Taylored Trips – Season Greetings - Places of InterestWith the festive season just around the corner, some people will be visiting the Fairest Cape of all, so we’ve been checking out a few places that are worth visiting in the Western Cape, predominantly in the Winelands, that should make

your stay a pleasant one. Bird’s Paradise – Robertson – Zoo, Restaurant, Curio Shop

Bird's Paradise, Robertson

They have a restaurant and a curios shop, so you can decide whether you

want to eat first or see the birds first. We arrived around lunch time so we had something to eat first.

Restaurant

The birds are amazing but

unlike Hout Bay’s World of Birds, (see Taylored Trips – Out & About – Hout Bay), they do not have such a big variety, cage after cage have the same types of birds and most of the time there are two birds in a cage as if they are breeding pairs.That being said, there is still loads of entertainment

and some very beautiful and exotic birds. Come walk around with us and we’ll show you some of it.

Besides the caged birds, there’s stax of other entertainment around. This is a real menagerie.

Robertson seems to have a wine and/or food

festival almost every second weekend so there’s no excuse and it’s a lovely drive, so do it!

Au de’ Hex – Wellington – Functions, Weddings, Accommodation, RestaurantAu de’ Hex is on a farm right here in Wellington and they cater for all kinds of events in a beautiful historic setting.

Au de' Hex

This is really a lovely place in a superb setting and it comes highly recommended by me.PS – There is a very well-made 3D picture, with

integrated lighting, on the wall behind the bar that you must not miss if you ever go there.Du Kloof Lodge – Du Toit’s Kloof Pass – Restaurant, Pub, Accommodation, Trout fishing, Farm stallThis venue, right in the Du Toit’s Kloof mountains is a very popular stop-off for bikers, travellers, trout fishermen and

dirty weekenders. You would have to look very hard to find a more picturesque setting for a venue.

Du Kloof Lodge

Piza e Vino – Grillroom - Val du Charron – Wellington – 2 x Restaurants, Wine, Accommodation, Spa This is another magnificent venue on a farm that us local Wellingtonians have

access to, right on our doorstep. The view is to-die-for, the pizzas are ok and the setting is very pleasing.

Piza e Vino

The Grillroom is another eatery on the same farm for meat eating connoisseurs. They serve a choice of either grain-fed or grass-fed beef. If you can’t make up your mind then you can have both on your plate. To be honest, you can’t actually tell the difference.

The Grillroom

Bosjes – Worcester – Restaurant, Coffee Shop, Chapel, GardensBosjes is a new venue which opened recently between Ceres and Worcester and it is already causing quite a stir amongst the wedding planners because

of the unusual chapel with its extreme architecture. So when you are in that neck of the woods, be sure to check it out.These guys haven’t spared anything in the creation of this state-of-the-art haven sent straight from heaven.

Bosjes

Coffee shop in the foreground, manor house in the centre and restaurant on the left

Chapel with extremely creative architecture

Restaurant

To get to the R43 between Worcester and Ceres from the Cape Town side, you have four

different options; Du Toit’s Kloof Tunnel, Du Toit’s Kloof Pass, Bain’s Kloof Pass and Nuwekloof Pass, so use your options.

Bain's Kloof Pass

Bistro on R44 – Agter Paarl Road – Farm stall, RestaurantIf you are on the R44

between Klapmuts and Wellington, be sure to pop into the Bistro for some really good food and some old school hospitality.

Bistro on 44

Le Bac – Wellington – Venue, Accommodation, Restaurant, PubLe Bac, on the R45 between Paarl and Wellington, offers a venue with on-site accommodation, a restaurant and a social

pub called Bac Gat. If you don’t like the food (which is very unlikely) they give you a multiple option to spice it up.

Bac Gat pub at Le Bac

Under Oaks – Windmeul – Accommodation, Wine, Restaurant/PizzeriaUnder Oaks is a very pleasant pizzeria/restaurant on a farm between Windmeul and Paarl. You couldn’t ask for much more when it comes to food, views and atmosphere.

Under Oaks

Farm Sanctuary – FranschhoekFarm Sanctuary was founded in America in 1986 to combat the

abuse of factory farming and to encourage a new awareness and understanding about farm animals. They are a non-profit organisation. Farm Sanctuary are very passionate about preventing cruelty to animals and promoting compassion towards animals. They have an amazing set-up in Fransch

hoek where you can sleep in a loft above the animals in the barn and for a fee they will get Pigcasso the pig to paint an original masterpiece just for you.

Pigcasso Pigcasso masterpiece

This is another total menagerie and they have all the usual farm animals there to make things

very authentic and it is all to create awareness towards a very good cause.

Farm Sanctuary

There is a peaceful aura about the place and it is an in-your-face awakening of the plight

that is being faced and what they are promoting here, irrespective of whether you are vegan or not.Much like our water shortage in the Western Cape – everyone is aware of it but is everyone doing their bit to help the cause.FIA World Rallycross

Championship – Killarney International Circuit – Cape Town Ok, what can I say, yes, Verine and I were there. Thanks very much to Wilhelm. This is the ultimate cherry on the top and something I wanted to see for a long time. A dream that became reality. A world class performance right here in

the Fairest Cape of all.Killarney has signed a 5-year deal with the FIA, so if you missed it this year, they will keep coming back until 2021 and hopefully longer.We were there on the Sunday which was actually the final event of the year and although Kristofferson had already taken the

championship for 2017, there was still the second and third place to sort out so the racing was intense and action packed. These RX cars are extremely fast and handle like the proverbial “kak op ‘n wol kombers”.

Besides the RallyX action, the day was filled

with all sorts of other adrenalin seeking junkies who entertained us adrenalin seeking spectators. The action was thick and fast without a dull moment all day.

This is stuntman Terry Grant with none other than Scarra Ntubeni, our Stormers hooker, as passenger and prop

And this is Jason Webb in his Roush Mustang entertaining us with some serious drifting

Then there was an impressive display of some precision aerial stunts from the Silver Falcons aerobati

c team based in Langebaanweg.

Silver Falcons

What a glorious day of fun in the sun and thanks once again to Wilhelm.Man, we are spoilt for options down here in the Cape. Until next time, “Keep on Tripping!”