We woke to another stunning small Karoo morning- with the ostriches doing their dance and the Swartberg mountains looming ahead. We packed up and were on the road by 8:30 as we had about 450km drive ahead of us. We thought we would have a coffee and muffin in Oudtshoorn, but no luck and soon we we on the highway east towards Franschhoek. We were on the R62 for some time getting pretty hungry- eventually at about 10 we pulled into a small town called Carlitzdorp and there was a little place that looked like a good place for breakie, the dinning room out back was so cute- the place was run by two old English Ladies and called the Rose of the Karoo. Still amazes me how cheap we can eat here- breakfast for all 4 of us was about $20! We had a great breakfast- fuel for the long drive. Then we were on the road again- a long endless road through the mountains which are so huge and daunting - we felt so small. Along route 62 was a stop that I had read about and is called "Ronnie's Sex Shop". It used to be called Ronnies shop and someone had penned the extra word in there and it had stuck- now we stopped at this store truly in the middle of nowhere- and people from all over the world have been here and hung their underwear in the bar- too funny. we had a quick boo and were back on the road. We were maybe half way at this point. Next stop we thought we should stop for lunch- we had heard of a lovely place in Barrydale - Diesel and Creme that we thought we would stop at - but by the time we pulled up to this delightful restaurant we were still full from breakfast- a brief stop to check it out- a great place if we had more time. Then we carried on our way, so much unpopulated land for what seemed liked hours. At about 2 we were getting a little hungry so as we were driving through Robertson we happened on a few coffee spots - first place only served coffee but across the street we found Rosa's and had a delightful coffee and scones. That filled the gap and off we went again - next stop Franschhoek!
Finally at around 4 we pulled into Boschendal Estates- wow, an absolutely stunning setting. We helped in and headed up to our cottage on the other side of the farm. These cottages are so decorated beautifully - every last detail is accounted for, down to the lavender soap that they make on site. We settled in and then decided to rye out the restaurant on site for dinner. The Werf, when we go there was empty - we were the only patrons. Looking t the menu I was a little worried as to what the girls would eat - but hey had share plates which looked delish! The girls had a a share plate of chicken and Frank and I had a prime rib plate. Oh my gosh - more food than we knew what to do with - we could all have eaten off the one plate. The food was superb and the wine so smooth - I tried a Chardonnay Pinot noir which is not a blend I can ever say I've had.
After this huge dinner, a day of travel and so much to take in we were pooped! We got back to the cottage - watched the movie Blended and then lights out.
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