It's the 31st December and I'm driving down to Cape Infanta - starting out from Cape Town you drive along the N2 for about 2 & a half hours, then hang a right at Swellendam and continue on the gravel road for another hour until you reach the sea. At first there's nothing that interesting...just wheatfields that have done their job for the year and are now lying fallow during the dry season waiting for the onset of the winter rains to come alive again...
On these gravel roads you have no choice but to drive cautiously and admire the scenery - anything else guarantees you'll become a statistic. The road is ever so gradually snaking lower and lower and the anticipation builds - will we see the river around the next bend...but no...more wheatfields shorn of their locks..
Suddenly it appears...a ribbon of silver surrounded by lush greenery..our first milestone.
And then some more wheatfields until the next highlight...Cape Infanta...at last...60kms on a gravel road is no fun for anyone...it's a real 'eat my dust' kind of road but it does lead to paradise....
As you enter the village you have to slow right down to 20kms an hour as there are children & dogs everywhere - playing cricket on the common, riding their bicycles and running between all the houses checking to see who has arrived...then you drive once around the common as it is a tradition, park on the lawn & gently unfold yourself from your cramped position in the drivers seat hoping desperately that the welcoming committee is holding an ice cold beverage....hopefully a Vawter...my new favourite drink...vodka with a dash of lime finished with sparkling water...
After the kids have worn themselves out it is the turn of the grown ups...boules on the common anyone?..notice that there are two distinct teams...one wearing berets and one wearing silver party hats that match the boules - nice designer touch, guys..let the festivities begin...
As the sun sinks ever lower in the sky, the smell of burning wood begins to perfume the air....not just any wood - rooikrantz wood....we'll have none of that charcoal and gas BBQ rubbish here, thank you very much!!
Oh, the tummy is seriously staring to rumble now...doesn't that spatchcock Moroccan chicken look delicious?
And to make it extra special - tonight is a full moon as well as being the start of a brand new year & decade.....HAPPY NEW YEAR...May 2010 bring blessings in abundance to ALL...
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