Day 76: Leaving Auberge Clermont — Roadtrip to Africamps Stanford Hills
Road Trip to Stanford
This morning we checked out from our beloved Auvergne Clermont. I would have have happily accepted another few days in Franschhoek — such a great spot, and I feel like I was robbed of 36+ hours by my stomach bug and fever. Many reasons to remember our Villa at Clermont but top of the list was the Biking Breakthrough.
We said good bye to Rusty, Pepper and Stella and their mom / property owner Angela, packed the car and pulled out around 11. Our friends at Travel Artistry Africa advised us to take the long and scenic route. Such a good call. We drove about 50 minutes and stopped (also per their rec) at Peregrine Farm Stall —- a grocery store, bakery, sit-down restaurant, take out counter, coffee shop, grocery store, playground (of course), pop up boutique and used book seller all rolled into one. We grabbed lunch on the deck overlooking the playground then Margaret and I got coffees while the kids made friends with Afrikaaners heading off for their weekend holidays.
We picked up a few groceries then swung down through Gordons Bay and followed the coast towards Stanford. It’s a stunningly beautiful drive. Check out this video…
Africamps Stanford Hills
We are staying the weekend at Africamps Stanford Hills. It’s a beautiful but not-so-fancy property featuring a winery, farm, a couple lakes, big lawn and playground with trampoline (kids obsessed), a farm-to-table restaurant called the Tasting Room and 6 “tents” for overnighters. We have a two bedroom family “tent” which has a canvas top and sides and plywood floors. It is’t luxurious but is more hotel then tent… it’s raised up on pillars, has a large deck and grill, full bathroom with hot water, kitchen with microwave and hotel style comfortable beds. As we pulled up to the property you could see families eating lunch at the restaurant, kids playing at the playground, two beautiful dogs (Pinot and Simba) and a MASSIVE pig named Cracklin’ who was just wondering around the lawn. We ordered dinner from the restaurant to be delivered to our tent, poured G&Ts and got comfortable in our home for the weekend.
Soundtrack
Every road trip needs a soundtrack and thankfully our new bff Meg made us a Spotify playlist of her fave South African tunes. So good!
Peak Stuff
Margaret and I laughed on the drive today that we were likely at “Peak Stuff” for the year. We rented a car in Cape Town March 1 and we were going to have it for more than a month, with 4 different stops along the way — 3 of which are “self catering” meaning you make your own food. So in Cape Town we loaded up on some kids games, puzzles, activity books, even a pack of printer paper for coloring. We also had several grocery bags and a few bottles of booze. Then we did the whole bike purchase thing. So, the car was STUFFED. Feels strange — and it’s evidence that you will absolutely fill whatever space you have when you pack. But we’re totally fine with it knowing that we will shed everything April 5 and donating the bikes and kids stuff before we head to Zimbabwe. We have another road trip in Australia so maybe we’ll accumulate some more stuff but my bet is that right now we’re at Peak Stuff.
