Friday 14 February : Hermanus: a restful weekend by the sea

After the trying late evening lock-out it was a relief the next morning not to be charging out for an appointment. We had deliberately chosen to break up the visits with a restful weekend at our own expense by the sea. Hermanus has wonderful views of the rolling breakers and crashing waves, with continual cooling winds and sea-freshness, providing significantly lower temperatures. Our guest house remained cool and comfortable, especially at night despite no air-conditioning, which is of course used in the larger hotels and restaurants but judged unnecessary by residents. A great choice in a hot season!

It was Valentines’s day, and after a walk to the small centre of the tourist area, and a decent lunch in La Pentola we soon realised the place would be heaving in the evening. I had been suffering with an upset digestive system since Tuesday, and after the previous night’s fracas, I felt wary and nervous, and opted for a quiet day and an afternoon rest, while David hunted down the Hermanus  branch of the Wine Glass for both a tasting (Pinot Noirs) and its wifi, and researched supper. We were fortunate to get into the Ocean Basket after a short wait where the friendly staff were run ragged with diners. 

Saturday 15 February

 

The plan worked! A morning walk as far as we could along the cliff path, and then a return to the guest house to collect kit, and then coffee – and wifi – in the smart Marine Hotel on the front, with fabulous views and masses of elegant space and welcoming staff. 

Here we stayed, David firing off emails to producers in his book with news of the translation and requesting their updates, while I began this write-up, and enjoyed the proximity of an elegant loo. 

Lunch followed, predictably. It strikes us that South African food is designed for hearty appetites and strong stomachs, which neither of us has. This is becoming tricky. The wine-makers’ meals were generous, meat laden and very rich, and so is the holiday hospitality. In the face of sea-food to die for, I have been subsisting on bread, chips and rice where possible, in an attempt to calm my gut down; David also struggles to find simple, undressed vegetables to mitigate the meat…

More emails, more writing, and then another walk by the cliffs before returning to the Port del Mar for more rest for me and more emails from David. He had dispatched 50 by supper time. Only another 150 to go. This is reminiscent of our St Ives holiday after Easter 2023 when the book was in its final stages, and 200 emails were sent, many during the seven hour GWR train journeys. 

We dined in the Marine’s Pavilion restaurant with an entirely white clientele, and entirely black staff. Tomorrow we go to the Wine Glass for small plates, better wines and some ethnic mix.

Sunday 16 February

Well, that was the plan. After a walk along the cliffs in the cooler morning, we collected our kit and headed for lunch at the Marine, opting for the Green Goddess salad and some breadl0 as neither of us were feeling brilliant. In fact we beat a hasty retreat to our guesthouse as David began to feel ill and where he was violently sick, after a short sleep. We laid low until 18.30 and strolled cautiously to the Wine Glass where I ate (my second) mushroom linguini and David drank water, returning early for a long sleep, with a regime of slow sips of boiled water. Fortunately we had another quiet day ahead of us – simply travelling with Ronnie to the Evergreen Lodge, in Stellenbosch. 

Monday 17 February 

We ate a very modest breakfast at Port del Mar in Hermanus – provision was limited; but David had succumbed to the bug and I was still feeling under the weather. David continued the tedious business of emailing Piemonte producers with requests for updates while I worked on this record.

Unusually Ronnie was late, and not quite himself having been driving long hours on both Saturday and Sunday. We stopped en route to Stellenbosch for him to pay a speeding fine (ZAR 200 – c £8) and finally managed to pay our substantial driving bill with David’s credit card, using the brand new card machine Carmen had brought with them, collected that morning from Ronnie’s bank. 

We checked into The Evergreen Lodge, an off-shoot of a larger more expensive operation and were shown into a hot first floor set of rooms whose main room mercifully had good air-con, on a road directly opposite the Botanical Gardens. Lunch was late, at a cafe Meraki. nearby. 

Stellenbosch was heaving with students and tourists; the traffic terribly congested and slow. Supper was at the small luxury hotel we had stayed in last time, the Oude Werf, where the food was very rich and the wine by the glass disappointing but whose ambience remains elegant and civilised. We were both nervous about how we would fare in the coming busy days.