Daily Archives: June 18, 2010

Wednesday 16th June published Friday 18th June (Kirsty’s blog)

Before I start I have to mention that Scouse John was in touch last night to tell us that when he sat down to have his tea one evening this week and he happened to hear the names Mr & Mrs Payne mentioned on the news (Look East region) and looked up to see a picture of Andy and I at the Holland vs Denmark game…all I can say is that it must have been a very slow news day, though I’m guessing that Mrs Miggins’ missing cat was still the lead story.

So an early start and getting up in the dark just so that we can squeeze as much into our few days in Cape Town as possible. We’re off to drink copious amounts of wine surrounded by stunning scenery…I mean we’re off to a very civilised wine tasting in the Stellenbosch, Franshoek and Parl wine regions, apparently you’re supposed to spit it out!!! What the devil are they thinking? Spitting out perfectly good wine, I’ll want to get my money’s worth and enjoy both the taste and the effect.

A lovely guy called Dave turns up first thing to pick us up and already ensconced in the minibus are an American couple, Andrea and Xavier, we then drive across town to pick up four more day trippers which turn out to be from Falkirk, Willy, Kevin, Barry and Scott. They’re out here for a holiday and a bit of football regardless that Scotland didn’t qualify, in fact for the first time ever I’ve heard a Scot say that he would like to see England do well, refreshingly different to the usual ‘anyone but England’ standard Scottish answer.

After torrential storms last night, so much so that the ceiling of our hotel room was leaking in the massive downpour, this morning is clear bright and for the first time we can see the top of the glorious Table Mountain and Lion’s Head Mountain…stunning.

Talk in the minibus is all about football and when we get to the first vineyard which is renowned for sparkling wines, Andy and the Falkirk boys are still talking football non stop while the poor wine guide guy is patiently trying to explain about the wines to what appeared to be a bunch of heathens knocking back bubby and talking tactics.

We visited a couple more vineyards before lunch and all of us soon really got into the wine tasting, it was really interesting to learn about the different processes and blends and the wines were gorgeous, despite small measure of each one, I was starting to feel a bit squiffy and when we arrived at Fairview vineyard I though I was seeing a live goat at the top of a small stone helter skelter, now the wine over here is strong but I didn’t think I’d drunk that much! I consulted Andy who could also see it but thought it was mechanical, on closer inspection it was indeed a live goat at the top of a stone helter skelter, brilliant!

The reason for the goat is that this particular vineyard had won a famous legal case when they were taken to court for using the name ‘Goats Do Roam’ on their bottles, needless to say this really really Pee’d off the French, though Fairview won the case and they continue to use the name ‘Goats Do Roam’, ‘The Goatfather’ and ‘Goat Door’ the French are probably absolutely seething.

We stopped for lunch at a great place called Franshoek, a very colonial/New England little one street town and invited Dave our wine guide to join us. It turns out that Dave is originally from Walsall in the West Midland but him and his wife have been here for thirty five years, on first meeting him we assumed he was South African as he has a gentle South African accent but on closer inspection he had a little twang of a black country accent which was a hilarious combination…don’t think I’ve ever heard a South African crossed with Walsall accent before, had the sudden urge to call him ‘bab’ though.

A great lunch, followed by more wine tasting (hic) and then a really great unexpected surprise is that just next to the last vineyard we visited was a Cheetah sanctuary. Now I’ve never been known to leave a drink before but I couldn’t resist and Andy and I left our fellow drinkers and skipped over to see the cheetahs. They are absolutely amazing creatures, so graceful and beautiful. I instantly forgot all about the wine tasting and we spent some time just watching them and watching people stroking them (they’d been hand reared and were very placid). The numbers of wild Cheetahs had been diminishing fast over the last few decades as they are shot by farmers looking after their sheep, so the sanctuary funds the breeding of very large Albanian Shepherd dogs which have a ferocious bark and are raised with the sheep flocks which makes them fiercely protective though they are an extremely effective and humane deterrent to cheetahs looking for lunch as the dogs can’t catch the cheetahs but will scare them away, which in turn stops the farmers shooting and trapping the cheetahs. Thanks to this project the cheetah numbers are on the up in South Africa.

So all in all, a fantastic day, good wine, good company, I forgot to mention the cheese and the olive oil but that was great too and the amazing cheetahs…who says alcohol and wild animals don’t mix!

Early night as we’re getting up in the dark again to make the most of Table Mountain, a bit of strenuous trekking for a few hours will help work off the gorgeous food and wine we’re been consuming (well probably not).

Monday June 14th June posted Friday 18th June (Andy’s blog)

We decided to head down to the Holland vs Denmark match at Soccer City, Soweto and see if we could get a couple of tickets from the touts. Dom, Nat, Simon, Pilks and Chris were going too, so we took two cars this time as Dom, Nat and Pills were headed off straight after the match, to Durban I think.

One unusual aspect of the Johannesburg skyline is the mine dumps which are scattered on each horizon. These are mini Table Mountains, but man made and are made from the waste slag from the mining process, gold mainly. Due to technological advances, these mine dumps are now being reprocessed for their gold deposits, so will eventually disappear. More on the gold issue later, as it seems to be one of the key issues for this country going forward.

We passed the Orlando Pirates’ stadium on the way, which is not owned by the football team, and is currently shared with the big local team, the Kaizer Chiefs (note the man who started the team hates it if Kaizer is spelt Kaiser!). The Chiefs, who produced Phil Masinga and Lucas Radebe who played for Leeds, are set to move back to Soccer City once the World Cup is over. There seems to be some controversy about whether that legacy will be fully utilised. Controversy about the legacies is another key feature of this tournament.

On a lighter note, we swung into Soweto proper by turning left at Snazzy’s car wash, next to Snazzy’s petrol station, adjacent to Snazzy’s
snack bar and Snazzy’s corner store. Looks like Snazzy was a big player in Soweto. Soweto is massive and we are told there are three million people living their. Famous amongst other things for the protest by students and school children in 1976 against being taught Afrikaans and their ensuing skirmishes with the police, Soweto became the symbol for black South Africa against the ruling white apartheid regime. Much has changed in the former township and houses are being built. However, as with much in this beautiful country, the whole project is very much work in progress and there is still plenty to do. Nike have built the superb the Soweto Soccer Training Centre as a legacy project and it was here we parked the car and took a bus into Soccer City. It turns out that a friend of mine, Steve McKevitt, led the design team back in the UK that designed all the graphic imagery used at the centre. Small world eh? Getting smaller I hope!

Conversation on the bus centred around poor old Robert Green again. Jokes being spun by a couple of the local lads who worked for Nike. ‘God save the Green’ and ‘Green’s computer had developed a virus and it can’t save anything’ tickled me in a quasi ironic way, but it was all well intentioned. Everyone out here is mad on football and so many of the lads know more about English football than most England fans. From Thomas the security guard at Dom’s who is a walking encyclopaedia of world football to the lads on the bus, to the boys who work in the hotels and bars, through to every taxi driver, football knowledge is both deep, accurate and ubiquitous.

We had a pleasant drive to the ground, arriving a full two and a half hours before kick off, to allow for ‘ticket acquistion’. Five minutes after parking I found a local lad and parted with 800 Rand ( about £80) for two tickets, which felt like a great deal given our England tickets for the first round have a face value of $140 USD, thank you FIFA.

The sun was out and very hot and the armosphere created by the Dutch all bedecked in orange along with the Danes was first class. The Vuvuzelas could be heard throughout and added to the good humour. What a pleasant experience, more so being neutrals and not having the stress of having to endure an England performance for once! Happy days. The stadium is impressive, like a slightly larger Wembley inside and pretty steep. We were surrounded by locals all who were full of smiles and laughter. The game passed without much really happening if I am honest. Holland’s subs did not warm up at half time, and good old Jubulani managed to fly through the air and bounce high at every opportunity, spoiling the game for the most part. So much so that it was only 15 minutes in before the crowd started a Mexican Wave which lasted a full five minutes. Even the goalies got bored with the ball and punted it to one another without any other player touching it. Holland looked solid all over the pitch and should progress to the second stage easily enough.

Getting out and back to the Nike centre was easy enough, unlike the previous time the stadium was used, when all the bus drivers went on strike over pay and conditions which happens a lot out here. I am never sure who is in the right, employer or employee, but it is happening all of the time. Everytime you ask the question as to why this is happening more than not, the answer comes back ‘this is Africa’.

The perfect footballing afternoon, a carnival atmosphere and totally relaxing. Only one blip really as we filed out of the ground we got talking with or rather talked at by a couple of old school white blokes. One of them asked me, ‘why do you think there are holes in the outside shell covering the stadium?’. When I replied,’ because it is part of the design and let’s light out at night’, I was told ‘no man, it is because the bloody Sowetans have stolen them’, followed by guffaws of laughter. Obviously I nearly laughed myself to death, given this boorish oaf’s hilarious gag, ignored him and walked off in the opposite way. Anyone laughing at their own jokes is somewhat suspect in my view, but to be openly dismissive was somewhat cliched. Still cliches are their for reason aren’t they? Let’s hope that these two were the only dinosaurs in the crowd of 83465 at Soccer City that day.

Home and hosed, we caught the Italy vs Paraguay match on TV later that evening over a few beers. The Italians were pleased to get a draw, looked a little toothless up front, but still looked a tough team to beat. The weather was appalling, rain litterally falling out of the sky, not boding well for our next stop Cape Town.