An Irish Road Trip

We have been back from South Africa for nearly seven months. The time has just flown by, so we have decided to go on another road trip, but this time closer to home, a mini Irish journey to visit friends and family. The trip started in Belfast Airport on the 30th September and finishes in Shannon on the 8th October. We landed to the pouring rain and hired a car to drive the beautiful Antrim coastline, before heading across the border to Southern Ireland and then down to Clare Galway. 

First stop to meet Gillian, who lives on the Antrim Coast road, close to Waterfoot. On a clear day she can see Scotland. Gillian was originally from Belfast, but we met her while she lived in London. She moved back to Northern Ireland 20 years ago and now runs the Irish Sea weed company. 

As always great fun spending time with Gillian (and her dog Bailey). This is a stunning part of the world and one which is changing fast as tourism arrives in a country which has gone through difficult times. The coastline is rugged, with much of the coastal road squeezed between the hills and sea. All along the coast are bays with golden sands which only the brave would try to sun bath or swim, but perfect to walk. The hills are beautiful, with rivers and waterfalls flowing down to the sea. Close to Waterfoot are the Glanariff waterfalls with many well kept paths to explore the area. 

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While there the Ryder cup was taking place. There is no better place to watch the final hours of the golf than an Irish pub. We headed to MacNaughtons pub in Cushendall which serves a perfect pint of Guinness. 

After spending Saturday and Sunday with Gillian, we set off on the next leg of our trip and headed to Portrush. Following the coastal road, over the coastal hills, our first stop was Carrick-a-Rede, which has an old rope bridge used by fishermen for centuries to access a small island to lay their Atlantic Salmon fishing nets. Unfortunately the Salmon fishing no longer takes place as the Atlantic Salmon are endangered and protected. This is a very popular tourist site. Hundreds of people visit daily, so there is  often a wait to walk across. Fortunately the bridge is regularly maintained.

About 10 miles from Carrick-a-Rede is the Giants Causeway. Another big tourist site, but worth a visit. Formed millions of years ago, this unique rock formation descends into the sea.

 

It’s been a busy day, but while we are in full tourist mode, we head down the road to Bushmills, the famous Irish Whiskey distiller’s first opened in 1604. Unfortunately all the tours had sold out, so we settled for some whiskey tasting. We can certainly recommend. 

Then finally arriving in Portrush, the seaside holiday town of Northern Ireland. It’s also home to its famous links golf course which hosted The British Open in 2019 and will once again host the open in 2025. We checked into our hotel for the night; The Adelphi. Not sure this a World famous hotel, but very nice. 

Then out for the night with Erol and Emer. I used to work with Erol at Juniper. Janice and Emer joined us on a work trip to San Francisco in about 2007, which was last time we met Emer and its nearly 6 years since seeing Erol, so it was great to see them both again.  A quick drink in the Harbour Bar , which is full of golfing memorabilia to Portrush’s famous golfing community, which include Darren Clark and Rory McIlroy. 

Tomorrow we head to Derry and Donegal. 

Chateau Pichon Baron Bordeaux

 

A city break to Bordeaux, which includes an overnight stay in Chateau Pichon Baron, which is located in the Medoc wine region. This came from an invite from Dave and Jane (a big thanks to them both). Dave generously bid for the night in the Chateau for charity. It started with a flight to Bordeaux on the Wednesday, with overnight in a Boutique hotel in the city, before travelling out to the Chateau. Bordeaux is where good food and wine is a way of life. The evening dinner at Le Quatrième Mur (Forth Wall) restaurant, which is set in the iconicGrand Théâtre. The forth wall name comes from the invisible wall that separates the actors from the audience. The chef is Philippe Etchebest, who owns a two Michelin Star restaurant in St Emillion. He is better known in France as the host chef of the french version of the Gordon Ramsey Kitchen Nightmares. A lovely restaurant, great setting, but to be honest we had better food ahead of us, but in Bordeaux standards are very high.

Bordeaux is close to the Atlantic Ocean and a storm had crossed from North America where the hurricane season had started. Pouring rain meant any further sightseeing was cancelled for the day, so we headed to the chateau by taxi. An hours drive through the countryside and vineyards. Chateau Pichon Baron is located to the right of the Gironde, close to some of the most famous vineyards in the world, its neighbour is Chateau Latour. Pichhon Baron and Latour vines are separated by a single road. Latour is one of the top five vineyards in the region. A single bottle from the Latour vines often start at 800 euros. Pichon Baron wines would sell for significantly less. It difficult to comprehend, but apparently its all about the terroir …

                

Chateau Pichon Baron is owned by the Axa insurance company, who have restored and modernised the estate. It was truly stunning. To our surprise we were the only guests for the night. The itinerary included a tour, tasting and then dinner with our personal chef. It sounded good and did not disappoint. Unsurprisingly we were treated to some great wine from chateau, as well as a Sauterne desert wine from their sister vineyard Suduiraut  (2010). We can all recommend both. 

As dinner ended, our hosts offered us a 20 year old port and departed for the evening, leaving us as custodians of the chateau and port. What a wonderful end to a fine day. A fine location, fine food and fine wine.. Life is good, 

We woke for breakfast, before heading back to Bordeaux. We heard King Charles was heading to Bordeaux as part of his tour of France. This meant traffic was heavy as we arrived. Our last full day in Bordeaux, so we headed out to see the sights. Without looking we arrived at the location King Charles was visiting. The crowds had gathered so after seeing the convoy of cars arriving we walked away to find somewhere quieter. We circled the building to see King Charles leave with less crowds. 

Dinner for the night at La Tupina, which is a traditional regional restaurant. This was visited by Rick Stein during his Long Weekends television series. This is rustic style food, without the michelin fine edges, but great food and wine. A nice finish the weekend, 

Back Home

After four weeks of exploring South Africa we are home. The flight home was approx 11 hours overnight, with only 2 hours time difference. 

I would recommend our journey to anyone who is interested in exploring South Africa. The Nambiti Safari was a highlight. It’s not as big as the more famous Kruger national park, but it is a beautiful location, free of malaria. We had were able to see many amazing animals and birds living in their natural habitat. 

There are safari's in South Africa that are more like zoos, where the animals are feed by the keepers, making locating the animals very easy.. Nambiti is not one of those, but they do play an important role in protecting many of the endangered animals. 

We didn't explore Johannesburg, but based on feedback, we felt this was the right decision. Nambiti is close to Drakensberg and the eastern escarpment which is supposed to be stunning. Its also within the historical area of the Boer war. We would like to visit this region if we travel again. 

We used Durban, or to be precise Umhlanga, which is north of Durban as an over night stop before travelling to Cape Town. A nice place, but we were pleased to move on to Cape Town, which is a must visit place. A lovely city, with the imposing Table Mountain. 

Hiring a car is easy. We drove nearly 2000km as we explored the Cape region. Driving down to Cape Point, before travelling to the wine region. On reflection, we wish we had spent more time in both Stellenbosch and Franschhoek. There are many restaurants and vineyards worth visiting, but we ran out of time.  

As we travelled towards Port Elizabeth, it felt like we were moving between seasons. From the 30 degree Celsius heat in the wine region, to the cold and driving rain in Cape Aqulhas. The mountains follow the coast, which seems to create micro climates. From what we could gather, we did experience unusual summer weather. Normally there is very little rain this time of year.

Load shedding was the only downside of the holiday. The power outages often occurred in the evening, which meant dark evenings, but it was manageable. 

But overall a country worth visiting. We plan to go back. 

Heading home via Port Elizabeth

It’s time to travel home. The previous day had started with rain, so we headed to Jeffreys Bay for breakfast and an explore. Jeffreys Bay is a surfers town with wide sandy beaches and all the surfing outlet stores needed to keep the surfers looking cool. As a comparison, St Francis Bay and Jeffreys Bay is like going from The Witterings in Sussex to Bognor Regis. The big house budgets are in St Francis. Close to Jeffrey’s bay is Paradise Beach, that is a nice wind swept island with amazing beaches, but has the feel that little has changed since the 1970’s. Pristine white painted houses are not mandated here.

        

In the afternoon we walked the St Francis Bay Harbour to Harbour walk, which is around a four mile round trip coastal walk hugging the beach and rocks. Starting at Granny's Pool and finishing at Port St Francis, it takes you along the rugged coastline which is home to a wide range of wildlife. 

To finish our time in St Francis Bay, it seemed appropriate to have dinner at Seal Point Lighthouse. Lighthouses have been the main marker points along our journey. The restaurant overlooks the lighthouse and makes a perfect setting to watch the sun go down. The food here is exceptional. A very unique menu, including Springbok. The food beautifully cooked and presented, all at South African prices. The only downside was a drive home in the dark, which was the first time we had driven in the dark, but we had been told that it is a relativity safe area. Doors locked with the intention of not stopping, we quickly drove back safely.

         

So time to head home. Our last car journey was about 120km to Port Elizabeth Airport. It appears to be quite an industrial town, so based on first impressions, it was a good decision not to stay there. 

In total we drove just under 2000km from picking the car up in Cape Town. This included our journey down to Cape Point. It was sad to drop off our trusty polo, which had battled hills, the heat, rain and often bad roads without an issue. 

                        

 

St Francis Bay

 

We have moved to our final destination before the journey home. St Francis Bay is a beach town about 100km from Port Elizabeth (recently renamed Gqeberha). The beaches along the garden route all have golden sands. Our first stop after leaving Knysna was Plettenberg Bay, which was around 25km drive.  

Plettenberg Bay

From Plettenberg bay, another 150km to St Francis Bay, driving through the difficult to pronounce Tsitsikmama national park, which is a mountainous forest cover region with various nature reserves. It is also the boundary between the Western and Eastern Cape Provinces. 

St Francis Bay and the near by Jeffreys bay are ideally suited for surfers. Golden beaches with waves perfect for surfing. It must be pointed out that these waters are popular sharking feeding grounds, so surfing does come with a risk warning. 

The buildings here are all white with either thatched or grey roofs. The building regulations are tightly controlled to ensure homes and nature to blend in. Natural sea water canal's have become the location for homes. The canals connect to the sea via a natural lagoon, which allows the owners of the houses to have quick boat access to the ocean. The lagoon is a perfect location for kite surfers or boarders.

St Francis Bay has a Jack Nicolas designed links course, which is rated in the top 5 courses in the country. It seemed rude not to play while here and the course did not disappoint. The course was designed into the sandy hills overlooking the St Francis bay, with tree and bush lined fairways. These are home to many  Puff Adders, so looking for balls is not advised.. The course is also home to many other creatures, including giant snails who harmlessly feed on the fairways.

 

It seemed appropriate to visit the St Francis bay lighthouse. The Seal Point Lighthouse was built in 1878 and is now a tourist spot and has a fantastic restaurant. The only challenge is the rain started as we arrived. Apparently this is very unusual summer weather for South African…