Winelands and penguins

Lots to catch up on, so we'll start with the latest and maybe work backward!

Bill and I have been a little homebound of late, what with Bill's work schedule, our commitments to the Unitarian church here, and my work for Abalimi.  But we used some of the four-day "public holiday" this weekend to take in close-by attractions.  Friday and Saturday, we toured the rather spectacular "Wine Country" around the old city of Stellenbosch, taking our time and doing only two wineries--though superb ones--in two days! 

Here is the first winery we visited, Vergenoegd, one of the oldest in the area.  The first picture is of the front of the main building.  We had lunch in the little treed area adjacent to the restaurant, pictured next.

The dining area looks out on a pond, to the right of this picture.  Quite picturesque!  Our hostess was Chemine, who is pictured below with one of the Chinese geese who have the run of the place.  This is Rocko--named for some gangster or another.

The place was pretty deserted, as it was good Friday and the tasting room was closed.  But we enjoyed lunch and did buy some wine after Chemine let us have a taste on the sly!  Her car and the owner's car were the only others in the lot when we drove in.  Here they are!

Yes, two classic VWs, both in pristine condition!

We stayed overnight at a guest house (B&B) and met a lovely British couple who live in Wales.  They were both enchanted by this area, so we invited them to come again and stay with us; and they reciprocated by inviting us to visit them in Wales! 

On Saturday we visited the Tokara winery on the advice of our B&B host, Peter, a Swedish expat along with his wife.  While Vergenoegd is located in a plain-like area, Tokara is up on the steeps.  Here are some photos of the setting.

The last with a bunny--there were lots of those!

We walked a beautiful pathway that runs along the restaurant side of the main building and boasts clouds of windflowers and a pomegranate tree.

After tasting most of the wines produced at Tokara, we bought quite a few bottles.  Our B&B host certainly put us on to an outstanding winery.  We lunched in the restaurant and then headed up the hill to a deli associated with the winery, where they sell olive oils and olives also produced on the property.  There was a lovely space outside where children could play.  Bill snapped a few photos to show you the "jungle gym" and other attractions.

This is is a basket swing--don't know if you can make it out from the photo.

Got home Saturday afternoon and had neighbors for dinner that evening--a butternut squash risotto and green salad with a beautiful bottle of Chardonnay from the Tokara winery.

Sunday was rainy, and we mostly wasted the day dripping around the house.  We had rain and wind again on Monday but struck out anyway for the Cape Peninsula, which juts out into the sea below Cape Town.  Though the panoramic views were somewhat spoiled by the drizzle, we did get down as far as Simon's Town and Boulders Beach, where a whole colony of penguins took up residence some years ago, much to the annoyance of the citizenry, who now have to put up with hordes of tourists.  These are little guys, called, variously South African or "Jackass" penguins.  It may be they got the latter name because of a kind of honking, braying sound they make, which appears to have something to do with dominance (or sex!).  Looked like the big males were doing the vocalizing.

You go down to the penguins through a welcome center (where the staff was busy capturing a few renegade penguins) and walk down a series of raised platforms to the beach where most of the colony was gathered.  We encountered penguins from the moment we left the welcome center.  They were just all over.  And little shelters had been provided for them by some human helpers.  Here are some pictures.

Penguin "houses" above, with penguins--up from the beach.  Here I am below on the ramp.

This guy was actually posing for the camera, I do believe.  He situated himself close to the ramp and just stayed there, even when we were close by.

I love this shot!  Look at them all lined up on this boulder.  And below is the main hangout beach for the colony.  Below that, notice a group in the middle--an adult penguin huddling with downy babies.  It was very windy and also cold and rainy (winter's coming!).

Well, that's about it for our weekend trips.  I'll try to catch up on other stuff in the next blog.  At least all the photos are downloaded!