Wintering in South Africa

Like lost birds who missed the migration to warmer climes, we have languished in South Africa until mid July. I am writing this from The Pig and Whistle in Bathurst; the oldest continously running pub in South Africa whilst watching the Wimbledon Men's Final . It's cold outside but there's a roaring fire in here. Mind you, aside from a few cold nights and a few rainy days the weather has been more balmy than the British summer. Federer has just taken the 2nd set! We have been at the Grahamstown Arts Festival for the last 11 days and enjoyed more than 50 different shows from drama and physical theatre to caberet, musicals, comedy and magic. On the whole we have been blown away by the amazing talent and have loved rubbing shoulders with such interesting and diverse people from every possible corner of our country . It's raining in Wimbledon now!
We had time in Gauteng, doing stuff with locals, like the Ratner's housewarming party and jazz at The Orbit in Braamfontein with Carol and Jane.We also behaved like tourists, doing the Joburg Hop On Hop Off bus with Rob and Gill.
In mid June we celebrated Paul and Jann's joint 50th at Blanco Guest Farm near Takastad. We headed down the Garden Route from there with Paul and a merry band of visitors from abroad. It's great to see foreigners enjoying our country so much. If you are ever staying over in Barrydale, add the Karoo Art Hotel to the list of quirky places to stay.
We spent time in Hermanus and Capetown too. In 2015 Conde Naste voted Capetown the 3rd best foodie city in the world behind San Sebastien and Paris. We added Beau Constantia for sushi and champagne with a view to die for, Bistro 1682 at Steenberg Winery and the trendy Black Sheep to our ever growing list of favourites.Thanks to Gert's connections we stocked up with wine at KWV in Paarl. We had stops at the Victoria Wes Wildsfees, Graaf Reinet, Kamdebo and Addo National Parks before Grahamstown.
And Djokovic is the 2015 Men's Singles Champion...