Kerry-Anne and I visited Zula Sound Bar for the first time a few years back when Freshlyground was still largely unknown. It was their night to perform, and the intimate setting at Zula was amazing! Zula is practically an institution in Cape Town and definitely worth a visit (unless you can't take very crowded and vibey places :) ).
Each night Zula (in Long Street) rocks its patrons with the sound of a variety of live musicians. From what I've heard they have really good traditional food (like potjiekos, boerewors rolls and sosaties), and they also have half-price cocktail specials between 5pm and 7pm, Monday to Saturday.
I'm a bit of a sucker for antiques and retro housewares. I spotted this old scale hanging in a lovely little gift and décor shop in the Cape Quarter, called Baraka. If you like unusual curios, antique kitchen utensils, handmade leather-bound photo albums, and brightly coloured cushions, then put Baraka on your list of places to visit. I hinted an awful lot while we were browsing around, but unfortunately all Paul got me was this photo. :-)
I guess I'll have to go back on my own one of these days, armed with my credit card and a very large shopping bag. Also, comfortable shoes, because I could be there for several hours. And Paul doesn't need to know, okay? ;-)
Every first Saturday of the month, a variety of crafters get together under the trees in Durbanville to sell their home-made products at the Durbanville Craft Market. In December the organisers put together special night markets for people who would like to buy hand-made gifts for their friends and family. Apart from the handcrafted items that you can purchase, there's always take-away food available, and a variety of entertainers to keep shoppers amused. The night markets are finished for the year now, but keep them in mind next year - they have some pretty cool stuff for sale.
Summer days are back. The sun is out, the wind is blowing (unfortunately), and people are heading for the beaches. The Explorer (the yacht in the photo) was anchored a little way off Sea Point, just bobbing in the waves. I thought that the vessel was a little too close to shore, but I assume that the skipper knew the waters and knew that he was safe.
One of the most awesome things to do in Cape Town is to take a trip out into the bay and view the city and mountains from a different perspective. Find a charter company and do it - you won't regret it. Unless of course you're (like me) susceptible to motion sickness, in which case it's probably best to first head to a pharmacy for a carton of little white tablets. :)
Cape Town houses such creativity - I sometimes wonder if it's the mountain, the sea, or perhaps the forests that encourage its residents' artistry. I think it has something to do with all of these, but I'm of the opinion that it also has something to do with the African soil on which the city is built. :)
In addition to Cape Town Daily Photo, Kerry-Anne and I own another website, The Red Balloon Craft Junction, which allows South African artists and crafters to advertise their work for free. In South Africa, while many people get involved in arts and crafts purely for the love of the hobby, these days I think there are more and more who do so because it's a much-needed alternative source of income.
If you're interested in arts and crafts, consider signing up for Kerry-Anne's (free) monthly newsletter, the Craft Gazette, or click here to see what December's newsletter was filled with.
The photo above was taken at One Roof, the studio that I mentioned yesterday. If you have a moment, take a look at a few more of the photos I snapped while visiting.
One Roof is a shared studio where artists, and other creatives, share space to perform their passion. It's a single large, large room, where everyone has their own little space to work on their art or craft, in an environment that allows them to draw on one another's creativity and passion.
Tessa and her husband Alex opened the One Roof studio early in 2009 because of Tessa's love for working with ceramics and the difficulty that they experienced in finding a small and affordable spot where she could exercise her love for the art. Today they provide a creative space for an assortment of artists and crafters who paint, make leather goods, craft ceramics, and do glass-blowing. The studio has an open day on the first Saturday of each month, so if you visit the Neighbourgoods Market at The Old Biscuit Mill, track down the studio - they're tucked away on the top floor of the main building.
Things got way too busy and somehow we managed to miss Synergy, a weekend of music at the beautiful Boschendal Wine Estate, earlier this month.
Towards the end of November we spent a Sunday afternoon at one of the Kirstenbosch Summer Sunset concerts, and, as I mentioned in my last article, we managed to make it to The Killers on Sunday. We've also just been invited to take pics of the Johnny Clegg concert at the V&A Waterfront's AquaFestival later this month, and would love to make it through to the Sunshine Saturdays concerts at Wynberg Boys' High to watch Zebra & Giraffe, The Dirty Skirts, and Prime Circle.
So, the purpose of this post is to say that summer in Cape Town simply rocks, and that if you're not a local and you are able to make one or more outdoor music concerts a part of your holiday in Cape Town then I suggest you do just that, and experience the concert vibe. It really is something else! Also, if you are a local and haven't been to one of these concerts... dude, seriously, get tickets and be there!
I heard about Massimo's Pizza Club in January when they opened, and on Saturday we finally had the chance to visit for dinner with two of our friends. From the name I expected that the restaurant would be run by an Italian family, and as it turns out I was at least half right! And you do know that there's no better pizza than pizza made by a real Italian, right?
As you may already know, I'm in the IT field, so it was cool to hear that Massimo, the owner, spent many years as a mainframe programmer and software support specialist in Italy. He then spent a few years working in London (where I think he met his wife, Tracy), which led him to realise that IT wasn't the way he wanted to spend his life. So now Massimo and Tracy live in beautiful Hout Bay, and run Massimo's Pizza Club at night!
If you're in the mood for real Italian pizza, head over to Massimo's (here's a map) - and while you're there, try the Limoncello shots (which are really, really lemony) and the after-dinner flaming sugar cubes soaked in alcohol. They're really cool! :)
We had the chance for the first time to visit & Union (yes, that's And Union) for drinks and a light snack last Friday. We had an awesome evening, not only due to the fun people that we met up with, the exclusive selection of imported beer, and the yummy bratwurst snacks, but also because we were fortunate to be treated to a few dozen songs by photographer and musician, Andy Lund (pictured here, on the right).
As you may have gathered, summer has arrived in Cape Town. Days are getting longer and evenings are getting warmer - which means that restaurants have started spilling over into the open air, creating an awesome party vibe throughout the city. I love this time of year!
If you're looking for directions to & Union, no worries, here's a map. :)
Almost F1-racing at Killarney – you can do it too!
In my previous article I spoke about my outing to the Killarney racing circuit, arranged by Cape Town Tourism and Fantastic Racing. The plan was to show me (and you) what fun can be had taking a few laps in these Reynard racing cars. (See a few more photos from the day in our album over here).
We were given overalls, boots and gloves similar to the ones that you may have seen Formula1 drivers parading around in, and then we sat down while one of the instructors explained everything that we needed to know about driving one of these beasts.
After the briefing, we all jumped on the back of a bakkie (a small utility vehicle) that took us on a slow ride around the circuit. As we drove, the instructor explained where we should drive and what we should be cautious about - like braking before entering a corner, and staying off the grass. :)
On our return to the garage we grabbed our helmets and headed off to the Reynards. Getting into the car was a little tricky (it's a fairly tight fit) but once in I felt pretty snug, and with the 5-point harness, pretty well secured. I quickly tested all the controls to make sure that everything was within reach, fired up the engine, and waited for the marshals to indicate that it was my turn to pull the car forward.
Getting going was pretty easy - the speed-machine worked much like any other manual car, except that the gearbox was sequential. This means that you keep pulling backwards on the stick to go from first to second, through to sixth gear and then push forward to go from sixth to fifth, through to first - easy-peasy.
The instructor took the lead around the circuit, with everyone following in single-file. I have to say that it was pretty easy and within two laps I felt fully in control, gunning it as fast as the car could go down the straights, but being just a little cautious on the bends. ;) After about 6 laps the chequered flag came out and I finished the final lap as fast as I possibly could. :)
We had a little break with some refreshments and a little more instruction from our teacher and then headed off for our second set. This time was even better since I felt in control right from the start and the tips given in the break helped me to know better where to drive and how to get the most out of the Reynard.
All in all, it was fantastically awesome and I find myself fighting a motor-racing addition. :) The cost ranges from R2,500 to about R4,400, depending on the package you choose, and if you have a need for speed, it's definitely something to add to your to-do list!
Thanks to Bianca, Julie, and the rest of the Fantastic Racing team for the rocking morning. If you'd like to enquire about learning to race one of these cars, check out the contact details on this page, and if you'd like a map to Killarney, see the Google Map with the route that I've plotted from the N1 right to Fantastic Racing's doorstep.
Who would refuse an invitation from the guys at Cape Town Tourism to experience a little more of what Cape Town has to offer? Who would refuse an invitation to visit Fantastic Racing (at the Killarney race track) to race around the circuit at up to 240km/h? Certainly not me. :)
From the photo you'll notice two things: 1) My name is on the coolest of the six racing cars, and 2) these ain't no go-karts! The machines are fitted with 3.5-litre Dodge V6 engines that produce around 450BHP/t (brake horsepower per tonne) or 335KW.
Just before these numbers bore you, let me explain the significance. The Reynard single-seater racing car produces marginally less power than a new Porsche 911 Turbo, which generates around 460BHP/t (350KW). What makes the acceleration on this beast even more awesome is that it weighs a fraction of what a Porsche does and sits really (really) low on the ground.
The cars are exceptionally easy to drive and the gear shifts are actually easier than a normal car. As far as acceleration is concerned, when you squeeze the pedal to the floor the grunt of raw power is all you hear as your helmet is forced back into the seat behind you. The only thing that makes driving the Reynard not quite a walk in the park is the lack of power steering - so you have to be prepared to whip up some elbow-grease and teach the racer who's boss. I'll post a little more info in my next article, but for now, visit Fantastic Racing's website for more info.
This oversized "exit" sign reminded me of those signs that you often see inside of theatres and similar venues. 17 November marks my dad's birthday and as a gift we've given him two tickets to go and see Cats at the Artscape theatre in Cape Town.
Cats has a cast of cat-suited people performing a singing-dancing musical of poems from T.S. Eliot's Old Possum's Book of Practical Cats; it opens in Cape Town on Friday 29 November, and runs all the way until Sunday 10 January. Tickets have been selling really fast, so if you're keen to see it, head over to Computicket to reserve your (or your parents') place. ;)
Kerry-Anne's always raved about Chocolat (as well as chocolate), so eventually she managed to drag me along for coffee and cake. We'd actually intended to have lunch, but ran late and arrived only after the kitchen had closed for the day. So unfortunately we ended up just having coffee and cake - a huge piece of divine nougat chocolate cake, at that!
The decor is beautiful, with almost every decorative item in the store being up for sale. In fact, I do believe that I noticed a price tag hanging from our waitress's jersey. :) And, speaking of the waitress, the staff were really great - quick, polite and friendly. It's definitely worth your while to visit, but do take care - they close reasonably early on Saturday afternoons and aren't open on Sundays.
Kerry-Anne and I took a ride in a similar boat to this one in Singapore, but to date I haven't ever taken a ride in one of these Waterfront boats. We always seem to do the fun things in other people's countries, but I guess we all tend to get too caught up in day-to-day life when we're in our own cities.
So the aim of today's photo is to remind you to explore the place where you live, and to remember to also do the fun things that visitors to your area get to do!
In a post about the Westin Grand Hotel a few days ago I mentioned the canal that leads from the hotel and the CTICC to the Waterfront area. And voila, here you have it!
The canal is known as the Roggebaai Canal, and apparently water taxis depart from the Westin Grand Hotel every hour on the two-kilometre, 20-minute trip. From the hotel, the taxi takes passengers under the freeway, past a fresh sea-water waterfall, and then past the City Lodge Hotel. After the City Lodge the taxi heads on under more bridges, past the West Quay offices and under two lifting bridges, through the marina lock, and then to moor at the Two Oceans Aquarium.
The one-way trip costs just R20 for adults and R10 for kids, and as soon as the weather clears up, we're definitely going to take the trip! Take a look at the route map that I've plotted on Google Maps.
Early morning and sunset tractor-rides through vineyards are the best. I've just discovered how difficult it is to find somewhere (near Cape Town) to go on a tractor-ride. But nevertheless I've managed to find a wine estate in Wellington that does just this. Diemersfontein Wine & Country Estate offers tractor-rides for 6 people at 35ZAR per person - including a glass of wine! At that price the cynic in me says that it must be a glass for everyone to share, but Kerry-Anne's convinced that it's a glass per person.
Check out Diemersfontein's website and consider doing some of the other activities, like perhaps a picnic, horse ride or short hike.
Disclaimer: Diemersfontein didn't ask us to write this article, and, in fact, we've never actually been to Diemersfontein. If you decide to go, and then discover that it sucks (which I doubt), please leave a comment and let us know. On the other hand, if it's awesome, please leave some feedback too!
I'm not afraid of heights. I'm happy to jump waterfalls and do the occasional bridge-swing. But this kind of "fun", on the other hand, is just no fun for me. I mean, does anyone actually enjoy feeling nauseous, and does anyone like turning a paler shade of green?
Kids generally just love this kind of thing, but I remember not really being too perturbed as a kid that my friends got to go on all the rides. I was pretty much content to watch them having fun, from a safe distance.
Cape Town has a way of looking beautiful and stormy at the same time. The angry dark clouds in this photo rolled in below the beautiful pink and blue sky, creating a perfect contrast.
Though slightly on the expensive side of average, Wakame more than makes up for it by having this awesome deck - perfect for sitting outside and relaxing while chatting with friends and enjoying a couple of drinks.
Also, I'm not particularly fond of sushi, but I have to admit that theirs is pretty good. Although for most people it's the raw fish that puts them off sushi, for me it's a combination of the seaweed and the rice - and Wakame's rice seems far more palatable than any other sushi rice I've tasted. :)
We found this old car on the De Vallei wine farm's grounds. At first I thought that perhaps someone was trying to refurbish it, but on closer inspection I noticed the roll cage inside the cabin and realised that it may be used for stock car racing!
When I was in school, friends often spoke excitedly of the stock car races that they'd been to. I've never been to a race, but Kerry-Anne on the other hand seems to have been something of a regular visitor - dragged along to the noisy events at the Goodwood Showground (which no longer exists) by her mom and dad. She swears it was loads of fun.
The Tygerberg Raceway, a proper oval dirt race track, is still in operation and in fact will be hosting a race on 17 October and 7 November this year. Contact details and information about the events seem to be fairly scarce on the web, but if you're interested in attending a race, this page has a contact number that you could call to find out more about dates, times, and cost.
Can you see the way Big Mike was trying to stare me down?
The first (and only) time that I risked climbing on a horse, the beast in question turned out to be an obstinate animal with a mind of its own, refusing to listen to my gentle (and later, extremely firm) tugs on the reigns. My animal dragged its hooves, keeping a good 50 metres from the rest of the group, and when I dug in my heels it ignored me like a cat being told not to jump over a wall.
If you have more luck than I do with horses (or cats) then check out Horse Trail Safaris - it was some years back, but I think they were the ones who took us on that beach ride in Hermanus.
We were invited to the launch of Encore, an "opera appreciation club" created by Cape Town Opera to promote opera (and other performing arts) among 20- and 30-somethings. Don't you think that the posters for "Dead Man Walking", "Cunning Little Vixen", and "Requiem Mass" all look enticingly appealing?
We spent the evening listening to several young, stylish and talented singers and musicians perform in a style that I'm not accustomed to, and while I'd have to admit that I'll never be a opera junkie, the performances were pretty darn good and definitely worth making a part of your "night on the town".
Joining Encore is a matter of paying a R100 fee per year, which gives members access to several benefits - you can read about them right here. If you'd like to go out regularly, have the chance to dress up a little, enjoy some sophisticated entertainment, and perhaps meet other young people with similar interests, give it a try - I think it's certainly worth the R100.
My previous post about Wijnland Auto Museum featured a photo of something one would expect to see at an "auto museum" - even though the cars in the photo hardly looked like traditional museum pieces...
However, ten metres to the left of the previous photo rested this itty-bitty-baby tank. While awesomely cool, I'm not sure that I'd class a tank in the "auto" category. Its presence in the museum display is more or less like having a high-powered rack of blade servers, or better yet, an IBM mainframe, in an Apple MacBook display. :D
This is the third photo in the set taken in Joostenbergvlakte. (If you've missed the previous two, click here and follow the trail back to them.) We thought we'd take a drive out to this remote suburb to visit the Wijnland Auto Museum - which, from the outside, looks more like a scrap yard, or an auto graveyard.
Sadly, we failed in our objective. We took a quick look around and decided that we'd rather return with a group consisting of other photographers, perhaps, and two or more people dressed up and ready to be models. The museum apparently has one of the largest collections of rare cars in the country, and old (perhaps deceased) cars like these make a great backdrop for a modelling shoot - don't you think?
You'll find the museum by
driving along the N1 (with Cape Town at your back)
taking exit 34
turning right at the first opportunity
driving to the end of the road (past the nursery on your right)
Strangely the Wijnland Auto Museum has no website or email address, but they can be contacted by telephone on +27 21 988 4203. The museum is open daily until 16h00 (including Sundays) and charges R50 per person.
We'd never turned in at Meerendal farm before, so when we did we were surprised to find that the gates hid a farm with a rather appealing part-modern/part-old-English atmosphere about it.
We unfortunately arrived just in time to see the doors to the bistro and deli being shut for the day so I can't really say whether or not the food and produce is any good.
The signpost in the photo points to another, apparently more sophisticated, restaurant called Wheatfields. If the review on Travbuddy is anything to go by, then it sounds like Wheatfields is a restaurant that we'll have to visit asap!
I took this photo at Stellenberg High School, but shhh... don't tell anyone - there was a sign to say that trespassers will be prosecuted!
Kerry-Anne mentioned in a previous post that she was relegated to the "social tennis" team - because she wasn't good enough to make the 12th team. :P In grade 6 I started playing tennis... and well... I didn't ever make a team either. In fact, my teacher was so mean that I was simply never kept in the loop about practice. :( Clearly my tennis career (lol) ended there, but still over school holidays I'd play around on the courts with friends who never really cared whether or not I could play properly.
In case you're really keen on tennis, or just want to fool around on a tennis court while on holiday, visit the Green Point Lawn Tennis Club. I believe they allow casual visitors to play - at a fee, I'm sure. You can find their telephone number on this page.
Have you ever been on one of these? Have you ever been spun around so fast that you've eventually just fallen off because you were unable to hold on any longer? Have you ever felt nauseous while being spun around at a million miles per hour?
Kerry-Anne loves spinning things. She loves things that make ordinary people nauseous. It's almost as though someone removed her inner-ear so that she's impervious to that which makes many (i.e. me) turn green.
We have several play-parks close to our house, so kids don't have to go far to play. Sadly, the days of allowing your young kids to play alone in these parks are kinda over, so it's actually seldom that we see kids playing on these. I guess kids today spend time playing on their Wii or XBox... which (I think) is sad. I hold a lot of memories of playing outside, doing all kinds of weird things away from home. I can't imagine that the kids of today would in years to come have memories of a particularly difficult XBox game that they cracked, or a particularly tricky level that they achieved on the Wii.
Remember the 1985 movie Back to the Future, with Michael J. Fox? That's the one where he managed to use a DeLorean DMC-12 (that's a car) to go back in time to 1955. This Kombi made me feel like we were heading off to the 1960s...
This was the vehicle that I referenced in the posts about our wine trip. I'm sure now you're able to see why it was so much fun. The "tour operator" is the brightly coloured lad (thanks, Charl) in the photo who took us from farm to farm, restraining his tasting to ensure that we'd arrive alive.
The trip in the flowerful and music-filled VW Kombi was a stack of fun - in fact, it was so much fun and so retro that we felt like we'd gone back to being students again. ;)
No, there wasn't that kind of fire at Bloemendal wine farm's Wynhuis ("wine house") restaurant. This was the last stop on our all-too-fast tour of the Durbanville wine route, and even though it wasn't as cosy and boutique-like as the others, it was larger, offered food for sale, and had this warm fire glowing so that those not tasting the wine could warm up too. :)
I can't say what the wine tasted like - by this time I'd decided that I'd had enough wine (because, to be honest, I'm not as in love with wine as some of you may be). ;)
Take a look at our route map; the Wynhuis is at the end of the route (on the left).
The Durbanville wine route has been the subject of the last two posts, and as long as you're not getting bored, after today I have two final photos in the series.
I took this photo in the cool and damp concrete cellar of De Vallei, a boutique wine producer found along the Durbanville wine route mentioned in my first post of this series.
The subject of this photo, the words "Cabernet Sauvignon", is in fact not (as I once believed) a type of wine, but rather a type of grape. What I'm sure the wine connoisseurs among us already know is that the red Cabernet Sauvignon grape is in fact a crossing of two varieties of grape, the red Cabernet Franc and the white Sauvignon Blanc! Go figure; I guess it should have been obvious, but I had never considered this before.
So now, the question is: don't you think this should make Cabernet Sauvignon a rosé grape? ;)
We arrived at Altydgedacht wine farm in our "fun vehicle" (see yesterday's post), with AC/DC's Thunderstruck blaring. It was a tranquil environment - that is, before our merry crowd arrived. The occasion was a celebration of Guinivea's birthday in the form of a road-trip from wine farm to wine farm. I guess we felt that the occasion warranted at least some kind of commotion on arrival!
The music stopped along with our vehicle, and we piled out, ready for our first tasting. The portion of the farm where tasting is done is unfortunately not particularly pretty. Yet, I captured this photo of the beautiful Arum Lilies that the farm's owner popped in to drop off.
Incidentally, the first title deeds for the land were signed by Simon van der Stel in 1698! The property was called Tygerberg back then and only later renamed to Altydgedacht. Tygerberg is now the name of the the area of which the suburbs of Durbanville and Bellville form part.
In case you're in the mood for a bunch of Arum Lilies, they charge only R10 for a bunch like this one. What a huge bargain!
