Day 7 (Tuesday) - Warm and Breezy
Quick side note: Struis Pannepot is a wonderfully delicious beer
Joe and I wanted to take a half day to play golf. Tuesday was the day. Clear and very windy meant tough conditions for us. The girls decided to go back to Camps Bay to hit up the beach and go to a salon. So, we dropped them off then headed toward Milnerton Golf Club. Milnerton is only a few miles up the coast from Cape Town. It is a true links-style course meaning no trees, lots of bunkers, and built along the coast. (The name Links came from recognizing the golf course as a 'link' between the beach and the inland.)
Milnerton has hosted numerous South African opens and is known as 'South Africa's Pebble Beach.' I haven't played Pebble Beach, but I can say with all honesty that Milnerton is the most scenic course I've played. Better yet was that it cost $45 (as compared to $350 at Pebble). 7 out of the first 9 holes are right along the beach. Every hole captured a glorious view of Cape Town, Table Mountain, and the Bay.
The wind was howling - 40 mph sustained winds. I've never had to deal with such conditions. Sure, it can get windy around here, and occasionally you'll have to endure 40 mph gusts but never sustained gale force winds like we experienced at Milnerton. To give you an example of how difficult it was, I hit a 4-iron from 120 yards (usually hit it 220 in normal conditions) on consecutive holes and came up SHORT both times.
One cool thing about the course is that it sits on a beach known as one of the best windsurfing beaches in the world. Here's a pic of what seemed like 100 windsurfers (and one kite surfer).
Although mentally exhausting the round was a fun one and my father-in-law beat me for what he thought was the first time ever, although I know that's not the case. We headed back to Camps Bay and met the girls for a late lunch. The beach was windy too, so we decided to hang out at The Bay Hotel. The Bay Hotel is one of the 4 or 5 great hotels in Cape Town. Funny thing about Cape Town. If you're white and somewhat put together, you can go to any hotel and hang around all day and never get asked if you're staying there.
The Bay Hotel is fairly small and sits on the beach overlooking Camps Bay. I had my first and only beer of the week (Stella - in the Stella glass even). The beer in Cape Town is dreadful. Anyway, the dining room in The Bay Hotel is on the second floor and offers panaramic scenic views of the beach.
We made reservations for 6:45pm so we could experience the 8pm sunset. The meal itself was typically great. Perhaps the best overall meal of the week (I know I mentioned the calamari from Day 3 too). I started with smoked Snoek, a local fish. It was served with a nice chili sauce. Tasty. Christina had an out-of-this-world-fillet-of-beef while I chose a not-very-gamey venison. I really liked it even though it wasn't what I was expecting. Their beef is gamey and their venison is mild. Go figure.
The meal lasted almost 3 hours. We went back to the hotel and I watched the replay of the Australia/England Cricket match. England is suprisingly terrible, much to David Reynold's disgust.
Joe and I wanted to take a half day to play golf. Tuesday was the day. Clear and very windy meant tough conditions for us. The girls decided to go back to Camps Bay to hit up the beach and go to a salon. So, we dropped them off then headed toward Milnerton Golf Club. Milnerton is only a few miles up the coast from Cape Town. It is a true links-style course meaning no trees, lots of bunkers, and built along the coast. (The name Links came from recognizing the golf course as a 'link' between the beach and the inland.)
Milnerton has hosted numerous South African opens and is known as 'South Africa's Pebble Beach.' I haven't played Pebble Beach, but I can say with all honesty that Milnerton is the most scenic course I've played. Better yet was that it cost $45 (as compared to $350 at Pebble). 7 out of the first 9 holes are right along the beach. Every hole captured a glorious view of Cape Town, Table Mountain, and the Bay.
The wind was howling - 40 mph sustained winds. I've never had to deal with such conditions. Sure, it can get windy around here, and occasionally you'll have to endure 40 mph gusts but never sustained gale force winds like we experienced at Milnerton. To give you an example of how difficult it was, I hit a 4-iron from 120 yards (usually hit it 220 in normal conditions) on consecutive holes and came up SHORT both times.
One cool thing about the course is that it sits on a beach known as one of the best windsurfing beaches in the world. Here's a pic of what seemed like 100 windsurfers (and one kite surfer).
Although mentally exhausting the round was a fun one and my father-in-law beat me for what he thought was the first time ever, although I know that's not the case. We headed back to Camps Bay and met the girls for a late lunch. The beach was windy too, so we decided to hang out at The Bay Hotel. The Bay Hotel is one of the 4 or 5 great hotels in Cape Town. Funny thing about Cape Town. If you're white and somewhat put together, you can go to any hotel and hang around all day and never get asked if you're staying there.
The Bay Hotel is fairly small and sits on the beach overlooking Camps Bay. I had my first and only beer of the week (Stella - in the Stella glass even). The beer in Cape Town is dreadful. Anyway, the dining room in The Bay Hotel is on the second floor and offers panaramic scenic views of the beach.
We made reservations for 6:45pm so we could experience the 8pm sunset. The meal itself was typically great. Perhaps the best overall meal of the week (I know I mentioned the calamari from Day 3 too). I started with smoked Snoek, a local fish. It was served with a nice chili sauce. Tasty. Christina had an out-of-this-world-fillet-of-beef while I chose a not-very-gamey venison. I really liked it even though it wasn't what I was expecting. Their beef is gamey and their venison is mild. Go figure.
The meal lasted almost 3 hours. We went back to the hotel and I watched the replay of the Australia/England Cricket match. England is suprisingly terrible, much to David Reynold's disgust.
posted by JP at 3:14 PM
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