Wet Babylonstoren

Jules, the farmers wife who owned/ran The Two Rivers Farm, was happy to chat as we were leaving. She and her Zimbabwean husband, had previously been bankers who had worked in London. Jo Burg and Hong Kong before deciding to become South African farmers. They were turning their run down property into a viable farm with Dairy, Beef, Poultry, Olives, fruit and tourists as sources of income. The farm was “Off the grid” in terms of electricity and water and was run on soundly ecological lines. They tried to avoid the use of plastic and recycled as much as they could. Having said that, the fittings and furnishings were of high quality if not a bit quirky. (Bed bases were pallets and the outside bathrooms had ill fitting slatted wooden walls and no roofs) We had enjoyed our stay and were happy to take her advice suggesting that a visit to the above farm would be worthwhile. It was a very wet day and we only had a drive to Hermanus planned so  we were happy to spend an hour or so looking round the beautiful gardens and expensive (for RSA) boutique shops before partaking of a coffee in “The Greenhouse Restaurant” which was, strangely enough, actually a restaurant in a greenhouse. We were told that the owner was a billionaire and his wife had been given free rein and an open ended budget to create an estate and gardens modelled along French lines. It was well worth seeing and it was busy despite the poor weather.
Bob was driving and soon had us chugging along to Hermanus where another “Booking.com” property awaited. £10pp/night. A three bedroomed house within walking distance of the beach in Sand Bay which was itself about 4km from the famous whale watching cliffs. We had arrived quite late and had self made sandwiches for a very late lunch. They did the job and we couldn’t contemplate eating again after a short walk along the local beach as dusk approached. We made do with wine and beer instead.

Night spent at Oak on Main, 14 Kiewiet Crescent, Sand Bay, Hermanus