December 2022

Our December holiday is long forgotten – so much has happened in the meantime – but it’s always nice to look back and remember the wonderful time we had on the West Coast of South Africa.

It was with an excited feeling that we landed at Cape Town International Airport in mid-December 2022 for a three-week holiday.

Arriving at Cape Town International Airport

Before we drove to our hometown, Langebaan, our friends in Cape Town organised a get-together for our annual Christmas dinner. This year dinner was booked at a beautiful wine farm.

Signal Gun Wines:

Signal Gun Wines is 35km (21 miles) from the city centre of Cape Town. It is on the outskirts of the lovely suburb Durbanville and situated on Hooggelegen Farm. This farm has been in the De Wit-family for over six generations and is one of the oldest, family-owned wine farms in the Durbanville area.

Views from Signal Gun Wines

Of course, with a name like Signal Gun Wines, a gun (or cannon for that matter) will be involved. According to the winery’s website, the VOC mounted more than 50 cannons on hills and mountains around the Cape to form a Signal Gun chain that could call upon the Burher Militia to defend the Cape.

And 300 years later, some of these cannons are still used to fire on Hooggelegen Farm on joyful occasions. If you want to attend the firing of a cannon, make sure you visit the farm every 1st Saturday of every month at 13:00.

One of the cannons at Signal Gun Wines

There is a wonderfully relaxed atmosphere at the restaurant at Signal Gun Wines. You can either choose to sit outside under umbrellas (which would be great while enjoying lunch on a sunny afternoon) or you can sit at one of the tables on the covered deck – which we did as it was a bit rainy.

Seating at the restaurant

One of our friends’ two little girls came along and enjoyed the large soft lawn next to the restaurant. And you know you’re in the Cape Town area when you smell the wonderful aroma of fynbos – the restaurant is surrounded by these endemic plant species.

Beautiful green and soft lawn

Fynbos decorates the outside of the restaurant

We had a great time catching up with everyone while enjoying delicious food. Of course, we couldn’t eat here and not enjoy the delicious wine. We had pre-drinks (gin and tonic) and then ordered a bottle (or two) of their best wines.

Festive Gin & Tonic

Starter of crumbed mushrooms and trio of sliders as the main meal

The restaurant at Signal Gun Wines during the evening

This was the perfect start to our holiday. We looked forward to spending time with my mother and some of Berto’s family, camping by the sea and exploring new places. We will tell you more about this in the next few posts.