Rain rain go away!

Woke up to thunder an pouring rain today, boo! But we've been lucky so far with the weather for the most part, so really shouldn't complain.

Today was designated as a day to hit up some if Dads favourite vineyards. We started by driving in some intense traffic across town. I couldn't get over both the lack of drainage on major roads, and how stupid fast the locals were driving despite the obvious hazards. Nuts.

Stop one was at Meerlust, famous for its Iconic wine Rubicon. The house and outer buildings are also designated national monuments. Snapped a few pics but it was so wet I wasn't dawdling lol! The tasting inside was delicious and the people so helpful. Dad was in his happy place. If I had more allowance I would have bought the Rubicon, but instead I'm determined to find a way to buy it in Canada...

We then went up to my surprise of the day: Kanonkop. Remarkably I really liked every wine I tasted! Their Pinotage is from vines that are 60 odd years old. Awesome! They also has such a unique Pinotage rose, it was nothing like anything I've had before. SO frustrated by Canadian import limits. <shakes fist>.

The lady at Kanonkop suggested we have lunch at Delheim, just up a road over a little cliff. We duly did and really enjoyed ourself. It's a really lovely spot, beautiful views and a lovely old feeling. We each had a different glass of wine which we all tasted, so had our own tasting wile munching on Malay curry. Mmmmm.....

The day had run away with us. We quickly drove into Franshoek to visit the Hugenot Memorial and Museum, which was cute, but almost entirely in French, and as I had some wine in me, I wasn't overly interested in translation. Still fascinating to see how 270 outcasts from France and the Netherlands can have such an impact on a region a world away!

Time was really gone at this point, as everything down here closes at 4 or 5 pm. We stopped for a coffee (and wifi stealing) and then made the long drive home. 

The rain is still coming down, so I think we are having a lazy and early night. Last day in SA tomorrow, then we head off to Zambia. I have no clue what kind of signal or coverage I'll have, so don't worry if I don't post for a while!

Cape Photos!

Next time wifi is found this upload will occur!

Chapmans Peak looking south

Me and Hout Bay

Soetwater

Cape of Good Hope

Parentals with Cape of Good Hope

Cape Point lighthouse

Cape Point

Penguin

Boulders Beach and penguins!!

Lunch on Aug 15 at Delheim Vineyard 

Cape Peninsula

I woke up to the sound of rain on the roof and my heart sank. But by the time I dragged my carcass out of bed, blue sky and sunshine greeted me! Yes!

Today was a big driving day. Our goal: Cape Point. So, we started by driving thought the heart of Cape Town, quite pleasant on a sunny day! Saw a few different parts of it, and recognized a few spots too! Drove over the pass of Table Mountain and down the other side and this time I got to see the twelve apostles and some other lovely views that we couldn't see the other day. 

We continued winding our way south, pulling over are as many view points as possible to snap photos. The weather was really incremental so that was part of the need to re-take photos!! Found a very cute old fort called East Fort above Hout Bay dating back to 1796- cool!!!

We then drove the famous Chapmans Peak Dive, SA's Sea-to-Sky highway. Stunning views of crazy cliffs, interesting rock formations, and then ending with lonnng white beaches. Not gonna forget it anytime soon! 

Another zig and zag took us past a cute lighthouse at Kommetjie and some lovely beaches at Misty Cliffs (smelly though). 

We then entered the Cape Point park, officially the Table Mountain National Park- I guess they saved on naming?? Heheh!!!  The drive through the park was lovely, beautiful views of ocean on either side of the peninsula. We got to see an ostrich just wandering on the road; what a funny bird! At the tip there is a cute little lighthouse perched on a rock high up. I probably would have hiked it, but the parentals wanted to take the funicular up, so that's what we did. Suh amazing views at the top of Cape Point, the Cape of Good Hope and over to False Bay. The sun was shining perfectly so it was glorious. Next wifi Ill post more photos!

On the road out we were treated to a very rare sight: 4 wild mountain zebra!! They are endangered and rare to see, so very special! Enjoyed views if the veld and fynvos.

We then drove to Simonstown, where my Granny was born! Such a cute town, doesn't seem to have changed in 50 years.  A relatively new addition is the Boulders Beach penguin colony! So awesome to see a large colony in a beautiful setting.. I may have gone overboard with photos!!

The sun was behind the mountain at this time and we had yet to have lunch, snack, dinner, you name it. The parentals had heard of a fish and chip shop in the village of Kalk, called Kalky's, so that's where we went. I had chips and Greek salad hahaha!!! They seemed happy enough.

The drive home was faster due to no traffic, but more intense due to low light. Now we are home in our cold little box, contemplating our Thursday. 

Constantia Valley

Had our latest morning yet today, I think we were all feeling idle. Didn't help that the rain was pouring down- bed felt to cozy to get out of!

When we finally got moving we made our way toward town, but turned off before hitting downtown. Drove past Groote Schuur Hospital, where the first heart transplant happened. Also saw University of Cape Town from the distance.

Visited Rhodes memorial- to Cecil John Rhodes, founder of Rhodesia, Prime Minister of the Cape Colony and founder of the Rhodes scholarship. Big money guy. Very moving memorial, beautiful views.

Then we drove to the Constantia Valley - and Groot Constantia Vineyard specifically. It is the oldest vineyard in SA, established in 1685. Lovely grounds and some very yummy wines!! We toured the museum, did a tasting and ate at Jonkershuis restaurant. One of the best meals I've ever had, it was so tasty. Bobotie for parentals and Malay chicken curry for me, plus the Constantia Rood wine. Mmm.

After we tried to visit the Rhodes Cottage at Muizenberg but it was closed. Instead we backtracked to Klein Constantia, another vineyard. Impressive grounds and winery system, but I didn't like their wines. Oh well.

Now we are stealing some wifi... And then going home to pies and bed!!! Lovely day! 

More photos - CT, Rhodes and Constantia

Here are more photos!

Cape Town

Rhodes Memorial

Rhodes Memorial

Groot Constantia Vineyard

Delicious wine!!

Cape Town

I was so pleased to have a really great sleep last night, I woke up feeling so refreshed! 

Today was designated as our Cape Town day. So we drove in to town and found parking near the waterfront (thank goodness for GPS). We'd decided back in Vancouver that we'd so a Hop On/off tour for efficiency and to avoid walking or driving. We only hopped off once when Dad had to run an errand, but the option was nice!! It was quite well done, taking us all over- downtown, waterfront, up in the fancy hotel zone, down through district 6, then over to Table Mountain, up to the top of Signal Hill for amazing views, then over and down to the other side of the mountain seeing the 12 Apostles, Camps Bay, Clifton Beach, all around to Green Point where the new stadium for the World Cup, and back to waterfront. But I have to say, even as a Canadian who can handle grey days and rain, well, it was stupid cold on that bus. The south-easter wind was howling and ooooh we were frozen!!! 

After the tour we rushed into the Two Oceans aquarium, first to use their cafe to warm up and have lunch, but then to visit the site itself!! What a lovely little place. 6 odd rooms, all about different marine Eco-systems, well presented and very kid friendly. We had fun exploring and warming up (and getting creeped out!!)

After the Aquarium we walked across the street to a market where we bought a few mementos- we are mostly waiting till elsewhere for shopping. 

The drive back home took ages as we were bang-smack in the heart of rush hour. Picked up a cooked chicken on the way home and are settling in for the evening with a delicious bottle of wine and yummy meal. 

Forecast is for rain tomorrow, so we have cancelled our original plans and are considering our rainy-day options! 

Quick photo posting!

Not sure how this will look formatting wise but here are a few iPhone photos of the trip to date. 

Sunrise over Africa

Cape Town from Blaauwberg Strand

Wine region from Spice Route

Terri and I

I can't spell or pronounce the name of this vineyard, but it was awesome! Vergelegen or something.

My Grandpas favourite wine.

Wine 2.0

Sleep last night was good till 4am, and then I lay in bed daydreaming till probably  530am... Frustrating, but I just thought good thoughts and tried to relax. 

Heard people making noise around 730, but stubbornly tired to doze till 8am. We left the house at 9am, with the aim of finding a brunch spot.

Drove a different route out of Blaauberg which had awesome views of Table Mountain, sadly covered in grey clouds... Then headed back to the Stellenbosch wine region. Swung into the Beyerakloof vineyard to find it closed. Boo. Continued on through Stellenbosch and eventually decided upon Spier Vineyards for brunch. It was very cold throughout the day today, but definitely the coldest was at Spier. Had a fancy brunch with very slow service at their restaurant Eight... We only left at 1130!! Ugh!

From Spier we drove to Stellenzicht, a vineyard where my second cousin on Mums side is the wine master... We didn't tell anyone this, just did the tasting- very nice Pinotage and Shiraz. Mum left a note for her cousin and I bought some wine. Mmm.

From there we drove up into the Hidden Valley, and went up to Uva Mira, a vineyard way up high which has amazing views and offers an 'altitude tasting experience'. The views were better than the wine, but it was all around lovely. 

We then drove to see Terri's workplace- Somerset College- and did a drive around. We then drove through her town Somerst West, which seems to be the expensive part of outer Cape Town. 

Our final vineyard of the day was Vergelegen Vineyard, on the grounds of the Van Der Stel family estate (1695) - this guy was the governor of the Cape Colony, connected to the Dutch East India company. Crazy massive and beautiful estate, just stunning. I can just imagine how beautiful it would be during SA summer! Did the wine tasting and really enjoyed their Sauv. Blanc. And Premium Shiraz... Stupid Canada import issues!!

We then drove over to see Terri's flat, and drove around er local area to see stunning views of False Bay- wow!  Drove down to Strand, a huge beach that Mum used to visit when small, and is now a pretty big beach community. Sunset was occurring and the combo of that, clouds and wind made for quite the moody sea-side moment.

We drove back to our part of town through some of the huge slums, quite shocking how many km's they go for- a different world.

Picked up fancier burgers from a restaurant called Spurs as take away, and have been sittin around sharing family stories and drinking Fairview Cab Sauv- sooooo good!!!! 

It is supposed to be raining tomorrow, so not sure what the plan is... stay tuned!

Wine!

August 10 -

I managed to get a lot of sleep, horrah! Only one hour of awake over night, amazing!

Work up and got ready pretty quickly. My half-aunt Terri joined us at 915am, quite the reunion after many years. After some chat in we got on the road with Terri driving.

Drive north east into the wine region. First stop was Fairview Winery. Canadians may know them for the 'Goats do Roam' wines... Such an awesome place! Wine and cheese tasting- 6 wines (12 as shared with mum heheh) and about 10 cheeses. Very cool! Bought a bottle to bring home. 

Next we went over to Spice Road Vineyard, a 'group' of artisans. First we went chocolate tasting at the DV Artisan Chocolate site, with chocolate from all over the world- Uganda, São Tomé, Masagascar etc. very interesting and yummy tasting system.  Then we tried another 6 (8 for mum and I) wines from the Spice Road vineyard. This took probably 2 hours, in the lovely sunshine, with a sunning view... Oh so relaxing an amazing!!

We then drive over to Franschoek, which apparently is THE restaurant capital of SA. Amusingly, every place we tried to go to was closed. So strange. So we drove around and took picture if the craggy mountains before heading over to Stellenbosch. It is the oldest town in SA, an a big uni town. Lots of very cool buildings, I was in a happy camera place haha!

Had a very late lunch or very early dinner at a place called Basic Bistro, one of Terri's favs. Food was amazing. Am incredibly shocked at how cheap food and wine is here. A bottle of 'Goats' in Canada is about $23, and here is, no exaggeration, $4.00!!!! Dangerous!!

After dinner we toured the town, but the sun had set so we made our way home. I totally got weirded out by the moon: it's a crescent right now, but it's at the bottom, like a hammock!!!! So strange to see!!

We are now chatting and relaxing. Tomorrow is day 2 of wine!! Hick!

African Adventure begins!

Aug 7-

After a long day at the office I meet up with the parentals and took the Canada Line out to the airport to start our journey! Very exciting! Very smooth check in and next thing we were squished at the back of the 747 anticipating our 9 hr journey to London. Pretty uneventful flight, I managed about 4 hours of broken sleep. 

August 8 - 

Landed in London and had 5 hours or so to kill. We rented a hotel for those hours to take advantage of showers and laying flat. Much needed and helped get our heads on for the next flight.

Flight down to Cape Town was 11 hours, and I was awake for all but 2 of them. Watched 4 movies: Oblivian, Die Hard 5, hansel and grettle, and Epic. 

August 9-

The date changed while flying, and I knew this for sure as I slowly got to watch the sun rise over Africa. So beautiful. Will try post pics when next have wifi.  Landed around 7am.

Located the rental car, took a second to register tha we are actually in South Africa (was a bit chilly actually!!) and then drive for about 20 min to find our condo for the week. Lovely area, near blauuberg (sp??). Its north of Cape Town. No internal heating, so it's really cold! Dah! 

Went on a grocery/wifi/lunch run after having about an hours nap. Then we went to Eden Beach on Big Bay to admire the stunning views and eventually the glorious sunset- both rise and set in one day!!

Now it's time to crash and rest up for this epic adventure!!

Camping

Camping weekend

Joined the parental units up at Alice Lake, just north of Squamish, for a relaxing weekend. The sun shone the entire time, I got to wear shorts and gathered a little colour (pink) on my shoulders. Good to get away.

Life has been busy recently. Lots of changes at work, many that have displeased me, but I have soldiered on and am battling through.  Social life is busy, meeting new people here and there, keeping up with my gang and trying to make the most of the summer. July has been amazing, 3 weeks and counting of non stop sun!

Alice Lake

I have tried my hand at a garden on my balcony with highly varied results. I can't quite explain why somethings have died and others have lived... I just know I've invested a lot into it with mixed results. Still, a nice project to putter away at!

I've taken up hiking here and there... well, sort of. I've gone a few times with friends and have intentions to go more, but time is running away from me.  I've been making a point of exploring my new neighbourhood a lot more recently, with the help of some friends. 

Hiking!

The big adventure of my year, travel wise, is coming up this August. I'm headed to Africa!! Will be in South Africa for a short while to get some time in the wine region, but the bulk of the trip will be in Zambia to see wild game.  I am extremely excited.  I'll try post updates here, if internet allows.


So, as always, stay tuned for more exciting Adventures!!

Upload complete, and a big milestone...

This past weekend my beloved Golfy turned 12 years old. She also, quite coincidentally, flipped the odometer over to 120,000 km's... quite the milestone!!!!  Happy Birthday Golfy!

 

In other news, I have finally finished uploading photos from my East coast Adventure.  Took just shy of 6 weeks, but I'll confess the majority of that upload happened this week. Despite how annoyed I was at how long it took to upload, I actually rather enjoyed the distance between the trip and reviewing the photos - reminded me of all the adventures without it being 'just last week'. 

 I try to keep my Flickr as chronological as possible, so now I can finally start tackling the rest of Fall 2012, and possibly even Spring 2013!!??

Otherwise life has entered a pretty standard routine of work and play. Have been up to Whistler earlier this season, and hope to go again this coming weekend.  Have been cooking and baking up a storm, filling the freezer up with soups, breads and the odd curry dish. I've just bought a herbs & spices book, so here's hoping more fun is ahead!

Well, that's it for now!

Me in Washington DC

Seems I'm about 4 months behind...

I'm just starting to upload the photos from my September trip to the East Coast... I've got most of Boston up and am working on the rest... Hopefully I'll be quick about it, and will then upload the rest of 2012...

Christmas and New Years were nice. They went very quickly and full of fun times with Family.  I also spent a lot of time baking for my office - a good way to experiment without having to eat all of the results!! some evidence of that is over on Chef Lolls.

The New Year has started off without anything of note or comment on my end. Dome some usual plotting, planning and scheming but nothing definitive.

So yes. Basically, nothing to report.

My Life.

I really do need to get better at updating my blogs... I'm hoping I'll get into cooking a lot more, so Chef Lolls might get more activity, but I should also make a bigger effort with this one!

So, what's new?  Hrm. Well, if you hadn't guessed already from a few posts down, I have moved into my own flat! It's in the City of North Vanouver (vs the District, where I've lived since I was 7 years old). Not exactly a big change - I'm a 10 minute drive from Mum and Dad's.... 

My place is in a 22 story condo building, and I'm on the 4th floor overlooking a community park. I'm south-west facing with a view of downtown Vancouver AND a little peak of some mountains. I love my place and it's been quite an experience setting it up.  Before I could move in some reno's had to happen, and then it took me over 2 months to unpack.  I've finally broken down the last box.... now I have to get art up on the walls, and then figure out where I stashed everything!!  I will totally admit the last 3 months have been a complete and utter blur.  Once it's all finished I'll post some photos.

Within that time I went to the East Coast of the US, as per the photos in my previous post. That was a great whirlwind trip. I met up with my UK friend Kathryn and we started in Boston before picking up a rental car to hit up Cape Code, Phillidelphia, and then ended up in Washington DC.  I really liked New England, it felt very un-American. DC was a whole new thing - felt very Imperial and grand... another world.  I came back exhausted, but also very pleased with what we'd accomplished.  One of these days I'll sort through the photos and actually post them up on Flickr!!!!

My days and weeks are jam packed with work, physio/dr's appointments (my shoulder is STILL messed up, 6 years and 2 car accidents on...), keeping up with family (munchkins are 3 and 1.5, so much fun!! and my parental units are fun to hang out with too...) plus being a director of the Museum of Vancouver actually takes quite a bit of time.  I'm actually incredibly busy these days - oye!!

Work is going well - I have some fabulous coworkers and the work itself is keeping me interested. No regrets on my choice to walk away from the bar at this time... 

Actually the other night some friends came over and brought a house warming gift, and the card that came with it was super accurate for what's going on in my life right now. I'll leave this rather quick update with an image of it - it's a Mary Engelbreit card (one of my favourite artists, a huge soft spot from my childhood!!)....

can you hear me Roar?

Some images

Well obviously I wasn't able to update as planned. Here are a few phone photos to be placeholders until I get Internet at my flat...

Boston skyline from Bunker Hill

 

Walking near the Charles River

 

Mayflower II at Plymouth

 

Marconi Beach, Cape Cod

 

Providence skyline

 

Abe at the Lincoln Memorial

Reflecting Pool and the Washington Monument

 

 

Capitol Building

East Coast adventure begins!

I sit here in San Francisco drinking a glass of wine waiting fort next flight to take me over the continent to Boston for the start of a 9 day east coast adventure with my London friend Kathryn. Life has been so intense recently I actually haven't done any planning or advance research for this trip so I really don't know what's head.

I do know that our first stop in Boston includes staying with a friend whom I haven't seen in years; I get to meet his new wife!! So looking forward to that!

So many adventures ahead. Will try keep this up to date but can't promise anything... Other than many many photos!!!

Big day today

More to come...

Postponed..

August 3rd's big announcement (that most people know about heheh) has been postponed to early September.. some work was required...

Change is on the Horizon

August 3rd marks a fairly big change for Orkney Adventures... but more about that later..

Painting from the Armana Period

I had a Mommy-Daughter trip to Seattle last weekend which was lots and lots of fun! We drove down after work on Friday and stayed in Lynnwood, 20 minutes north of Seattle. The main purpose of our trip was to visit the King Tut special exhibition and the Pacific Science Center.  We did that on Saturday mid-day.  Very good exhibition, lots of really interesting stuff to see. The King Tut stuff was a pale comparison from what the Egyptian Museum in Cairo has, but if you haven't seen that I'm sure you'd be impressed.

Pharaoh in offering position

Other adventures in Seattle included hitting up a number of the stores that I discovered in California, specifically World Market, Trader Joes, and See's Chocolates... YUM!!! Lots of little bits were bought, but nothing too extravagant.  On the Sunday drive home we stopped off at the Outlets, but, shockingly, I was very good!

This coming weekend I'm off to Hope for a friends bachelorette weekend... not sure exactly what will happen, as I don't know any of the other attendees, but I'm sure I'll have fun!!

Otherwise things are well; work is pleasent with lots of interesting stuff going on - I just helped close the second largest IPO on the TSX-V in 2012 - not too shabby! 

Anyway... back to preparing for August 3rd!......

California Adventures

Up at The Strands

I had 5 wonderful days in California at the end of June/ beginning of July - and after the miserable spring and start of summer, wow, was the sunshine welcomed!!  It wasn't overly hot, about 23 degrees most day, but ooooh the sun!

It was lovely to see Kate and her family; I last saw them 4 years ago and so much has happened in all our lives since then. We had quite a bit of catching up to do!!

Crystal Cove State Park

The first three days were spent in Dana Point (and surrounding area) - we spent some time on a 'nostalgia tour', visiting, or trying to find, spots we remember fondly from our past 20 years of visits. We also added some new fun things - went antiquing and found Kate some lovely furniture!  Did some lovely beach/ cliff walks, and also explored a 'canyon' - Crystal Cove State Park had the best of both sea/cliffs & canyons for us! So lovely!

Ocean at Dana Point

On the fourth day we drove 3 hours north to Santa Barbara, which seemed like a 'get away' town for LA. It has a nice, patriotic, main street full of interesting shops and restaurants, a super beach area with a nice boardwalk for bikes and walkers, lots of beach volleyball nets and boats and everything you can imagine that floats, and as well a lovely pier. An art festival was on at the time, so we had great fun poking our noses into a variety of different interests...

Out for dinner in Santa Barbara

The last day was spent packing up and driving down to LA. There we put on our proper tourist hats and hoped on one of those city tours. Saw Hollywood Boulevard, Sunset Strip, Beverly Hills, Rodeo Drive, La Brea Tar-pits, The Grove, Hollywood Sign etc... and of course we wandered along the Walk of Fame to the Chinese Theatre to check out the hand & foot prints of celebrities... proper tourist stuff!!

Chinese Theatre, Hollywood

It was a lovely trip that went too fast!! Photos are up on my Flickr site, but here are a couple!