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www.themonth.co.zamay 2010 1

the FRanSchhoeK VaLLey

[email protected] 2010 If It’s NOt IN here, It’s NOt out there!

As you drive the road to Franschhoek, past Solms-Delta and the Groot Drakenstein Games Club, you see a small entrance and a dirt track with a humble sign that reads sim-ply ‘Two Rivers Farm’. This understated en-trance begins a story that could unfold into the most desirable Golf Club in the Western Cape.

The two Rivers Farm comprises 478 hectares of some of the best farm land in the Dwars River Valley, running between the wemmers and Berg rivers that give it its name. originally owned by anglo american, the area compris-es fifteen separate farms, formerly known as Rhodes Fruit Farm, and was acquired by the two Rivers Development company between 2003 and 2006.

to build a golf course? not exactly.

The farms are now for sale (seven have been sold with one further sale in progress) but with a caveat: in February 2009, the two Riv-ers Devco received approval from the western cape minister for the environment and De-

velopment Planning to build a ‘golf trail’ com-prising 18 holes across the farms. This means that all but one will remain under ‘agricultural’ zoning and the design suggests six of the farms will have golf holes registered as servitudes on a consent use basis.

Therefore, just one of the farms needs to be

rezoned to ‘resort’ and the herbert Baker-de-signed cottage known as weltevreden stands here. with approval received from the rel-evant authorities, its tasteful and sympathetic upgrade and modification to ‘clubhouse’ is now complete and serves as a backdrop to the international standard practice range and putting green in front. Plans to build 25 cot-tages adjacent to the clubhouse for the use of members and their resident guests, in addition to six guest suites that will be built as part of the clubhouse werf, awaits rezoning approval from Province and is expected by mid-2010.

Potential owners, therefore, can undertake conventional (or, as recommended, equestrian) farming but, in addition, will have approxi-

mately 14 kilometres of trails situated within the boundaries of two Rivers for horse riding, walking and cycling for exclusive use of the col-lective owners. The trail meanders through the Farm traversing a varied environment of river crossings, wetlands, forests and open plains and is also being registered as a servitude.

The two Rivers Golf club will be a private club made up of a small membership of select individuals and will run independently of the farm and equestrian operations at two Rivers. “Fifteen of the golf holes will be built out of

pure sand, presenting an opportunity for the creation of a golfing masterpiece under the de-sign expertise of Kyle Phillips” said developer iain Banner, “and my partners and i are excited about making a positive contribution to the sensitive development of the Franschhoek Val-ley.”

Further, the two Rivers Farms owners associ-ation has been established to govern the affairs of the Farm including the application of the architectural Design manual. So as to retain the agricultural feel of the Farm, an agricul-tural service will be offered to the owners at two Rivers whereby agricultural resources will be pooled and managed on a ‘cost plus’ basis.

Two Rivers Comes Togetherstaff reporter

Long-term Thinking The Month chats to Malcolm Rutherford - PAGE 21

“The Two Rivers Farm comprises 478 hectares of some of the best farm land in the Dwars River Valley, running between the Wemmers and Berg rivers that give it its name.”

World Cup Ticket Dump An Opinion Piece - PAGE 27

Two Rivers’ international standard practice range and putting green

“By-line” to be changed to “” Not happy with the address details and it doesn’t include the new shop – any ideas? We can’t make it too busy so perhaps it should just sat “Franschhoek” and “Camps Bay” with the website and telephone number somewhere along the bottom?

FRANSCHHOEK CAMPS BAY

WWW.EBONYDESIGN.CO.ZA 021 876 4477

f u r n i t u r e i n t e r i o r s f i n e a r t

Franschhoek VillageFranschhoek ValleyClaremont TokaiValley Events Constantia Rondebosch Claremont Upper Mowbray Camps Bay Newlands Tokai Steenburg Shopping CentresToTal

2835255010001000865700700500500450350300250

1200

Minimum Distribution

The Herbert Baker-designed clubhouse

www.themonth.co.za may 2010

the month

2

from the editorFRom the eDitoRmay 2010

IN THIS ISSUE:

Pg.4&5 The Arts Pages

Pg.6 Not Too Far From Here

Pg.10 What New at Allée Bleue

Pg.12 Organic Wines Part Two

Pg.13 Property & Lifestyle Section

Pg.21 Malcolm Rutherford

Pg.23 5 Mins with Charlotte Daneel

Pg.27 World Cup Opinion Piece

Pg 27&28 FLF Programme

Editor: Brett Garner

083 260 0453 [email protected]: David Foster

084 827 3986 [email protected]: Lightworks Photography

021 876 4832 [email protected] Design & Layout

by Gravity Media

[email protected]

CONTRIBUTORSHelen Naude [email protected] Flitters [email protected]

Michele Lupini [email protected] Seidel [email protected]

Dave Rundle [email protected] Patrizia Santangelo [email protected]

I was surprised last month to be accused of being “paid to write positive articles in The Month.” Ordinarily I’d treat a comment like that with the disdain it deserves, but it does give me an opportunity to make a couple of important points. The first is that The Month isn’t paid to write anything. We are, however, paid to distribute our advertisers’ message to an influential market by way of our carefully planned, targeted distribution of 12,000 copies each month. The publisher and I decide what editorial is featured in the paper and, by-and-large, copy is written by us or our contributors.

Secondly, what we write is generally a reflec-tion of the motivation we have shared from the start of The month, some 19 months ago. we believe that the Franschhoek Valley offers com-pelling reasons for aspirant individuals to re-gard it as the ultimate destination in which to ‘Live, work and Play’. how would that belief be reflected if our articles were anything but positive? There are many contributors to the public domain whose comments may be com-pared to our own. if we’re in any way mistaken in our positive approach, the views of the ma-jority will make that clear – but to suggest that our positive approach is contrived is mistaken.

Thirdly, what we’re do-ing works! as a busi-ness The month is well supported by a large number of advertis-ers locally and further afield. it is widely read in the valley, cape town and other met-ropolitan areas and our website is visited regularly by a sizeable foreign following. For a start-up that went to press as the world economy went to the dogs, our consistent growth each month speaks for itself – and no, there’s no benefac-tor, family money or voodoo involved.

even more surprising than the sill-informed statement about our approach, is the number of people we caught with our article in last month’s edition about replacing the painted Franschhoek boulders with a hi-tech projection system and a lu-

crative Large message Service. to Gary, who called half-way through penning an emotional response while desperately in need of his angi-na medication – sorry man! But thanks for the laugh. Roof Pilla = olaf Lopir = april Fool.

The may edition is once again jam-packed with great (and somewhat positive) news about val-ley life. There’s a strong art focus starting on page four and we chat to mel and Dale elliot (page five), based in Villiersdorp, whose work is on display in Pistachio Décor in Franschhoek. They’re passionate about art and country life and it shows in their work and the article. Vis-its to elgin (page six), allée Bleue (page 10) and avondale wine farm (page 12) will get you reaching for your car keys and news about La Fontein Guest house (page eight) and café Bonbon’s winter menu (page 11) may just con-vince you to spend a night or two in the vil-lage. if you do that over the weekend of the Franschhoek Literary Festival, or if you intend to interact with the many world-class literary types on the weekend of the 15th to the 17th of may, you’ll want to cut out our handy pro-gramme on pages 27/28. There are serious is-sues to consider on page 21 in the interview with prominent local, malcolm Rutherford, as well as a sobering look at world cup ticket sales figures on page 27. and if this whirlwind summary of may has you gasping for air, con-sider the invitation to support Robbie Jansen at the Theatre @ Bridge house on the 22nd of may; read all about it on page 30.

enjoy the read.,Brett

The Franschhoek 2010 soccer championships brings together valley businesses as proud sponsors of 16 local soccer teams into a championship that is now entering its final phase and will culminate in a final just before the FiFa world cup kicks off in June. The La Petite Ferme mighty Brothers and Plum Developments Junior celtics are the first teams to qualify for the semi-finals in may and a host of teams are still in with a shout after the results from the last weekend of march, printed below.

First Qualifiers for Franschhoek Soccer Championships

DEAR READER...

RESUlTSGRoUP 1 - SAT 27TH

ALLéE BLEUE BOMBERS 1-4 PAM GOLDING/TRY AGAIN

LA VIE DE LUC SEA LIONS 0-1 WINELANDS EXP. FHK UTD U19

SEEFF SILVER STARS 4-9 REUBENS/FRANSCHHOEK PIRATES

LA PETITE FERME/MIGHTY BROTHERS 5-2 BUILD-IT HOME DEFENDERS

GRoUP 2 - SUN 28TH

PLUM DEVELOPMENTS JNR CELTICS 3-2 SOLMS-DELTA ALL STARS

TRUCKLES CHEESE PEACEMAKERS 2-6 TRICKY T EVOLUTION

ELEPHANT & BARREL SCORPIONS 5-1 COL’CACCHIO BLACK ACES

FRENCH CONNECTION 11 ATTACKERS 0-2 PEARL VALLEY KING PIONEERS

www.themonth.co.za 3

the month may 2010

may 2010

The hundred-year-old oak trees on the Solms-Delta wine farm in the Franschhoek Valley witnessed their third annual Franschhoek oes-fees, last month. along with the 3,000 festival-goers who attended the event on the day, they were privileged to witness the best oesfees yet. From the experience of being ferried to the main entrance on a tractor-drawn trailer, to the well-run ticket processing system, to the many small stalls serving a wide array of tasty dishes to the impressive line-up of local musicians, who wowed the crowds with music

many of whom had never even thought about, let alone been exposed to, the festival lived up to its reputation as one of the valleys ‘must do’ events.

what began in 2008 as a simple expression of a number of farm owners’ appreciation of the ef-forts of their workers, has truly cemented itself

as a statement of unity of within the valley and serves as both a reminder and an example to a world desperate for positive role models.

Fabulous Franschhoek Oesfeesstaff reporter

Parents of the late Alex van Heerden, seen here with Derk Blaisse and friends


the month may 2010

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Replenish

Dermal FillersBotox ®

Dr Tracey Garner021 876 4622The Ivy • Franschhoek

In recognition of the Franschhoek Literary Festival’s status as an integral part of Fran-schhoek’s cultural offering and the valley’s value as a destination for the arts, Ebony will once again sponsor performances by renowned pianist, Christopher Duigan at the Dutch Reformed Church on the festival weekend. On Saturday 15th May at 11am, Duigan will perform a recital entitled ‘Cel-ebrating Chopin’ to coincide with the 200th anniversary of the composer’s birth. This will be the third year that the owners of Eb-ony have supported these concerts and when asked about the motivation for their com-mitment, owner Marc Stanes commented that “Franschhoek continues to visibly raise the bar with a diverse range of gallery and cultural events in the Winelands.”

Following the concert, ebony will open its doors to showcase its latest designs and a number of works of art. Their current focus is on paintings and works on paper from the ‘50s to the ‘80s with pictures by cecil Sko-tnes, hannes harrs, charles Gassner, Gordon Vorster and Diederick During.

Sharing ebony’s love for music is café BonBon at La Petite Dauphine, which will host the 6th autumn music weekend in Franschhoek on the 15th and 16th of may. on Saturday the 15th South africa’s reigning soprano Bronwen For-bay will perform at a gala evening that includes a sumptuous four-course meal. Bronwen has won acclaim for her outstanding performances and is the recipient of several of South africa’s most prestigious music prizes. expect arias from Barber of Seville, La traviata, Die Fleder-

maus and La Bohème along with a selection of songs by Liszt, Delibes and Ravel.

on Sunday the 16th the ever popular Federico Freschi winds up the weekend programme with a Sunday afternoon performance of song, opera and classic musicals. Freschi’s witty ban-ter and bold vocal delivery are well-known and will be complemented by a guest appearance by Bronwen Forbay for selected duets.

Le Quartier Français will soon be the home of iS art, which opens on wednesday 12th may. This new contemporary gallery will be opened by Susan huxter and ilse Schermers and its in-augural exhibition will include works by Shany van den Berg, Rossouw ven der walt, wiebke von Bismmark and Sarah walters. ilse’s wealth of curatorial expertise drawn from the Dorp Street Gallery in Stellenbosch and The Gal-lery at Grande Provence, will ensure that Fran-schhoek is able to showcase some of South af-rica’s most vibrant contemporary talent.

Later in may, on the 23rd, La La Land will open

at The Gallery at Grande Provence with an ex-hibition of paintings, sculptures and drawings to replace the current exhibition, aptly named

‘current matters’. current matters is an exhibition of artworks by con-temporary South african emerging and well-known artists as well as work by Spier con t empora r y 2010 award win-ners christopher Swift and Johann van der Schijff. curated by Jo-hann du Plessis, the works are an interpretation of a theme based on

man’s impact on planet earth and runs until the 19th of may. all the works on display are positively intriguing and the ridiculously heavy

bronze ballerinas that float effortlessly at one end of the gallery are a must-see, as is michael taylor’s almost prophetic painting of a vol-canic dust cloud causing pandemonium to all around it!

tickets for Christopher Duigan’s concert are avail-able on the door of the Dutch reformed Church. The concert starts promptly at 11am on saturday 15th May.

Contact ebony on 021 876 4477 or at [email protected]

Booking for the performances at Café BonBon are essential, call 021 876 3936 for details and prices.

further information on Is Art is available from Ilse schermers at [email protected]

The Gallery at Grande Provence may be reached at 021 876 8630 or at [email protected]

Valley Ballerinas D’Artstaff reporter

A V O O V AO N E O F L I F E ’ S L I T T L E L U X U R I E S

D E C O R AT I V E A C C E S S O R I E S & G I F T WA R E H A N D M A D E I N S O U T H A F R I C A

Now open at Shop 4, B i joux Square, 58 Huguenot Street, Franschhoek.

Tel 021 876 3503. www.avoova.com

Heavy brass ballerinas float like angels at Grande Provence

Latest designs will be showcased at Ebony


the month may 2010

may 2010

I was privileged to join father and son art-duo, Dale and Mel Elliott, over lunch during one of their very popular art courses held in their Villersdorp studio recently. Their cours-es cater for varying degrees of artistic ability and as someone who has very few enduring memories of my mandatory school art pe-riods, I felt a little intimidated as I walked into the class of students hard at work at their easels. As I set about chatting to the participants, I learnt that one had travelled from Krugersdorp in Western Gauteng, just to attend the course. Looking at his canvass I commented that he was obviously an old hand at painting; in fact he was an absolute beginner, having ‘learnt’ to paint just days before under the gentle guidance of the El-liotts. Encouraged by the retired headmas-ter’s success, I turned to Mel and asked him whether the struggling world economy had changed things for artists in South Africa.

his pragmatic response displayed the insight of an artist and the sense of a commerce gradu-ate. “art is certainly on the up in South africa. you just have to look at the private and cor-porate collections and the art moving through auction-houses where monstrous prices are be-ing fetched, despite the economic climate. art remains a good investment and many people see it as that.” mel is a keen collector of South african art for investment purposes himself and the elliotts’ private art collection is well-known in art circles and the local community. i asked him a more personal question about sales of his own works and that of his father.

“our approach is to create affordable pieces,” he says. “we paint fairly quickly and we’ve de-veloped some affordable framing techniques. we do all our own framing on the premises, market our works ourselves and work hard at the business. it’s a recipe for success and our business remains just that.” i suggested that

seeing his own and his father’s work displayed in places like Pistachio Decor in Franschhoek, means that part of their success must be the artistic merit of their work. There was genuine humility in his response as he spoke about the attractiveness of the Franschhoek brand, his family’s long-standing friendship with Peter hager of Jager estates, who is integrally in-volved at Pistachio, and his decision to paint for a living.

Joined by Dale, we went on to discuss the phe-nomenal success of their art courses. with al-most six months to go, their november course is practically full and all the earlier slots are over-subscribed. it’s no wonder really when you consider the atmosphere they create in the class and the calibre and variety of people who attend the workshops. Besides the headmaster, i watched a mother and her beautiful daughter in deep concentration at their respective can-

vases, a housewife, a businessman, a farmer, locals, nationals and foreigners were all repre-sented in the group. as we chatted, mel leant towards a woman closest to us and suggested adding some darker colours to the land around the water and some yellows and reds to the wheat fields. when she asked for a little assist-ance mel wasted no time in adding just enough to sell the idea but leave the hard work to her. The rapport between artist and student and the students themselves was warm and unstrained. i joked with mel that my fear of ‘art period’ was beginning to wane. “we’ve got brushes and canvasses and everything you need right here...” he offered but i turned my attention to coffee and dessert and pretended to fiddle with my camera. “Baby steps,” he laughed as he offered me the programme of courses for the remainder of the year, pointing to the one in november.

Call 028 840 2927 for more information.

The winelands has just been given a boost as an international art destination with the opening of the second exhibition at the Hess Museum of Contemporary Art at the Glen Carlou Winery in the valley. The Museum, which opened in 2006, currently has an ex-hibition of works by Alan Rath, Andy Golds-worthy, Deryck Healey and Ouattara Watts.

mr Donald m. hess, founder of hess Family estates, the Swiss-based company that owns Glen carlou, also has one of the largest pri-vately owned contemporary art collections in the world. to reaffirm his commitment to the South african winelands, works from the hess collection are to be permanently displayed at the hess museum situated in Glen carlou’s wine tasting and art facility.

The art collection form part of a new 600m² facility on Glen carlou. according to mr hess, his interest in contemporary art is inseparable from his love of wine. “it is a pleasure to see the current offerings at the winery extended to a venue displaying some of the art works i love. The collection will change regularly and i hope that South african and international visitors to Glen carlou will take as much pleasure in the artworks on display as they do in the wines,” he said.

For more information contact021 875 5528

Workers of ArtArt Correspondent

Ultra ContemporaryArt Correspondent

‘Creation of the World’ 2002, mixed media on canvas by Ouattara Watts

Talent can be taught


the month may 2010

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Not Too Far From Here...staff reporter

Elgin

Tricky T Concepts is an owner managed marketing agency situated against the

backdrop of the picturesque Paarl mountains.

Contact Michelle for all your marketing needs

[email protected]

072 207 8210T

trickytconcepts.co.zaW

web design

project management

procurement

brand strategy

graphic design

event management

activations

publicity

It’s an easy hour’s drive from

Franschhoek to Elgin, but you have to remember to stop and not to drive

t h r o u g h as most travellers tend to do. The Elgin valley is undulating and beauti-ful; the mountains are not as immediate as ours because the valley is bigger and they are further from the hub of activity. You have to look longer. The surrounding mountains are the Hottentots Holland Mountains, the Groenland Mountain, the Kogelberg range and the Houw Hoek Mountains, with ac-cess through Sir Lowry’s Pass, Viljoen’s Pass, Highland’s Pass and Houw Hoek Pass.

The burning questions relating to the correct pronounciation of elgin and the relationship between elgin and Grabouw are easily an-swered after some careful investigation. The g in elgin is crisp as in golf, not lubricated as in gin. Ghe, not dje. according to a ‘source’ the name has nothing to do with Lord elgin, but everything to do with a town in northern Scotland called Glen elgin. a farmer who had emigrated from there bought a piece of land on the Palmiet River and called it Glen elgin after his home town. when the railway line was ex-tended from Somerset west to Bredasdorp, he gave permission for the line to run through the property on condition that the station there

would be called elgin. it is here that farmers for years would load their apples for export onto the train headed for the cooling rooms at the harbour in cape town. The wooden boxes in which the apples were packed bore both the name of the farmers and elgin Station on their labels, and so the name elgin became associ-ated with apples.

Grabouw is the town in the elgin valley; there is no elgin town. it was established in 1856 and was probably spelled Grabau originally, referring to a village in east Germany from where an artist called Langschmidt hailed. The artist, who did not enjoy great commercial suc-cess in cape town, moved to the valley and bought land from Grietjies Gat, where he start-

ed a trading store which he called Grabau. This was the beginning of the town which unkindly has been referred to as the ugliest town in the country. at least the man’s art enjoys recogni-tion and is proudly displayed these days.

The elgin valley does not have a wine route, it has instead the elgin Valley meander. The elginites (people from the town are Grabou-wites) are specific about this. apart from wine tasting, meandering visitors will discover an apple museum, apple juice, apple cider, music events, water sport, bird watching, quad bik-ing, roses, a deli and super restaurants. i hung around at the highlands Road estate and

chatted to ex-Franschhoekers, Justin and mary hoy over lunch and a splendid glass of rosé. They sell jars filled with epicurean delights in the deli-cum-restaurant and have laid on en-tertainment for children, which includes trout fishing. Justin claims that if you keep kids safe and happy, the mother is happy (she is either sampling those epicurean delights or tasting wine), which makes the father happy (he is tasting wine), which induces him to buy wine. Unhappy people do not spend money. The hoys are up to their eyebrows in wine making and take in grapes from a number of farms.

at South hill chef Gordon manuel has opened a beautiful restaurant with huge rustic wood-en doors which open onto a lawn and garden with a chocolate box view of the valley. The restaurant also acts as an art gallery and the big canvasses, especially those by Bert touwen, are fascinating. it is one of the popular wedding venues in the valley.

one needs an extra day to investigate eskom’s hydro electric power plant at the Palmiet Visi-tors centre, the Peregrine Farm Stall and mar-ket, and attend a concert at the Paul cluver amphitheatre.

it is possible to do tours of elgin orchards, packing sheds or cellars by prior arrangement. ask for norma. She also runs the little museum behind the Bear and Barrel. it’s a delightful pub by the way - food, booze, tV screens. i loved peeping into the past, enjoying the present and feeling the excitement of the future of elgin. it’s a lovely place, not too far from here.

Elgin offers something for the whole family

Local marketing company, Tricky T Con-cepts, have firmly entrenched their roots in the heart of the Winelands with a solid fo-cus on surrounding enterprises. To bulk up their business offering, local expert Conrad Harley is joining Tricky T full-time. So, in true Diski dance style, and to the sound of vuvuzela’s, we had a quick chat to Tricky T’s latest signing.

The Month: what position are you going to play at tricky t?

Conrad Harley: i see myself slotting into the midfield as a creative playmaker.

TM: what special skills do you possess to take tricky t to the top of the log?

CH: i should be able to bring some variety, as i

have played in various ‘leagues’ and worked in multiple industries; and an inquisitive mind (i always look for a better scoring opportunity for the clients). i have a useful pool of resources, can offer consistency (much like Beckhams’ crosses) and, of course, have more than 12 years marketing experience, both above and below the line.

TM: So what must the crowds watch out for?

CH: clever angles and new ideas on making a difference to the bottom line.

TM: what do the fans say?

Pierre van Tonder, Spur Group MD: “con-rad is fun and has fantastic energy. he can cer-tainly kick it with the best of them...”

TM: and seriously?

CH: my reason for joining tricky t concepts is to show determination and commitment to the region. we offer concept design with full marketing support and guide the process through communication mediums such as ad-vertising campaigns, online, positive word-of-mouth or promotions. i pride myself on good, honest customer service.

TM: who are you backing for to win the world cup?

CH: Bafana Bafana i hope, but realistically - i think england under capello must be a fa-vourite.

Contact Conrad on 073 100 4716 or on-line at www.trickytconcepts.co.za

Tricky T Scores Anotherstaff reporter

Justin Hoy gets to the bottom of things


the R45 RoUte may 2010

may 2010

a little closer to the Simondium end of the Klapmuts-Simondium R45, lies Paddab-ult country house Bed and Breakfast which owner Gideon malherbe describes as offering “the discerning guest a tranquil and comfort-able stay” in the five executive suites and five Luxury suites “furnished for sheer comfort and luxury.” Personal service and attention to de-tail are a given on this 55 hectare farm with its own vineyards, orchards, dam and river. The conversion of the former packing shed for fruit produced on the Bloemendal farm has created a spacious dining room with its wide verandas, pool bar and welcoming swimming pool at the centre of things.

Gideon, who describes himself as a farmer with a passion for the hospitality business, says “agri-tourism is definitely going big in our area and only on a farm stay can you experience the real people of a country. in our rushed,

m o n e y - d r i v e n lifestyle of today nothing is better than to drive out to the country side, stay there for the weekend and have qual-ity time with the family exploring the area you stay in.” he mentions that kids today think that milk is factory-made and then sold in shops. “more

than 7% of foreign tourists include a farm stay experience in their itinerary while only 2% of domestic tourists do, and we have to change that” he adds.

equidistant between Paarl, Stellenbosch and Franschhoek, the farm’s appeal is its central location between the three centres of activity. Failing that, there’s always wine and food tast-ing or golf, fly-fishing, horseback and bicycle riding - all of which Gideon is happy to arrange for guests. There are also three tastefully ap-pointed self-catering cottages accommodating up to 4 people in two en-suite bedrooms. The fully equipped open-plan kitchen and living room with tV has large sliding doors, leading to an extensive patio with a built in barbeque facility, providing a breathtaking view of the vineyards and surrounding mountain ranges.

See ad right for details

about half-way down the R45 from Klapmuts to Simondium, you’ll find Glen carlou – a wine estate established in 1985 and since 2003 successfully owned and run by hess Family es-tates. considered one of the region’s finest, and on a property of 165 hectares with 65 of those under vines, an ever-growing list of awards and top ratings on both the local and international level testify to the quality of their wines.

Georgie Prout, the Public Relations manager, explained how they harness Glen carlou’s wine-growing potential by a meticulous selection of vines in terms of rootstock and clone – with each variety carefully chosen for its compatibil-ity to the terroir. “The warm, dry summers and cold, wet winters of this area combine with the slopes and richness of our soil to create unique winegrowing conditions” she says. “we keep yields low, harvest only the most flavourful grapes, and in the cellar our winemaker arco Laarman works his magic to create our range of wines.” Glen carlou’s flagship wines from the Prestige Range include the Glen carlou Quartz

Stone chardonnay, a rich, single vineyard chardonnay; the Glen carlou Gravel Quarry cabernet Sauvignon, a dark, concentrated and intense cabernet Sauvignon and the Glen carlou ”The welder” natural Sweet - a late picked, sun-ripened chenin Blanc.

at the end of the road that rises west-ward the open-plan

tasting room offers an opportunity not only to appreciate the beauty of its situation and the panoramic view of the vineyards and moun-tains, but also to gain insight into the vintner’s art. There’s a tranquil Fynbos garden with an array of endemic indigenous fynbos growing between ancient rocks and giant boulders and the Glen carlou Restaurant offers a tempt-ing selection of cuisine with both ethnic and international flavours, that can be enjoyed under the high wooden beams of the tasting arena or outside on the terrace. The hess art collection, which opened in 2006, currently has a fascinating exhibition of works by andy Goldsworthy, Deryck healey, alan Rath and ouattara watts (see page 5).

For further information contact Georgie Prout on 021 8755528 or online at www.glencarlou.co.za

Tel: (021) 874 1611 | Corner of R45 and Klapmuts Simondium Rd, PaarlVisit our website to join our wine club: www.vnl.co.za

Winter Special - Stock up on red wine, whilst stock lasts. Free wine tasting | Open Mon to Sun 10h00 - 17h00

Paddabult Country Houseat Bloemendal Farm

Glen CarlouWine estate


the month may 2010

8

In the first of a series of features on notable accommodation establishments in the Fran-schhoek Valley, we chat to Richard von Hoe-sslin of the 14-unit, four-star, La Fontaine Guest House, in the heart of Franschhoek, and consider the history of the guest house and the von Hoesslin and Spratt families’ approach to managing their successful busi-ness.

La Fontaine includes two heritage homes, Lin-quenda, which means “we shall leave one day,” built in 1926, and campbell house, built in 1895, as well as five garden cottages. Linquen-da was initially built for the headmaster of Franschhoek high, one of the oldest schools in South africa. when he retired, the Dutch Re-formed church purchased it from the School and turned it into a boarding house for girls at-tending the school. Thereafter it went through a number of hands prior to being owned by the Levi family who ran it as a small five-roomed guest house, and in 2001 it was acquired by the present owners. campbell house, prior to being converted into a guest house, was used as accommodation for teachers of the school and later offices for the legal firm Snipelisky and associates. Both properties are now run as La Fontaine Guest house and owned by Lin-quenda Guest house cc.

The gardens have been landscaped by the fami-ly business, Gvh Landscapes, which specialises in indigenous gardens and which has been hon-oured with awards from the Sa Landscape in-stitute for gardens designed and constructed in

the Plettenberg Bay and Knysna areas. The von hoesslin’s appreciation for the environment shows in La Fontaine’s approach to managing waste on the property. Glass, plastic bottles, cans and cardboard are supplied to a local recy-cling operation; wet kitchen and garden refuse is collected and turned into compost; bath and shower grey-water passes through a worm unit and is distributed into the garden through a

maze of dripper lines and electricity is man-aged to limit use without impeding the pleas-ure of their guests. “Visitors often comment on the beauty of the gardens and the wonderful array of birds seen in, and passing through, the foliage” says Richard.

as conversa-tion turns to the nuts-and-bolts of turn-ing a profit, Richard sug-gests that ac-commodation statistics are generally dif-ficult to obtain for compari-son purposes. as a result, La Fontaine has implemented a monthly re-porting pro-

gramme which gives the management team a good picture of its progress in terms of occu-pancy, country of origin and room return fig-ures since its inception. This helps develop and fine-tune their marketing approach; something they pride themselves on.

“a successful business must spend time on self-assessment on a regular basis in order to com-pete.” i challenge Richard on the validity of the results of ‘assessments’ in general but he doesn’t skip a beat. “Visitors returning and being re-ferred by others is a good indication of past guests’ impressions. Guest comments received on social websites and online booking systems such as tripadvisor, Booking.com and Safari now all help in contributing towards a better understanding of our operation.” in 2005 La Fontaine began participating in the aa grad-ing council’s awards programme. Through the programme guests voluntarily fill in assessment forms after their stay and these are submitted to the aa for judging. according to Richard the result is a day-to-day report on both tech-nical and aesthetic aspects from individual visitors and a very useful summary, presented at an awards ceremony at the tourism Show in Durban each may. Despite competing with five-star establishments, La Fontaine has been a finalist in the programme for four years and was granted a special ‘Steady Star’ award in 2008. Richard feels confident that this is a good indication of the guest house’s standing and achievement of its internal objectives.

“So what really makes La Fontaine tick?” i ask Richard. “The close family involvement, hap-py, knowledgeable and motivated staff, man-agement who make every guest feel important and the buffet breakfast,” he smiles.

Contact La Fontaine on 021 876 2112.

Life at La Fontainestaff reporter

A visitor’s view of the La Fontaine gardens

The impressive façade of Linquenda, which means “We shall leave one day”


the monthfood and wineFooD & wine may 2010

may 2010

in time for this month’s Franschhoek Literary Festival comes the news that festival sponsor, Boekenhoutskloof, has been voted the ‘Best winery’ in Sa according to a poll conducted by tim James on the website grape.co.za. oth-er wineries in the valley or close to it include chamonix, tokara and Thelema. Kent was named Diners club winemaker of the year in 2007, has five stars in the 2010 Platter’s Guide for Boekenhoutskloof ’s flagship Syrah and ca-bernet Sauvignon and also received five stars in the latest edition of the Parker’s wine Buyer’s Guide. on top of all of that, the international wine Report lists Boekenhoustskloof as the

top South african wine producer.

The judging panel included James and a fur-ther 25 wine-buffs, including wine writers tim Atkin, Christian eedes, Michael fridjhon, Joanne Gibson, edo heyns, Angela Lloyd, Melvyn Minnaar, fiona McDonald, Christine rudman, Cathy van Zyl, Philip van Zyl; retailers Carrie Adams, Carolyn Barton, Ingrid Motteux, ro-land Peens, James Pietersen, Caroline rillema; and sommeliers (and others) Miguel Chan, Neil Grant, higgo Jacobs, Cathy Marston, Andre Morgenthal, Joerg Pfuetzner, Kent scheermeyer and Jonathan steyn.

The Restaurant at Klein Oliphants Hoek is described on their website as “a charming take on a traditional South African country kitchen with just a hint of European senti-ment.” If you’ve ever met Renata Gaggio, the passionate Italian owner of Klein Oliphants Hoek, you’ll appreciate that “just a hint” is probably best replaced with “a whole lot” instead!

i met with Renata on the veranda of the charm-ing boutique hotel on a crisp Franschhoek au-tumn morning. armed with strong coffee and pastries, i set about quizzing her on the new winter menu she, her friendly assistant Dal-phine Pillay and the chef, Thurston Viljoen, have devised. turns out it’s all about creating an edible invitation to linger, and her mother’s italian cooking. “i’m not a chef,” she laughs, “but all italian women can cook, no?” The new menu will include Duck Liver Brulee, a Pickled Pear Salad and a mouth-watering Lamb Shank on the South african side while mom’s Gnoc-chi, Pork Belly and osso Buco form part of the italian thrust. Seafood is prominent through-

out with prawns, scallops, sole and a catch of the Day well represented.

Thanks to the cold weather, desserts will no doubt be popular and the white chocolate martini, Pears with chocolate cointreau cream and the chocolate Pudding have already staked a claim to overthrow my diet plans for the winter. oh well, death by chocolate…

as always, Renata’s carefully constructed wine list features a number of great Franschhoek wines and these at surprisingly good prices. The abundance of boutique red wines will make re-peat winter-visits rather easy to justify. Look out for the cabernet Sauvignon from chamo-nix (R150), Rupert and Rothschild’s classique (R170), The chocolate Block (R250) and a se-lection from Stony Brook, La motte, Dalla cia and meerlust.

Contact The Restaurant at Klein Oli-phants Hoek on 021 876 2566 or [email protected]

More Valley Successstaff reporter

A Small Taste of Italystaff reporter


may 2010 the monthfood and wineFooD & wine

NOW OPEN FOR LUNCH, DINNER & WINE TASTINGS!

1 & 2 May 2010 Freedom Day Festival

see www.freedomhill-live.co.za for details

For reservations phone:Tel: (021) 867 0963Fax: (086) 500 7031

[email protected]

Allée Bleue is offering delicious 250g steaks at just R99 at its 90-seater Bistro, just in-side the impressive entrance to the wine es-tate and the junction with the road to Stel-lenbosch off the R45. In addition to the á la carte menu that changes weekly, the Bistro now offers a ‘Steak Corner’ with a choice of Fillet, Sirloin, Rib-eye or Karoo Lamb Loin Chops served with seasonal vegetables and a choice of baked potato, french fries or farm salad. Besides the high-quality meat offer-ing at this exceptional price (which includes an ‘amuse bouche’ and a glass of Allée Bleue Starlette Rouge) the real stand-out differ-ence is the offer of six flavored butters (Farm Herb, Vigneron, Garlic & Chive, Tomato, Café de Paris and Chilli) and six Specialized Salts to compliment the palate.

allee Bleue are the first to offer a choice of salts and the range, whilst impressive, is an interest-ing alternative. For those of you that thought salt was salt just try this selection;

The Red alaea Sea Salt – This salt is formed on the island of Kauai in hawaii when the red vol-

canic clay meets the sea salt during heavy rains. when the red ocean water becomes trapped in tidal pools, evaporation creats the hawai-ian Red alaea Sea Salt. it has a great crunchy texture, an earthy flavor and adds vibrant color to every dish.

The Khoisan Fleur de Sel- This much sought-after sea salt forms on the surface of small pans in the Veldrif. The flakes are allowed to thicken slightly, and can then be crushed between the fingers.

The hawaiian Black Lava Salt - combines a hearty crunch with high-quality, activated charcoal (a natural anti-toxin and digestive aid). you can use this Pacific sea salt on every-thing to add dramatic texture and color and is perfect on vegetables, roasts, potato dishes and for the barbeque.

The maldon Sea Salt – The coastal town of maldon in the UK, has been producing the most unique salt crystals avail-able since the middle ages. Legend has it that the secret of salt-making from sea wa-ter was discovered here over 2,000 years ago when the Ro-mans ruled Britain.

The Guerande Fleur du sel – These are hand-raked crystals from pristine salt ponds in Brittany, France, where sun, air temperature and wind conditions need to be abso-lutely perfect to evaporate the water’s surface. The result is a strong, complex flavour of sea and minerals and offers a moist, crunchy texture.

Salish Smoked salt – This is an organic Pacific Sea salt that is cool smoked over red alderwood, and gives food a delicious smoke flavour both on and off the braai. it’s perfect for salmon, red meat, creamy pasta dishes and baked potatoes!

allée Bleue Bistro may be exclusively reserved for small private functions including birthday parties and corporate events. Booking is es-sential however, and opening hours are from 08h00 to 17h00 daily. Friday and Saturday evening dinner options are available by prior arrangement

allée Bleue also recently opened Le Grand hall on the estate, one of the few venues in Fran-schhoek that can accommodate large numbers of guests – up to 300 seated for dinner or 400 cocktail style. with varied menu options of buffet, seated, vegetarian and children’s, al-lée Bleue will also accommodate individual menu ideas if desired and all catering is done in-house. it’s an ideal venue for anything from weddings and functions, to fashion shows and car launches, corporate team builders, confer-ences or end of year functions.

Salts of the Earthstaff reporter

izak Smit, co-author of the award-winning book ‘The essential Guide to Sa wines’ is the creator of The South african Supérieur wine Rating index, which has garnered much inter-est since its launch in march this year. accord-ing to Smit “consistent results in various com-petitions over different vintage periods provide a far better reflection of the real quality of a wine.” he goes on to say that “credit is given to a ‘basket’ of achievements instead of a sin-gle, unverifiable achievement which does not

necessarily denote a wine of excellence.” The index, which presently rates in excess of 500 wines, from more than 90 wineries, should al-low consumers to make a fair comparison of wines that might have scored highly at a par-ticular show but poorly at another.

access to the index is by way of a subscription to the sawineindex.com website which The month used to test the results of the april edi-tion’s positive review of La motte’s 2009 Piern-eef Sauvignon Blanc and their 2008 chardon-nay. according to the site the Sauvignon Blanc is rated 4½ out of 5 and has a ‘Value index’ of 75%, which means that the cost of the wine at the cellar is a 75% of the average retail price. The chardonnay also scores 4½, with a Value index of 55% - which makes it a very good buy if purchased at the cellar. Look out for an up-coming Question of The month which will pit the results of the index against the views of a number of prominent local wine cognoscenti.

SA Wine Indexstaff reporter

Unique specialty butters and salts

Staff on hand at the new Le Grand Hall


motoRinG & technoLoGy may 2010

may 2010

food and wineFooD & wine

Café BonBon, at the far end of Franschhoek just off the Excelsior Road, is gearing up for winter with an exciting move from the cof-fee shop into the Studio. The move will co-incide with some changes to their summer menu and I spoke to chef, Chris Smit, Man-ager Marie-Louise Oosthuizen and assistant manager Christine Veldsman about what there is to look forward to for the coming months.

i started by asking chris about the phenom-enal success of BonBon as a restaurant and function venue with visitors and locals in par-ticular. he responded “it’s very rewarding to be seen by locals as a good place to eat, but it does put you on the spot as it’s difficult to offer a mind-blowing experience to people who are

regular diners here. People are after an overall dining experience and we’re fortunate to have that; good service, great food and, of course, this fabulous venue and view.”

and so to the food… many of BonBon’s clas-sics, and certainly their most requested dishes, remain but with a seasonal twist here and there to accommodate the inevitable cold and wet winter weather. marie-Louise illustrates this

by explaining that the ever-popular Smoked Salmon and Potato Salad is still a feature, but that the potato salad will be served warm and presented differently. Starters will still include a number of vegetar-ian soups; the popular quiche main course will be served as a starter in two petite portions and the Buffalo milk caprese Salad will appear as a Roasted caprese Salad with basil pesto dressing.

mains will see the return of Shepherd’s Pie, but made with ostrich mince and puree of cumin flavoured sweet potato for the health-conscious; the Pork Belly and cashew nut curry dishes, respectively, re-

main but the latter will be served with aromatic rice rather than the wrap and salad that feature in summer. Fish and lamb dishes remain un-changed and chris is toying with the idea of a Venison Shank with Red wine and apricot while the artichoke, olive and Lemon Pasta will be replaced with a wild mushroom and

Gorgonzola pasta – just the thought of which is enough to chase away any winter blues. and if that isn’t enough, consider Vanilla Rice Pud-ding served with Raspberry Poached Pears, es-presso tea cake, crème anglaise and Ginger and Pineapple malva Pudding.

“with all these irresistible dishes,” i suggest, “it’s no wonder that you need to move guests into the larger venue!” The team is very excited about the move, but chris is at pains to point out that some tables will remain in the coffee shop. The need for a larger indoor dining room in winter is obvious and the Studio will need very little by way of preparation to accommo-date diners in the kind of style that is synony-mous with BonBon and La Petite Dauphine; this is the domain of Gert Gertsen after all. The stylish décor, the roaring fire and the mouth-watering ‘new’ winter menu will turn every rain shower into the perfect excuse for a trip down excelsior Road. here’s hoping for rain.

Espresso, caffé normale, cappuccino; some-times it seems that there are as many types of coffee in Italy as there are pastas! And as with pasta, Italian coffee is an art-form with many customs and traditions. Whether it’s a caffé correto thrown back like a shot, a cap-puccino and brioche for breakfast, or a gran-ita di caffé con panna to cool off from the midday sun, in Italy there is a coffee drink specific for every time and mood. Whilst sip-ping an espresso in Roma, Milano or Firenze is a treat, it’s a relief that we do not have to go all the way to Italy to drink a good cof-fee. The best is available right here in Fran-schhoek.

to produce the perfect cup of coffee you need good basics: the right equipment, a knowledge-able barista, good quality ice-cold milk and the best fresh roasted beans. The month chatted to ilsje and Leo of traumerei about the latter and their coffee brand, marcafé.

Founded in 1942, marcafé torrefazione adri-atica S.p.a. is a modern roastery with a history and tradition to match their experience and passion. The factory is in Guilianova, a town on the adriactic coast of italy in the abruzzo region, where prized green coffee-beans arrive daily from the plantations of countries like co-lombia, congo, cuba, costa Rica, india, in-donesia, Brazil, haiti and Puerto Rico. But it’s the strongly perfumed columbian coffee that marcafé value above all.

torrefazione adriatica has a state-of-the-art coffee roasting and packaging plant. From the green beans to the final product, the beans are never subjected to human contact. a process called ‘air dynamics’ is used to blow the beans in tubes from one process to the next and fi-nally into their sealed packages. “hence the ‘flying’ coffee beans in the logo and advert,” explains ilsje. The factory sells 80% of its cof-fee in italy.

at torrefazione adriatica the coffee is roasted by a Roast master who carefully controls the roasting and blending process. The coffee is roasted as is done in Southern italy – at a lower temperature for a longer time. This proc-ess gives the beans a rich golden-brown colour and a strong taste without any bitter aftertaste. in northern italy the beans are roasted for a shorter period at very high temperatures. These beans are dark in colour and give a distinctive bite but with a sometimes bitter aftertaste.

The träumerei Group has the sole import rights for marcafé in Southern africa. Ground coffee and beans are available at their restau-rants and will soon be distributed throughout the country.

Call Ilsje or Leo at Traumerei on 021 876 4542 for more information or visitwww.traumerei.co.za

Bring on Winterstaff reporter

Magnifico Marcaféstaff reporter

Team BonBon: Chris, Christine and Marie-Louise


the month may 2010

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Last month we featured the first in a series of articles on the state of organic and bio-dynamic farming in the Franschhoek Valley with a short description of organic and bio-dynamic farming methods and we included a summary of Jonathan Grieve of Avondale’s bio-logic approach which “uses key elements of accepted organic and biodynamic farming methods, but aims to return the land to the condition farmers would have found it in centuries ago. Natural predators, like ducks, are used to kill pests instead of pesticides, wasps fight mealy bug plagues, weeding is mechanised and mulching replaces chemical herbicides. When diseases, such as Downy Mildew appear, bacteria sprays are used rather than poisonous chemicals. The use of fertiliser and manure is shunned in favour of an intricate cover cropping system which attracts organisms and micro-organisms to help with the remineralisation of the soil.”

we spoke to Jonathan at avondale and asked him about the perception that seems to exist (or at some stage existed) that organic wines are less popular with consumers than their chemi-cally managed peers. Jonathan acknowledged that there certainly was a time when, in the US and canada in particular, organic wines had a less than rosy reputation. he attributes this to a number of factors and includes the efforts of large chemical suppliers who would have had a vested interest in propagating the notion that organic produce were of poor quality. he also suggested that many of the earlier organic wines, particularly overseas, were produced by co-ops of varying abilities. as a result, he ac-knowledges, organic wines didn’t all get off to a good start as far as their value to consumers was concerned. “increasingly, organics are shaking that perception,” he says before telling of the call he received recently from a large canadian wine importer who has independently sought avondale wines because of both its quality and organic nature.

in South africa there seems to be a recogni-tion that the motivation to pursue organic methods has more to do with emphasising the distinctive qualities associated with the unique terroir and climate of the country’s many wine farms, than it does with a particular marketing strategy. as a result, says Jonathan, few winer-ies sell their wines overtly under the ‘organic’ label. But, as is evidenced at avondale, he’s not shy about their approach to get things done as naturally as possible. The ‘au naturel’ models that feature in avondale’s well-known ads are a clever testimony to this.

tearing my eyes from the large advertising posters behind us, i ask Jonathan about the financial implications of an organic approach, expecting him to say that it is far more expen-sive than a chemically-based approach. “ini-tially,” he says “the cost of replenishing soil that

has been chemically depleted may be costly but once the balance returns and the natural cycle is restored, costs can decrease compared to the chemical approach.” he points out that the use of chemicals often precipitates the further use of chemicals as sprays or fertilizer may very well cause as many problems as they address. The pro-active organic approach employed at avondale means that a full spectrum of nu-trients is given to their vines and as a result they’re better able to cope with disease or the inevitable attacks by bugs and insects.

we turn to the future and i ask Jonathan to give me an idea of what we can look forward to from the farm. it appears that avondale has refined its focus from a extremely large range to just seven wines in total. The mcc, a firm favourite of consumers and the Grieve family alike, will remain; as does their popular, ripe-flavoured

c h e n i n Blanc. a Rhône val-l e y - s t y l e d white blend of Viognier, c h e n i n Blanc, Sem-illon and Roussanne sets Jonath-an off on a tangent and it’s clear that this will be a particularly interesting wine. Reds will include the Les Pleurs range of premium wines with a Syrah and a Bordeaux blend. also set to remain is the muscat de Frontignan/mourvedre Blanc de noir rosé that teases with a fruity nose but hits back with an unexpected crisp after-taste.

The 2010 season is becoming known for its poor yields in some areas and i asked Jonathan if the same was true for avondale. “yes, we had our share of Downy mildew – with 200 mil-limeters of rain in november it was inevitable, but by far the biggest cause of crop reduction was the unseasonal easterly wind that blew in flowering time, which affected everyone who gets the east wind. Some vines didn’t bear anything.” when he senses my concern about availability of the avondale mcc he is quick to point out that there will be more than enough wine to go around.

Call 021 863 1976 for more information.

Natural Selectionstaff reporter

Telephone +27 (0)21 876 3016/8 | Pass Road, [email protected] | www.lapetiteferme.co.za

R E S T A U R A N T • W I N E R Y • G U E S T S U I T E S

A view of the Simonsberg from Avondale

Viticulturist, Jonathan Grieve and winemaker, Corné Marais;changing perceptions about organic wines.

www.themonth.co.za 13may 2010

with development again on the cards as we pull out of recession, we took a drive out to Val de Vie to catch up with Leonhard Jonas and find out what’s new at the cape’s premier wine and Polo estate. a number of projects are in

the pipeline including a 5-star, 120 room hotel and the creation of a linked Polo Village. The company that Leonhard heads up is Guardian Development Projects (GDP), a multifaceted business that encompasses all activities associ-ated with property development.

“GDP provide that vital independent and pro-

fessional service to plan, lead, organise and control the management of projects and pro-grammes, from inception to reality” says Leon-hard. “The private residential market is typified by the quest for unique designs and exclusive

luxury which are often beyond the client’s de-sired budget. we offer real solutions to main-taining a budget without compromising the look and feel of the home.”

GDP combine world-class partnerships, a wealth of expertise and the like-minded pursuit of excellence to create a unique development

team that far exceeds the sum of its parts. “we employ a highly talented team of architects, builders, engineers, project managers and quantity surveyors with strong skills in design, technology and management and adopt a comprehensive interdisciplinary approach offering experience across a wide range of sectors” says Leonhard.

Val de Vie wine and Polo estate currently has the rights to develop the hotel and the polo village but want to densify the existing rights. within the month they will begin to develop the first 16 ‘Village Square’ units (of a proposed 33) which will include 6 two-bedroom units, 8 three bedroom units, an office and a delicates-sen. “The development will be very upmarket with 5-star specs” says Leonhard, and the sec-ond tranche of 17 units will be sold off-plan. “we commissioned a study of rental options in the Franschhoek valley and came to the realisa-tion that demand far outstrips demand in the rental market” explained Leonhard, saying that with Val de Vie events fully booked for a year in advance that accommodation is an issue. “Those first 16 units will specifically address this shortage.”

The rest of the estate, designed along the lines of the famous gardens of Versailles with long vistas and broad avenues to create a sense of space, continues to develop in typical style. of the 532 plots originally available, 90% have been sold and transferred and of those, 50 houses have been completed.

at the Sabrage Polo masters event held on the 24th april, Val de Vie launched the sale of plots surrounding the Polo fields with a Ralph Lauren/Versace ‘look and feel’ Polo residence show house, the first of 35 ‘Polo Residences’ overlooking the fields. all the Polo residences will, in time, have the option to be incorpo-rated with the 5-star hotel and will as such be serviced by the hotel and form part of a rental pool. The hotel, with which Val de Vie has received strong interest from highly respected international brands is still 18 months away from construction and will follow the comple-tion of the Village and Polo residences.

Polo Village Launched

Kusasa appeal!The Kusasa Project is raising funds for a very specific and necessary project and would like to invite members of the community to take part in their annual golf day.

The Kusasa Project is working in con-junction with experts in certain fields to impact the children of the valley. “Cool To Be Me” is an NGO specialising in facilitating workshops in schools, directly aimed at 13 year-old Grade 7’s as they approach the crucial teenage years of their lives.

This program instils self-worth and re-spect, steers them away from all the negative influences they are likely to face and helps them make decisions that are positive and influence their futures.

The Kusasa Project is implementing these programs in some valley schools and if they can raise R25,000 at this golf day, every school and every Grade 7 child in the valley will be positively impacted by this program, to the ben-efit the whole community.

The golf day is hosted on the 21st May at the Boschenmeer Golf course at a cost of R350 per person. Hole spon-sorship is R2,500 including a four-ball. Prize giving and dinner will be held af-terwards at Franschhoek’s Elephant & Barrel pub.

Please contact Sumarie Elliott on 083 448 4207 or for bookings, [email protected]

An artist’s impression of the soon to be developed polo village at Val de Vie


PRoPeRty & LiFeStyLemay 2010

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Maison Des Huguenots, the latest development by local design and building team Surrey Holmes, is due for completion in mid-May. This exclusive development, at the top of Huguenot Street in Fran-schhoek, comprises six luxury vil-las set against the backdrop of the Huguenot Monument.

The villas have been designed to har-monise with the natural surround-ings and a number of key features have been inspired by the huguenot museum, Franschhoek’s founding fathers and the historic monument which encapsulates the rich culture and heritage of Franschhoek. The high-quality build specifica-tion, a feature of all Surrey holmes developments, and the premier loca-tion of the units are obvious selling points of this development. in addi-tion:

There are breathtaking views of •the mountains, overlooking the world-renowned huguenot monument.

The situation is a mere two-•minute walk to central Franschhoek and its famous restaurants, trendy stores and boutiques

The development is secure and •gated

it enjoys exceptional architec-•tural and interior design

whilst some of the units will be for sale, a portion will be avail-able on both short and long-term lease. Surrey holmes also offers a ‘fully-managed rental option’ for those looking for an investment purchase.

For more information contact Michelle Hewitt on 083 631 3478 or Neil Hewitt on 072 134 1108 or visitwww.surreyholmes.co.za

Maison des Huguenots Development Nears Completionstaff reporter

An architect’s rendering of the development

The view from the first floor window towards the monument


may 2010

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PRoPeRty & LiFeStyLe



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BEST IN FAMILY LIVING

To arrange a viewing | T +27 21 867 8000 | E [email protected] | W pearlvalleygolfestates.com

SITUATED IN THE HEART OF THE CAPE WINELANDS, A SCENIC 50 MINUTE DRIVE FROM THE VIBRANT CITY OF CAPE TOWN, PEARL VALLEY GOLF ESTATES IS HARD NOT TO FALL IN LOVE WITH. ONCE YOU ARRIVE, THERE’S A WHOLE LOT OF LIVING TO BE DONE – WITH A WORLD OF ADVENTURE AND ACTIVITY FOR THE ENTIRE FAMILY, WAITING TO BE EXPLORED.

contact | T +27 21 867 8000 | F +27 21 867 8096 | E [email protected] | W pearlvalleygolfestates.com

DURING THE FIRST QUARTER OF 2010, THE TOTAL VALUE OF TRANSACTIONS ACHIEVED BY PEARL VALLEY GOLF ESTATES EXCEEDED R60 MILLION. NINE SALES WERE CONCLUDED WITH THE MAJORITY OF OFFERS COMING IN VERY CLOSE TO THE FULL ASKING PRICE. AS A RESULT OF THE DEMAND, WE WILL ALSO BE RELEASING NEW PLOTS.

DOUBLE STOREY ON A LAKE FOR RENT

This double storey, 4-bedroom home is ideal for family living, with stunning mountain and water views. The spacious living area has an easy flow to the garden and pool. Ideal for entertainment or family living.

R27 000 per month

SOLD SOLD SOLD

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PROPERTIES

2010 - Compleat Golfer ‘5 Star Golf Experience’ | 2009 - Golf Digest ‘Best Golf Estate’ | 2009, 2008, 2007 - Host of the SA Open | 2009 - Golf Digest ‘2nd best conditioned course’

The Month QP 19 April 2010 b.indd 1 2010/04/20 15:03:13

The L’Ormarins 1200 Historic Rally around the Cape winelands was launched at The Dun-hill store in Mayfair, London on Thursday 15th April. This exclusive five-day rally will be run from the 27th to the 31st of October 2010 with an entry fee is €20,000 per car includ-ing hotels, gourmet meals, fine wine, Dunhill driving suits, helmets and clothing as well as other experiences money simply cannot buy. Sponsored by Rupert wines and Dunhill, the rally will start and end at the Franschhoek mo-tor museum on the magnificent L’ormarins wine estate. Present at the launch were his ex-cellency, Dr. zola Skweyiya, the South african high commissioner to London and F1 cham-pion Jody Scheckter among other well-known South africans. The Lormarins 1200 is the in-spiration of Johann Rupert, chairman of the Richemont Group of luxury goods companies.

on the first day partici-pants will motor through the cape winelands to hermanus and stay at the exclusive arabella country club. The sec-ond day is a loop around this beautiful area with a delicious luncheon at a private wine estate, returning to arabella for a second evening. The route for day three will take the cars down the coast through Betty’s Bay and on to Gordon’s

Bay, through Stellenbosch and over two of the cape’s most challenging and spectacular moun-tain passes (Du toits Kloof and Bains Kloof ) with the finish at the sumptuous new one & only hotel in cape town. Day four includes a ‘race day’ at Killarney race circuit with demon-stration runs, test sessions, local racing as well as a Single Seater and a Le mans tribute race. The fifth day is a drive along the awesome coastal route of chapman’s Peak, around the peninsula, through Simonstown and on to Stel-lenbosch for lunch before cresting helshoogte Pass and finishing at the museum for the final gala dinner and prize giving.

For more information go towww.fmm.co.za

L’Ormarins Firststaff reporter


the month may 2010

may 2010

“What does it say when a stylish, yet relatively expensive, décor shop that satisfies the needs of a well-heeled market, closes down?”

Within this valley’s growing economy there are many different business and interest groups which seem to be pulling in different directions, not always for the good of each other. For example, if a property develop-er wants more retailers to maximise return from his main street property, he needs more visitors so his tenant can pay the rent. More people in Franschhoek may not tally with

the wishes of a retiree who perhaps came to Franschhoek because there aren’t busloads of tourists, or with the wishes of a farmer who uses the main street to access the packhouse. If, as was mooted in the April edition of The Month, there are too many restaurants, to whom do concerned restaurateurs turn? If newcomers arrive in town to open new busi-nesses, from whom do they take advice and where can they find data with which to form their very important sales expectations?

For some time now, these questions have been out there with little or no answer. So we asked resident land-owner, and member of the Board of the Franschhoek wine Valley and tourist association, malcolm Rutherford, why the FwVta cannot fulfil this role.

Malcolm Rutherford: The Franschhoek wine Valley and tourist association has a place – it is here to promote tourism activity in the valley and has done a great job doing so, thanks mainly to the efforts of arthur mcwil-liam-Smith and Susan huxter. But it is, by its nature, essentially short-term in its thinking; focussing on generating tourism and on the next twelve months of festival organising.

yet as a local economy, Franschhoek has de-veloped to a point where the interests of all the players in that economy need to be rep-resented somehow. The plum farmer, the co-op, the property developers or the fruit packers have no interest in joining the FwVta, but they’re a big part of the economy here. noth-ing regulates their behaviour and there is no

forum where issues of common interest can be debated and addressed.

For me, the FwVta should have stepped up by expanding its client base and filling the vacuum. This just hasn’t happened because the FwVta has been focussed on tourism issues and the time has come for another umbrella body to represent aLL interest groups and take

a long-term view for Franschhoek to ensure its future prosperity. The FwVta has recognised this and must either expand its framework or facilitate that a new organisation be set up. we’ve left behind the non-tourist people that contribute to the local economy but aren’t rep-resented anywhere.

The Month: it sounds like you’re speaking of a chamber of commerce. aren’t we already part of the Stellenbosch chamber?

MR: technically we are, but they worry about Stellenbosch - i worry about Franschhoek. our micro-economy is the Franschhoek valley and encompasses all the interest groups that oper-ate here. we need to look after the long-term positioning of Franschhoek village. it’s our golden goose, we need to worry about it spe-cifically, and more importantly, be effective in doing so.

TM: So where does that leave the role of the FwVta?

MR: The FwVta probably needs to take on the role of ‘custodian of the Brand’ and or-ganise festivals aligned with that brand. it’s a tourism organisation and is set up to attract tourists to the area, but it also needs to have a longer-term view than just the year ahead and it is just not set up to do this. we have a high GDP per capita in Franschhoek. it is ‘upmar-ket’ and i have no doubt in my mind that the brand of the Franschhoek Valley is ‘aspiration’. we’re all capitalists and, economically, all want to be at the top of the pile. That’s what capi-talism’s all about. People always want to eat, sleep and drink better. They aspire to things that they can’t afford today. So, if you don’t live here, coming to the Valley is an experience – it represents something that Joe average is not. it represents excellence, the best of, the most of, the most beautiful, the most panache, the most stylish etc. it’s aspirational. People want to come here BecaUSe they aspire to things that are a little bit out of their reach. So, if that is the brand, and the brand is our future prosperity, anything non-aligned with the brand is a danger. a senior structure within the FwVta could be the long-term Brand custo-dian looking after the interests of all residents in Franschhoek and ensuring everyone’s long term prosperity.

TM: So the FwVta remains the custodian of the Brand but the chamber does the rest?

MR: call it what you like but this structure has to be long-term in its thinking and involve the doctors, the farmers, the lawyers – everyone that has an economic interest in the Brand. They are not necessarily members of FwVta because they are not directly tourist related businesses, but how do they express their opinion about where the brand should be go-ing? They need to do it through a chamber of commerce. if you walk down the main street and see ‘to Let’ signs everywhere, that’s not good for the Brand because it says this is not a thriving economy. it says we have more infra-structure than people supporting it. it says we have got too big for our market. So this body needs to encourage more than just tourists so we have more than just shops. currently, we have created a situation where to thrive, we either need the tourists to spend more, or we need more tourists spending the same. This is more likely, but more tourist numbers is bad, because they will come in on the tour busses and more tour busses undermines the panache of our brand. That’s where the chamber can collate all the opinions and informally regulate it for the long-term good. This is not Knysna!

TM: and who do you see getting involved?

MR: Look at people we have in the Valley; the best minds in most spheres of business live here, people that have been very success-ful, who run the best businesses and who can think long-term. we have good farmers here, good property developers, good retailers – but how do they contribute? we need to pull the best brains together to focus on the next twelve years, not the next twelve months - thinking as one and shaping the future for the benefit of all sectors of our local economy.

TM: Let’s say we start the chamber and get these minds involved. Do you see them map-

ping out the future?

MR: yes i do. clearly we need a collective strat-egy to make it attractive to live and do business here, not just visit. if there are only retail rent-als available, non-retail businesses will stay in Stellenbosch and anyway people simply won’t be inclined to come live here if there are too many tour busses. more tour busses under-mine the very thing that people are coming to experience. our quant aspirational village just won’t be that anymore. we should be attract-ing lawyers, accountants and marketing people to set up business here - not more shops. more shops before anything else just says you’re

only thinking tourism, short-term. you need firms to establish here, spend here, equip their houses from here and make it a destination for professionals. Bridge house school is a great drawcard (as is Val de Vie and Pearl Valley) but are the drawcards being engaged?

TM: So this organisation primarily provides support for all business within a long-term framework?

MR: yes, and there’s a business model here. if i want to open a B+B, where do i get stats? here’s an opportunity for the chamber to style itself as a business support unit. Undoubtedly it could be self-funding if members are getting something back; business advice, statistics, pro-jections, reality checks, even reputation man-agement and marketing. we’ve got the best res-taurateurs here. if, as a restaurant owner, you see more restaurants coming in you’d want to have something to say about that (“we’re all drinking from the same trough; more restau-rants dilutes my business”). who do you speak to? Let’s get those minds together to help new guys differentiate themselves. Business support is what the chamber should do and people will pay for that.

Businesses are struggling because our micro-economy is unbalanced and, in places, becom-ing saturated. we should get everyone to con-tribute to improving the economy. why would the petrol station be a member of the FwVta today? The property developers, housing es-tates, architects, design companies – they must all be involved in our chamber of commerce.

TM: and your final thoughts?

MR: at the moment we’re tourism based and getting tourists here is the job of the FwVta. That means neon lights, tour busses, lots of people. if we aLL want that, fine, but many people living here don’t and, for the reasons i’ve given, it’s unsustainable. i think we’re at a crucial juncture. i believe it’s in our interest to have the valley maintain its aspirational tone. i think it’s a disaster for Franschhoek that La Grange is closing down. what does it say when a stylish, yet relatively expensive, décor shop that satisfies the needs of a well-heeled market, closes down? it’s a disaster for the doctor, the lawyer, the land owner, and for all those peo-ple that want to open businesses here that not tourism related.

TM: Thank you malcolm for your insightful thoughts and for sharing them with readers of The month. we keenly anticipate the next de-velopment.

Time for Changestaff reporter

“People want to come here BECAUSE they aspire to things that are a little bit out of their reach. So, if that is the brand, and the brand is our future prosperity, anything non-aligned with the brand is a danger”

Malcolm Rutherford: The brand of the Franschhoek Valley is ‘aspiration’


the month may 2010

22

As May sees mothers celebrated the world over, we asked fine-art photographer, Vladimira (Vladia) Bajerovska, who regu-larly visits the valley, for her thoughts on a rather unusual Mother’s Day gift.

Vladia specialises in “alluring and intimate fine art portraits.” She refers to her style of pho-tography as Boudoir Photography and explains that the safe atmosphere of her studio allows her subjects to express the innate sensuality we all possess.

when asked to explain her very specific choice of the term ‘boudoir’, she explains that “Bou-doir is French for bedroom. it refers to images that have themes of romance, sensuality and flirtation. it is not necessary to be nude or re-vealing in female boudoir photography. it has more to do with an attitude or state of mind than the state of dress or undress. The primary ideas conveyed in female boudoir photography are love, affection, romance and giving.” no wonder then that many of her portraits end up as gifts from her clients to their significant others, boyfriends, girlfriends, lovers or even a lucky groom on his wedding day.

i suggest to her that, despite her assurance that nudity isn’t a prerequisite, her images run the risk of being seen as sordid. She’s quite clear on this; her photography allows “the beauty, the sacred, sensual and wildly natural self and the subtleties of the feminine soul to be revealed and captured.”

She shares a testimonial from someone called nicole, off her website. it reads: “What great fun! This was a huge confidence booster, a wel-come break from everyday life and a reminder of my slumbering sensuality. Vladia has a knack

for sensing what does and doesn’t work for a cli-ent and the whole affair is very relaxed and laid back. The day reminded me of my wedding day – being an absolute queen for the day, looking beautiful and feeling like you own the world. My husband LOVeD the pictures and my sensuality is no longer slumbering!”

i admit to her that i find the idea of having my semi-clad middle-aged body photographed

in a strange, albeit safe, studio a little nerve-wracking. her professional training in nude photography means she appreciates my con-cerns. “at no time should you feel uncomfort-able,” she assures me, “at all times you will experience a high standard of professionalism and respectfulness.”

turns out that she accommodates sessions at any number of venues that may include her studio, the client’s home or their choice of lo-cal hotel, bed and breakfast or even outside in a private or secluded area. The studio doesn’t sound that daunting after all.

Visit www.vladia.co.za for more infor-mation.

Capturing the Essence of Beautystaff reporter

This month’s medical question comes from regular contributor Jim Waite, who has been conspicuous in his break from the paper due to a bout of debilitating headaches. We asked Franschhoek physiotherapist Patrizia Santangelo, for her professional opinion; partly because she’s new to the village and partly because she’s one of the few people who’ll take Jim seriously.

Please help!My doctor has suggested I see a physiotherapist for my “cervical headaches.” While it’s true that my wife gives me a fair amount of grief, I fail to believe that my headaches are in any way related to a cervix. More than that, why would my doc-tor prescribe a physiotherapist rather than a pain tablet?-Jim Waite

The upper part of the spine is referred to as the cervical spine. The nerves in this area are con-

nected to the nerves in your head and face. as a result, any disorder of the upper neck joints and muscles can cause referred pain to your head. Grinding your teeth, dehydration, poor posture (sleeping on your stomach, slouching, poor ergonomics), emotional and mental stress and physical trauma (whiplash for example) can all contribute to disrupting the mechanics of the neck joints. exam and work-stress, emo-tional and mental stress, even old rugby inju-ries or too much typing on your Pc can cause or exacerbate a headache. cervical headaches are common in our society and affect perform-ance in the workplace, at school and at home.

if left unattended, these headaches can become chronic. For many people, they start as pain and tension at the top of the neck and as the pain worsens, it may spread to the back of the head, the temples, the forehead and shoulders.

The cause of the headache must be identified before prescribing the correct management or medication. a physiotherapist is a first-line practitioner who has been trained to assess and treat headaches. as part of the holistic assess-ment you can expect from your physiothera-pist, your lifestyle, past medical history and biomechanics are taken into account prior to deciding on treatment.

most people take over-the-counter painkillers when suffering from a headache but with pro-longed use these may lose their effectiveness, and rather than improve the headaches, may cause them. This is a condition called ‘post analgesic rebound headaches’. a gradual with-drawal of these drugs is recommended under the supervision of your GP or neurologist. many musculoskeletal conditions are treated with anti-inflammatories. The cause of many

of these aches and pains are both inflamma-tory and mechanical in nature. it is usually the poor mechanics which cause the inflammation in and around the muscles, bones and nerves. without correcting the poor biomechanics, the anti-inflammatories will have limited effect and the pain will return.

The aim of physiotherapy management is to improve the biomechanics of the entire mus-culoskeletal system, by restoring its mobility, strength and length. manipulations and mo-bilisation techniques, dry needling, heat and ice therapy are some of the approaches used by physiotherapists to achieve this goal. This added mobility rids the area of inflammation, and helps to off-load the cervical joints which have been taking the strain and causing your

headaches. your physiotherapist will prescribe exercises to help you correct your posture, strengthen weak muscles, stretch tight ones and keep your joints mobile.

Stress management is important and a balance between work, family, social and recreational activities will be encouraged. Regular exercise, chatting to a councillor or psychologist, focus-ing on posture, wearing a bite plate to prevent teeth-grinding, drinking enough water and eating regularly can all contribute to the man-agement of headaches.

Patrizia Santangelo (BSc. Physiotherapy)

A Hands-on Approach

Physiotherapist, Patrizia Santangelo


the month may 2010

may 2010

MINUTES WITH . . .CHARLOTTE DANEEL

La Grange Interiors, one of Franschhoek’s best-loved décor shops is closing; much to the dismay of locals who have come to know Charlotte Daniel, the passionate and enig-matic owner of La Grange, as one of their own and visitors who value her keen eye and impeccable sense of style. Décor items sourced from La Grange are regularly seen in the pages of top décor magazines as they feature quality homes throughout South Af-rica.

The month spoke to charlotte, over a coffee at the Salmon Bar, to get a sense of why she de-cided to close her Franschhoek store and what we could expect from La Grange in the future.

The Month: charlotte, tell us a bit about the history of La Grange and why you chose to open a store here in Franschhoek 15 years ago.

Charlotte Daneel: after buying property in Franschhoek in the ‘90s, essentially to use as holiday accommodation for ourselves, my partner, Derk, and i realised that Franschhoek is such a fabulous place, that it made sense to live here and visit our home in europe for holi-days instead. i had been involved in sourcing

South african products for department stores in europe and i intended to continue that role here in Franschhoek. But it proved difficult to find items in the interior decoration and cloth-ing lines and i had to abandon that plan. in-stead i decided to open my own interior shop in 1995 in a barn on our property and soon we’d made a name for ourselves at shows and with various decorators. at that time Derk got involved in cheese and as a result we opened a restaurant next door to the barn and while husbands would relax in the restaurant with a glass of wine, their wives would shop and at the end of their meal they’d get one bill that included everything! it worked like a charm. From there we managed to secure the lovely space we’ve occupied as anchor tenant in The yard on the main road, from monty and Gary (of Pam Golding) in 2006 while the develop-ment was still in the planning stages.

TM: which brings us to that question: “why is La Grange closing?”

CD: it’s very simple really; the economic cli-mate we find ourselves in doesn’t allow busi-ness owners to accommodate the high rentals charged in Franschhoek. we all expect costs to

go up, that’s normal, but large increases are dif-ficult to absorb and the sums just don’t add up. we have a big client base, both nationally and even internationally, so it’s not as if La Grange is about to disappear, it’s just that we won’t fill this particular space.

TM: So you’re saying that we’ll still be able to shop at a La Grange store?

CD: yes. we have opened a small store next to the well-known designer, John Jacob, at the top of Bree Street. The shops around us are all in the style of old Bo-Kaapse huisies and it’s absolutely charming. There’s a strong design and décor theme with JVB and Pezula in the same development. it’s just opening now and it’s going to become a very interesting place.

TM: Does that mean that Franschhoek has ‘lost’ you?

CD: as far as the La Grange retail experience is concerned, yes. But we’re building in Daniel hugo Street here in Franschhoek, right on the river and soon the old shed that we currently use as a storage space will be converted into a big showroom that will allow decorators and others to see what La Grange has on offer. The La Grange head office will be based right next door, so Franschhoek and La Grange will re-main integrally linked as far as the business is concerned.

TM: charlotte, thank you very much for your time and the value you and La Grange have added to the valley. we wish you every success in your new space in cape town and with the showroom in Franschhoek.


the month may 2010

24

These days, everyone is concerned about the quality of the food they eat but creating one’s own organic vegetable garden to feed one’s family is still a bit of a stretch for most people. even non-gardeners realise that there is more to creating a vegetable garden than throwing down some compost and planting seedlings.

Soon the vegetables will become overrun with weeds, stop bearing (or all bear at once) and be decimated by pests. what then?

owned by environmentalist, Jean du Ples-sis, and artist Lisa Steyn, Living tree edible Gardens is a small Klapmuts-based company that will not only design and build your dream organic veggie garden, but maintain it for a monthly fee. at present the smallest garden they have built, at well under 20 square me-tres, cost the client R1,000; while the larg-est, at 160 square metres, cost R34,000. The monthly maintenance fee ranges from R500 to R950 depending on the size of the garden and involves weekly visits.

Previously Jean worked as an environmental education officer for the Kwa-zulu natal wild-life and environment Society and the couple lived in the Siyaya coast Park in the mtun-zini dune forest. They moved to the valley a year ago. “we’re exceptionally passionate about growing food and spend a lot of time with our heads in books learning about this field,” says the self-taught organic farmer. “i love people and i love teaching, so part of the process is educating the client’s existing workers so that they can eventually take over maintaining the garden.”

The first thing Jean and Lisa do for a client is to analyse the site and the soil. “it’s all about soil quality because the healthier your soil, the healthier your plants and the better the quality of your vegetables,” Jean explains. Soil samples are sent to the elsenburg agricultural college in Stellenbosch for chemical analysis and once

the team knows what they are dealing with, they set about restoring the land’s natural bal-ance, ensuring it’s full of healthy soil microbes and nutrients, before a single plant is planted. a recent client, who had bought a house with an award-winning garden, called them when nothing she planted would flourish. The soil analysis showed that it suffered from a chemi-cal imbalance caused by over-use of chemical fertilizers. These had caused a concentration of

phosphates which had locked-up the other nu-trients in the soil, precipitating a host of other problems.

Jean explains that chemical fertilizers bypass soil microbes and inject nutrients directly into the plants. But the microbes need food too, like compost and humus. Plants and microbes exist in a very specific relationship. “Some will help the plants to build resistance against dis-eases and pests but most importantly, by di-gesting the nutrients in the soil, microbes con-vert them into a form that allows the plants to absorb them too,” Jean explains. This is why an organic vegetable tastes so much better than an ordinary one – they are bursting with natural nutrients.

“what we do is create balanced ecosystems, building up the fertility in the soil in the fast-est, most natural and sustainable way possi-ble, so that both the plants and the client can benefit,” says Jean. They use a combination of organic, biodynamic, synergistic and perma-culture principles to build up the fertility of the soil, increase the bio-diversity of plant and animal life, and minimize the resources needed from outside.

“Drawing on a number of different gardening methods we work with companion planting, crop rotation, soil inoculants, compost, com-post teas, mulch and other methods,” says Jean. “we also focus on drawing beneficial wildlife into the garden to help out with pest control and pollination. our methods are 100% or-ganic and we always work to give more back to the garden than what we take out.”

each garden design, drawn by Lisa, includes a programme for building up the fertility and production capacity of the soil, as well as a ba-sic guideline for working the land sustainably. clients may also attend workshops on various aspects of soil fertility, food production and pest management as well as organic waste re-cycling.

The venture is also about helping people to reconnect with their environment, protecting the planet, and about educating – “because today’s children don’t know where their food comes from.” in time, the company wants to expand into mushroom-growing, honey pro-duction and even create fruit orchards.

if the duo has a signature style it is the vin-tage look that comes across in Lisa’s charming drawings. Rather than hand prospective clients photographs of different types of edging, trel-lises, and paving finishes, Lisa has drawn all the options to make up a product catalogue.“our gardens are as beautiful as they are ed-ible,” says Jean.

we couldn’t agree more.

Edible Gardensstaff reporter


the month may 2010

may 2010

Steven Levitt suggests that reducing carbon emissions is not a great way of cooling the earth in a hurry for a number of reasons. even if we cut carbon emissions today, the earth will con-tinue warming for decades. Secondly, reducing carbon emissions is expensive, with a price tag of at least $1 trillion per year. Thirdly, there is a problem with reducing carbon emissions in that it requires worldwide behavioural change, which will be hard to achieve. a much better approach, he concludes, is geo-engineering.

The scientific evidence suggests that either the

stratoshield or increased oceanic clouds would have a large and immediate impact on cooling the earth, unlike carbon-emission reductions. The cost of these solutions is trivial compared to the cost of lowering carbon emissions - literally thousands of times cheaper! Perhaps best of all, if something goes wrong and we decide we don’t like the results of the stratoshield or the oceanic clouds, we can stop the programs immediately and any effects will quickly disappear. These two geo-engi-neering solutions are completely reversible. Given the huge costs of global cataclysm and how cheap the solutions are, it would be crazy not to move

forward with geo-engineering research in order to have these solutions ready to go in case we decide we need to cool the earth.

why then, are his solutions so radically differ-ent from those of his critics? he concludes that they are answering different questions:

Our question, as noted above, is “What is the cheapest, fastest way to quickly cool the earth?” Like every question we tackle in freakonom-ics and superfreakonomics, we approach the question like economists, using data and logic to conclude that the answer to that question is geo-engineering. Not coincidentally, almost every economist who has asked the same question has come to the same conclusion.

But that is not the question that Al Gore and the climate scientists are trying to answer. The sorts of questions they tend to ask are “What is the ‘right’ amount of carbon to emit?” or “Is it moral for this generation to put carbon into the air when future generations will pay the price?” or “What are the responsibilities of humankind to the planet?”

Unlike the question that we are asking, the types of questions that environmentalists are trying to answer mix together both scientific issues and moral/ethical issues. If you have any doubts about this, watch Al Gore’s movie, in which he says ex-plicitly that reducing carbon emissions is not a political issue, but a moral issue.

I do not mean to imply that the question we an-swer in the book is the most important question. It may be that the questions that environmental-ists are trying to ask are more important and more interesting, but that certainly does not mean that we don’t want to know the answer to our ques-tion, a question that the environmentalists don’t

bother to ask very often because they are focused on their more philosophical questions.

so for all the blogosphere shouting against our chapter, I have to be honest and say that I just don’t get it. I can’t understand why any environ-mentalist who really cares about the earth’s future could say with a straight face that geo-engineering doesn’t deserve a seat at the table as the global-warming debate heats up.

Hot Under the Collarstaff reporter

a Medi-Clinic service

Scientif ic FactsThe earth has warmed substantially over the 1.

past 100 years.

even if we were to immediately and perma-2. nently stabilise our carbon emissions at current levels, or even cut these emissions substantially, climate models predict that earth will continue to get warmer for decades.

when mount Pinatubo erupted in 1991, 3. it spewed millions of tons of sulphur dioxide into the stratosphere. Scientists believe that the haze generated by the eruption reflected some of the Sun’s light, causing the earth’s temperature to tempo-rarily drop as a consequence.

Because the half-life of sulphur dioxide in 4. the stratosphere is relatively short (about one year), the cooling effects of the mt. Pinatubo eruption faded within a few years.

Dark surfaces absorb more sunlight than 5. light surfaces. Thus, all else equal, light surfaces cause less global warming because more of the sunlight that strikes these surfaces is reflected back into space.

clouds, which are white or grey, are lighter 6. in colour than the oceans, which are blue.

Economic Factsif the earth’s warming leads to global 1.

catastrophe, that would be a really bad outcome.

even when there is enormous uncertainty 2. about the likelihood of future cataclysms, it makes sense to invest now in finding ways to avoid such cataclysms.

economists estimate that the costs of reduc-3. ing carbon emissions are likely to be upwards of $1 trillion per year.

Technological FactsThere exists an engineering design that 1.

provides a means of delivering enough sulphur dioxide to the stratosphere on a continuous basis to effectively cool the earth. The estimated cost of building and implementing this technology is a few hundred million dollars.

There exists an engineering design that 2. provides a means of increasing oceanic cloud cover by seeding such clouds with salt-water that is sprayed into the air by a fleet of solar powered dinghies. The esti-mated cost of building and implementing this technology is a few hundred million dollars.

In this month’s Green Page we check out a blog posted by the Freakonomics author, Steven Levitt, where he defends a chapter in his second book, SuperFreakonomics, about the many misconceptions surrounding global warming. The fundamental question he tries to answer is ‘If we need to cool the Earth in a hurry, what is the best way to do it?’ He not only concludes that geo-engineering is the answer, but goes further to say that criticism of this approach demonstrates that his critics are asking the wrong questions. Let’s start with some scientific, economic and technological facts and then observe how he reaches his conclusion.

Robert Klitgaard, University Professor at claremont Graduate University in cali-fornia and formerly a professor at harvard and yale, is in Franschhoek for six months on a sabbatical leave. he comments:

“Levitt is mystified why many environ-mentalists disagree with him. The answer is cultural, in the sense of mary Douglas and aaron wildavsky. They identify four cultures that operate within every society, though with different proportions. Do you prefer strong group bonds or weak group bonds? Do you like lots of rules and stratifications or few? The strong/lots folks are “hierarchical.” The “weak/few” people are individualists. The weak/lots folks are “fatalists” and the strong/few folks are “egalitarians”. These four categories correlate with attitudes toward the environment (and toward risk). For example, hierarchical folks think the risks of nuclear power are small and the risks of hiV/aiDS are large. egalitarians think the opposite: they loathe nuclear power, and they fear calling hiV/aiDS a risk because doing might lead to ostracism of one or another group. egalitarians distrust technological solutions, such as geo-engi-neering”.

Look out for the article on Robert in the June edition of The Month


the month may 2010

26

The Rasta fellow at the Pick n Pay parking asked ‘Watse kar is daai, my larney?’ Later, a couple of bikers on Kalfi’s stoep noted it wasn’t a hot Impreza. Far from it, gentlemen, meet the Lexus IS-F.F is Lexus’ fast brand. or at least we think so – or could it have something to do with what it wants to do to its opposition?

Long the purveyor of your perhaps staid up-market uncle’s car, Lexus now attacks the likes of m, amG and RS – and it’s done so in typi-cal style. The association with Subaru is obvi-ous – who’d ever seen a horny Lexus before?

anyway, a cursory glance at the car confirms our village bikers and Rasta‘s view that it boasts the look to be in that company. a deep, ag-gressive spoiler and aggro aero kit; big 19” anthracite wheels wrapping giant brakes with cross-drilled discs and a ‘not so subtle’ set of stacked quad tailpipes immediately give the game away.

inside the iS-F lacks for nothing – kitchen sink and all; it’s all standard fit so there’s no costly option list here.

Fire it up, select the sportiest chassis and gear-box settings and as soon as it’s onto the power, the iS-F is quite mesmerising. we couldn’t quite match Lexus’ claims, but a 5.1-second 0-100 dash and 13.6-second quarter-mile at 177km/h are nothing to be scoffed at. it really impressed in overtaking acceleration, particu-larly around Kyalami, returning an impressive

2 minute 2.8 second hot Lap. an m3 sedan circulates at 2:02.6 so there’s nothing in it. Fac-tor in that the RS 4 and c63 are respectively 2 and 4 seconds off that pace and it’s clear what a fine job Lexus has done with this car.

yes, it’s quite ‘boy racer’, perhaps even a bit kitsch. But Lexus has thrown a wild entry-exec cat among the super saloon pigeons and it’s also the new kid on that block – always a huge plus in that neck of the woods, let alone that it comes with all the normal Lexus plusses.

So if you’re in the market for an m3 or one of its rivals, be sure to include a Lexus dealer in your rounds. The iS-F really is that good.

Michele Lupini

enjoy our motoring in the Month? Pick up a copy of Michele Lupini’s Cars in Action at the fran-schhoek Pick n Pay or BP or log on towww.carsinaction.co.za

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Chasing Down a Big TotalThe Dave rundle financial Column

General Michael V Hayden, the director of the CIA, says his analysts believe that the most worrying trend in the world is not ter-rorism but demographics.

in a speech delivered on 30th april 2008 he al-luded to the fact that then already there were more than 6,7 billion people sharing the plan-et. By mid-century, the best estimates point to a world population of more than 9 billion. That’s a 35% increase but what is striking is that most of the growth is almost certain to be from countries least able to sustain it, and that will likely fuel instability and extremism - not just in those areas but beyond them as well. There are many poor, fragile states where governance is actually difficult today, where populations

will grow rapidly - such as afghanistan, niger, the Republic of congo and Liberia. among that group the population is expected to triple by mid-century. There are many other coun-tries whose populations are expected to dou-ble. if their basic freedoms and needs (food, housing, education, employment) are not met, they could easily be attracted to violence, civil unrest, and extremism.

when you couple this huge population growth with what Thomas Friedman calls, “the flatness in the world”, then you realize the stress we are putting on energy, land, water and natural resources.

what he meant by the world getting flatter is that by the end of the 20th century, a combina-tion of technological, market and geographical events had leveled the global economic play-ing field in a way that is enabling more people than ever, from more places than ever, to take part in the global economy - and, in the best of cases, to enter the middle class.

according to the international monetary fund, the end of communism in the 1980s and 1990s and the subsequent ‘flattening of the world’ helped to lift 200 million people out of pov-erty in china and india alone; and move tens of millions more higher up the economic lad-der. all these people want a house, a television, an air conditioner, a cell phone, a microwave, a toaster, a computer, an ipod; all of which de-vour lots of energy, natural resources, land and water.

So what does this mean for investments? cer-tainly the ‘clean energy theme’ is being writ-ten about and discussed at government levels throughout the world. The broad scientific un-derstanding is that our planet is experiencing a warming trend - over and above natural varia-tions - that is almost certainly due to human activities associated with large-scale manufac-turing.

Due to the world’s population growth, a short-age of water and food is probably going to oc-cur. with an increase in the demand for these resources comes an increase in price and with a shortfall in resources and new technologies be-ing developed all the time, an investment into funds such as a clean energy fund, agriculture fund and a water fund should be considered for an investment portfolio. obviously these are themes that require time to play out and putting short-term money into this would not be advisable.

These investments can be seen as another way to diversify a portfolio. if the information we are receiving through the various media chan-nels is correct, then investment into these three megathemes could be really beneficial to a portfolio. i think there will be some volatility along the way but over time the trend should be in the correct direction.

Dave RundleRundle management Services 083 658 8055

This article is solely intended to provide you with objective information about financial products and services and is not intended to constitute a recommendation, guidance or proposal with re-gard to the suitability of any product in respect of any financial need you may have.

How safe is your British Pension?For free advice on your UK ‘frozen pension’

contact Paul Nicholson on 082 453 8887


the month may 2010

may 2010

As we go to press we hear on the radio and read in the papers of avid fans queuing through the night for a ‘special opportunity’ to buy sought-after World Cup tickets. In Joburg, police apparently had to use pepper spray to stop scuffles as thousands of fans rushed to buy the 500,000 Soccer World Cup tickets being sold over the counter for the first time. Computers crashed, crowds lost patience and at some centres, tempers flared as banks were not able to process ap-plications quickly.

Forgive the scepticism, but this is surely less a ‘once in a lifetime’ opportunity than a large-scale dump of tickets destined for elsewhere and not taken up. i think the panic may be premature and i, for one, won’t be surprised if more and more tickets become available.

The world Soccer governing body, FiFa, ac-knowledged the ‘huge demand’ had resulted in delays in issuing tickets adding that they were acceding to ‘South african business methods’ ,( ie selling through shopping malls and banks over the counter) implying that was why ticket sales had been so slow. are they serious? ‘huge demand’ by South africans (the tickets are be-ing made available for every game – that’s 62 matches, save the final - for as little as R150 – the lowest world cup price for many years) has simply replaced ‘no demand’ from euro-peans at ridiculously high prices. now, appar-ently, there are no tickets left for cape town, Joburg or Durban matches. i very much doubt this.

excuses abound. european demand for the football spectacular fell way short of expecta-tions and FiFa have suggested it is because South africa is (a) so far way (fifteen hours fly-ing time from new york, eleven from London

and eight from Sao Paulo, for example and scheduled flights from the five other african qualifiers mostly take an expensive route via europe to reach South africa) and (b) a few months ago FiFa officials complained there was ‘not enough atmosphere in South africa’

around the continent’s first world cup.

But by the end of the dump, fans in South africa will have bought at least 1,4 million tickets, followed by the United States with 120,000 and the UK with 70,000. was this the

plan? The most devastating number is that of the 660,000 allocated to diehard fans of the 32 finalists, less than 200,000 have been snapped up. So why were ticket sales so poor?

The real problem seems to be in match’s

high-priced corporate packages that FiFa gen-eral secretary Jerome Valcke mentioned were ‘selling slowly’. mexican brothers Jaime and enrique Byrom along with Philippe Blatter, the boss’s nephew, partner in ‘match’ - the company given exclusive rights to sell world

cup tickets. They have done so at prices that suggest they thought the recession was just something that happened to other people with the result that match has been largely aban-doned by the corporate world. Did they seri-ously think they could bleed the fans during a recession?

in fact they have sold just 150,000 hospitality tickets but have nearly 200,000 left on the shelf – tickets were just priced too high (premier seats at the final cost $900 each!). Through the ‘FiFa approved’ domestic carrier, match is charging clients $750 for return flights across Sa to games whilst Kulula is charging about $150. i was told by a guesthouse in Paarl, who had originally signed up with match for the full month of the tournament, that they had released 25% of their rooms a month ago and have now been told to release them all with not a single booking at their price. overall, the number of unsold tickets is unknown because those listed as ‘sold’ with agents might not be.

So, in addition to the 500,000 that have gone on sale recently there may be as many as 300,000 more behind them. i get the feeling that by telling us matches in the big centres are sold out might be a ploy to ‘be part of it’ and buy tickets to honduras v chile at 46,000-seater mbombela stadium in mpumalanga Province which, by the way, cost R1 billion to build and will host only four Round one games over 11 days!

From an economic point of view this can’t be good since domestic South africans buying tickets means money going out not coming in. Surely, had FiFa priced tickets realisti-cally we’d have had many more visitors (with the obvious trickle-down benefits) and wor-ries about the ever-swelling budget, and the burden of South african taxpayers, would be a thing of the past. either way, those mistakes have now been made and we look forward to a successful tournament, but the rush by the South african public to buy tickets may be a little premature.

World Cup Sales Fall Flatstaff reporter


the month may 2010

28

The Franschhoek Mountain Chamber Music Workshop enjoyed its 20th visit to the valley as 35 students from the Western Cape aged from 11 to 18 were coached for a week in small groups, called Chamber Groups.

The musicians stayed at the Franschhoek trav-eller’s Lodge in Franschhoek and the coach-ing sessions took place in the adjacent high School. on the evening of 10th april, some of the groups performed in the school hall a concert of works they had studied and on the 11th the main concert took place in the same venue.

organiser Barbara Kennedy said entry to these two concerts by members of the public was by donation at the door but thanked the generosity of The Rupert music Foundation, Franschhoek resident Shirley Parkfelt and The Friends of orchestral music for their contribu-

tions. “The workshop relies heavily on sponsor-ship and donations as the fee that the students pay only covers their board and lodging for the week. Some students cannot afford the full fee, so we offer bursaries to the most needy.”

The workshop has been taking place annu-ally for the last 19 years, starting at noupoort Guest Farm near Piketberg, then moving closer to Franschhoek to the mountain manor and, when that was sold, to the present venue.

“we do hope that the public will be interested in attending future concerts as the standard is really very high and the results that these young musicians get after only one week of group training is nothing short of miraculous!” said Barbara.

The next workshop will take place in april 2011.

‘Miraculous’ Musosstaff reporter

Behind the MicI haven’t been near a microphone for a while.

had we been radio hams at Franschhoek Fm, one could call it The Silence of the hams. our microphones were switched off! it is what one does when wires do not connect as they should and all fall down. we needed time to sort things out and get the station back on air. we’ve had a good look at what the radio station has, what it does not have, what it needs and where to find it. it’s encouraging when listeners react with disbelief and say they miss the broadcast. we missed you too! it is also encouraging to see how many people do pull together when it is called for.

i must say it is an interesting excercise not to go to work and look at it from the outside. my mind wandered to situations where peo-ple leave a profession and after a healthy break

rediscover their mojo and re-turn intact. The comeback Kids. i under-stand that; a time away is sometimes nec-essary to realise that you’ve got what it takes to do what you do. Burnout is probably a desper-ate place to be and the only road to recovery is via time out.

happily Franschhoek Fm may have been down but is definitely not out.

Meet you on the airwaves!helen Naudé

with helen Naudé of franschhoek fMNot

Musicians from ages 11 to 18 in Franschhoek


the month may 2010

may 2010

Dear David and Brett,

i hope this letter finds you both well. i have just returned from three days of walking through rural Somerset, across exmoor and the Quan-tock hills, following in the footsteps of the Ro-mantic poet, Samuel taylor coleridge. i would

like, if i may, to draw a direct comparison with the Franschhoek Valley and its surroundings.

People come to rural Devon and Somerset from all over the world. we all know that the weather here can be inclement at the best of times, but people just live with that. everything here is geared to making hikers and cyclists feel welcome; the tourist offices, the guesthouses,

the pubs, the village corner shops, the farm-ers selling scrumpy cider and homemade ched-dar cheese, all these individuals benefit from visitors spending their hard-earned cash. eu-ropeans like to get out in the hills and really explore their surroundings, indulging in some physical activity before returning to their bou-

tique hotel and enjoying a lovely steak and a good bottle of red. Franschhoek needs to move with the times. For years it has flourished on the catchphrase “eat, Sleep, Drink” but tour-ists do not want wine tours and gourmet meals from dawn ‘til dusk. Statistics Sa clearly show that the majority of visitors to the cape, and

therefore Fran-schhoek and St e l l enbosch , come from Ger-many and Brit-ain.

Rather than wasting time and money explor-ing links with the USa, the FwVta should be visiting local authorities in rural Britain, in similar locations to those of Fran-schhoek, in or-der to learn how to entice walk-

ers, cyclists, fly-fishermen and bird watchers. Franschhoek is a veritable paradise, but there are very few tourists who stay more than one or

two days, because at the moment it is seen as a “stopping off” point between hermanus and capetown, rather than as a multi-activity cen-tre where visitors can enjoy a week’s holiday.

i do not pretend to have all the answers, but i hope that my letter will provoke further discus-sion.yours,

ed Flitterstaunton, UK

Valley-based DnA Events presents 2010 Parties in the Theatre @ Bridge House School, with live music and big screen view-ing of a number of World Cup games, for only R120pp. Pub meals and a cash bar will be available. Money raised from the parties will be used to purchase a big screen to be permanently installed at the school.

Their full line up is as follows: 11 June 2010 opening ceremony o 16h00 South africa vs mexico o 20h30 Uraguay vs France 12 June 2010 o 16h00 argentina vs nigeria o 20h30 england vs USa 10 July 2010 o 3rd & 4th place play-offs 11 July 2010 Final & closing ceremony o 20h30 - The FinaL Lose the live music and watch the games at just R60 per person, on the following days:

Sunday 13 June o 20h30: Germany vs australia Wednesday 16 June o 20h30: South africa vs Uruguay Thursday 17 June o 20h30: France vs mexico Friday 18 June o 20h30: england vs algeria Sunday 20 June o 16h00: italy vs new zealand

Tuesday 22 June o 16h00: South africa vs France Friday 25 June o 16h00: Portugal vs Brazil Quarter Finals o Friday 2 July o Saturday 3 July Semi Finals o tuesday 6 July, 20h30 o wednesday 7 July, 20h30 For Tickets contact Jenny Jones on 021 874 8100 or the Franschhoek Tourism Offices on 021 876 2861

Ed’s Rambleed flitters, contributor to the hikes page, writes to us from the UK

BHS Big Screen Soccer

Scenes from rural Somerset


the month may 2010

30

Bridge House NewsReaching New Heights Liam and Rachel weber recently summitted mt Kilimanjaro in aid of charity and took the opportunity to fly the flags of Bridge house, South africa and the FiFa 2010 world cup. a portion of the R28,000 raised will be given to Gift of the Givers Foundation for disaster

relief in haiti and the rest is for the Kusasa Project’s activities at the wes eind School in the Franschhoek Valley.

Mathemagicians!

Bridge house pupil Sam Jeffery (left, Grade 7), has been selected to represent cape town at an international maths challenge in Korea in

July, while David meihuizen (right, Grade 7), is the non-travelling reserve. Sam and David competed against 200 pupils from schools in the western cape in the world maths chal-lenge. Sam was chosen as one of only four pu-pils to go to Korea. Four others were chosen to go to hong Kong. Both Sam and David will attend a number of training sessions to prepare them for this fantastic experience.

Expanding Horizons withMandarin Chinese

Passionate about immersing the Grade 8 man-darin class at Bridge house in chinese culture while they learn the language of mandarin chinese, their teacher, tony huang, packs his lesson times with fascinating information.

amongst other things, the pupils learn about chinese food, the tea ceremony, the ancient art of calligraphy, how to play chinese chess and the unique art of chinese paper-cutting. chinese paper cutting has existed for thousands of years with a long history featuring both na-tional and regional themes. Paper began as a precious commodity in the han Dynasty and

most of the people with access to paper to use for art were nobles in royal palaces. The old-est surviving paper cut is a symmetrical circle from the 6th century found in Xinjiang, china. intense concentration is needed and although they were beautiful, some of the Bridge house pupils’ designs did not turn out as intended. For the tea ceremony, mr huang brought in all his beautiful cups, pots and equipment. The

children learned all about the different types of tea, where the tea comes from and how to serve it. in the session on chinese calligra-phy, mr huang taught the pupils to write their names using the traditional art of writing chi-nese characters. he brought his writing tools, the chinese brush, the ink stick, paper and an ink stone to the class and explained that during this process they should prepare themselves for writing by becoming calm and focused. he said that a person’s character can be seen in the way in which they write.

Pupils in Grade 8 and 9 at Bridge house are able to choose French, German, Xhosa or man-darin in addition to english and afrikaans.

Contact Bridge House on 021 874 8100.

Master saxophonist, singer and band lead-er for more than 30 years, Robbie Jansen will blow you away with his charismatic style in the Theatre @ Bridge House on Saturday 22 May.

Robbie is one of the cape’s leading entertain-ers and has been a driving force in the devel-opment of the ‘cape Jazz Style’. Despite his illness, Robbie packs a powerful punch with his special style of jazz, and still wows audi-ences with his signature rendition of Georgia on my mind.

music and the arts are woven into the unique fingerprint of Bridge house School; which has a large and highly specialised music de-partment. Pupils from pre-primary age par-ticipate in musical expression; large numbers of individual music pupils express themselves on the piano, violin, flute, drums, guitar and

clarinet and in voice and many children in the broader valley community benefit from the school’s Valley music Project. apprecia-tion of a wide range of musical genres is en-couraged at the school, and so excitement is

mounting as the date of the Robbie Jansen Benefit concert draws near.

Robbie will be joined by other top-class en-tertainers to provide a wonderful evening of entertainment. all the proceeds of the con-cert will go towards providing Robbie with oxygen to fill his lifeline: the oxygen tank to which he is permanently connected.

tickets cost R100 per person, and can be purchased from Jenny Jones at Bridge house Reception, phone 021 874 8100 or email [email protected]

Give Robbie some air!

Robbie Jansen seen here with Head of Prep, Melvin King


the month may 2010

may 2010

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You know when you discover something and then you tell people about it and they say “Ja, we knew about that” and then you real-ise you are probably the last to know? Well, I picked up a brochure called ‘The Darwin Trail’ in a guest house in Paarl recently, which explains how when Charles Darwin visited the Cape in 1836, he visited Fran-schhoek. So for the one or two of you out there who didn’t know, I have drawn heavily from the brochure to bring you up to date.

apparently, charles Darwin visited the cape between 31 may and 18 June 1836 aboard the hmS Beagle. he had been enlisted to provide captain Robert Fitzroy with a gentleman’s company, enhanced by the fact that he was a cambridge graduate with a natural science background. his father, who had to foot the bill for his passage, was persuaded that this cir-cumnavigation of the southern hemisphere on hmS Beagle would be an exceptional opportu-nity for the young graduate and a sound career move. Darwin’s monumentally refined powers of observations and analytical mind ensured that this experience set him on a remarkable personal journey of scientific discovery.

anchoring at ‘Simons Bay’, Darwin set off on Saturday 4 June, 1836 for a 170 kilometre circular journey that took him to Paarl, Fran-schhoek, and across the Franschhoek Pass. it is likely that he stayed one night at the hou-whoek inn and then went over what was then called the ‘Sir Lowry cole Pass’, across the cape Flats and back to cape town. he was accom-panied by an english speaking Khoi groom who Darwin described as wearing ‘a long coat, beaver hat, and white gloves’! he hoped to see some large animals and had made a number of observations in the voyage on hmS Beagle about large animals surviving in areas devoid of vegetation, such as the Pampas of argentina

and the Karoo of South africa. he writes;

“After riding about three hours, we came near to the french hoeck pass. This is so called from a number of emigrant protestant frenchmen, who formerly settled in a flat valley at the foot of the mountain: it is one of the prettiest places I saw in my excursion. The pass is a considerable work, an inclined road having been cut along the steep side of the mountain: it forms one of the princi-pal roads from the low land of the coast, to the

mountains and great plains of the interior. We reached the foot of the mountains on the opposite, or s. e. side of the pass, a little after noon. here, at the toll-bar, we found comfortable lodgings for the night.”

The brochure goes on to explain how Fran-schhoek Pass is South africa’s oldest profession-ally engineered pass, initially established by the annual migration of elephants that came across the mountain to calve in the Franschhoek val-ley and how, after the British occupation, it was upgraded by professional engineers and the work completed in 1825.

The Darwin trail takes you on a wonderfully scenic journey into history. The establishment of the route and publication of this Darwin trail map is the first time that this important journey has been marked out and reclaimed as a part of our South african heritage. Darwin was 27 years old at the time and of the thirteen ports where hmS Beagle called on its home-ward voyage from South america to england, it stayed longer at Simon’s Bay than anywhere else except for the Galapagos islands. it is a fascinating brochure and is available at most tourist offices. So go get one.

and on Tuesday, May the fourth be with you...

The Last WritesBy the Publisher

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the social pageSociaLmay 2010

CloCkwISE FRom abovE:

Jody Scheckter and his excellency Dr Zola Skweyiya, the South African High Commissioner to London at the launch of the L’Ormarins 1200 at the Dunhill store in Mayfair, London.

The Franschhoek Oesfees held at Solms-Delta recently, attracted guests, music enthusiasts and revellers from far and wide.

Invited guests enjoying the opening of new Main Road restaurant, Dutch East in Franschhoek on Thursday 22nd April.

The Cape Dutch Connection played The Yard at the closing sale of Franschhoek’s interior and décor store, La Grange.

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