Sun and wine

Our first breakfast at Akademie Street... We headed down at 9:30am, and were seated at a table under the trees in the corner. The weather was a little overcast, but looked like it would improve, as indeed it did later!

We were wondering how the breakfast would work, as we weren't ushered into a buffet area. Oh no, not here.
First we were asked for our tea preferences (one green and one rooibos), and then a large platter of fruit was delivered to our table, along with a bowl of fresh muesli, a jug of crushed juice, a bowl of honey and other jams, a bowl of yoghurt, a jug of milk, and a bowl of homemade stewed fruits (prunes, apricots, apples and cherries). An order was taken for a cooked breakfast - SS had everything except eggs, I went for scrambled eggs and mushrooms. We both had brown toast.
The breakfast was nothing less than stunning - the cut fruits on the platter were a mix of exotic and regular - they changed every day but there was never less than 5 varieties from bananas, blueberries, strawberries, melons (ugh), papaya, pineapple, lychees, cape gooseberries etc.
I tended to take my share of the fruit, top it with muesli and honey, and then some milk. SS had the fruit with yoghurt.
The full cooked was the best yet- SS got roast tomatoes with shallots, mushrooms with garlic and shallots, bacon, great boerewors, and the brown toast was lovely seeded nutty bread.
My scrambled eggs were soft and perfect, and the mushrooms were great. With a slice of toast I was in heaven, and very stuffed... But still enough room for some spoonfuls of the stewed fruits.
Katherine and Arthur go round the table during breakfast and talk to each of the guests to see what we did the day before, what our plans were, and what advice they can give. Lovely genuine interest and suggestions. Katherine suggested some wineries, and local places, and also said the jams came from Hillcrest Farm halfway to Stellenbosch. I am a sucker for jams, so I quite happily put that on my list of things to visit.
We went back up to the room, to find that it had been serviced in our absence. I LOVE that. Such a great idea, and if you have the staff, why not?
We took Katherine's suggestions and decided to visit Stony Brook and Boekenhoutskloof (and maybe Graham Becks). But first we had a walk around town to get oriented. Down past the Hugenot Monument, and then along the main street.

We stopped in a liquor store which was very useful to check prices, and then back along the back roads, which had charming names if you grew up in South Africa...

Back in the room, SS got some sun on the balcony for a while, then he had a quick shower, and we headed out to Stony Brook for a tasting. There we met Joy, the owner' wife, who was a really naturally charming woman. We sat outside and tried the wines, and she even gave us a taste of the first bottle of Ghost Gum that they had opened from the latest vintage.

We were very happy to find out that they are starting to do a delivery service into London, so we signed up for some wines from the first pallet. We also bought a bottle of the Ghost Gum and the VonA dessert wine to take with us.
It was entertaining sitting outside watching the farm workers go by, and watching Max the dog run around (he even has a blend named after him...).

Back into the Sombrero and on to Boekenhoutskloof. We were unimpressed with the cellar tasting - they didn't do the premium wines, only the cheaper ones to taste, and the famous Chocolate Block was fine but nothing so special for the price. There was a nice dog outside tho, as always, sleeping on a bench.

Very corporate style place with disinterested people, a real contrast to Stony Brook.
We headed back to Sombrero, and headed to Pick n Pay. Bought water, nail polish remover and toothpaste. We were back at Akademie Street for 5pm, and it was so hot still that we changed and headed down to lie in the sun for an hour by the pool. I had the most beautiful ripe peach sitting in the sun reading my book.
Then I had a quick swim and even managed to get SS in, altho' he clearly hated it.
Showered, and I had a gin and tonic whilst we got ready, then drove down to Col'Cacchio as I just wanted a light dinner. We each had a salad - I stuck with the spinach and parmesan, but with olives as well this time. SS went for a salad which had lettuce, corn, carrots, cucumber, tomato, and was huge again. We each had a spicy tomato juice.
We shared a pizza - my half was peri peri sauce and prawns, SS had the mediterranean with olives, artichokes, tomatoes and chorizo.
Really nice light dinner, and we drove back home, I had a peppermint tea, and lights out...