The wine region

After a calmer night than the previous one, we decided to head for the Fernkloof Nature Reserve for a short hike on the hill just above Hermanus. It was a pleasant hike and a good way to start the day. Next stop was the wine region! We drove for about 1h30 and on our way, found a dam and a drove over the nice Franschhoek pass.
Already during the morning hike but amso during our drive we could see a lot of damage from severe rainfalls in June and September with landslides and damaged roads.
We eventually reached Franschoek, a little town famous for the wine in its valley: the French Huguenots came here and brought wine. You see French names everywhere and references to the Huguenots. The town is also famous for its gastronomy. We ate lunch (nothing fancy) and watch tourists go by ( plenty of them, the town is a busy wee place). There is a tramway with different lines running and stopping into different wineries. Unfortunately, we were too late to start. So, instead, we went into one winery to do a tasting: Grande Provence. The estate is so big, it is not just about wine. The wine was good, especially the cabernet sauvignon.
Finding a campsite nearby was a bit of a challenge but we got one just outside Franschoek, along a river. We noticed there (again) the damages done by floodings in June and September. September was very stormy and rainy in South Africa.
We had our dinner outside, sat by the campfire and went to bed looking forward to day 2 of touring wineries.Read more