Tag Archives: review

  As towns go, Knysna stands heads and shoulders above others, but it’s still a town, during peak season it is a crowded busy town.  Traffic jams can make visitors feel like they’re back in rush hour traffic.  In choosing Nieu Wherry Meadow as our accommodation, Cliff secured a space with access to forests, rivers and beaches without the mayhem of Knysna …

First listening to the David Bowie album Blackstar, released 2 days before his death, I simply didn’t like it, it jarred.  It is not bop while you get on with your day music, it demands.  Sometimes music needs to grow on you, grow into you, send roots into the loam of you, but rewards with a view from its highest …

The walls of my childhood bedroom were adorned with prints and posters, and of course my mother’s art.  One poster print captured my imagination, it was a Heath Robinson illustration for A Midsummer Nights Dream.  The same elusive feeling captured by the artist, stirred at Blyde River Cabin.  The misty, rainy weather during our stay did not detract from the …

In December I was enchanted by the book The Invention of Hugo Cabret.  This week, we found time to watch the movie, Hugo.  Previously this had slipped under my radar despite winning an Oscar. This was the first family movie which we have watched together (over 2 nights).  Parts probably went over Acacia’s 4-year-old head, but she still enjoyed it.  …

For a good few years I deliberated regarding whether to buy a bread machine, my primary concern was that it would be a white elephant. I heard tales from friends who have bread makers and don’t use them. In 2010 Cliff bought me a Russell Hobbs Breadman Jnr and I was in love from day 1. On average I used …

Many excursions are driven by a whim or obscure purpose.  Our 1st visit to Beaver Creek Coffee Estate took place because Cliff had somehow detectived that they served Mozart Cake made by Chateau Gateaux.  We had hankered after this since it was served in a deli in Swellendam.  On that occasion We drove 197km to Port Edward from Umdloti just …

I remember The Waffle House when it was still The Teahouse of the Blue Lagoon.  In my school days it was already an institution.  My son Fjord can only eat home-made waffles made with Orgran ‘No Egg’ as his is allergic to eggs.  It is not fair to go a-wafflin’ when he cannot partake.   We were prepared to block our …

Until the year 2000 I lived in Pinetown and Durban.  In all those years I saw very little of the Natal South Coast.  Durbanites consider any trip more than 30km to warrant a packed lunch.  The South Coast was viewed as ‘That place where the uncouth Vaalies (Transvaalers) over-run during holiday season.’  The irony that I now visit as a …

The giant flat-crown, crowns my memory of Rustic Cottage at Oribi Gorge.  Her limbs a tapestry of wood and light.  A marriage of permanence and elusive elements.  At sunset her dark silhouette stood firm against sunset’s fire.  What tales she could tell at our campfire.  She who has seen countless seasons, she is memory and she is now. Rustic cottage …

After my Imperial Cookie press died (after an all too short life), I set my sights on the Russell Hobbs Biscuit and Cookie maker.  I wanted to fall in love with it, but I couldn’t.  I loved the snazzy clip lock box which it came in, I loved the fact that it was electric instead of manual.  After trying 4 …