Category: travel

I could live here

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It’s Denmark, which is the most boring of the Scandinavian countries I have been to (n=3), but still – look at this:

This bar will give you a free beer between 12 and 1pm.

There’s no catch, no obligation to buy another beer or any food or any other product. You just turn up and ask for your free beer, please. And then you can leave, although I’d advise you to drink the thing once you’ve ordered it, obviously.

The only T&C here is that you are only allowed one per customer per day, and that seems a bit tight perfectly reasonable.

As a loss leader for the bar, one presumes that it must work, otherwise they wouldn’t be running it. And – according to the guy who shared this – it’s not a limited promotion either. This has been going on since New Year already, and shows no sign of stopping.

I’ve seen beer offers before, but they’ve always come with the inevitable hidden catch. There isn’t one here. And for reference, a bar-bought 500ml Tuborg costs about 60DKK in Denmark, which is a terrifying R127, so this is a pretty sweet deal.

Sadly, the price of flights alone make this one a bit of a non-starter for us here in Cape Town, but if any of the local pubs are reading this and thinking that something along these lines might be worth a bit of a trial run… well… let me know and I’ll see you at noon tomorrow.

View from the weekend

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We went away and then we did very, very little.

Save, of course, from enjoying the views, the hot tub, the pool and the pizza oven.

On Saturday morning, I went out on a bit of run that then turned into a bit of a hike, and ended up climbing up onto the koppie 250m above our accommodation, leaving me with this view down the Breede Valley:

Not bad at all. New phone camera doing the business.
And I only nearly died a couple of times.

Right now, it’s back to reality: picking up kids from school and making dodgy salads for dinner.

But… it was a fun weekend.

I think I’m going to like it here

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We arrived yesterday afternoon after a leisurely drive down and a stop at the infamous Moerse Padstal in Napier. I am now able to totally recommend their roosterkoeke and their friendly welcome. It’s been a few years since we stopped there, but what a friendly place.

And now there’s just sunshine and blue skies and (almost) nothing to do. The wind is blowing, but it keeps the temperature manageable and the flies at bay.

As expected, the extra strain of all the visitors on the cell tower here means crawlingly slow internet, but there are other things to do: books to read, braais to enjoy, naps to plan.

We’ll be ok.

Oh, and if there was a good omen for this week or so away, surely it was the sight of a Black Harrier (Circus maurus) on the dirt road on the way in.

Nice start.

I think I’m going to like it here.

The weekend that was

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I’ve finally recovered enough to share a few images and a few words about a great weekend away near Montagu. Yeah yeah, the place says Robertson, and it’s probably closer to Robertson as the crow flies, but cars and people can’t fly (yet), and so Montagu is the town of choice for a Google Maps location.

And we were right up in the mountains, miles from anywhere. The track up to the place was challenging in parts, but acted as a great barrier betweeen us and the outside world for 3 days.

Last time I was here, there was snow everywhere, and the time before that, it felt like there should be snow everywhere. But aside from a couple of summer showers, this weekend was blissfully hot and lazy.
Hours on end dozing by the pool.

It’s worth noting that when I’m away, I let the other people take photos of the other people. My thing is getting the landscapes and the wildlife, and I much prefer that to making anyone uncomfortable by shooting them – posed or otherwise.

And the place itself is just beautiful. Views for days. Fynbos as far as the eye can see.

And who needs humans in the shot when you’ve got a tortoise?

Sadly not much in the way of unusual birds: Familiar Chat, Fork-Tailed Drongo, the occasional Jackal Buzzard passing by (some good Booted Eagle and Pale Chanting Goshawk action on the way home though), but some stunning Dragon- and Damsel-flies.

And a reed-bed pond for purifying the farm dam style swimming pool had some very pretty waterlilies:

All in all, a perfect few days away with friends. Fun, laughter, games, sleep, braais, drinks, a couple of hikes, a run, some ‘togging, and some delicious relaxation.

10/10 would recommend.

Away again – Klein Karoo edition

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Not Sheffield United (although we are), but us. Away with friends for a long weekend out towards the Klein Karoo.

It’s a remote farmhouse up in the hills that I visited with other friends about 18 months ago. That was a lot of fun, and I’m looking forward to another great weekend away.

There is no cell signal (which is awesome), but there is wifi, which is also awesome.

Still… you know me. I’m not taking any chances with the upcoming 14 year (eish!) blog post history, and so I’ll be popping some pre-written stuff up.

Usual rules apply for this sort of thing: it’s not my fault if the posts fail to mention or acknowledge any sort of nuclear disaster or terrorist attack that has happened since I wrote them. I’m not a fortune teller.
And also, obviously follow my IG for any images of our beautiful surroundings.
And also, I might post some “live” stuff while I’m there: I sometimes do more than one post a day. No rules against that.

See you again tomorrow (but actually only on Tuesday).