Day 72: Driving to the Winelands — Arrive at Auberge Clermont

Today was getaway day at Rosmead Street. We packed up and checked out by 10am, saying goodbye to Angeline and Tuffy, the caretakers of the house who work on Mondays. Our first stop was at DHL express to send home a bunch of stuff we had accumulated during our time in Cape Town.

We were headed towards Franschhoek but we drove through Stellenbosch and stopped at the Welgevonden Estate for lunch — a fancy yet kid-friendly winery featuring the “carnival” play space / restaurant where kids can make their own pizzas. South Africa has figured out the whole kid entertainment during meals thing.

Luke and Meg gave us a heads up that if you are on a two-lane highway and someone pulls over a bit to let you pass, you give them a double flash of the hazards to say thank you. They then respond with a double headlight flash to say you’re welcome. We tried this and it works. Feeling like locals once again thanks to Luke and Meg.

Unfortunately I woke up feeling less than 100% and went downhill steadily as the day progressed. I had stomach issues and a fever that just rocked me by the afternoon. I stayed in the car for most of lunch and struggled to continue the drive to Franschhoek (Margaret hasn’t yet taken the leap to driving on the other side of the road so it was on me to get us there.)

But we made it — and it was worth the struggle. We’re staying at Auberge Clermont, a B&B on a winery that has 6 rooms plus a 1860s farm house villa that they’ve refurbished for families. It’s really a perfect setup: two bedrooms, pool, amazing views of the vineyard and mountains, a frog pond (!) “self-catering” (meaning you stock the food and cook on your own) but they have daily cleaning like a hotel.

Very chill evening. I took a nap after we arrived and then moved from my bed to the couch in the outside lounge area. Margaret and the kids hung around the house, took a swim, made dinner and we all went to bed pretty early.