Riebeek Kasteel olive festival 2011

The olive festival in Riebeek Kasteel was a total jol, firstly we were lucky with the weather, after all it is now winter so we were not sure what to expect but Saturday dawned clear and calm and it stayed that way. It is only an hour from Saldanha to Riebeek and it is not the most exciting road, we have done it so many times over the years but still we had a lovely ride and I was glad that we could go on the bike. It was our intention to stock up on olives but as only one pannier was needed for our clothes we had plenty of room.

I was a little worried at first because we were going to be staying at Mandy's house in Riebeek, which is very conveniently situated within walking distance of the village centre, but I was to be the only guy with four women; Mandy, Janet, Caroline and my own Janet - what kind of weekend was this going to be?

I needn't have worried, the ladies (and I use the term with great respect) were very kind to me, and Janet brought along a friend; Craig so it was four to two instead of four to one, far better odds.

We spent a very pleasant afternoon wandering around the festival tasting the different varieties of olives and olive oil, making a few purchases and drinking a few beers. There was a lot going on, live music in different pubs and cafes and lots and lots of people and later in the afternoon we wandered back to the house.

Soon it was time to go to dinner and we all piled into Craig's car to drive around to Ed's Diner at The Barn, fun for me! Caroline seems to be having a problem!

We had a lot of fun at the diner and a good meal, I had a really good lamb shank which was fall-off-the-bone tender. We were there for quite a while and then it was time to pile into Craig's car again for the ride home.

Don't worry people, Janet took the photos from the front seat! I was having all the fun.

The party got sort of noisy after we got back home, Caroline found a bugle and made it sound pretty much like a vuvuzela!

Craig tried to go to bed and the women pounced on him, gradually everyone faded off to bed leaving me and Caroline to sit and chat and just generally reminisce, we have known each other for many years, she is my buddy and it was good to catch up.

Sunday morning! The beer I had for breakfast wasn't bad so I had one more for dessert (Kris Kristofferson) - Frank rode out from Saldanha and joined us for lunch, Mandy climbed onto his bike for a ride back to the house sans helmet but the Police seemed to be in a very lenient mood because they ignored the transgression and waved them through.

It was a great weekend, we spent some time with good freinds and we stocked up on fresh and delicious olive products which we both love.

The ride home was just as good and we got a message from a big male baboon as we roared through his territory, how rude!