South Africa | Franschhoek

Well, where should I start.
Franschhoek was absolutely beautiful
filled with amazing wineries and ridiculously good food.

I'm fairly certain we ate and drank our body weight in three days.
I definitely consumed more Chardonnay than I should have.
And Ian's nose was stuck in a wine glass 90% of the time.

It's an easy town to navigate with wineries just off the main road.
And lots of them.

Some of our faves were...
Glenwood, Le Motte, Moreson, Grand Provence,  Maison, 
Le Petite Ferme, and Mont Rochelle...
Tastings were cheap.
Experience was nice and properties were gorgeous.
Beyond beautiful.

Not all had the best wines, but there were some absolute gems. 
And we did come home with five bottles. 
Oops. 

Food was phenomenal with our best being at
The Kitchen at Maison.
It was one of the best meals we've had...
maybe ever. 
On par with nearly every Michelin Star restaurant we've been to.
Impressive food. 

We did have a few other delish meals -
Bread  & Wine at Moreson,
Grand Provence and Le Petite Ferme.

We would highly recommend them all, but do not miss The Kitchen.
Actually, just don't miss Franschhoek.
It's a special part of the wine world, 
and another growing region now checked off our list.

Franschhoek

Le Petite Ferme

Glenwood

Le Lude

Le Motte

Moreson Tasting

Maison

The Kitchen at Maison

Le Motte 

Mont Rochelle

Moreson Bread & Wine

One final post... promise.

xx
The McGees

South Africa - Garden Route (Part 2)

Ok... it looks like this will be a three part blog post.

Just too many pictures.

And I just can't narrow it down.

The safari was great! 

Saw everything we hoped to see, and got fairly close.

Really amazing to see these beautiful animals.

Not in a zoo.

A stop in Hermanus was next on the list.

This was meant to be for cage diving,

but it didn't happen.

Weather.

Again.

So, instead we had an evening exploring, 

and found a pretty beach perfectly lit by the last bit of sunshine.

Then it was gone for another few days.

We were also amazed by the drive.

The change in landscape in just a 90-minute drive

from Hermanus to Franschhoek was incredible.

We stopped a handful of times to take pictures.

Again, rare for us because driving is not something we enjoy.

But, it was beautiful.

Very.

Hermanus

Amazing drive to Franschhoek 

Next up.

Franschhoek and Cape Town 

xx

The McGees

South Africa - Garden Route (Part 1)

Well, as you can tell I've given up on this blog 

but was convinced to post about South Africa, so here you go... 

Started the trip on a flight from London to Cairo to Johannesburg to Port Elizabeth, 

then onto our final (first) stop - Jeffrey's Bay. 

J Bay is like every other little surf town, but the waves are insane.

We had a perfect Airbnb place overlooking all of the breaks.

Amazing.

Kurt the owner was great and surfed with Ian daily.

Always good to have a local.

After a few days, we headed on our way...

along the Garden Route.

We're NOT road trip people.

At all.

But, this was was well worth it.

Beauty everywhere you look.

Plettenberg Bay was our next stop.

Robberg Beach was beautiful.

And the last day of sunshine we were going to have for awhile. 

We also had dinner at the most delish place - Emily Moon

We also found Zinzi, a gorg property with amazing food.

And found our favourite sparkling.

L'Omarins Brut

We were happy. 

The Knysna Elephant Sanctuary was a lot of fun...

and dirty.

Why did I wear a white shirt?

They are filthy.

A stop to see the Knysna Heads was also a must-do.

And well worth it.

 

Next up... Wilderness.

Expansive beaches. Waves nearby.

Unfortunately, it rained... and rained... and rained here.

Couldn't explore the way we would have liked.

Bummer...but a day at the spa made it better.

 

We were off to a good start.

Minus the weather, but we made the best of it.

J Bay Supertubes

Sharing the waves with these guys

Robberg Beach

  

Wilderness

Knysna Heads

 More to come... (part 2)

xx

The McGees