Epic Adventure -- Day 14 -- 12/09/2012 -- Ceres, Waverley

One of the slight downsides to staying in a cabin is that heat has a tendency to escape overnight, and so we woke up this morning to a very chilly interior. Jenny curled herself up in the spare duvet while I tried to start the fire with some semi burnt logs from last night. Jenny agreed to do all of the driving today (in part because I did 200km yesterday) so I decided it was a wonderful morning to have some champagne! We enjoyed a very picturesque morning sitting on the deck of our cabin and curled up round the fire when we were inside. I think I'm really starting to enjoy this part of South Africa.

Our list of things to do was much shorter than in previous days. The first item on our list was a visit to Waverley Hills where the rehearsal dinner is to be held. We decided on a menu for the dinner and spoke about drinks and seating logistics. The view from the balcony of the vineyard is spectacular and I have no doubt that Jenny has chosen the right area to hold the wedding. After having a coffee and tea overlooking the surrounding mountains we ventured inside for a small wine tasting of the wines made on-site. Jenny convinced me to buy 2 bottles of one of their reds as we stood and had a very nice chat with one of the lady's running the tasting. We even decided to book a wine and food pairing for that evening.

Once we left Waverley Hills we drove a few hundred metres up the road to Arum Lilly Cabins, where we will be staying for the week of the wedding. Jenny phoned the owner and arranged a meeting for the following day before we got out of the car to have a look around. The accommodation looks amazing! There is a small lake where you can go canoeing, a large outdoor fire pit/braai where I can imagine spending a cool evening during the wedding week, and from what we could see, very nice cabin interiors. We had a look around for about 10 minutes before returning to the car and heading back to Ceres for Jenny's trial nail appointment.

We had about half an hour before the appointment, and as it was 1pm lunch was on our agenda. We opted for Debonair pizza, as Dan loved them so much the first time we had it. I chose a Chicken Filla, which is a double stacked pizza with the ingredients on the I side and a layer of feta cheese, normal chews, chives and tomatoes. YUMMY!!!!!

Adri, who did my nails, was recommended to us by Carla from Anuk who did my hair and make up, and she did an amazing job! She advised me to not get a normal painted French manicure as it chips very quickly, but instead to opt for a gel tipped French manicure. It cost the grand total of £11, and could not be more worth it. One day on and they are still perfect, and usually my nails look rubbish the next day with just nail varnish. She made sure that they were shaped and painted to my preference, and I can't wait to go back and get them done again in a month. I also booked a full facial for both Dan and I for the Monday before the wedding, as a lovely pampering treatment and also so we hopefully look at our best :)

I had spotted a florist next to Anuk, so we popped in as I had not enjoyed the experience of the first one we went to. We met a lovely man called Mike who has worked for a large amount of famous florists and provided the flowers for a great many celebrity functions. I have given him our requirements and budget and hopefully we will go with him for the flowers for our day :)

Finally, after all the other things we had to do, Dan and I went to see our wedding venue!! Can you believe we waited this long to see it?! It was amazing to finally meet Nick and Simone Stanford who own and run Olive Rock, they are even more kind and lovely than I had imagined from our email correspondence. I have to say, even though I have seen lots of photographs of Olive Rock, I was absolutely blown away. The views are spectacular, it is very tastefully decorated and the architecture of the hall is astounding, the windows really highlight the mountain views. Dan was also extremely pleased with my choice of venue and agrees that it is really something vey special and magical for everyone to enjoy on our wedding day. We will be sorting out the actual logistics with Simone and Nick closer to the time, but everything will be wonderful, I am sure :D We went back to their house to chat and share a cup of tea. Their daughter Scarlett is an absolute cutie pie, she is two and just great, and their new baby boy Ethan who is just 7 weeks old is so so beautiful.

Having booked the R200 wine and food paring for this evening, we jumped in the car and drove the 5km's to Waverley Hills. When we got there we met Phillip, Corrine's husband, and the chef at the vineyard. We were a little earlier than we had said we would be, but we were very graciously met at the door by Phillip and the waitress, who had set up a table specifically for us in the corner with the best views. We shared a cider to start as neither Phillip nor us were in any hurry to immediately begin the meal.

Our first course was salmon and cream cheese on a potato rosti, pared with the Waverley Hills white sauvignon blanc, vintage 2010. The wine was lovely, very fruity with flavours of lichee, and a little dry. When the meal came out, after the first bite it was clear to us that R200 was a ridiculously low amount for the amazing quality of the meal, and we were only on course one! I have to congratulate Phillip because that paring was spectacular, the flavours mixed so well, and as Dan very aptly described, the wine seemed to flawlessly disappear as part of the flavour of the food.

The second wine was their rose, and that was paired with a prawn curry with a Chinese salad. The favour was spectacular, the prawns were cooked perfectly, the ingredients all super fresh and the spice was just right. The idea of paring a curry with a rose wine may seem a bit strange, or at least it sounded that way to Dan and I, until we tasted them together, they worked perfectly, the sweetness and fruitiness of the wine offsetting the spiciness of the curry!

The third wine was their newest, no added sulphites (yay for Sharon) red wine. The palate is very fruity and smooth, not too deep or full and very very drinkable. This was pared with a pasta, the sauce was made out of assorted veggies, tomatoes, cauliflower, broccoli etc, all fresh, with a little cream to bind it all, and some chilli and goats cheese balls on top. The pasta was delicious!!! Phillip has such a passion for cooking and using fresh, local ingredients and you can really taste that passion and love that goes into everything he put in front of us. He also popped back to the table with every course to have a chat with us, tell us more about the food and about himself, and it made for such a magic evening for Dan and I.

The next course was the creme de la creme of the tasting, and it was amazing that it was even possible to pick out a favourite from everything we ate! The wine, both our favourite, was the Shiraz Mourvèdre Viognier 2010, very velvety, rich and deep flavours, lots of red berries and a wonderfully smooth finish. It was pared with a perfectly cooked rump steak, with steamed spinach and a mushroom sauce. NOM NOM NOM NOM!!!!!!!! We couldn't praise Phillips cooking skills any higher than to say that everything we ate for the tasting goes over and above the food we have both eaten at The Peat Inn, a one Michelin star restaurant in Scotland.

At this stage we took quite a long breather, and Phillip joined us at the table for a glass of wine. We sat for about half an hour before he explained what he would be bringing us for dessert. It was, yet again, wonderful! He made a chocolate something or other yummy(we may have been a little tipsy at this point!) accompanied by a handmade vanilla ice cream, with vanilla straight from the Seychelles, oh it was to die for! It was pared with a red wine, I forget it's name, and it was also super yummy!

After our dessert Phillip told us he was going to take all the women home that helped out in the kitchen and waitressing, that he would be back in a few minutes, and left us in charge of the place :D don't worry we didn't do anything :D once he came back we chatted with him for another couple of hours, over a bottle of wine, some Amarula and a jäger shot :D Phillip is such a great guy and we are so pleased that he is doing the rehearsal dinner for us, and hopefully a wine and dinner paring too for some of us on the Friday after the wedding!! :D