Day 13

Day 13  - Swellendam to Stellenbosch (Wed. 20 Nov.)

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The weather this morning is looking a better. We're expecting it to brighten up and get warmer as we go. Hopefully we've seen the last of the rain.
Breakfast in the Marula's Guest Lounge is , er, adequate. The most limited offering so far I'd say. Somebody's got to come last in the 'Best Breakfast Stakes' eh?
Mike stops by and we load his bus. Soon we're away, Stellenbosch bound, an easy distance of some 250km (155 miles).
Bit to add here about stop for coffee at large curio/antique/junk shop…..
About 20km before Stellenbosch, there's a significant problem with my bike. Mrs. K. urges me (really urges me!) to pull over (so I do). Problem is her right hand side foot-board has dropped off. What's happened is the big bolt has sheared off at the head, leaving the threaded part in the frame lug and the foot-board dangling. I say 'dangling' only because this foot-board has lights inside it and so has a wire connecting it to the electrical system. This wire has acted as a tether and prevented the foot-board from dropping off down the road. Fortunately this happened on a straight bit of road. I dread to think how it would have been if it had happened on a right hand twist bit. (so I won't). This can't be fixed on the side of the road so I ty-wrap the offending foot-board up safely out of the way and Mrs.K. takes a ride the rest of the way in the mini bus with Mike. Company for him. We'll sort the bike when we get there.
At Stellenbosch, out selected accommodation is at Fynbos Guest House. Yet another place with a big 'Wow factor'. We get checked in. Mrs. K. and I have a room on the 1st floor, with the bikes parked underneath us. I go down and see Mike about the bike. Very very strange for the bolt to just shear off like that. Neither of us have ever known anything like that. Mike arranges with a local engineering company to take the bike there and get it drilled out. He rides off and comes back later with it all fixed. It was a stainless steel bolt and was a lot of work to drill out. He's replaced it with a smaller size nut and bolt. That’s fine. My theory is it may have been the wrong type of stainless and eventually just fractured. Anyway we're OK again now. Good job well done Mike.
Mrs. K. and I settle in to our room and chillax a while, before deciding to go for a stroll round the town, the centre of which is only about 5 mins. walk away.
I noticed that, here in Stellenbosch, the shops all have extra cage doors over their main door, some full some half-height. Not noticed that anywhere else. We spend a couple of hours exploring the town, looking around the streets and shops, stopping for coffees, buying gifts, and so on. Feeling safe.
There is a booking that was made today for us at a local restaurant, Volkskombuis ( Afrikaans for 'Peoples Kitchen'), that specialises in South African cuisine. Mike takes us all there in his mini bus (his Volkswagen - Peoples Bus), albeit via a round a bout route (but we can blame his navigator for that). We arrive , are welcomed and shown to our table set for ten places.
Well, what a contrast to last nights' meal. This is how it should be done. The service given here was exemplary. The food - really good, as was the wine. In my opinion this is the best restaurant dinner of the trip. It really does make up for yesterday's experience. To finish the meal, I asked for a (Johnnie Walker) Black Label, but was offered to try a local South African distilled single malt named "Bain's". I liked it very much and made a mental not to try and find a bottle that I could buy to take home with me.
Back to the hotel now, but before retiring we all troop over the road to where Mike and one of the others is staying tonight ('not enough room at the inn' syndrome repeats itself tonight). A very nice place they have been given too. I'm happy with ours (Fynbos) but I think theirs (Caledon Villa) is probably even better, really. Eventually we leave them in peace and cross the road back to the Fynbos, and so to bed. Zzzzz.


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