Mixing Business and Pleasure - Off to the Cape

Flying to Cape Town is a costly affair, but since that’s where my godchildren live, I try to make a trip down every few months or so to see them. This month, however, I was lucky enough to have been sent down on business to promote theVine to producers.

My godchildren, however, were not the only kids I’d be spending my time with, I realised, as my boss’ pretty 5 year old daughter rushed up to greet me with a hug at the airport. As we checked in, she proceeded to fill me in on the names and ages of the additional children we would be staying with in Paarl, along with the gifts she’d brought along with her for them.

This didn’t intimidate me at all, as I love children, even when they are very busy and chatty, as my boss’ daughter Isabel can be. She didn’t stop talking at all as we browsed the departure lounge stores (where she craftily persuaded her mom to buy her games and popcorn) while waiting for our flight to board.

My 5 year old travelling companion

On the two hour flight between Johannesburg and Cape Town, I realised that children don’t merely require constant attention – they demand it. Seated between my boss, Alida, and I, Isabel kept chatting to us, playing with us, and getting us to help her with things.

If we became distracted with something else, such as the inflight magazine, she would regain our attention promptly either by diverting it to something that interested her, or by getting involved in whatever you happened to be doing. She’s enormously cute, though, so it’s attention I appreciated. However, it’s a wonder that Alida manages to keep up with her constantly.

We finally landed, much to Isabel’s delight, since the games that had promised “hours of fun” on the packaging had lasted her 10 minutes at most, and she had begun getting bored. Even the sweets she was offered were not enough to distract her, making me think she gets to eat more than my mother ever allowed me. She also struggled to equalize her ears and they hurt as we descended.

Problem: getting the luggage into the car

Sweets were a great novelty for my little “deprived” self. Hell, even carob-coated rice cakes (not even real chocolate!) or fat free fruit yoghurt used to be enough to bribe me with. Kids these days don’t know how spoiled they are!

Once we’d disembarked, collected our luggage, and filled out the paperwork for our rental car (well, Alida filled out the paperwork while I enjoyed a complimentary hot chocolate), we were faced with an interesting problem. Having been given a tiny car, we somehow needed to squeeze three people (well, two and a half) plus a mountain of luggage into it!

Despite being so tiny, children don’t pack light. Besides that, though, we had also brought a mountain of promotional material along with us. Being women, however, with much practice in squeezing everything we need into our handbags, we managed to get everything into the car (taking up a great deal of the free back seat).

One way to sleep in a car

Finally, we were on our way to Paarl. Unfortunately for Isabel, who was thoroughly sick of travelling by this point, Paarl is not very close to the airport. Luckily, she fell asleep – although in an incredibly awkward position. You’d think that kids are flexible, and that should explain how anyone could sleep in that pose, but when we pulled over at deli to buy some lunch, Isabel did complain that her neck was sore. So kids aren’t THAT flexible… ;)

I must say that one of the things I love about the Cape is that you have the option to visit such cute delis out on farms and can try artisanal products that you wouldn’t otherwise. Especially if you come from Gauteng, where you really need to go out of your way to find uniquely made gourmet or delicatessen items. Capetonians are very spoiled.

In this particular one, called SOMETHING, I spotted some dried olives, which I pointed out to Alida because I absolutely adore dried olives. I could eat the entire container on my own, even. Alida informed me, to my delight, that we’d be staying on an olive farm, and I’d be able to enjoy dried olives there. With that knowledge, I became as eager as Isabel to reach our destination!

My home for the next two weeks

After dodging road works and trucks in our tiny car, we finally made it to our destination: Olyvenbosch. The farm is home to Alida’s sister and her husband, who converts most of his olives into award-winning olive oil (of which I have a box at home thanks to Alida’s selling skills that would come in handy on our business trip).

Perhaps the most exciting thing about the farm, though, was not the olives but the children! I was greeted by an insanely cute little 3 year old boy with cheeks that are very difficult not to pinch when he smiles. What’s more is that I was greeted with a hug – even though we had just met!

As I met the rest of the family, including Alida’s sister and brother in law, it became clear that I’d be practicing a lot of Afrikaans in the Cape. All that time I has “wasted” watching local soap operas, such as 7de Laan, would certainly pay off! Even if it does give my Afrikaans a somewhat dramatic flair…

My picturesque room

As we unpacked our car that appeared to be bursting at the seams, Alida enquired as to where we’d be sleeping. Her brother in law responded that she’d be sleeping in his daughter’s room, and I’d be sleeping buite (ourside). It sounds terrible, like I’d be sleeping with the dogs or something, but luckily buite merely meant a charming guest room away from the house.

We had just enough time to drop our bags in our rooms, have a bite to eat, and answer some emails before we needed to be off to our first meeting in the Cape. It was at Hartenberg Estate, where Alida had worked before, so it promised to be an easy meeting, since Alida already knew the people there personally.

When we arrived, it became clear that she not only knew them, but they adored her, in fact. Of all or time spent there, possibly only 30% was dedicated to business. The rest of our time was focused on catching up and tasting wine.

My first glass of wine in the Cape

The latter appealed more to me, of course, and the wines we tasted were among the best I’ve had. I particularly fell in love with Hartenbeg’s Cabernet Shiraz, which will earn 5/5 from me on theVine, our website where wine lovers can rate and review South African wines, deciding the local Top10.

It is possible to rate and review producers as well, and Hartenberg is scoring high for good reason! Their staff is knowledgeable and friendly, serving their wines with whole olives and tapenade on bread in their quaint tasting room. The whole experience serves to do the wines justice.

By the time we finally left, having tasted all their wines, including the exclusive Gravel Hill, it was already getting dark, and we still had a long ride home. I was quite exhausted from our day of travelling by the time we got back to Olyvenbosch.

Such a stunning estate

I was immediately greeted with hugs from all the children as I walked through the door. They were clearly unconcerned by the fact that they had only just met me earlier that day because I scored extra hugs as they were saying goodnight and heading for bed.

I retired to my room soon after them and was out in no time at all. Despite feeling as though I hadn’t got much done, I was exhausted. For a change, though, I actually slept through the night! And I was in the Cape, so there would be no complaints from me.