Some Color for Your Monday Morning

Red flower in Warner Beach

Purple flowers in Warner Beach

Pincushion protea in Warner Beach

Another orange flower in Warner Beach

Near Supertubes Beach in Jeffreys Bay

Flowers round a tree at the Waldorf School in Johannesburg

In Kruger National Park

Pretty pink in Kruger National Park

Outside the Sandton City Mall in Johannesburg

Supertubes, Dude

In the 1960s, surfers discovered the perfect wave in Jeffreys Bay, South Africa, turning the sleepy beach town into a surfers’ haven.

Supertubes Beach, Jeffreys Bay

Jeffreys Bay is now regarded as one of the top five surfing destinations in the world. Each year, Jeffreys Bay is host to the annual Billabong Pro ASP World Tour surfing event. The waves in Jeffreys Bay have one of the most consistent and quality right hand point breaks in the entire world. The Supertubes, which break for about 300 meters or more, are regarded as the best of the best.

It had been raining all day when we arrived in Jeffreys Bay. Suddenly, the rain stopped, and a rainbow appeared over Supertubes Beach.

Not something you see every day...one of those heart-happy moments in life

Shortly thereafter, we watched all of the surfers staying in our guesthouse frantically grab their wetsuits and boards, rushing to the beach to catch some waves before the sun went down.

Supertubes Beach after a rainstorm

Despite Sean’s ability to actually get up on a surfboard (demonstrated on our honeymoon in Hawaii five years ago), we just watched the surfers work the Supertubes in the late afternoon sun. Even I could tell the waves were perfect for surfing. Long and tubelike – hence the name – the Supertubes allow the surfers to ride the wave horizontally to the beach for a good distance.

As much as we liked Jeffreys Bay, we had no plans to return anytime soon. The night after we stayed in Jeffreys Bay, we stopped in East London for the night before our planned drive up the Wild Coast the next day. It wasn’t until we reached East London that I realized that I forgot my trail running shoes at our guesthouse in Jeffreys Bay. Oops. Kind of an important item when you are travelling for a year. We were already on a tighter schedule than we would have liked due to our lack of planning, but we agreed we had no choice. We would have to cut our Wild Coast plans short by one day, make the 3 1/2 hour drive the next day to Jeffreys Bay to retrieve my shoes, and then drive 3 1/2 hours back to East London for the night. Not the best day of our trip, but at least there was a silver lining. Returning to Jeffreys Bay meant we got to eat lunch again at Wax Cafe. Wax Cafe is a fun little place with good food and that chill surfer vibe. It shows videos of surfers on the Supertubes and lists the daily surf report on the chalkboard out front.

Yummy salad at Wax Cafe

This would be our third meal there in two days – it was that good. Our favorite waitress, the same one who had waited on us for our previous lunch and breakfast, was very confused to see us again. If you ever find yourself in Jeffreys Bay, check it out.

Scenes from South Africa’s Garden Route

Knysna Lagoon

Me at the Knysna Heads

Sean peering around the corner of the Knysna Heads

Reds and blues

Yellow flowers beneath an African sky

Red flower in Plett

Trying to dip a toe into Plettenberg Bay

Our second rope bridge of the trip at Storm's River Mouth in Tskitsitkamma National Park

African Lily in the rain in Tsitsitkamma National Park

More lillies

Getting Schnookered in Franschoek

Franschoek is in the heart of South African wine country. It is an endlessly adorable town, surrounded by mountains on almost all sides, with a main street lined with shops and cafes.

Franschoek's main street

Of course, the main attraction is the wineries. As we learned while we were in Cape Town, South African wine is quite good, so we were looking forward to tasting some at the source. We had been wine tasting in the United States before, but no where as beautiful as Franschoek.

Our first winery was Vrede en Lust – roughly translated from Dutch into Peace and Passion. They sat us on our own section of their veranda to take us in the fabulous views, and brought us a variety of wines to taste. Our current lives are very tough, I know.

Our first winery - Vrede en Lust

We then had lunch at Dieu Dionne Winery, which also has a microbrewery. There, too, the views are amazing.

View from lunch at Dieu Dionne Winery

Dieu Dionne Winery vineyards

After lunch, we already had quite a buzz, but it was still early…so why not go to another tasting? We stopped by the Rickety Bridge Winery. At Vrede en Lust, they had given us 1 ounce samples, which was more than enough to taste the wines. At the Rickety Bridge, we practically got whole glasses. By the end, all the wines were tasting delicious.

When we arrived back at our guesthouse, I had trouble opening the front door. I assure you, this is from my natural inability to open locks, and had nothing to do with the amount of wine consumed. The owner came to open the door, and looked at us with amusement. She asked us where we were dining that night. When we told her that we were planning on going to Allora, an Italian restaurant recommended by the host at Rickety Bridge, she looked REALLY amused. Oh, right, Allora, she said, with a knowing smile. The restaurant where they pick you up and take you home! (This is true – they really do!) I am sure she thought we were three sheets to the wind…which, if I am being completely honest, was not entirely untrue.

The crazy part is that all of the tastings are free.  (Or, as my high school economics teacher Mr. Bender would say, there is no such thing as free, because in our tipsy state, we purchased two bottles).

The wines we purchased and consumed at Kruger - Vrede en Lust Syrah and Rickety Bridge Shiraz

Needless to say, we really enjoyed Franschoek. It is only about an hour and a half from Cape Town, and is a great place to spend a few days relaxing. We’ll definitely keep our eye out for South African wines in the future, particularly the reds.

Scenes from Cape Point

One of the highlights of Cape Town is not in Cape Town itself, but on Cape Point, the peninsula that juts into the Atlantic and Indian Oceans.  I loved both of the day trips we spent exploring Cape Point.  The scenery on Cape Point is amazing: beaches, cliffs, mountains, wild flowers.

We hiked up to the lighthouse on Cape Point for amazing views, and stood at the southwestern-most point of Africa at the Cape of Good Hope.

I saw a guesthouse at which I want to stay if I am ever on Cape Point again.

Each day we visited, we ate lunch at a different farm and craft village, where we drank local wine, ate organic food, and soaked up the sunshine.  It was late August – the equivalent of late March at home – and spring was in the air.

All of this, not to mention all of the animals we saw…coming soon!