Drink wine and hike till I drop

During week 11 of my internship we drove on the route 62. Route 62 was an 850-mile tourist route through South Africa, from Cape Town to Port Elizabeth. It provides a fun alternative to the Garden Route, on the highway (N2) from Cape Town to George. Route 62 is a beautiful car route through the Karoo - a nature reserve, South Africa is in geological terms also called "semi-desert". This route in South Africa is also very well-known for its many vineyards that lie along the route, for example Paarl, Worcester and Robeterson. Route 62 is the longest wine route in the world and you really can not miss it if you’re on holiday in South Africa!

We remained one night (on Good Friday) in Stellenbosch. Our hotel was super nice and quite fancy. We had a pool and a nice, beautiful garden. After unpacking, we went to a wine farm to do wine tasting. It was really nice, but I had too much wine. I was really scared because our taxi chauffeur said he was not coming back. Fortunately he was just kidding. After the wine tasting, we went back to the hostel and we dressed up to go to the Centrum of Stellenbosch. We went to a pizza restaurant; believe me, I got the best pizza ever. I can’t remember the name of that pizza restaurant, but it was good. All the bars and restaurants were closed because of Good Friday. After dinner we walked in the streets and saw a cocktail bar, which was also really nice. I don’t remember the name either, sorry but I’m sure if you are there it’s easy to find. That night was great and funny. I really enjoyed it.

The next day we went to Jonkershoek. Jonkershoek Nature Reserve (9800 ha) is situated near Stellenbosch in the Western Cape province and consists of the imposing Jonkershoek Mountains and parts of the Jonkershoek Valley. We hiked there. We had to walk a lot before we reached the first waterfall. On the road there are a lot of little waterfalls. So we thought every time that we had finally arrived but that was not the case.
We certainly walked 8 km. It was really cool to climb on the rocks and to sit on the top of a mountain. We took a lot of pictures. Finally we saw two waterfalls and a nice natural view. I also want to tell you something funny about our super car. Before we started the hike, we could not find a parking space, so we were looking for even the smallest parking places. We found a small place that could fit, but we did not know for sure whether we would drive one more inch forward, fall over and die. Our car was on the peak of a high mountain. I was so scared that I wanted to leave. Everyone wanted to go elsewhere, but each tiny movement could be for the better or for the worse. It was an adventure, but the good news is that we are still alive.

After hiking we drove to Worcester. Along the wine route in Worcester there are a total of 11 different wineries, and it is a beautiful location as the small town is surrounded by large imposing mountains. It was nice to be there; it’s so chill. It was not busy at all. It was funny because we could not find the hostel. We were looking at Google maps and on other maps but nothing. Eventually it turned out that we were just in front of the hostel. So stupid, right? But it was funny. The hostel was very weird. I don’t know why but it was on a secluded place. It looked like a huge carbonate. It doesn’t look like a hostel. But when we put our stuff inside, it was a really nice place. Our room was nice and clean. I was really happy with this hostel. We remained only one night there. In the evening we drove to the Centrum of Worcester, because we were looking for a nice place to eat. It was not so busy, because all the restaurants were closed. Finally we found a good restaurant called “Dross”. The food was good.

The next day we went to"pick and Pay" for our breakfast. After a quick breakfast on the street, we continued our journey. After Worcester we went to Robertson via Bonnievale. Bonnievale was also known as the Valley of the Wine and Cheese. The hostel where we stayed at was great. It was a simple house, but with a nice garden. During that day we went to a wine farm where we had a boat trip. It was nice. After the boat trip we went to the Van Loveren wine farm. It was quite busy there, so we drove back to the Centrum. We lunched at a fancy restaurant with lively music.
After lunch we spend some time in the garden of the hostel. We played Uno and we listened to music. It was quite funny. In the evening we went to Dross for dinner. After dinner we went back to the hostel for our movie night. Everyone had a glass of wine and we watched “Hobbit”, the first movie. That was one of the best movie nights ever. I slept like a baby till the next day. The next day the owner of the house made some breakfast for us. It was good till I saw a huge spider on the wall. Nobody liked the spider, but after all we were in Africa, right? So you have to be prepared for everything.

After breakfast we drove to the Van Loveren wine farm again. We had two wild plans for that day. It was either hiking or mountain biking. After looking around we decided to hike. We walked for about 2 hours. It was quite heavy, but it was good. The road was not so good and the mountains were really high, but I did it. When we reached the top of the mountain I was so happy because I was done with this adventure. I can’t tell you how much because I was tired. After hiking we went to the bistro, which is a nice restaurant here in South Africa. After dinner we drove back to Genadendal.

It was a nice weekend; a weekend full of activities, good food and fine wine. I've put pictures below for you, so enjoy it.

Till next time.
I hope I have more great stories.

Bye bye … Peace out & stay blessed! Xoxo