Tours in Cape Town

The new Cape Town stadium under construction

Who would have thought that way back in the 1500’s when only Cape Town’s extinct lions roamed the sandy wilderness today called Green Point that a stadium to host the 2010 word cup would be built there and that the area would have become Cape Town’s newest attraction.

Lets go back and and look at the history of this now world famous piece of land.

Green Point where once cattle roamed

From the time the Dutch arrived in Cape Town way back in 1652 the piece of land known as Green Point Common has been special. Known as “de vlakte genaamdt de Groene Punt” by the Dutch the name was changed when the British arrived to Green Point.

More or less in the centre of Green point a short way from Table Bay coastline is an area which was once known as the Camissa valley and it is here that way back in the 1650’s two African tribes known as the Huri-!Xai Quena or “Sea-place Quena” and the Kurin gai-Quena or “Sea-food collecting Quena” also known as the Hottentots and Strandlopers lived.

While the African tribes lived on the land it was also known as Kai Haa Mullai or the Great Flat Pastoral Land.

Green Point Lighthouse

Over the years the word “Mullai” which came from the Kai Haa Mullai name was corrupted by the French and the area became known as Mouille Point. The name Mouille meaning “anchorage where there is none” and how true that name would become in the years that followed. There is still today a lot of uncertainty as to the name of the lighthouse in the area and many people still get it wrong calling it the Mouille Point lighthouse when in fact it should be the Green Point lighthouse

The Dutch took a liking to this piece of land so they evicted the two African tribes and took over the land naming it De Waterplaats or the Foreshore. Once the African tribes had gone the Dutch grazed their cattle on the land. The former names have fallen away over the years and today the land is known as the Green Point Common.

The Common has a colourful history. In its early days it was used by the residents of Cape Town for walking and picnics on the beach. In the 1790’s it became a horse racing circuit and was run by the African Turf Club. It stayed a race course until the Kenilworth race course was established years later. While horse racing was at its peak a grandstand was built for the punters and it still stands today. It is now utilised by MacDonalds as a fast food restaurant.

One of the reasons the Dutch used Green Point Common for their grazing was that during winter a vlei formed and gave them a good supply of water for their cattle. The water reached a depth of about five feet and when the British arrived in 1806 they started using it for sailing regattas and canoe racing.

Silt and sand gradually filled up the low lying ground so that in the early 1900’s an Imperial Exhibition was able to be held on the Common.

The Green Point Common has always been linked with sport.
The first rugby match in South Africa took place between the “Officers of the Army” and the “Gentlemen of the Civil Service” at Green Point Common in 1862 with the match ended in a 0-0 draw.

The old Green Point Stadium all set up for a Michael Jackson concert

Cycle races also became popular after 1869 and these were raced at the Green Point cycle track. In the centre of the cycle track a cricket pitch was built and cricket was played their when the track was not being used by the cyclists. The old cycle track also played its part in history when Col Jack Rose set South Africa’s land speed record on a bicycle. In the 1950’s when the old Green Point Stadium was built a cycle track was incorporated into the stadium and the old cycle track became redundant ans was used for cricket and other sports.

Golfers living in the area were not to be outdone so in 1900 they persuaded the authorities that a golf course on the common would be a good thing. The 9 hole Metropiltan golf course was born and until 2006 it remained on the land allocated to it back in 1900.

Just in front of the flats top right you can see the new golf course being laid out

When the new Cape Town stadium was being planned they needed land for the stadium so part of the golf course was usurped by the authorities and the new stadium was eventually built on the old course. The golf course however did not lose out completely as new land to the west was allocated and has now been turned into a number of new holes for the course.

Other than sport the Green Point coastline has seen much action at sea as well. Many ships that anchored at Mouille point got themselves into trouble during winter storms and ended up on the rocks close to where the Green Point Lighthouse is today. Before the Green point Lighthouse was built there used to be another lighthouse a kilometre or two to the east of where the current lighthouse stands. It was known as the Mouille Point Lighthouse and those visiting the Hotel School in Granger Road can see the plaque that was laid on the lawns of the school where it used to stand.

The Seafarer being beaten apart by the waves

Some of the ships that came to grief over the years were the SS South African Seafarer which ran aground in a terrible winter storm about 50 metres off the Green Point Lighthouse on the 1st of July 1966 and during the rescue of the crew and passengers the Green point lighthouse stopped its light circulating and focused one of its beams onto the ship to assist in the rescue.

In September 1899 the Aberdeen line steamer Thermopylae went aground just off the Mouille Point Lighthouse. This ship was carrying an interesting cargo which included 2038 bales of wool, 382 casks of tallow, 1150 cases of potatoes, 64 boxes of butter, 7577 Ingots of copper, 1455 Ingots of tin, 5000 bars of bullion, 1221 cases of meats, 5648 carcasses of mutton, 2682 bags of ore, and a large quantity of sundries. The passengers and crew on board this ship were all rescued as was the gold bullion and other precious metals on board.

Engine block of Piscataqua sticking up out of the kelp

Some other ships wrecked in the vicinity of the Green Point coastline and lighthouses were The RMS Athens, wrecked in 1865 and in the same spot lies the Piscataqua, whose engine block still visible beyond the surf line today. The SS George M. Livanos burnt out opposite the lighthouse in 1947.

Fort Wynand in the shadow of the new stadium

Other than the Green Point Lighthouse that was declared a national monument there are some other historical buildngs which have been declared national monuments in the area, They are the Old Somerset Hospital and Fort Wynand . Other historically important buildings which are not national monuments are the race course stand (now Macdolds) the Hospital Museum and the Headquarters of the SA Institute of Medical Research and the Victoria Nurses Home.

Fort Wynand has always enjoyed a view of both the mountain and the sea but since the building of the new Cape Town stadium for the 2010 World Cup has lost its view of the mountain and its privacy. The new stadium overlooks Fort Wynand and shares some parking facilities with it.

As you can see Green Point has had a really colourful history with its highlight being the world cup.

One aspect of the world cup I am sure many people will remember is the fanwalk that was built for fans to walk from the city to the stadium. Before the world cup not many locals would have walked along the route but with excitement of the world cup and all the fans dressed up in their teams colours many locals even without a ticket to the game made the effort to walk the route. I don’t think that Cape Town in all its history has ever experienced the vibe that was created along that walk, not even when Michael Jackson visited and performed in the old Green Point stadium.

When you next visit Cape Town take the time to walk along the fanwalk and visit the new stadium and take the tour. After the tour visit Fort Wynand next door and then walk along the beachfront promenade to see if you can spot the engine block of the Piscataqua

Continue along the promenade on to the old Green Point Lighthouse with its red and white diagonal stripes. From the lighthouse cross over the road towards Signal Hill and visit the new park that has been established on the common near to the lighthouse.

Although not an established walking tour yet I am sure that there are enough highlights along the way for it to become one. For the present however it’s a great way to spend a day enjoying Cape Town’s sunshine and seeing the sights of one of Cape Town newest attractions.
See you all there soon!

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Table Mountain from the Tygerberg

The Tygerberg Hills run north to south a couple of kilometres inland from Table bay. From Table Mountain looking eastwards they are the first line of hills you will see.

Most visitors to Cape Town when flying into the city fly down the western slopes of the Tygerberg  Hills before landing at Cape Town’s international airport.

Tygerberg is  a strange name as there are no tigers in Africa so one wonders where the name Tygerberg came from.

There are a number of explanations as to how it was named.

One is that way back when leopards still roamed the Cape a couple of centuries ago, visitors to Cape Town spotted them on the hills and mistook them for tigers and named the hills after the” tigers” they thought they had seen.  Another explanation is that the hills have a mottled appearance which reminds one of the coats of the leopards which once roamed the area.

Either way it does not really matter as the hills are now called the Tygerberg Hills and they have been preserved by establishing a nature reserve on the top of them. The nature reserve consists of 278 hectares of land which is covered by mainly the last remaining Renosterveld or Rhino bush in the Cape and possibly in the world.

Why is protecting this Rhino bush so important?

Tygerberg Nature Reserve as seen from the east

The world consists of 6 floral kingdoms namely the Boreal or Northern Hemisphere (42% of land surface), Paleotropical or Africa/India (35%), Neotropical or South American (14%), Australian (8%), Patagonian or Antarctic (1%) and finally the Cape Floral Kingdom which consists of 0.4% of the land surface of the world.

In the Western Cape  this boils down to 90000 square kilometres of land which  stretches from VanRhynsdorp a small town to the north of Cape Town on the west coast all along the South African coastline till Mossel Bay in the east.

The Tygerberg Nature Reserve falls in the middle of this floral kingdom and is  the only place that Renosterveld still grows.

Our floral kingdom consists of three types of veld namely Fynbos, Strandveld and Renosterveld.  The different veld species are distributed as follows. The Fynbos grows in the mountains, such as Table Mountain, the Strandveld (Beach veld) grows along the coast while the Renosterveld which is between the two, grows in the fertile soils along the Tygerberg which are rich in clay and where there is a winter rainfall. Unfortunately for the Renosterveld vines require the same type of soil as the Renosterveld so over the years the wine farms have removed the Renosterveld and replaced it with vines to such an extent that the Renosterveld is one of the most threatened vegetation types in the world.

So what does the Tygerberg Nature Reserve offer the visitor.

The southern suburbs and Cape Point in the distance

Firstly there are the spectacular unhindered views of the Cape Peninsula where by just turning your head you can see Cape Point to the south, Table Mountain to the west and Robben island and Table Bay to the northwest. Looking eastwards one can see all the way to the Hottentots holland mountains and Stellenbosch and Cape Hangklip in the south. At your feet you have the northern suburbs of Cape Town and looking southwards you can see the southern suburbs and the Cape Town International airport in the distance.

The Cape Town International Airport

Other than the spectacular views the Tygerberg nature reserve offers some well-signposted hiking trails, local fauna and bird watching. The trails have been given various names such as Tortoise, Golden Mole, Duiker, Bontebok, Wild Olive, Watsonia, Ukhetshe and Induli.

As the City of Cape Town recognises three different languages namely English, Afrikaans and Xhosa two of the trails were given Xhosa names.

The Ukhetshe (hawk) trail was named because of the many birds of prey found in the Tygerberg Nature Reserve. They include Jackal Buzzards, Peregrine Falcons, Rock Kestrels and Blackshouldered Kites.

The second trail named Induli (hill) starts at the Plattekloof entrance to the reserve and winds its way up to the picnic area and viewpoint on top of the hill.

Being part of the Cape Floral kingdom the reserve boats 500 species of flora, 12 of which are threatened with extinction. Eight of the plant species in the reserve are endemic to Cape Town while three of the eight are endemic to the Tygerberg hills only.

Franklin looking for food

The reserve also boasts 50 species of mammals, 125 bird species, 35 reptiles including snakes such as the dangerous Cape Cobra and the Puff Adder , 8 types of frog and 33 different types of butterfly identified within the reserve.

One of the many tortoises to be found in the nature reserve

The latest addition to the reserve is the reintroduction of the Bontebok which previously occurred naturally in the area.  During the 1800’s hunters decimated their numbers that by the 1940 ’s only 36 animals remained

Thankfully due to a succesful breeding program there are  today  more than 2000 Bontebok in existence in South Africa with the Tygerberg Reserve boasting eleven of them.

Near the start of the Induli trail up the west side of the Tygerberg is the Plattekloof Dam which is currently being restored to wetland status with the addition of indigenous water plants and fish. This initiative will improve water quality and provide food, shelter and nesting material for animals.

A wheelchair trail has recently been laid out by the Friends of Tygerberg with lookout points and parking facilities. Able-bodied visitors have to walk up a steep hill to reach the trail, but disabled visitors can drive up and two parking bays are provided at the top. The trail starts from the forested picnic area at the top of the hill and is fairly rough and rugged. It is suited to the more able bodied wheelchair users.

The reserve also has the Kristo Pienaar Environmental Education and Resource centre, a library and herbarium where geography, town planning and ecology lessons are offered. Booking for these lessons is essential.

To visit this reserve one must drive along the N1 northwards towards Paarl and at exit 20 you turn left into Jip de Jager, turn left again into Kommisaris at the top of the hill, and then follow the signs to the Tygerberg Nature Reserve.

The Reserve is open from 09h00 to 16h00 on weekdays and from 09h00 to 18h00 on weekends and public holidays. Entry costs R10 for adults, and R5 for children (aged 3-13) and senior citizens. Entry is free for children under three.

Want to enjoy a day out in nature pack a picnic basket and visit the Tygerberg Nature Reserve.

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Streams running down Table Mountain

We have just hosted the world cup here in Cape town and with the many thousands of visitors here we had to supply drinking water as well as water for washing and showering.

All of the water used in Cape Town can be considered to be new water, not water that has been recycled. Quite a feat if you consider that Cape Town’s population has been growing by at least 50000 people per month and now stands in the region of 4.1 million people.

Travelling abroad today one has to be very careful what you drink and most times one has to revert to bottled water to feel safe. That is not the case in Cape Town as our tap water is amongst the best in the world and can be used for drinking and cooking.

So where does Cape Town get her water?

Way back in 1652 when the Dutch arrived in Cape Town all the water came from streams running off Table Mountain. As the colony grew these streams were dammed by the Dutch and the first reservoir was built where Cape Town’s  Golden Acre stands today. If you go into this building you can still see some of the stonework that formed part of this age old reservoir. Until the early 1900’s water in Cape Town was supplied by private enterprise.

Woodhead and Hely Hutchinson Dams on Table Mountain

As the colony grew the demand for water increased and in the early 1900’s the division of Public Works in Cape Town started taking responsibility for providing water for Cape Town and built the Molteno reservoir on the slopes of  Table Mountain. Five dams were also built on the back table of Table Mountain They are the Woodhead, Helly-Hutchinson, De Villiers, Alexandria and Victoria dams and were constructed between 1896 and 1907 and still supply water to the city today.

Even with the reservoir and the dams from 1904 to 1921 water restrictions were placed on the city for up to 15 hours per day in the summer months.

This lack of water obviously could not continue as with the growth of the city more and more pressure was being placed on water supplies.  The city had to find other sources of water.

In 1916 a Board of Engineers was appointed to report on a water augmentation scheme for the city.

Steenbras dam

Their proposal was the Steenbras scheme which would consist of a concrete gravity and arch dam on the Steenbras River. This dam would be connected to the Molteno reservoir through a tunnel in the Hottentots Holland mountains and a 64 kilometre long cast iron pipeline. Work began on the scheme in 1918 and was completed three years later.

The Steenbras scheme could supply Cape Town with up to 42 million litres of water per day although the average consumption was in the region of 29 million litres per day. The consumption however grew rapidly and it was not long before Cape Town once again had a water supply problem. To solve the demand for additional water supplies the Steenbras dam wall was raised and an additional pipeline was laid into the city. This work was completed in 1928.

To provide white water to the city the Constantia Nek,   Kloof Nek and Steenbras Water treatment plants were commissioned in 1934, 1938 and 1946 respectively. From then onwards the brown water that was previously supplied to the city became white water.

Cape Town being the popular place it is continued to grow and by 1928 the demand for water was already exceeding the available supplies. The Cape Town authorities built a third pipeline from Steenbras dam to the city and this was completed in 1949. With the added pipeline, pressure was  placed on the dam to supply more water so the dam wall was raised again with the work being completed in 1954.

The authorities knew that the Steenbras water scheme would soon be under pressure again so while they were still raising the level of the Steenbras Dam looked around for alternative sources to tap and came across the Wemmers river in the mountains near Franschhoek. In 1953 the Wemmershoek Water Augmentation scheme came into being when the building of a 54 meteres high earth dam on the Wemmers river began. This dam would have a crest length of 518 metres when completed.

Included in the building of the dam was a teatment works which could handle 250 million litres of water a day and an 80 kilometre long 1500/1220 mm diameter prestressed concrete pipeline which would lead to a 264 million litre reservoir built on the Tygerberg above Bellville.

Theewaterskloof Dam near Villiersdorp

You would think that all this water would be enough to supply Cape Town’s demand for water but that was not the case.

Voelvlei dam near Wellington

Another augmentation to the supplies happened in 1971 when 66400 million litres were allocated to the city from the Voelvlei dam near Wellington. This augmentation comprised of a 273 million litres per day treatment plant, two pump stations and an 80 kilometre 1500mm prestressed concrete pipeline.  Construction on the 570 million litre Plattekloof Reservoir  began at the same time and was completed in 1974.

Plattekloof Reservoir

In 1976 another scheme was set in motion whereby water from the Upper Berg, Upper Riviersonderend, Banhoek, Eerste and Wolwekloof rivers were to be linked by tunnels totalling 35 kilometres in length.to the Theewaterskloof dam, and the Stellenboschberg tunnel from which Cape Town receives raw water.  Included in this scheme was a 135 million litre per day pre treatment plant at Wemmershoek and a 400million litre per day treatment plant and a 550 million litre service plant at Blackheath and 70 kilometres of 1500mm prestressed concrete pielines. Construction of this scheme began in 1976 and was completed in 1982.

In March 1994 another augmentation scheme was approved which included a 36 kilometre pipeline to the Faure water treatment plant which was built between 1991 and 1994.  A further reservoir of 640 million litres was completed at Faure in 1996. This augmentation supplies water to Khayelitsha, Mitchells Plain and the southern suburbs of Cape Town.

Berg River dam

The Palmiet Phase 1 scheme was approved in 1995 and will supply another 31000 million litres of water to Cape town.

In the meantime the Berg River dam at Franschhoek has also been completed and has also come on stream in 2009 supplying even more water to the city.

Cape Town has spent millions of Rand on supplying water to the city and the demand is still rising.

It is our job as responsible citizens of the beautiful city of ours to try and curb water usage so that future generations will be able to enjoy the Western Cape and drink clean water.

If the demand for water continues to rise we might have to start using sewerage water and also start desalinating sea water.  Its either that or the cost of water is going to rise so high that we will no longer be able to afford to use tap water any more.

The choice is ours.

LETS START SAVING CAPE  TOWNS WATER.

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Looking back over the past four weeks of the world cup and Cape Town’s participation in it all I can really say is “WELL DONE”.

Cape Town is known as the sleepy hollow of South Africa and it took us a while to get going. Building the stadium started late due to arguments as to where the stadium should be built.  The ground used was not zoned for a stadium, the place where the stadium is built is far from the people and as most Capetonians know there is no public transport into the area.

Eventually after a lot of in fighting and public opposition the way was opened for the stadium construction  to begin.  It took the contractors three years of blood sweat and tears to get the stadium built and in the process of building it they had to contend with  theft of materials from the site,  strikes over all sorts of issues ranging from wages to transport to the stadium. With all the problems they had to contend with it is a miracle that the stadium was completed on time.  Cape Town got the job done much  to the chagrine of those who wanted us to fail.

The stadium was not the only project on the go,  the other major project was the  airport  which had to be reconstructed and enlarged to handle all the traffic we were expecting.

Just weeks before the world cup there were still building works going on but although Cape Town is known as being  laid back we got all the major projects completed, unfortunately not within budget but on time.

As many of our roads were not up to standard  they  had to be widened and resurfaced to allow for the additional traffic volumes we were expecting. Together with the upgrades the new BRT system buslanes also had to be built to allow the new My Citi buses to be introduced between the airport and the city and between the city to the stadium.

The introduction of this new transport system upset the minibus taxi industry  who threatened strikes and road blockages if it were not discontinued. The city went ahead and fortunately no problems surfaced during the world cup.

The Koeberg Interchange before construction started  only needed one car to have an accident on it during the morning rush hour to upset the whole of Cape Town for the rest of the day. This problem has not yet been resolved but when it is finally completed in the next year or two traffic flow should be  a lot better with all the blockages and problem areas removed.

The portions of the bridge  that were completed and opened to traffic during the world cup worked pretty well, but mainly due to a lot of traffic being taken off the roads with school kids on holiday.

A lot more traffic was taken off the roads on match days with the roads around the Cape Town stadium being closed  and people being forced to use the public transport that was available. Many people and I am one of them had last been on a suburban train 30 odd years ago so it was a new experience for many of them as well as for me.  I was impressed at how well the trains linked up with the other public transport services to get fans to the matches and back.

On match days the trains were pretty full and people were squashed together like sardines but nobody seemed to mind as the “gees”  of  the world cup had everyone so excited that a little discomfort did not matter.

I am sure that if the  level of security  that has been evident on the trains during the world cup can be  maintained   the public will once again use the trains and buses once the world cup is finally over.

Trains however suffer from a number of problems inflicted on them by the locals.  The township cable thieves  think nothing of stealing kilometres of live electrical cable overnight and causing mayhem on the trains the following morning.  If a train is forced to a halt by power cables being stolen the commuters often set fire to them causing even more problems and delays  than the missing cables are doing.

When the trains grind to a halt many people are forced to find alternative transport on  buses  and  minibus taxis to get to work.  There are rumours  making their rounds that the taxi operators  are behind the cable theft, as when the trains don’t run they get more business.

Another small  mishap during the during the World Cup  was when the  private security force  who were supposed to be guarding the Cape Town stadium walked off the job just hours before a game over a dispute about wages forcing the police to take over and do the job.

The mentality of people who think that actions like this are going to be looked at favourably slay me. The security company was duly fired and all the guards losts their jobs. One of the guards who went on strike had only been employed for two weeks.

Cape Town had another small  security  incident when  a British fan managed to sneak into the Brits dressing room after the game. Investigations showed that this incident was a set up by the press so that they could denegrate the security at the stadium. A reporter is facing charges for the incident.

Luckily there were no major snarlups such as happened in Durban before the German Spain semi- final game when aircraft full to the brim with german fans were forced to turn around as the airport had been blocked by private plains and they could not land.

Although Cape Town stadium had the fan sneaking into the dressing room of the Brits,  Durban had someone sneak through their security and make his way onto the field.  His moment of glory did not last long as he was unceremoniously removed from the field to find himself in hot water with the authorities.

Away from the stadium   there were a number of incidents of overcrowding at the Grand parade fanpark when the Bafana team was still in the finals but after they were ushered out of the competition  interest waned and crowds were easily controlled.

One other incident of note occurred and that was that duplicate tickets were sold for row “M” in the Cape Town stadium causing minor mayhem on the night.   Whether the tickets were issued in error or reproduced by dishonest ticket touts I cannot say, but somehow people got into the stadium on tickets that they should not have had.  Fortunately the problem did not disrupt the games  and everything went off smoothly.

As you can see Cape Town had an almost perfect world cup and showed the world what we can do when given the chance to do so.

For those of you who were scared to come to Cape Town because of false reporting in the world’s press we would love to welcome you now.

I and my colleagues in the tourism arena would love to show you around our beautiful city.

To find out more about tours that are available visit my website at Http://www.turtlesa.com and pick a tour or two from the list of tours available.  I guarantee that you will enjoy them even more now that the crowds have gone.

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During the first week of July Stellenbosch will be host to a wine festival. This year because the event takes place during the world cup special arrangements have been made for foreign and local visitors who would like to visit the estates participating while visiting Cape Town.

Stellenbosch scenery

The hub of the festival is at Doornbosch in Stellenbosch where there is parking available and from where one can get a shuttle bus to the wine estate of your choice.

For foreign and local visitors who would like to visit the festival arrangements have been made for you to get there without having to drink and drive.

People flying in from abroad or elsewhere in South Africa can arrange transport directly from the airport while people in the city can get transport to Doornbosch from the V & A Waterfront.

If you choose to visit the festival using your own car there are eight park and ride venues where you can leave your vehicle and then catch a shuttle bus to the wine estate or along the wine route of your choice.

The routes have been colour coded, Burgundy, Violet, Orange, Green, Lime, Yellow, Sky, Gold and Purple and the routes cover the whole of Stellenbosch winelands area.

Waterford Wine estate

Waterford Wine Estate

I recently visited the beautiful Waterford etate on the green route.It’s situated in a beautiful valley  just off the road to Somerset West from Stellenbosch.

View from the Waterford Estate

The Waterford Wine Estate was created through a very special partnership between two families who shared a dream of creating a wine farm where life could be cherished while the seasons marked the passing of time and where the fruit always reminded one of blessings, abundance and the beauty of nature.

Waterford tasting room

The Waterford estate was founded in 1998 when the present owners purchased piece of farmland which was previously part of the Stellenryk vineyards. From its early days the owners have worked hard to build a new winery while at the same time having to resurrect the existing vineyards and orchards. Their hardwork has paid off and today they have a showcase wine estate. They have produced a number of unique wines and combine a chocolate tasting with a number of these wines in their tasting rooms.

To make the farm more accessible to the public and to teach their visitors more of the secrets of winemaking they have put together a two hour vineyard tour with a special wine tasting experience in the vineyards for their guests. The cost of the vineyard tour is R500.00 per person and is proving to be popular amongst visitors wanting to learn more about winemaking, the soil used to grow the grapes in and the history of wine in South Africa.

Lounge area off the main courtyard of theWaterford winery

Stellenryk farm

The original Stellenryk farm is still in existence and it has recently come up with a unique program where they allow the public the opportunity to stomp their own grapes and make their own wine. They still do this and label wines for the public under their logo.

As a result of the program a new label known as JJ Handmade wines came into being where wines are produced using no machinery and only the free running juice through gravity flow and of which total production reached about 500 cases.

It became so popular that the estate converted an old dairy into a boutique cellar where everything works on a gravity basis. Grapes come in at the top of the cellar, are crushed with wooden stomps by the women on the farm and then allowed to ferment naturally. A basket press is used and soft pressure applied to fermented grapes to suck out the essence of the grapes and this juice is then combined with the free running juice from the tanks at the top of the cellar (with gravity flow) to finish fermentation in the barrels and start their ageing process.

Do you want to try your hand at making your own wine then click the link provided to find out more.

The winelands of Stellenbosch have so many surprises waiting for you that I cannot even begin to tell you about so why not i go out and get your tickets for the wine festival.

Airport Shuttles phone Jacques on 0832584769

Shuttles from the V & A Watefront

For shuttles to and from the V & A Waterfront phone Norman on 0825698299

The Waterfront shuttles depart from V & A Clock Tower entrance at 9.30 am and 11.00 am and return daily at 15.00 and 17.00 from the Doornbosch estate

The cost of the shuttle and the the festival pass is R300.00 per person.

Helicopter Shuttles

For those interested in using a helicopter shuttle , Base 4 Helicopters are offering a shuttle service on Saturday and Sunday at R750.00 per person and this includes the festival pass.

The shuttle service will fly between Blaauklippen, Zorgvliet and Skilpadvlei.

To find out more about the helicopter service phone Fuzzy or Michelle on 021 9344405

Own transport:

For those using their own transport there are eight park and ride facilities where you can link up with a shuttle service tom take you on the wine route of your choice.

The farms to park at are Doornbosch, Blaauklippen, Eikendal, Oude Libertas,Bottlery Hills Centre, Delvera and Zorgvliet.

The park and rde centres are open between 9.00 am and 17.00pm

Where to buy your pass.

Doornbosch Information centre

Park and Ride sites on festival days

Online at www.wineroute.co.za

Computicket inside Checkers stores.

Bring your printed ticket to any Park and Ride site or information centre to collect your glass and festival pass. For internet ticket collections please collect your pass at the Doornbosch information centre only.

For more information phone 021 8834310 or visit www.wineroute.co.za

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