Mooring House Guest Lodge on outing to Robertson and the Kolgans River Restaurant

We left the Guest House in Somerset West on Tuesday (01/03/2008) shortly after morning breakfast was finished, taking Barclay and Kathleen (our Scottish guests) on an outing to the Kolgans River Restaurant in Robertson. We had never done this before so it would be a new experience for all - not to mention, the weather was not the best, it was a wet and rainy day we had chosen for this outdoor South African experience. Nevertheless, we (our Scottish guests or should I say friends, my wife, my parents and myself ) and off we headed along the N2 over Sir Lowry's Pass. The route we were taking would be along the N2 from Somerset West, driving through the apple orchards in Elgin and then past the Theewaterskloof dam (the largest dam in the region and main source of water to Cape Town), through Villiersdorp and on into Robertson.

After roughly just under an hours drive we reached the town of Villiersdorp and on the outer outskirts of the town we stopped at the Kelkiewyn coffee shop and enjoyed a quick cup of coffee and scones.

The remainder of our drive was spent hoping for the skies to clear but on reaching Robertson it seemed to get progressively worse. It took a little time finding the right turn off to the River Restaurant as the road markings were not particularly clear, but eventually landed up at Nerina Guest Farm in Robertson, the entrance to the Kolgans River Restaurant.

We drove down a short dirt road, my parents car in the lead resulting in my mother having to get out of the their car to open the farm access gate. With rain drops still falling she was not impressed with this exercise and we all had a good chuckle at her expense - the looks say it all.

Nevertheless, we got to the river, parked our cars and boarded the somewhat primitive resmblance of a river raft - it was floating and offered a canopy to shelter us from the rain and that was all that mattered so on we climbed.

The engine started, the rain was pouring and off we set for a river cruise. The table was already set so it wasn't long before we started eating - we first tucked into the home baked bread with butter whilst sipping our wine and enjoying the scenary (despite the rain). The remainder of the luncheon consisted of pumkin soup (which I found a little sweet bit the others all loved it) chicken pie, spinach quiche, roast potato's, pumpkin pie, salad and chocolate pudding with custard was served on the way back. The cruise lasted for roughly 2 hours and despite the weather it still proved to be an enjoyable experience - well. taking the weather into account, it definitely beat spending time in a shopping mall.

With the river trip over and having paid our fare for the event, we thanked our "Captain" and decided to visit van Louvern wine estate (also situated in Robertson), their rose bottled under the Four Cousins label is an all time favourite of my wife. So the slight back-tracking through the town of Robertson was more to satisfy her curiosity. The wine tasting area was humming with people tasting wines but we found a spot a sampled a few of their wines. With wine tasting over, it was back in the car and time to depart for home, stopping briefly in at the Affie Plaas farm stall (a shop on hte road-side selling odds and sods and curios, small gifts and food. The weatehr was still miserable and so as a last stop we decided to have a coffee break at the Rooiberg Winery (Bodega de Vinho restaurant) just outside Robertson.

We left after coffee and took the wrong turnoff and landed up driving through Worcester and then backtracking a little.

It was another long, but enjoyable day.