If you'd been in our house today we would have dragged you along on a short hike in the Assegaaibosch nature reserve. Assegaaibosch is in the Jonkershoek valley, which is about 9km outside the famous town of Stellenbosch.

Assegaaibosch is filled with indigenous Cape plants (as well as a few 180-year-old British oak trees). We spent quite some time wandering the footpaths under the African sun, and finally rested for half an hour in an ice-cold stream we found running through the reserve.

If you're a keen day-hiker or even a mountain-biker then the Assegaaibosch and Jonkershoek nature reserves should definitely be added to your agenda. I can't believe that today was the first time I'd visited these reserves - they're so close to where I live!