(photos from yesterday are up now)

Very early breakfast after a lovely sleep! The bed and the floors in my suite are heated .. so I was roastie-toastie all night! Fabulous!

Woke early ... good breakfast - STUNNING sunrise and in the 4x4's by 0830. We drove the 20 minutes and then walked another 15 minutes to finally arrive at Fallen Rock. When I say "we", I mean Tim, James, Jacques and Siyakha "the Cave Art" man.

The area around Fallen Rock is superb enough BUT the art is just ... well ... words don't describe it. Basically, thousands of years ago, bushmen depicted their lives & the animals in the area in art on the walls of caves. The paint they used was made of things like ostrich shells ... and the art has lasted all this time with no need for touch-ups. It's tough to describe how amazing it is to be standing in a place where bushmen painted so long ago ... thankfully Siyakha was at hand to help ...

This trip took a couple of hours - basically because the art was so mesmerising, no-one wanted to leave!

Back at Bushman's Kloof and room review. There are 16 guestrooms plus the Koro Lodge - a family villa that sleeps 8. I had the premier suite - Riverside - a one-bedroom with thatched roof (to keep the place warm in winter and cool in summer). The lounge has an open fireplace and deep comfy sofas. The bathroom is HUGE with heated floors and a free-standing bath. The bedroom has a 4-poster bed .. and as there is no malaria in the area ... NO nets! yay! There's also an infinity pool with stunning views over the mountains. All in all ... a dream of a suite!

After lunch I had a massage in the dual-massage gazebo to help with an aching knee and sore back! I was Dee-stressed by Dee the therapist! Lovely!

Graham Kennedy (GM) and Jacques drove us to the nearest landing strip (the one we should have landed at yesterday) to meet with Bugs who flew us the 57 minutes back to Cape Town.
My visit to BK was brief ... all too brief. It is a stunningly beautiful place ... the staff are now "family" and the game & rock art make it worth the journey. Oh yes - and it's SO peaceful .. and as it's predator free, you can walk and walk and walk and walk ...

Back at 12 Apostles in Camps Bay tonight. First drinks with very dear friends and then a fabulous & entertaining dinner with more friends and now to bed ...

Tomorrow is my last day here in South Africa. Boohoo.

JACQUES - I am NOT going to forget you (& dear Nadia) in a hurry!

Song of the Day: Rabbit Heart (Raise it Up) - Florence + The Machine
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hHqbco0zHWo&feature=fvst

Weather: Dee-lightful!

a pretty scene near fallen rock

rock art ...

and i am there!

"the professor" - siyakha mguni

another stunning vista

my lounge

my infinity pool

my bedroom
gorgeous bathroom
weaver birds ... nesting
"customs and immigration"
graham - the gm

Up & awake VERY early this morning. We left the 12 Apostles at 0630 and headed to the airport to catch a flight at 0800 from Cape Town to Bushman's Kloof ... which is located in the heart of the Cederberg Mountain range.

The small plane - piloted by a delightful chap called Bugs - lifted up at around 0830 for the one hour flight to Clanwilliam. Everything was fine for the first 57 minutes ... then we came into the landing area to find that VERY dense fog and cloud had made landing on the runway impossible. So, after flying around for another 20 minutes we went for Option 2 ... which also was not an option ...! It was now around 1000! SO - then we flew around into another valley and landed on a crop-dusting strip! We did NOT know where we were ... that is Bugs ... Tim, James or myself! We laughed a little/a lot. This was the FIRST time that Bugs had never managed to land at the Kloof .. in hundreds of flights!
We were entertained on the strip by a gorgeous pup ... and after Bugs finally found out where we were, we called the Kloof to pick us up! Sadly, we were now at LEAST 90 minutes drive away! We were picked up at 1215 by Gerrit & Jacques and whisked at great speed the resort!

Things had not started well ...

Waiting for us at the resort was the whole BK team who fed us, watered us and then we started filming! Tim went off to the Spa while James and myself prepared ...

Finally at 4 pm, we were ready for the first feature - a "game" drive with Jacques Tredoux. Then followed two hours of fun, enjoyment, education and much madness. The Kloof does NOT have the "big" five ... that's what the Kruger is about. The area around here has the small 5 ... the ant LION, ELEPHANT shrew, LEOPARD tortoise, BUFFALO weaver and RHINO beetle! Also, bat-eared foxes, porcupines (that we spotted), Springbok, Bontebok, Black Wildebeest, Puff Adders, Black Spitting Cobra, Cape Cobra and Boomslang ... Eagles ... Egyptian Geese ... Baboons and the list goes on! The scenery is spectacular ... the fauna is superb ... and we got to see most of it! There are actually 2 leopards in the Kloof who are known to be wandering ... tagged .... but yet to be spotted. The scenery ... I said spectacular ... I meant totally amazing! Sedimentary rocks in the wildest formations you will ever see ...

Jacques is a very knowledgeable guide ... has his own distinct sense of humour and made an intense drive entertaining!

We ended up at Kadoro (a cottage a few kms from the Homestead) where we were first serenaded by a choir ... singing local songs before we tucked into an awesome dinner prepared by chef Floris Smith.

I have no internet access in my suite, limited access on site and my cell gets no reception ... while I feel strangely naked about this, I also feel quite unstressed by it.

The stars are simply beautiful tonight ... I always miss the stars in Africa .. they are so unique.

Up early tomorrow ... again!

Song of the Day: I am going slightly Mad - Freddie Mercury
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lb158OxerRU

Weather: Slightly mad ...
early morning

um ... low cloud/fog ...

where am i ... ?

pupster ..

happy pupster

the unforgettable jacques!

at work

the choir! brilliant!

The 12 Apostles Hotels is set by the Ocean in Camps Bay - 12 minutes from the centre of Cape Town. The name of the hotel comes from the 12 peaks of the mountains behind the hotel.

There are 70 guest rooms - 15 suites and 55 regulars. I am in Number 408 - a newly refurbished one bedroomed suite that has fabulous views of the Ocean. Marble floors, embroidered silk wall-coverings, flat screen tv's, a chandelier made of clay (awesome), cool bathrooms, comfortable beds and the lovely scent of the 12A candle! I can see why people would rather stay here than in the City or Waterfront ...

Woke up to an awful scene! Heavy rain ... dark ... misery! Thankfully we were filming in the hotel. First up - the lovely Clive Bennett ... General Manager. He's an old school GM - the best type ... a people person ... NOT a bean counter. He understands service and guest expectations. The photo below is of us sitting down .. rather than standing. He is 6ft 8" ... makes me look like a midget! Ha!

Then suite review ... and lunch.

From nowhere, the clouds lifted and the sun came out! Very unexpected!

Next up - the South Africa wine review with the country's top sommelier - Luvo Ntezo. His story is awesome. 7 years ago, he didn't drink wine ... he didn't know how to even open a wine bottle. He was taught the basics in Steenberg and came to the 12A as a glass washer. But the hotel soon found out that Luvo had studied wine to an almost obsessive level and helped him gain official qualifications and recently he came 4th in the Sommelier of the Year competition! He is a true inspiration to everyone. I have forgotten the wines we tasted but I will NEVER forget meeting Luvo.

From there it was the spa where Candice massaged my troubles away (and later got my nails back in shape). The Sanctuary Spa is 300 sq metres in size - 9 treatment rooms and a cave with 3 pools - 2 at different temperatures and one filled with seawater. Awesome!

Bacon & egg sandwiches in my suite tonight! Postcards to write and work to do!

Have not felt right all day ... sleep should help. Early start tomorrow - leave here at 0630 - but will be back on Sunday! Off to ... well, you will find out tomorrow!

Song of the Day: Who Wants to Live Forever - Queen
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OgK_keIJq-4

Weather: Ridiculous to Sublime

lounge

bedroom

clive bennett ...

luvo

in spa! happy happy!

I am absolutely exhausted! Totally wiped out ...

I am now at the lovely 12 Apostles in Camps Bay ... 12 minutes drive from Cape Town city.

SO - we left La Residence at 7 am. We had a magnificent stay. The location is superb, the staff wonderful and the accommodation comfortable and comforting. What "made" the stay for me was the Assistant General Manager Stuart McFarlane. Not only is he a wonderful human-being (with adorable wife)... he totally "got it" from beginning to end. I hope I stay doing this job for another 10 years because by then he will be running the greatest hotel in the world (whichever that may be!) and I will there filming the hotel & him too!

stuart ...

Anyway - a 90 minute drive took us to Thunder City at Cape Town Airport. There are two places on Earth where you can "privately" fly fighter jets ... here and Star City in Russia. The fleet includes the Lightning, Hunter, Buccaneer and a couple of other jets.

I was offered the chance to fly in the Buccaneer ... one of the most successful low-level-flying bombers ever seen. It's subsonic .. but I reckon could go super in the right hands.

SO - with pilot Ian Pringle, I took a 45-minute flight over Cape Town and the Western Cape. Erm - it was .... AMAZING!

I am collecting my thoughts over the whole flight ... but some of the aerobatics were breath-taking. It's all on camera ... or should I say cameras ... we had three trained on me in the cockpit! This is a once-in-a-lifetime thing (upto 11,000 Euros per flight) ... it MUST be done! You have a live ejection seat under you, you fly at amazing speeds ... and you feel ill! Awesome!

After my feet returned to terra firma, we headed into Cape Town and to the Waterfront where we met up with the Princess Emma - THE most luxurious yacht charter available. With skip Russell Matchette and gorgeous first-mate Maxine Steenkamp, we took a wee trip. It has to be said that the weather did dampen spirits and made the ride - at times - rather uncomfortable BUT the yacht itself is most lovely & luxurious! It is now owned by LVMH ... the luxury goods company - so everything is of the greatest quality!

One day I will take a proper cruise - in the sunshine ... just me, a cigar and a bottle of whisky! ha!

What a day ... now to sleep ... tomorrow is another big filming day.

Song of the Day: Waterfront - Simple Minds
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vxXfu-Kbtbc

Weather: Good, bad ... & ugly

ian pringle - pilot ...

dressed for action

chocks away ...
russell ... maxine ...

it's all too much ...

I am pleased to report that the bush fires got extinguished naturally last night. I awoke to a very dismal scene though ... dark clouds, wind and cold.

Jeremy - our driver - was here early to drive us the hour to Durbanville - the home of the Cape Town Ostrich Ranch.

The ostrich is the world's largest living species of bird, cannot fly, can run upto 45 mph, can kill a human very easily with its feet, has a Latin name of Struthio Camelus, has meat with 1% fat, lays a single egg that contains the yolks & albumen of - on average - 24 chicken eggs, are around a million strong in South Africa, can live to 60 years old and at one time, its feathers were worth more than gold ... phew.

The Ranch breeds ostriches ... for meat, skin, eggs ... and sheer entertainment ... i.e. you can sit on one, have an ostrich burger or omlette or just stand on an egg! The egg weighs up to 1.5 kgs and is made of calcium ... you can stand on one and it won't break!

I met up with owner Gavin Kanigowski - one of the funniest guys alive - also one of the most knowledeable ostrich farmers in the world. It was an entertaining morning!

Back at La Residence and the lovely Liza Schoeman was at hand to give me a massage by the lake ... the swans and the ducks were highly amused!

Then a cooking masterclass with Exec Chef - Wayne Spencer. He's looked after us SO well - pizza, fries, bacon sandwiches (all at our request) and healthy meals (his usual creations!). Today I learnt how to produce a wonderful trout carpaccio ... washed down with a wonderful local rose wine ... yum. Tonight we are getting prawn and chicken curry.

We leave La Residence tomorrow early --- off to Camps Bay. It has been an exceptional stay.

Song of the Day: Loose Fit - Happy Mondays
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HQCrgu8Am2U

Weather: Dull

good morning ostrich
yeeee ....
haaaa ....
feeble attempt to break an egg
i AM losing weight!
masseuse liza

chef wayne

There is a definite smell of burning wood circulating the Franschhoek Valley. This morning we spotted a plume of smoke on one of the valley walls ... by this evening there is a quite a large fire burning ... out of control it would be said. Tomorrow we expect rain which hopefully will sort out that problem.

So - today I have photos.

Last night I had dinner with the owners of La Residence - Phil & Liz Biden - who I have known for a decade. They are among the sweetest & kindest people in the world - very genuine and excellent hosts. They also own The Royal Malewane - the finest safari lodge in the world. I have had the best holidays of my life there ... it's not about the lodge itself (which is amazing) but the animals you get to see ... the big 5 ... I remember waking up to an elephant drinking out of my plunge pool. I digress - dinner was lovely and I finally got to meet Nicole (their daughter) who I have "known" for 10 years but had yet to meet ...

SO - up early to film La Residence. It was opened in August 2007 and has just 11 suites. My suite is superb. There are porcelain tiles (with undefl00r heating) throughout ... even the steps that lead to the bed are tiled. The furniture is either antique or "collectible" ... leather chairs from Argentina ... lead cut crystal glass chandeliers ... a bathroom with free-standing roll-top bath and balconies with unspoilt views of the valley (slightly lit up tonight!). It is called the Maharani Suite ...

The hotel has an infinity pool. The chef Wayne is fabulous. Last night it was haute-cuisine ... tonight pizza!

There are 30 odd acres of land attached to the property filled with vines and olive groves ... there's a pond with black geese and excitable ducks.

The service here is hard to fault.

After reviewing the property and interviewing Liz, we headed into Franschhoek to explore. We were joined by Glen Christie who gave us a tour of the area. Franschhoek is "the gourmet capital of South Africa" ... there are 46 restaurants ... a few of which are in the Top 10 of the country's restaurants. There is the wine, the cheese, the olive oil ... the chocolate and then the shopping! The town's population is - at it's peak - 45,000 ... not that big ... and it strangely reminds of Santa Barbara. Glen knows everything about the area and took us to the Huguenot Museum for a history lesson ...

Basically, the Huguenots were Protestants from France who were persecuted heavily by the Catholics in the 16 - 18th centuries. They first fled to Holland but then moved down to South Africa in 1688. The area was then called Olifantshoek (or Elephant Corner as herds of elephants used to live here) but the name was changed to Franschhoek (French Corner) when the Huguenots were given this land by the Dutch government. The town is one of the oldest in South Africa and this is visible in the buildings and the styles of architecture.

We then filmed in & around the town ... very colourful.

Our evening has been wonderful - good food, good wine, good whisky, good cigar and GREAT pizza! Need sleep ...

Song of the Day: Starry Eyed Suprise - Paul Oakenfold
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Msef24JErmU

Weather: Smoking

phil, liz, nicole & ...

morning view of the franschhoek mountains

the entrance

a naked lady! yum!

liz biden .. post-interview

the maharani suite (fit for a queen! haha)

no tim! don't do it!

our guide - glen

I think I am very tired. I have just deleted all the photos I took today before uploading them here! Oh dear!

Anyway - arrived safely in Cape Town after the long overnight flight from London. Being a HUGE advocate of good service, I won't describe my journey (from hell)in detail. Once again it's not the journey - it's the destination.

Good news! No papers, forms or passes are now needed to get into SA. We zoomed through immigration & customs in record time. A couple of years ago, it would have taken hours ... now minutes. The airport & the area around it is a mess ... BUT only because of the 2010 World Cup (soccer)and all the improvements that are taking place. The airport, the roads ... all being worked on.

The boys have a driver (Jeremy) ... and I have a car (Alfa Romeo) so we drove the 45-minutes to Franschooek without incident. The weather today has been STUNNING!I so wanted to stop to take photos but would have got rather lost and they would have been a waste!

Anyway - La Residence - my current home is ... stunning. Photos and all to come tomorrow. My suite is favoured by a music superstar ...

We arrived mid-morning and had a quick but delicious meal with Stuart McFarlane - the Deputy GM ... then a wee power nap ... wrote 20 postcards ... followed by 2 entertaining mini-features.

The first with Derk Blaisse ... a Dutchman ... who brought cheese to Franschhoek. He's been here for 15 years and instigated an annual cheese festival with products from all over South Africa ... all hand-made by "migrants" from Europe... today we sampled 2 x goudas (made by his son), a gorgonzola and a mozarella (made by Italians) and a Camembert (Frenchman). I am lactose intolerant ... I will suffer later - but for now - who cares! They were yummy!

Then Chris Evason popped by to give me a masterclass in olive oil! I found out about how to choose the stuff, how it is grown, what makes it virgin and I have learnt some new things! Chris is Franschhoek's number 1 olive oil grower ... so "he's the man"!

The boys are very happy. They love their suites ... and after dinner will snooze into tomorrow.

The weather is meant to be fabulous again tomorrow! Yay!

Song of the Day: Rocket Man
www.youtube.com/watch?v=Nyha5dFtog4


Weather: Purfect


my view as I write tonight's diary entry ...

Back at T5 at Heathrow ... hmmm ... what a mess ...

Have had a lovely day with Pops & Ma ... P's birthday today, M's on Tuesday. I have been reminded that this is the first birthday I have been in the country for, for 3 years now ...

So - Cape Town in the morning and I am very excited!

Otherwise ... "all good" ...

Song of the Day: Africa - Toto
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lPT_3PEjnsE

Weather: Dull

the boys are back in town ... well ... Heathrow ...

Today has flown by ... which is just as well ... after the last few days, the last thing I want to do is think ...

Tomorrow at this time, I will be boarding "the world's favourite airline" (hahaha! the funniest, most untrue statement ever made) and jetting down to Cape Town ... and then Franschhoek ... and La Residence ... a superb, fantastic boutique hotel owned by the wonderful Phil & Liz Biden - who also own THE greatest safari lodge in Africa/the world (this is actually quite true) - The Royal Malewane. I am quite excited ...

Tomorrow is my Papa's birthday and Ma's on Tuesday so I will get to see them both before I fly! That makes me VERY happy indeed!

Song of the Day: Hunting High & Low - Ah-ha
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wZCNkfP3KzM

Weather: High & Low

Back in the edit to watch the next cut of the SB and SD shows ... in high-definition. If you think that regular tv adds 20lbs, hi-def says it how it is ... and in my case ... paunchy ...

It's been an atrocious day here ... I am not sure that I have ever seen rain as heavy and prolonged as this! Well, since last week anyhow! Ha!

Tomorrow morning, I start packing.

Song of the Day: Spirits in a Material World
www.youtube.com/watch?v=P32zf6iVCYQ

Weather: see above

richard looking jealously at what is about to happen
me & mini-me

pretty, dry girl encourages me to fall in ...

The calm before the storm.

Nothing to report ... as I have done so little today ... it has been wonderful! However, all my personal research on Camps Bay, Franschhoek and the Cedarberg Mountains has now been done. South Africa here I come ...

My batteries are recharged ... I have lost my "panda eyes" ... I feel great!

Song of the Day: Page One - Lemon Jelly
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3-rxn6csDVM

Weather: Chilled (but not chilly)
not me ......