods we rented from the park shop.

 

Drama Princess literally spent hours sitting by the water watching people fish and couldn't wait to get her hands on a fishing rod. She actually did very well and hooked quite a few which the adults then helped her to bring in and take the hook out.

As soon as the hooks were out she would grab the fish (if I was there she would pose for a photo) and then go and release it very gently. The one day her fish (in picture) was probably the biggest one caught that day.

Chaos Boy on the other hand gets bored and distracted very quickly and I didn't think he would enjoy fishing. He did try it a couple of times but couldn't really sit and wait. He would cast and reel in, cast and reel in. Perhaps he should try fly fishing. 

He did catch one or two fish when he did sit still for longer than 5 seconds, but he wasn't keen at all to actually touch the fish and somebody had to hold the fish for him so that I could take a photo.