Cash Only - Sandpiper B&B, Strandkombuis

This is a reminder for all you guys staying at the Sandpiper B&B at our wedding venue, they do not accept credit cards or debit cards, so you will need to come prepared with cash please.

Bringing a baby or toddler to the wedding?

Of course all children are very welcome at our wedding. A heads up for the parents, the B&B does not have a supply of cots or cradles for babies to sleep in, nor does the venue have any high chairs for dinner time.

If any local families have any spare travel cots, or those clever baby chairs that clip onto the side of a table, that could be borrowed by international visitors please can you contact Sam or I to advise.

Thank you

** IMPORTANT ** Seafood allergy??

The wedding venue specialises in a seafood braai (= BBQ for Brits), so if you have an allergy to seafood or shell fish please let us know. The venue does offer a meat potjie (= stew for Brits) for non-fish eaters, and we need to advise them of numbers.

Ty - we know about you.

Anyone else, do advise. Thanks

UK drivers licence

Some info on the driving licence requirements for UK visitors in South Africa.

If you have a new style card licence then the International Drivers Permit (IDP) is recommended but not essential. If you have the old style paper licence then do bring a valid IDP.

For more info see www.theaa.com also well worth a read is the Govt website (especially see their views on travelling by road):
http://www.fco.gov.uk/en/travel-and-living-abroad/travel-advice-by-country/sub-saharan-africa/south-africa

To be safe I'd say just get an IDP - they are cheap and easy to get from selected Post Offices:
http://www.postoffice.co.uk/portal/po/content1?catId=19100187&mediaId=19100195

Wedding Registry, Part II

Hi, We have managed to find a cool website we like with a good wedding registry service that allows online shopping. It is a kitchen and cookware specialist called YuppieChef.

To view our second registry, please click on the following link:

http://www.yuppiechef.co.za/registry/12221

The @Home registry is still available as well.

Cheers, Sam & Andy

Attention UK readers: Wedding registry

Apologies, it turns out that our wedding registry is with a store that does not have online shopping. This is unfortunate, but sadly SA is a bit behind UK in terms of internet use and development. Many stores don't even have a website with more than a homepage and there doesn't seem to any shop we like which offers a wedding registry + online shopping.

Options: (i) save your money and spend it on your own holiday in SA; (ii) visit @Home store when you get to Cape Town; (iii) buy something in UK and bring it out; (iv) we accept cash in most internationally recognised currencies!
;-)

Wedding registry

We are really looking forward to seeing you all at our wedding, it's just around the corner now!

We have set up our wedding gift list at @Home. You can find our list at the following link:

www.home.co.za/giftregistry

Our registry number : GR3300730000094

Other ideas are:

• @Home gift vouchers
• Woolworths gift vouchers (N.B. British people: not the bankrupt UK high street chain, see www.woolworths.co.za)
• US Dollar cash to take to India on honeymoon :-)

Your travel plans

Please can you send Sam and I your travel plans - flight arrival details and whereabouts you are staying in the run up the wedding. It will be nice for us to be able to keep track of who it turning up when.
Thanks

West Coast places to stay

For those visitors unfamiliar with the West Coast, there are some wonderful places to stay around an hour north of the wedding venue. Some of these places are quite isolated in terms of not having big supermarkets and loads of restaurants nearby, but those things are within about 30 mins drive away. Some of you will agree with us that isolated is perfect! Lots of accommodation is house rentals, so you have kitchen and braai facilities to cook up a feast yourself.

The huge benefits they do have are peace and quiet and great, long, empty, golden beaches! It's bliss. If we could afford it we would buy a holiday home on the beach up there right now!

Paternoster - a lovely fishing village with a few good restaurants (Noisy Oyster, Paternoster Lodge, and Voorstrandt which is right on the beach). Has a good range of accomm including house rentals, guesthouse and B&Bs. Long, wide beach.

Golden Mile beach, Shelley Point, Britannia Bay - these are all the same place really. If you can find a house to rent on the front row on Golden Mile beach then we really recommend this - the houses have short boardwalks over the fynbos right onto the beach. This is one of the only north facing beaches in the area, which means you get awesome views of the sun setting in the Atlantic from the deck of your house! Shelley Point is next door to Golden Mile beach, and more of a holiday complex with secure access and a golf course.

Not much in terms of restaurants on your doorstep, but Paternoster is under 30mins along a gravel road, and the St Helena Bay Hotel restaurant nearby is worth a visit (just once maybe!).


Langebaan - a bigger, popular town with local holiday makers. Much more in terms of accommodation options and shops and restaurants. They have a nice marina area, a lagoon and plenty of beaches. Also on the south side of Langebaan linked by the lagoon is the West Coast National Park, which is worth a visit to drive around the lagoon, stop off at the Atlantic view points, ride bikes, walk trails, kayaking, visit picturesque Churchaven, etc.


Saldanha - just north of Langebaan, also a popular spot for summer stays

These are just some ideas - if you are interested then you should start to look at booking soon as Jan is peak holiday season and these places are popular with the local holiday makers.

Which area to stay in Cape Town

For those who haven't been to Cape Town before, thought you might like a quick guide to the suburbs to think about staying in.

Firstly, we live in Tableview which is 5 mins from Blaauwberg beach. This beach is very popular for kite-surfing but not great for sunbathing and swimming - it's windy. However guesthouses on the beach have amazing views over the bay to Table Mountain. We are about 25mins drive north of the city centre.

If you plan on doing lots of touristy things in Cape Town then you may want to be closer to the city centre, V&A, the mountain, Robben Island etc. Popular places to stay with good beaches, guesthouses and restaurant include Camps Bay, Clifton, Hout Bay, Seapoint, Greenpoint, and V&A Waterfront.

Safari - Western Cape

The Western Cape is not famous for it's safari reserves, like Eastern Cape or parts of Garden Route, but some nearby to consider:

- Aquila Reserve
- Clara Anna Fontein
- Inverdoorn
- Kagga Kamma
- Sanbona

http://www.sa-venues.com/accommodation/wc_game_lodges.htm

Cape Town restaurants

Search for restaurants in Cape Town:

http://www.dining-out.co.za/
http://www.food24.com/
http://www.eatout.co.za/
http://www.restaurants.co.za/

Some examples of great restaurants:
Cape Colony at The Mount Nelson hotel
Afternoon Tea at The Mount Nelson Hotel (excellent value, all-you-can-eat!)
The Vineyard Hotel - The Square and Myoga
Beluga and Sevruga (sister restaurants)
Jardine
The Roundhouse
Aubergine
Baia (for seafood, at V&A)
Belthazar (for steak, at V&A)

Touring the Winelands

Winelands - all within 1 hour drive of Cape Town:

Franschhoek (our favourite places to wine taste and in many cases to eat):
- Vrede en Lust
- Grande Provence
- Glenwood
- Chamonix
- Haute Cabriere
- Stony Brook
- Mont Rochelle
- Moreson
- Rickety Bridge
- Graham Beck
- Le Petite Ferme
- My Wyn (by appointment, stunning views atop hill)
- Colmant (for bubbly)

Franschhoek Restaurants we recommend:
- The Tasting Room at Quartier Francais
- ici at Quartier Francais
- Le Petite Ferme (lunch only)
- Bread & Wine (at Moreson)
- Haute Cabriere Cellar Restaurant
- The French Connection Bistro
- The Country Kitchen at Mont Rochelle (good for lunch outside)
- Topsi's
- The Elephant & Barrel (good pub!)
- Bouillabaisse
- Le Bon Vivant

Stellenbosch (between Cape Town and Franschhoek and filled with loads of good wineries)
- Morgenhof (also good restaurant)
- Kanonkop
- Warwick
- Spier (also to see leopards, eagles and picnic by the lake)
- Ernie Els

Constantia
- Groot Constantia

Durbanville
- Durbanville Hills
- Meerendal

(last 2 areas are lovely places with lots more choice than above, but I am not as familiar with them)

Tourist stuff - in & around Cape Town

In Cape Town - typical tourist stuff:
- Cable car up Table Mountain (or hike up, advise going in a group and plan ahead, be safe)
- ferry to Robben Island
- 'Red Route' city tour on topless red bus
- Kirstenbosch National Botanical Gardens
- Cape Point (to see Cape of Good Hope, good hikes, baboons in the national park)
- Boulder for the penguins (near Cape Point and Simon's Town)
- Kalk Bay, Fish Hoek, Simon's Town - nice coastal towns to walk around, have lunch/coffee along False Bay on way down to Cape Point
- Drive along Chapman's Peak road (check if road open before setting off: http://www.chapmanspeakdrive.co.za/)
- V&A Waterfront (shopping, eating, pubs, boat trips into Table Bay, helicopter tours, Aquarium)
- Neighbour Goods Market at the Old Biscuit Mill, Woodstock (Saturday mornings only)

Other places in Cape Town surrounds for beaches, nice to see etc:
- Hout Bay
- Camps Bay
- Clifton
- Blaauwberg (beach closest to my house)

Great for kids:
- Monkey Land (near Somerset West)
- World of Birds (near Hout Bay)
- Butterfly World (near Stellenbosch)


Other destinations just a few hours away that are worth a visit and short stay:
- Hermanus
- West Coast National Park
- Cedarberg Mountains
- Ceres
- Riebeek Kasteel
- Langebaan
- Paternoster


Golf Courses (there are loads):
- Milnerton
- Atlantic Beach
- Stellenbosch
- Pearl Valley
- Parow
http://www.sa-venues.com/western_cape_golf_courses.htm

Car Rental:

Active Car Rental (local to where I live and cheaper than big names)

http://www.bestebeetle.co.za/ (to hire a cool old VW Beetle!)

Avis

Imperial

Hertz

Thrifty

etc

Other websites to check out accommodation etc:
www.sa-venues.com
www.wheretostay.co.za
www.safarinow.com
http://www.sabookonline.com/

http://www.capestay.co.za/

Wedding night B&B - hands up who wants a room??

The wedding venue is about 10km outside of Yzerfontein town, down a 4km dirt track, which is unlit and rough.

All this means that the ONLY place for you to stay after the wedding is at the Sandpiper B&B just 2 mins walk from the venue. They have space for 90 guests, and we are aiming to have around 90 at the wedding, so you need to get in fast while you can.

Rates: ZAR 250 per person per night, includes breakfast. Guests pay on arrival, they DO NOT take credit cards.

Just get in touch with Sam or I and we will arrange for you as we are in touch with the wedding organsier and making a block booking at the guesthouse.

Seriously, DO NOT DRINK AND DRIVE !!

RSVP - by 31st August please

Grateful if you could all RSVP by end of August. There is limited room at the B&B next door to the wedding venue, so we want to make sure we have as many happy guests as possible!

RSVP to:

alewis.roundtheworld@gmail.com ; or

samanthaevans@hotmail.com ; or

Tel: +27 82 804 9028 ; or

63 Caernarvon Crescent,
Parklands, 7441
Cape Town, 8000
South Africa