Today is our first tour with the group. And it isn’t even the whole group – only about 15 of us are going.  Neil, one of the singles, has gone Shark tank diving, and the rest? Who knows where?  Shopping like they did yesterday instead of the Cape tour?  We don’t know, and honestly don’t care. We’re on the bus – and happy to only have a fraction of the whole group. 

Everyone is on time, which is a bonus, and the drive to Stellenbosch is pretty and uneventful.  Colleen is a great guide – filling everyone in on all the details and history of the area as we make our way out of the city, watching as Table Mountain is enveloped in clouds.  That’s the typical Table Mountain tableau.

Our first stop is Fairview – Goats du Roam! – just like last year. And it is wonderful as always.  Our sommelier is a hoot and Colleen runs the place – wandering back and forth, talking to everyone, bringing us all bread to go with our cheese and then honey butter for the ladies who insist they need butter with their bread.  No comment.  But all in all, still a great tasting with excellent wines and cheese. And since we still have ham and buns left, we pick up some cheese from the store for a picnic dinner tonight at the hotel. Perfect!

After the tasting, we go outside to wander a bit, watching the goats in the tower and playing in the pen. Then head out to the entrance to gaze at the mountains in the distance. This place is just gorgeous.  Even though this is our 3^rd time here, it never really gets old.  It is just lovely.

Back on the bus, we head to Franschhoek for our lunch stop, arriving in time for their Saturday market – which is cram packed with crafts and food and a singer that reminds us suspiciously of the horrible guy in the Destination Celebration on Pursuit.  It might not be him, but he sure sounds close.  Ugh.

There isn’t anything all too exciting here, so we strike off down the road, past the church to Tuk Tuk Brewery, where we had beer and wine last year. Only this year, we are eating here as well.  Grabbing a table in the shade on the patio, we tuck (yeah, that’s the pun!) into a huge Biltong bowl and equally huge Nachos for one (would NEVER want to see what Nachos for two would be like!).  It is all great, but so much food, that we take the biltong to go for later. It will add to our picnic tonight or come with us to Pretoria tomorrow.  It’s that big!

Back on the bus, we head to our final tasting at a very small winery called Eikehof. The family has been here for generations, since 1903.  The owners now, Francois and his wife, are 4^th Generation and he gives us a quick history of vineyard:  grape vines came over on ships in 1683, Great Grandfather bought the vineyard in 1903, handed down through generations.  Such a great story – and such a lovely couple.  Francois’ wife introduced the wines and cheese pairings to us – and we all dug in to an excellent after lunch snack. 

Then came the entertainment! A troupe of acrobats performed for us doing spectacular poses and lifts, and then even some of our group got involved. (Only because one of the ladies at the table said she didn’t see what they did – because she wasn’t paying attention?  Yeah, don’t go there! But, to the troupe’s credit, they did another lift and pose – adding in the two from our group to satisfy the obviously finicky viewers.)  Overall, it was very fun.

Once the acrobats had taken their leave, we wandered through the grape vines, over to the ostriches – they are so cute – and pose so well!  Then to the old antique cars, all the while enjoying the beautiful day and the scenery.

Our next stop is Stellenbosch – to stretch our legs and shop. Well, you know we are stretching our legs – and we wander off in search of some walks – finding a map with trails in front of the Stellenbosch college dean’s office.  Unfortunately, we never really find the trails – but do have a nice stroll along a pretty little creek that runs through the town.

On the way back toward the bus, we find this great wire statue with an incredibly poignant and important and all too true statement engraved on an open book in his hand.  Just take a minute to reflect here.

And then we are back to our Gate 1 reality and, after a quick coffee, back on the bus to the hotel. 

Our dinner, as planned, is our picnic on the pool deck with our ham sandwich leftovers, the biltong and cheese bought at Fairview. Totally perfect and fun and simple. And to top it all off, we get to watch the clouds envelope Table Mountain, like a waterfall of clouds, or icing, coating the mountain top.  Completely fun.

And then, our friends, it was bedtime.  9pm.  We have a 3:30 wake up call for our early morning flight.  Tomorrow will be a very long day indeed.