So I moved to Africa...

After jumping hemispheres the last couple years, meeting the most amazing people and drinking wine to die for (and making it, of course) I've decided to make my home in South Africa.
 
The main purpose of this of course is the man I fell in love with in New Zealand, Sean, as most of you know. After the hmming and hawing, we realized that if we wanted to stay together, we would have to choose a country. So, as Sean is a die hard South African...and I'm not necessarily finished traveling yet, we made the decision to 'settle down' here.
 
So, now we're here in Africa--Sean in Johannesburg, and me in Stellenbosch, the wine region near Cape Town. Check out the map, you'll see that Joburg and Cape Town aren't neighbors.  13 hours or so by car and 2 hours by plane. But at least we're in the same country!  The real 'settling down' will occur when I return from harvest in New Zealand in June.
 
I'm down here in 'Stellies' exploring the wine scene and staying with a friend who is a winemaker at a local wine farm. Sean has 'suited up' and goes to work everyday in Sandton (the CBD of Joburg).
 
I've been whirling about in Stellenbosch, getting great opportunities to broaden my wine knowledge and have fun while I'm at it.  I was invited to a vertical Chardonnay tasting at Thelema 1993-2011, by my Swedish sommelier roommate, Josephine. I went to not one, but two great going away parties for another lovely young winemaker, Alex, on her way to work harvest in the Barossa Valley of Australia. One at the Mulderbosch estate winery and another at a tiny Greek restaurant 'Yama's' in Sommerset West.  Through those parties I met even more amazing people, and have plans for rock climbing with a fabulous South African wine journalist; and, looking forward to a full, private tasting for Sean and I

at Mulderbosch, with another couple of awesome people.

Who WOULDN'T move to Africa for that face??

 
Not to mention a great local gf Jeannie (pronouced Johnnie) who has invited me out to dinner on the Cape Town waterfront, out for nights on the town and an unforgettable sailing trip just this last Sunday... Where I met even MORE cool people.
 
Sean came down a few weeks back and we had an ACTION packed weekend in Cape Town and Stellies. We started off the weekend with a Friday night braai (bbq for the rest of you) at my place with some new friends. Saturday we went to the 'Southern Ink Exposure' tattoo convention: surprisingly the first I've ever been to. We then spent a couple hours on the waterfront at Moyo's, enjoying wine and cocktails and lunch...and of course, each other. Then, we meandered down to the 'Body Worlds' exhibit, a traveling exhibit about the human body (with REAL dead plasticized bodies) that's currently in Cape Town. And then we capped off the night back at the tattoo convention's Saturday night party with some red bull and a phenomenal show by the Dollfins and The Shadowclub.
Sunday, we did our second turn at Van Ryn's brandy distillery (Sean's second favorite thing in Stellenbosch, after me) and had a tasting and picnic at Spier wine farm with three friends (Mauro-Portugal, Matias-Chile, and Candice-Joburg). Then, he unwillingly caught his flight back to Joburg...
 
Since before coming down to the Western Cape, many people told me how 'cliquey' the people can be down here; that the Joburg people are so much friendlier and willing to help you out. Well, I don't seem to be having any troubles at all and I have the healthiest social life since I was 16.

Not knocking you Joburgers though, see you soon enough!
 

Living POSH in StellenBOSCH

Stellenbosch 21 Dec-23 Dec

3 days, 2 nights in Stellenbosch and Cape Town on the Western Cape.  We stayed at D’Ouwe Werf Hotel a very posh, old hotel...that was in the middle of a remodel; hence, why we could afford it. It’s on the site of a church and was one of the first hotels in Stellenbosch.

We procured the last rental car available in the Western Cape through friends connections, and were rollin' sweet in a Nissan mom-mobile. Or as I look at it, plenty of room for all the wine we were to buy!

Sean and I at Van Ryn's

On our way from the Cape Town airport to Stellenbosch, we decided to swing by a couple tasting rooms...really kick off the trip right. So, being the Brandy connoisseur he is, Sean wanted to stop at Van Ryn's distillery. And boy was it a compound! We strolled through the security gates (as they all have in SA) and walked into a beautiful courtyard. Complete with gardens, a fountain, cafe tables, sculptures... Then, as we opened the big, old, but not heavy doors, a woman greeted us with brandy aperitifs.  She described it as their five yr brandy with apricot and lime, I think, pure deliciousness.  I looked around, expecting to see a tray of delicious aperitifs ready-made for guests, but there was none. Very clever, my guess is the guard radios in how many guests are coming in and they prepare welcome cocktails! I love this place!

So, feeling very posh, a word I used countless times during the next few days, we strolled into Van Ryn's and ordered a tasting of three brandys. Then we sat down on a comfy leather couch and admired the 1/2 brandy cellar, 1/2 tasting room. High ceilings, the smell of brandy barrels, some cellar hands skittering in the back ground, and a few other ultra posh people, like ourselves, enjoying delicious brandy. Then our brandy tray arrived and we were told all about each, how to properly taste, etc...while sitting on a couch. Love this place!
  

View from Asara

We swung by one other winery on our

way in to Stellenbosch, Asara. There too,we made our tasting

decisions from our table, on the patio, on a lake, with black swans, and a view of hills and vineyards; and then she brought the selected wines out to us. Posh.
  
 

 When we finally got into Stellenbosch, I was excited to see that it looked like a wine town from home. Small, a vendor market, lots of little bistros and shops. After a trip the wrong way down a one way street, and confusion with the lack of street names (they turned out to be marked on the curb) we finally walked up to D’Ouwe. We checked in, and a valet quickly (literally he sprinted) fetched our car and took it away. We were shown up to our room by a very welcoming concierge. Now, when we booked, we decided to save the extra R200 and get the basic room. But, when we walked in to two single beds pushed together, and a balcony over-looking the new construction, I made a fuss. Only a small fuss!  Aaaaand then the wonderful concierge moved us downstairs to a deluxe room...wow. Four poster bed, lavish couch, flat screen TV, boudoir (complete with robes), desk, massive chandelier, bathroom with claw foot tub AND shower, mini fridge, kettle, French press and an array of teas and coffees. Again? Must I say it? Posh.

POSH

 
The next day we visited 4 wineries, plus did a tasting at a wine shop. Of course, as any proper wine-o will know, after 3-4 wineries your pallet is pretty much demolished. But, due to the short period of time, we had to push it out. Needless to say, by the end of the day we were feeling good!
 
We first visited Beyerskloof, known locally as the ‘king of pinotage’.  Pinotage, for those unfamiliar with wines, is the varietal that South Africa is known for.  It’s not Pinot Noir with a different name (like Syrah and Shiraz), it’s a very fruit driven, smooth, easy drinking wine.  I’m not personally a big fan as I love serious reds like Syrah and Cabernet, and I find Pinotage to usually be too young and fruity.  However, with some age, I find pinotage much more enjoyable; the 2003 reserve pinotage was a favorite of Sean’s so he picked up a bottle.  Then, while taking photos outside the winery, he went on to leave both the R100 bottle of wine and a new pack of cigarettes on an outside table.  We remembered too late and counted it up as a loss.

House of Mandela and Me!

After Beyerskloof, we visited Hartenberg Estate, a recommendation of Sean’s cousins Lara and Vicks. We had absolutely the best experience, mostly thanks to Xolani our sommelier.  The wine was great, and Xolani was so passionate about the wine, and pairing it with food it was awesome!  We were once again sitting at a table outside and having the wines brought out.  Plus, a great meat and cheese platter!  Our favorite was called House of Mandela, a 2008 85 % Cab/ 12% Syrah/ 3% Mouved blend.  So delicious!  And, at R250 the most expensive bottle of wine I bought the whole trip.  However, with the exchange it was only around $33 USD.

After about two hours at Hartenberg, we sadly moved on to another recommendation of Lara and Vicks, Villiera Wines.  They specialize in sparkling, but offered 32 wines for tasting.  32!  My thoughts, are when you make so many different wines, you aren’t going to have too many specatular ones.  However, I loved their Brut Rose and picked one up with the intention of drinking it in our claw footed bath tub later.  I did make a blend of my own with their 2010 and 2011 Sauv Blancs…the 2010 was very green and high acid, the 2011 was very tropical, but not balanced and had low acid.  Put them together? Wonderful!  They should hire me.

Waterford Estate

We finished off the day with the third recommendation, Waterford Estate.  By this point we weren’t tasting much of anything so we ordered the wine and chocolate pairing.  The Family Reserve Heatherleigh ‘Natural Sweet’ with their Rose Geranium Milk Chocolate was my favorite.  We also had a 2008 Cab with Rock Salt Dark Chocolate, and a 2008 Shiraz with Masala Chai Dk Chocolate.  We took some funny photos, and ventured back to our hotel room!

Our 3rd and last day in Stellenbosch, we made sure to hit a few wineries recommended to us....Tokara, Thelema, Grande Provence and Vrede En Lust.  Tokara and Thelema were good, pretty busy, we bought a couple bottles.

Grande Provence, outside of the Stellenbosch region in Franschhoek, was…grand.. I put a star by absolutely every wine, plus the olive paste they served with warm bread.  From the Viognier/Chenin blend, the gummy bear Sauvignon Blanc to the eucalyptus minty Cabernet Sauvignon, it was all good.  But my favorite, surprisingly, was the Pinot Noir.  I am notorious for disliking Pinot, but this was the most amazing one I have ever tried.  It was balanced, had perfumes of strawberries and cherries, the tannins were silky and not too drying like most Pinots I have encountered.  It was R190 and I should have bought a case!

Vrede en Lust

Last, but not least was Vrede en Lust, nearer to Paarl region than the previous two regions we tasted in.  They had a great tasting room, that had been used for filming of a local movie, and very organized staff.  It was so organized that they were reading off a script…disappointing.  We had such a great table over-looking the vineyards, that the distracted and rehearsed attendant didn’t bother us too much.  Vrede en Lust exports all over the world, so they gave me a list with US prices so I didn’t have to convert everything on my phone.  We picked up two wines, a dry rose and a malbec for cheap!

Lion's Head, Table Mountain, Haute Bay

It was a bit rainy but still a nice time. We went into Cape Town to meet up with an old rowing buddy of Sean's and to get the sights. I was reluctant because I figured "a city is a city" but Cape Town is some beautiful landscape. A major port, it is snuggled under and around the foot of Table Mountain and Lion's head, then continues to the east similar to that of Malibu. (A load of posh homes rammed into the cliffs).  You come around the corner from a bay into another bay and more breathtaking views, like the 12 apostles, Haute bay, Camps bay. We did 'sundowners' sitting at a cafe in camps bay. With the palm trees and the South Atlantic Ocean, looks like it could've been California! Therefore…once again…loved it.
 

A plus about flying domestic in SA: liquids are all good, we brought a case and a half as carry-on luggage back to Johannesburg.
 

Sundowners in Camps Bay

America! New Zealand! South Africa! New Zealand!

18 Feb 2012

So remember last time, when I said I was bad at blogging?  Apparently, I’m worse than I previously thought.   I always think “Hey, I should sit down and pound some stuff out!”  But other things always win.  Like drinking wine, or laying in the sun.

Sampling in the barrel chai @ Justin

Last time I updated, I was just getting back to the states!  Well, let me tell you...I learned a lot back in California.  I worked vintage from August-November at Justin Vineyards and Winery.  It solidified my passion for wine and taught me so much.  We made such amazing wine at Justin, I even stowed three bottles to bring back here to NZ.

At Cathedral Cove on the Coromandel Peninsula, North Island, NZ

I came back to NZ!  Oh, so briefly.  I returned shortly after Thanksgiving, 29 November to Auckland and into the loving arms of Sean.  He rented a sweet campervan for us, and we scuttled around a bit of the north island for a week.  After that week we flew to South Africa (with a short 6 hour layover in Perth, AUS).

The only things in Johannesburg, South Africa that loved me more than Sean, were the mosquitoes (or ‘mozies’ in SA tongue).  I was covered in bites!  The mozies even had the audacity to sink their noses into the bottom of my foot.  As some of my family will recall, I used to get the crap bit out of me in Alaska in the summer time…the little buggers used to bite my eyes when I was sleeping!  Do you know how hard it was to roll around as a 4 year old with two swollen eyes?  Let alone being my parents and trying to convince everyone that they were mosquito bites…

Playing with cubs at the Lion Park

Aside from the insect wild life, Africa had a lot to offer.  We visited the Lion Park, which contains plenty more than lions.  We cruised around viewing hyena, jackal, springbok, gemsbok, impala, zebra, giraffe, ostrich, waterbuck, wildebeest, LIONS, WHITE lions, cheetah, African wild dog, meerkat.  THEN we played with lion cubs and fed giraffes.   

 And the Elephant Sanctuary; which had some meerkats running around too.  At the Elephant  Sanctuary, we had the opportunity to touch the elephants, feed them, and walk around with them, holding on to their trunk.

Feeding an elephant at the Elephant Sanctuary

Feeding giraffes at the Lion Park

 We stayed with Sean’s mum Liz for the majority of our trip to Johannesburg, visited a couple of Sean’s aunts, cousins and gran in Haenertsburg, Limpopo (AKA the “Mount”), and had some good parties with Sean’s friends.  He was happy to see all his friends and family (and overjoyed when it came to his boys) since he'd been away for nine months in NZ.  Everyone was very welcoming, and made me feel right at home!

The Mount

What do three girls, with three fishing men, one inflatable lawn pool, and a beautiful day at the dam equal? Three girls using lung power for 20 minutes to blow UP that pool, then float around in it while the boys ignore us... I'm sure it was quite a scene, ladies taking turns (two at a time) to blow up a 2.5 m x 1.5 m pool. Then, pushing it into the dam and flopping in like seals.
 

Ryan, Danny and Sean fly fishing

While Sean, Danny and Ryan were in THEIR float tubes, flippering around after fish...Sarah, Candice and I decided we needed to be in the water too. Armed with only the inflatable pool that Sarah and Ryan planned to take to Zimbabwe with them, we finally got in. As we were quite proud that it floated the three of us, we were screeching and giggling, and very sure the men were flippering quickly away from us. So, Candice and I took turns pushing us as close to them as possible, we figured we were helping scare the fish TOWARDS them...right? We got very little praise for our efforts, and it was getting chilly, so we pushed our pool back to the beach.

 The following day, sadly Sarah and Ryan took off on their holiday, but left the pool. So, the boys brought a foot pump and Candice and I happily floated around for hours. Incurring some minor inappropriate sunburn along the way; and, requiring a rescue from our flippering men due to wind. 

After Stanford, we met their friends Barry and Ryan down at Ebenezer Dam, and their dad took us out on the boat for sundowners and drinks. We topped off the evening with pizzas at the Pot 'n Plow, a local watering hole.

The day before we left, we went on a zip-line canopy tour that was absolutely breathtaking.  It was too bad we didn't have a camera, but I can still remember zipping along and looking down past my feet at the gushing river and waterfalls below!

We took a few days before Christmas to visit Cape Town and the Stellenbosch wine region.  Sean asked me, “What do you want to do while you’re visiting SA?”, of course I said “Wine tasting!”.  Duh!  Both Stellenbosch and Cape Town were absolutely breathtaking, not to mention the amazing wine. 

My section on the trip to Stellenbosch ended up being terribly detailed, so I’ll post it another day.  It’s a meal in itself!

Christmas, though not a big she-bang at home anymore, still was a bit hard without my parents. The last few years it's just been the three of us, but my first year away was harder than I thought.

The next couple weeks before I left went by fast. We visited afore mentioned Elephant Sanctuary, and did some rock climbing out at Hartebeespoort.  We were climbing some routes just above the Harte dam so had a great view from the top. I led my first outdoor climb (2nd, ever), and shortly after we had to escape due to impending baboon attack...
 
Sean's sister Christine, niece Rowan, and aunt Melanie arrived for a visit a few days before I left for New Zealand. They certainly enjoyed a couple weeks away from the Scotland winter! Sean stayed behind for an extra 2.5 weeks for extra family time.
 
I, on the other hand returned to Auckland, and stayed with some of his family while I sorted out my new work visa. Then, I had a nice holiday at Papamoa beach with some friends whom we worked with at Cardrona in the winter.
 
Holiday! Even though the majority of New Zealand had a rubbish summer, it was lovely staying with Rochelle, Lara, Ryan and Tino at their house across the street from the beach. We got a few nice days, which were used for sun bathing, and bike riding. With no car, the house developed a 'bike gang' commonly referred to around Papamoa as the "Killer Wheels".

View from the back side of Mt Maunganui with Lara and Rochelle

One sunny day Juan Pablo Poon showed up, and we had a great day hiking up Mt Maunganui, feasting on Turkish food, frozen treats, sun bathing AND swimming in a fancy pool. We were afraid that the day would be un-toppable, so proceeded to do absolutely nothing the following day.
 
 

I bummed around Papamoa for over a week, but just before I left, Rochelle and I decided we wanted some adventure. We caught a bus down to Whakatane, and attempted to camp. Unfortunately, the only proper campground in Whakatane was $20/person for a tent site. I scoffed and we ended up setting up our tent behind a backpackers for $15/pp a night. 

Rochelle, Benjamin, myself and Marie

 The next day we invited the Frenchies we met at the backpackers to accompany us on our planned hike for the day: a 7 hr circuit from Whakatane, around to Ohope Beach, up through some farmland with a return to Whakatane.  Blessed with another beautiful day, we hiked up the ridge overlooking Whakatane, the harbor mouth, and finally down to the beach for awhile until we reached Ohope. 

We stopped for a seriously cheap and filling lunch then continued on our way. Lunch turned out to be too filling, and I had to concentrate on keeping it where I put it for a few kilometers. 

Lunch in Ohope

We were now hiking in the bush, trying to spot some of the legendary (but nocturnal) Kiwis. An hour or two through the bush, we came by some sheep and then down into farmland. Back up through the bush and then finally the street where we tramped back to the backpackers.

Next stop: Papamoa Beach

We bid farewell to our new French companions Marie and Benjamin, then hitched a ride in the cab of a refrigerated ice and bait truck back to Papamoa. Thankfully, for our bags, the chillers were off...but they did smell slightly fishy after.
 
The next day I took off on the Naked bus back to Bucklands Beach (East Auckland) and awaited Sean's return from South Africa on 29 Jan.