Third Anniversary

Shew, so The Trucker is most officially the longest relationship I've ever had. And as has become tradition, we went away for an anniversary weekend. I was a little worried, because it's becoming hard to top every year and this is only the third - haha. But I think we did just fine!

I found this place called Eagles Eyrie, which is super nearby, just this side of Harties. And it was pretty much perfect. There is only one place on this farm and it is superb.

I left work a little early on Friday afternoon and headed home, where we packed up our stuff and hit the road. Nice to arrive before sunset. The place is gorgeous. There's a warm splash pool (not warm enough for me to even get waist deep in this weather tho, I tried on Saturday afternoon) and a whole gorgeous decadent tent with the bedroom and bathroom. And an outdoor shower! An awesome deck area with loungers and a whole separate Kitchen tent across the way (including a little dining area). With a braai area / fireplace between the two.



My word, I was pretty much gobsmacked. Don't be fooled by their awful website, even the gallery there doesn't quite do it justice (the kitchen tent is where the gazebo used to be).

We spent a lovely long lazy early evening reading our books and just taking in the gorgeous view. At 7, The Trucker went to make dinner. He made us some yummy spicy tomato and chorizo pasta which we enjoyed with a bottle of Hermanuspietersfontein Die Martha from our Roadtrip. Must get some more of that.

And then we just sat and watched the moon rise. It was a perfect evening.

We didn't really know what to do with our whole day in Harties ... But we had a lazy morning and a superb shower. I'll admit I was a little nervous. Thought it might be too chilly but the water was hot and warmed us right up. And the sun was shining. It was a superb day.

We headed out around the Dam and thru the tunnel and then up the cable car (R165 per adult) to have some breakfast on the top. I haven't been on that cable car since I was dating Bean, so a good 9 years ago, probably? It was bizarre seeing those old rickety ones on display.

But now it is all shiny and new. And there are restaurants at the top (I don't really remember what was up there before?). But sadly, none of them offer anything in the way of a decent breakfast. The one had burgers and hot dogs and the other sold pizzas. Our only option was a breakfast pizza with a view. It wasn't too bad, but certainly wouldn't have been my first choice. Guys, seriously, I'm sure there is a market for someone selling bacon and egg and cheese rolls up there. The place wasn't packed, but there were quite a few people up there.

If I knew better, I'd have taken a blanket and my book and just spent some time lazing up there. It's lovely. But then again, we did have superb weather!



After breakfast and a walk along the Dassie Loop (who knew we had nukes ?!), we headed back down ... and luckily we seem to have missed the rush because the queueing at the tunnel was crazy as we drove back in the opposite direction.

We decided to go and check out the Bush Babies Monkey Sanctuary (R195 per adult). Mkay so this was kinda cool, but not *that* amazing. Although I'm still okay with having paid to check it out ... being that it's a sanctuary and the money will go to continuing to look after these animals. We didn't see *that* much ... or rather, as much as I was expecting (not sure what my expectations were based on exactly). A few were curious about one or two people in our group, but there wasn't much interaction.

Still, it is a gorgeous place and you go on a beautiful walk thru their natural forest with the guide. Must get the photos off my camera this evening.

After that we headed back to Eagles Eyrie for the afternoon. I made us some lunch and then I read, and finished, my book. The Trucker napped. We watched the sunset and then when it got dark, I hopped in the gorgeous victorian bath to warm up before we headed to dinner. Gotta make use of all these facilities, you know. It was totally worth it ;)



I'd booked dinner for us at African Swiss ... hello Cheese Fondue! I'm sure someone recommended this place to me. I'm not exactly sure why tho. It also wasn't at all what I expected. First, when you arrive, you seem to walk past/thru their kitchen. Then there is a little indoor seating area, but it feels a lot like the outdoor area (it's very open). Outside there was a movie (Avatar) playing on a projector against a wall. And there were only 2 other families there when we arrived at 7pm.

It was chilly, but they had heaters available. We ordered drinks and then a cheese fondue to start. The cheese fondue was yummy and I am a fan. This seems to be the last place left you can get one (there used to be a restaurant near Throbbing Strawberry, but it's closed). But after that we couldn't face any more food so we left. In and out in under and hour.

But it was a chilly evening so we climbed into bed with our books and had an early night.

So, I highly recommend Eagles Eyrie, but be warned, it seems like it should be an idyllic peaceful place. But it's not. There are "city noises". I don't know what it's like in summer, but in the thin cold air of winter, the noise from the road travels. But so does the noise of the birds.

Did I mention we saw loads of hares hopping around? Awesome! And I saw my favourite bird, a Hoopoe. Along with the road noises tho, there seems to be a shebeen night club somewhere in the valley that plays music till at least 4am (when The Trucker got up to go to the loo). It's noisy, but not the sort of noise that stopped either of us going to sleep ... just the sort of noise that ruins the perfect peace and silence you might be expecting in this sort of blissful location.

The weather turned on Sunday so we decided to pack up and head out instead of making breakfast there (everything would keep). Instead we headed to The Culinary Table and had an awesome breakfast there. So good. This time I had the Frittata and it was delish!

Then it was back to reality. Grocery Shopping and kitty loves. Yay. The hunt for a puppy is on, but it seems like little girl schnauzer pups get booked so far in advance :(

Other than that we had a restful Sunday afternoon. And I made my crustless quiche for dinner (with the left over chorizo, yum!)