Kirstenbosch

It was the last day of the Easter long weekend and we were taking my daughter and a few of her friends the the Kenilworth race course to be dropped off at the MY COKE FEST (set to be the biggest rock festival in SA).

As we were already almost on the foot of Table Mountain, we decided to take our boys to the Kirstenbosch Botanical Gardens - a place my wife and I had last visited some 8 years ago. We forgot how busy the place could be (especially considering it was a public holiday) and we had to queue to pay before entering the gates. Both my wife and myself had bladders that were about to burst so as soon as we were through the entrance gates we made a dash for the toilets.

Feeling much relieved, we made our way to the restaurant for lunch. The service was appaling and advice to those ordering a hot chocolate - please don't - it was a bitter and dark thick syrup drink and for a tourist attraction, the menu itself was nothing out of the ordinary and have frequented coffee shops with a wider range to choose from. Nevertheless, we ate and then began strolling the massive estate.

The lush green gardens are still as majestically beautiful as I can remember but the public facilities had definitely changed. Kirtenbosch is now a main venue for evening concerts where you sit on the lawns with your picnic and enjoy whatever concert is arranged for a particular day. More parking has been designated, the garden nursery is much bigger and there is another restaurant at the bottom of the estate - the one we discovered towards the end of our walk. This particular restaurant is less crowded, there is more space by the outside tables and the indoor venue is divided into 2 portions - the al-la-carte side and the self service side, the latter side also provides patrons with the option to buy a picnic selection and take it to the gardens and enjoy your own old fashioned picnic on a blanket ( bring your own).

Anyway, our roaming around the estate took us right up under Castle Rock and tot he entrance of Skeleton Gorge ( from here you can climb Table Mountain by foot on the footpath).

The views from beneath Castle Rock over a portion of the Cape Peninsula was absolutely wonderful.

Eventaully our little one was complaining that his legs were tired so we sat down on the nearest lawn for a rest and just absorbed the wonders around. It was on this piece of lawn that my kids tucked in their shirts and did rolly-polly down the grass slopes. My wife thought this was great fun and decided to do it aswell and then dad had to have his turn too. I'm just sorry I had no more space on my camera to take a video of my wife rolling down the embankment, but managed to capture the kids.