EIKENDAL WINE ESTATE - Roughly a 6 minute drive from Mooring House Guesthouse along the R44 one finds the pleasant outdoor luncheon venue at Eikendal. The Estate is open for wine tasting, lunch and dinner and patrons have the option of sitting outside in a garden type setting or indoors. In the last 12 months we have enjoyed both luncheons
and dinners on at least 8 occassions.
Although service on the last 2 occassions have been rather poor, the setting and food has made up for the lack of service and we still enjoy ourselves whenever we visit.
VERGELEGEN An Estate steeped in history and elegance. Also only 
minutes away from Mooring House Guest Lodge, the venue at Vergelegen is one not to be missed and adequate parking is available. Enjoy a tour through the vineyard and wine cellars and end up tasting or buying some really super wines or buying a gift at the adjacent curio shop. If that doesn't interest you then stroll through the gardens on this vast estate and visit the historical buildings of a past era. There is a restaurant on site aswell as a coffee shop which overlooks the rose garden. And lastly, the real treat at Vergelegen is the picnic venue. Set in a treed (almost forest like) environment this event should be enjoyed by most. Table are set under the trees and waiters supply food baskets to the various tables and if there are children involved, then there is a treasure hunt surprise for them. The picnic ends with a dessert and coffee or tea. We have been visiting Vergelegen for picnics on an annual basis for the past 5 years and have found 2 negative factors. Firstly, there is an entrance fee payable at the main entrance gate to Vergelegen. Although it is only a small fee, it is in my opinion that one is still spending money inside the Estate - either buying wine, picnic or lunch etc and on doing so one should be refunded the entrance fee. The second complaint is that although the ladies are always satisfied with the quantity of food provided, the men still feel they have room for a little more. If you can overlook these two issues, then Vergelegen should not be missed. 24hour advance booking is required for the picnic and due to the outdoor venue it is only held during the summer months.
ST GEORGES MALL, LONG STREET, THE CITY GARDENS OF CAPE TOWN AND THE CAPE TOWN MUSEUM
The Family took a trip into Cape Town last Friday (28 December 2007) and parked at the bottom of Long Street. From there we walked up through St Georges Mall (pointing out the Cape Times Building (where our newspapers are printed) and up to Green Market Square where we spent some time browsing through the arts and crafts stalls ( actually the children did the browsing). From there we walked through the City Gardens (or originally known as the Kompanje Gardens" ) and showed the children the Houses of Parliment and then strolled on through the gardens to the Cape Town museum and the Planetarium. We spent a good 2 hours walking through the museum and watching a 30 min show inside the planetarium. Even our little one (aged 6) was mesmerised and totally overjoyed at seeing the dinasour skeleton display in the one section. From there we had lunch. We could have had lunch at the restaurant inside the Gardens but decided to sit down at one of the side street cafe's - there are numerous to choose from. After lunch we strolled down Long Street browsing in almost every shop we passed. By the time we reached our car it was past 5pm - an exhausting day, but thoroughly enjoyed.
RIVERSIDE RESTUARANT AND PICNIC SPOT IN FRANSCHOEK 09/01/2008
Today we decided to drive the long route to Franschoek via the winelands of Stellenboch and Paarl.
Once in Paarl we back-tracked into Franschoek. The pavements of Franschoek (mind you Paarl aswell) was lined with coffee shops and small bistro's all occupied with both tourists and locals. Once in Franschoek, our first stop was the renown Franschoek chocolate factory. Quite decieving as it is actually a small shop tucked away on the main street of Franschoek. So small one could easily just drive past it. The front of the shop has the display goods (chocolates, chocolates and more chocolates) and in the background behind glass panes is where the actual chocolates are made. For an exquisite chocolate it is well worth visitng this venue. Although I must add that the chocolates are very expensive - but the taste well worth it.
