Norm and I had quite the adventure again this weekend. Last week seemed to drag however, maybe because of our anticipation and chomping at the bit to get away for our longish weekend? Or it could have been lingering exhaustion from the previous weekend’s festivities?

Norm had shopped during the week and one of us cooked most nights, however I had no leftovers to take to work for lunch on Thursday and I used OrderIn to get Sakura Sushi delivered to the client office.

In line with my new sense of adventure I ordered a different type of sushi than what I normally try. I ordered the following:

• 1 X Prawn, Avo & Mayo Salad @ R48.00
• 1 X Salmon Roses @ R64.00
• 1 X Salmon Sashimi Flower @ R48.50

The new item I tried was the salmon sashimi flower. I had carefully examined the description of the dish as I bloody hate seaweed and always stick to things I know do not contain it. Guess what? The pretty little sashimi flower is wrapped with seaweed. Did the menu mention seaweed?

No.

Meh.

I managed to unwrap the seaweed and chuck the rest of the ‘flower’ into the prawn and avo salad so it all worked out in the end. It took a bit of ducking and diving but no seaweed touched my mouth.

When I got home on Thursday evening I had all good intentions to pack my suitcases for the weekend away but I was just too tired to function.

On Friday afternoon I was like a kid about to go on summer holidays and could barely sit still at work. I left the office at 12 and headed home to pack and get organised and try to get on the road early. Instead I faffed about and by the time we got the car packed up we only left Hout Bay at 2pm. Traffic out of the city was a nightmare and I am a very nervous passenger. I tend to yelp and shriek when cars stop in front of us or get anywhere near us. Imagine over two hours on a motorway. Poor Norm.

Anyway after about 2 hours or so we finally arrived at the Airbnb accommodation where my friend Retha had arranged for us all to come and stay to celebrate her upcoming birthday.

It is an absolutely stunning house in a very special location. We did not even bother to unpack or even have a tour on arrival, we needed to chill out a bit and so we had tea and biscuits out by the pool with Retha and Barry.

Another couple were joining us on the Friday night and after they arrived we all got settled into our rooms. A bit later we were all called into the kitchen. The staff had prepared dinner for our first night in the villa. The sun was just starting to set and the view of the sea in the background was amazing.

The staff had made a large simple salad which was on the table for us to get started with.

For the starter they served Ravioli. It had a gorgeous spicy sauce on top.

For the main we were told Venison pie was on the menu and as I am not a huge fan of venison or pie, I was feeling a wee bit of trepidation. However this was one very special pie! The venison was tasty and full of rich flavour, but it wasn’t a gamey taste. The pastry was crisp, light and dry and not at all soggy. It was served with oven roasted veg.

It was all rather divine.

For dessert there was malva pudding and custard. It was lovely as well and we all felt very spoiled!

After we finished with dinner we went to the lounge and settled around the bar. It was great hanging out with my bestie.

We played pool and listened to L.M. Radio which broadcasts out of Mozambique. They play oldies, new music, jazz, pop, rock, reggae, african tunes, disco, you name it, they play it! They even came out with a Edith Piaf tune at one stage! It is a nice mix and the perfect party soundtrack for our pool playing.

We stayed up playing pool and drinking and talking rubbish til quite late. I was feeling a bit of pain when I woke early the next morning. I went down and made a coffee and waited for breakfast to be served and hopefully to revive me.

I had a bit of a wander around the house, it went on an on! The entire house is just stunning and is full of lovely furniture and art.

We had asked for breakfast to be served at 8.30am and promptly at that time we sat down to enjoy the fresh fruit, juices and yogurt.

We were all fascinated with the mirror on the kitchen ceiling.

After the fruit and yogurt were consumed we were served a delicious cooked breakfast of toast, eggs, fried tomato, bacon and sausage. We sat chatting after breakfast and some of us toddled off on walks and some of us just relaxed by the pool for a bit.

Late morning we decided we would all go and explore the local market, The Hermanus Country Market which is held at the local cricket grounds.

There were mostly food vendors and as it was so hot and we had just had a huge breakfast we were not hungry, but the perimeter of the market had various hand-crafted items for sale and so we had a wander around those stalls. We bought a lovely bright red African print waterproof picnic blanket from a woman with the most beautiful plump cheeked baby sleeping on her back. I spent ages poking about the steampunk and leather stall. I could have bought all of the owner’s stock.

After the market Norm and I went into the town and wandered through a few art galleries. It was a really hot day and I had not packed much in the way of cooler clothing so when we saw a Mr Price we decided to see what I could pick up there to clothe me in the heat. I found a loose mid-calf length thin black cotton dress which was perfect for me and so I grabbed that and we headed back to the house to join the others.

Later on after we had some nibbles for lunch Norm and I decided to go upstairs for a little rest as we were expecting a hectic party that night. We had a lovely sleep for a few hours, then we showered and went down to join the group. While we were snoozing Dave and Lauren had arrived to join the party. They were spending Saturday night at the house too. The house was massive and had 5 bedrooms which would sleep about 14 people.

We sat chatting and waiting for everyone to get ready and then all 8 of us headed out for dinner to a local restaurant. Norm and I decided to drive as my arthritis is making my knees rather uncooperative, the rest of the group walked as it is just a wee bit up the road.

Lizette’s Kitchen is set in a grade 3B listed Heritage Farmhouse which has been lovingly renovated.

The decor is quirky and charming, modern yet nostalgic. I adored the vibe and the furnishings. When we arrived the staff offered us a choice of tables, we had booked in advance but they wanted us to be comfy. We chose a table at the back as it was very private.

The art was very amusing.

Every item on the menu sounded so tasty that I struggled to decide. Our waiter Gift made it even harder! I thought I had decided but when Gift came and lovingly described all of the offerings I changed my mind.

Norm and I both started with the Prawn Wontons. I had expected more of a mince texture like a standard wonton, but each wonton contained a whole prawn tail. The filo pastry was crisp and it was really tasty. It was served with a hoisin sauce.

Norm decided to go for the Moroccan Lamb Shank for his main. It was R175 and was described as ‘Slow Roasted for hours in North African spices, served with tabbouleh, almonds & Greek salad.’

I had been going to try something spicy and adventurous but the Fish and Chips is legendary (according to Gift) and so I decided to give it a go.

They served it with a little dish of soy sauce and vinegar and that combo is a life changer! Who would have thought to put those tastes together? Not me. Obviously Lizette did and I thank her for it! Hands down the tastiest fish I have ever had.

The chips were rather ordinary skinny frozen chips, I had expected a plate of thick hand cut chips and was a bit disappointed. But the fish made up for it.

We were all too full for dessert and so we paid up and headed off to the villa.

We played a bit more pool or hung about outside by the pool. Pool was the theme! We had a few drinks, and Norm and I even had a bit of a dance while some of the others were playing pool.

Norm and I were in the middle of playing a second game and the music was cut off and the telly was turned to the rugby. As there were several televisions I was confused as to why the music had to go off for those of us not watching, but the blokes pretty much just took over. As blokes do.

So they watched rugby.

Then they watched more rugby.

Then they watched people on telly talking about the rugby.

Then we all noticed that Retha had disappeared and we discovered she had gone to bed!

Norm and I spent the evening sitting outside by the pool chatting and drinking and then eventually we heard music inside and we drifted in to join the others as the rugby was finally over. But by now it was late and everyone’s energy was rather flat from drinking and sitting around so everyone just drifted off to bed. So much for our anticipated frivolities.

Never mind.

I woke up early on Sunday morning and did not feel terribly hungover as I had tried to make sure to drink plenty of water and less vodka than I had managed to suck down on the Friday night.

When I was making my first coffee I looked out the window and saw a gorgeous fat wee mongoose scooting along the edge of the bushes. I did not have my phone to snap a pic so I stole one from the internets for you.

The next morning we were again treated to a bang up gorgeous breakfast. Norm was a bit grumpy as he was at the end of the queue and only got one piece of bacon but he did not starve as there were plenty of eggs and tomatoes.

After breakfast Norm and I went for a stroll down to the beach which was just outside the back door.

We sat watching the waves crash and enjoying the serenity.

We then walked along the coast a bit and saw a little lizard with an orange tail and legs scooting across the path and off into the bushes. He was ever so cute.

After we finished our walk we went back to the house and relaxed a bit before we got showered and packed, ready to make the excursion home.

We finally packed up about 12 and headed out, we decided to take a drive along the Whale Coast back home.

It was a stunning drive!

We stopped for lunch at Spier wine farm. We decided to just grab a few picnic items and sit outside at the Farm Kitchen.

They had a few prepared sandwiches so we picked a chicken and mayo.

I also indulged in a bit of potato salad.

For dessert Norm chose an apple cake type thing. It looked like an upside down cupcake. It was stuffed with bits of apple and had a sort of toffee flavoured icing on top.

I played it safe and got a couple of cookies.

The sandwich was not very nice, there was half cooked bacon generously layered on top and the fatty consistency was rather horrid in your mouth. I also found a large piece of bone in my chicken so I was rather unimpressed. The ciabatta bread was lovely as was the flavour of the potato salad.

The peanut butter cookie was nice, but the chocolate chip one tasted too wheaty and not chocolatey enough. Norm enjoyed his dessert.

All in all I give them 3 Kitten Stars ⭐️⭐️⭐️.

Considering it was a Sunday afternoon the place was rather quiet.

It was a really nice drive back and it was lovely to spend time with Norm and Retha and to make some new friends. I really enjoyed Lauren and Dave and think we could have a lot of laughs hanging out with them. We were planning our next event already when we left.

We had a great weekend and now it is back to reality.

However there is nothing quite like home.

Kisses from the Kitten xoxoxoxox