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 feels strange to wrap up our December holiday posts and not include our hometown, Langebaan, in any of them. But in all honesty, we didn’t spend a lot of time at home this time around. When we weren’t camping somewhere along the West Coast, we were busy cleaning up our camping stuff (for the next camp) or enjoying a good old ‘braai’ or ‘potjie’ during those lazy summer evenings!

A ‘potjie’ on the fire

Watching kite surfers at the Langebaan Lagoon

For now, we’re wrapping up our 2022 December holiday posts with (another) visit to a wine farm. Yes, we started with a visit to a wine farm and now we’re ending with a wine farm!

Durbanville Hills:

This wine farm is only about 20 minutes from Cape Town’s city center and offers a spectacular view of Table Mountain and Table Bay.

View of Table Mountain & Table Bay from Durbanville Hills

The wine produced by Durbanville Hills covers a wide range: Carbernet Sauvignon, Chardonnay, Chenin Blanc, Merlot, Merlot Rose, Pinotage, Shiraz, Sauvignon Blanc and even Sparkling Wines.

Vineyards of Durbanville Hills

My mom flew back to East London with us and we decided to treat her (and ourselves) to Durbanville Hills’ award-winning restaurant, The Tangram for lunch.

Entrance at The Tangram

As was the case with Signal Hill, which we visited at the beginning of our holiday, here at Durbanville Hills there is also a cannon on the hill.

Canon at Durbanville Hills

Although wine has been made in the Durbanville area since the end of the 17th century, it was not until the late 1990s that Durbanville Hills Wines was established. So, it’s actually still a very young wine farm, but definitely worth a visit. You will find amazing views, delicious food and of course excellent wines.

Outside area at Durbanville Hills

The restaurant is on the top floor offering panoramic views of Table Mountain, Table Bay and the rolling hills and vineyards. We ordered a bottle of Durbanville Hills Sauvignon Blanc which arrived in a lovely wine stand and accompanied by freshly baked bread and butter.

Chilled white wine and freshly baked bread

As expected, their food was top notch – delicious and well presented. My mother decided on a Smoked Snoek fishcake with a curry dressing while my choice fell on the Line fish and smoked mussels with a charred corn salsa and sweet potato.

Mom’s fishcake (left) and my line fish and smoked mussels (right)

Berto is definitely the meat eater in our house and he was very pleased with his main course of Char-grilled Sirloin, rosemary smoked potato puree and baby veggies with a balsamic and Shiraz reduction.

Berto’s Char-grilled Sirloin

And there was no way I was going to skip dessert! It was a hot summer day and ice-cream was definitely the perfect way to end our meal. My mom enjoyed her vanilla ice-cream with caramel sauce and I opted for the vanilla ice-cream with raspberry and Amarula parfait, berry compote and brandy snap tuile.

Dessert time

Berto was very modest and only ordered an espresso. He enjoyed this as I picked out a few bottles of wine for us to take back to East London.

Espresso

Wine on sale at The Tangram

When we got outside we had a bit of a giggle. A shiny new Ferrari was parked next to our car. But I can guarantee you, you don’t need to own a Ferrari to come and eat here at Durbanville Hills!

A shiny Ferrari – now that’s arriving in style

We enjoyed a lovely afternoon at Durbanville Hills. From the Cape winelands, camping along the West Coast, exploring villages and feasting on delicious seafood at Muisbosskerm. It’s definitely another December holiday we will cherish! And as always, the sunsets on the West Coast are etched in our hearts.

Sunsets on the West Coast of South Africa

Thank you for joining us on our December holiday! We hope you enjoyed seeing some new places – visit these great spots next time you’re in the area (or put them on your bucket list if you ever visit South Africa).