Catch up again today after a great weekend!!

So, had a lazy family weekend with the Potgieters' - had another braai on Friday, which was great. We had boerweors (not sure if the spelling is right, my Afrikaans is awful!!) which are traditional Afrikaans sausages and are pretty spicy, but good. This was for Misha, who had 2 friends over for a sleepover, which was fun!

Saturday was late up, watching the rugby on telly while Martin worked (so what else is new??) and Maritha went and had some girl shopping with Misha. Then at 4pm the driver came & picked Martin & I up to go to the Stormers/Sharks game at Newlands stadium in Cape Town, which was great. We were in a hospitality box, so had a great view of the game - which was a bit hit & miss, not the best game of rugby I've ever seen. But apparently, in Super 14 they run a "pay per play" system, so this early in the season the players tend to take it easy, not looking to get injured and in Round 2, still kind of getting the measure of each other & the other teams. Still, the Stormers won, so that was the right result and it's always great to go to a live rugby match.

Sunday was a down day for most of us - Morne was sick in the night, so poor Maritha was up half the night cleaning & caring for him! Despite this, she still cooked a traditional Sunday lunch, which was a leg of lamb she roasted pretty much all day, which made the house smell amazing - if people cooked lamb like that in the UK, I'd eat it!!! Martin's sister & friend came over for Sunday lunch, so we had a great time drinking & chatting and eating Maritha's fabulous food - I managed to burn my arm, which was pretty stupid, but I was so busy chatting I didn't notice until too late!! Martin went off on a business trip at 6pm and by 8pm we were all in bed, all pretty tired from the disrupted night the night before.

Today, I started sightseeing and drove into Stellenbosch - thank god for satnav! It's not too far away and managed to find free parking and then got completely lost looking for the tourist information to get a better map of Stellenbosch town centre. Finally found it and had a wander around Die Braak (village green) which is nice, if still something of a homeless congregation centre. Also had a wander up & down Doorp Street, which is where all the traditional Cape Houses are. Discovered when I got to the Tourist Info I had missed the walking tour and couldn't find the Village Museum for love nor money, until I drove there (discovered I'd walked near it a few times!) and then couldn't park anywhere - apparently some kind of festival thing was on, so parking was a premium today. So, will go back before the end of the week and go on the walking tour and hit the Village Museum one afternoon. Decided to go to the local winery recommended in my guide book, Lanzerac estate, for the afternoon.

It's a bit posh - it has a hotel & spa which looks very nice indeed. Discovered I was early for the wine tour, so went and had some lunch in the restaurant and then mooched about for a bit. Finally time for the tour and have to say, I was a little disappointed. It's only a cellar tour - okay I was expecting some thing a bit grander - so it was only about 20mins!! Still, it was interesting and honestly, when the guide opened the door to the cellar & we started walking down, I swear you could get drunk just on the fumes in that place!!! It's not a terribly big estate, so the cellar is quite small, but they make a red, a rose and a couple of whites, all in oak barrels. They are in harvest season at the moment, so we could see the guys working during the tour, but there isn't that much to see.

I guess all the appeal is in the tasting - which as I was driving, was never going to be an extensive process for me!! I did try the rose which was nice, if a little strong, I guess I'm used to rose being a little less potent in the UK.

Got back a bit before Maritha & the kids, but had completely forgotten which buttons to press to do the house alarm & garage, so rather than cause a panic by setting off alarms, I sat on the balcony for a bit enjoying the late afternoon sunshine & the breeze. (Got a lesson from Maritha, so should be good for the rest of the week!)

I have Spier Winery on my sightseeing hit list, as it has a Cheetah & Raptor outreach centre and a bunch of other stuff, but apparently the new owners are shutting all those bits down and reverting back to a straight forward winery, so I think I'll try and go there tomorrow while they are still available, so I don't miss out.