Archive for May, 2008

Cruise Cafe, Knysna

Thursday, May 29th, 2008

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Cruise Cafe is situated at the same deck where the Featherbed Cruiser begins their daily trips and so shares the same exquisite location and view, a tourist and local attraction for a relaxed experience, topped with South African cuisine found on both the food and wine menu.

Their menu is local gourmet offerings, such as Venison, Ostrich and a good selection of fresh Seafood, they also have a lunch menu with blue cheese Burgers and Chilli bites or a large helping of Fish and yummy skinny fried chips, all served on funky crockery with a twist. You have to try their cocktails, my favourites being the Lemongrass and Strawberry Daiquiri’s, also interesting is the glass used for the mixers, such as your Bacardi and cokes etc. SO don’t forget to have a closer look before you get a little razzled.

Cruise Cafe house an indoor fireplace and outdoor patio with wind barriers and heaters to allow the patron a table choice, weather depending. There is also a bar & couch area for those who want to chill out with a few drinks only and take in the lagoon and mountain views. They also have a bottom deck area full of tables and benches with umbrella coverings for the warmer days and nights and they will always offer you a fleece blanket to throw over your knees or body, very good idea indeed.

The lagoon is a mysterious element and changes everyday in colour against the cloud cover and when the sunshine sparkles on the still water the best place to see the natural Knysna lagoon with Mountain backdrop is at Cruise Cafe, so bring your cameras for the eye-candy at sunset or lunchtime.

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Bramon Wine Estate, Plett

Monday, May 19th, 2008

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Grape Vines can be cultivated in the Garden Route & Bramon Wine Estate is the know how, being the only Wine Estate along the Garden Route, believe it or not.

Since the year 2000, when the farm began, the family-run Bramon Wine Estate have pioneered vineyards to produce quality easy drinking wines, being honoured with the Vertias Award for their unique, one of a kind in the country, Sauvignon Blanc ~ Method Cap Classique, as well as producing 2 types of Rose, a Chardonnay, a Sauvignon Blanc and a Pinotage. Wine tasting is definitely encouraged & recommended and should a bottle, or few, tickle your fancy Bramon sell their wines to the public at very good prices or just to enjoy over a lunch. The menu includes a variety of cold meats, cheeses, and pates seved with homemade bread as well as an option of dolmades, oysters & ice-cream or sorbet for desserts – all foods are fresh and I highly recommend their local trout pate & parma ham.

If the weather is favourable or not Bramon offers tables in their garden surrounded by the vines & under large umbrellas or sit inside their sophisticated restaurant which overlooks the garden area. One cannot help to absorb this very special place with the easy farm life atmosphere, Bramon is also child & pet friendly which allows for the family-oriented vibe to come through from the owners, Caroline & Peter, who take very good care of their patrons. Caroline was more than accomodating & happily shared the history of farm & wine, assisting with our wine tasting selecions & making sure we were always smiling and drinking. The overall service is outstanding. Sunday is the busiest day so book beforehand, especially if you want an outside table of your choice.

Whether you are a wine conisseur like me, or as I call it – a vino snob – or just keen to kick bac

Mugg & Bean Coffee Shop, Knysna

Wednesday, May 7th, 2008

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Bottomless, flavoured coffee has landed in Knysna, it goes by the name of Mugg & Bean. The Franchise shop that offers larger than life assorted Muffins and quality breakfasts, as well as a lenghty menu for hungrier tummies at lunchtime and of course the variety of coffee flavours and preparation methods, such as macchiato, espresso, cafe late & cappacino.

This particular Mugg & Bean has it’s location in the Woodmill Lane shopping centre, which looks onto a stage that boasts some of Knysna’s local musical talent, I heard that the performer is an Idols contestant, although I am not sure how far he got. None the less if you want to sit indoors to escape the entertainment then you are welcomed as the larger part of the shop is indoors, but if you want to have a coffee and people-watch then the bussle can be found on Mugg & Beans verander under large umbrellas.

I have eaten there and have had no complaints to date, I was a regular at their shop at the V&A waterfront and I am glad to see they are open in Knysna too, as I am sure many fellow followers are, as the saying goes, people are creatures of habit and if the habit is feeding our faces and chatting with friends over many coffee cup varieties… then let the saying continue.

The sky is falling!

Thursday, May 1st, 2008

After an engine fell out one of Nationwide Airlines boeing 747 airoplanes last year, on take-off from JHB, landing safely none-the-less, Nationwide was reportedly grounded but few people were pleasantly surprised when they reopened office and began running their planes on schedule.

Nationwide Airlines then released a press statement, at the end of February 2008, stating how excited they were to have partnered with African General Equity Group and that clients could look forward to fleet upgrades, employee share holdings and overall improvement of services. CEO of Nationwide, Vernon Bricknell, said that the staff had secure jobs within the company and his intention was to expand his network.

Then came the breaking news early this week, in one day, without any warning, that Nationwide closed all their offices before any press statements were issued leaving pre-booked national and international ticket sales up in arms, clients and staff of the company still do not know what the outcome is at this time? Whether monies will be refunded is a mystery but very disappointing for many. Infact I hope their tickets can be redeemed, afterall Nationwide is offering a service and if they cannot supply any service or feedback the client should be entitled to full refunding and tickets purchased with another service provider. Airlines are quick to charge you if YOU cancel a flight. BUT it looks like anything goes with Nationwide at this critical crisis time and they will only endevour to suite their needs alone.

Let us hope at least that they release a statement to committ to a decision for the sake of staff and pre-booked clients, if I was either of the above I would not be impressed, infact this type of standard is unacceptable and is setting a poor example to our country – no news is NOT good news as these actions have and will affect many peoples lives in a negative way – well, everything happens for good reasons too but my goodness… may it be a good reason that you missing that flight!