Riding in my own backyard, Sunday lunch with Fungis

Lovely weather Saturday so we decided to get out on the bike, I've been feeling a little bit melancholy about the big red machine of late, not sure if I can trust her anymore, also the handling felt a bit off - a bit heavy and when I checked the tire pressures I found that the front was down to 1,5bar instead of 2,5! That made a hell of a difference straight away! I'm normally quite good with my tire pressures but the bike had been in the hospital for about three weeks so I hadn't been riding.

We took a cruise through Vredenburg and then onto the Hopefield road, hung a right to go past the Orex depot where there are some lovely sweeping curves. Down the straight past "Spionkop" to the intersection near the Saldanha Steel plant,

left there and then right onto the fast back road leading past the oil storage depot and into Langebaan. Now I was getting back into it, I could see again what it was about this bike that I loved, she was performing beautifully, smooth and plenty of power. I tapped it off a bit as we neared the town, a bit more well behaved riding through to the new "Windtown Hotel and Restaurant" which had only opened in December. We had been curious about the place but wanted to wait until the crazy period in Langebaan was over and all of the tourists had gone home.

They have an unusual system, you pay R140 for starter and main course or R180 for starter, main and dessert. We opted for the starter and main, mine was a delicious venison carpaccio and Janet had a "Melon Milkshake" which she really enjoyed.

 My main course (top) looks a bit min but it was a lovely fresh Yellowtail fillet on some chips with coucous mash and cauliflower, now is the best time to eat Yellowtail as this is when it is being caught. I thoroughly enjoyed my meal and as fish is very filling it was a big enough portion.

Janet had a chicken breast fillet with roasted vegetables and salad, also very nice, I know because I finished it off for her! The bill came to R400 with wine and the gratuity, we will definitely go back there to try their other menu items, better than the average restaurant for sure.

I dropped Janet off at home after lunch and carried on riding, I was really back into it and loving it. After a bit of hooliganism I saw some bikes parked at the Beach Club, Alex and Vince were there with their ladies so I joined them for a drink.

I had just had a run in with a mini-bus taxi driver, as I was approaching a three-way stop this fool just drove straight through it in front of me without even slowing down. I thundered off in hot pursuit and pulled in alongside him, I raised my helmet visor and shouted; "You don't stop at f#@*ing stop streets, stop now I want to talk to you!" He raised his hand apologetically but he wasn't going to pull over, I raced ahead and waited at the next stop street where he dutifully came to a stop before driving through. My work was done, I think he will think twice about ignoring stop streets from now on, he'll be looking out for crazy bikers!

Today (Sunday) we were invited out to Velddrif to visit my old biker friend Fungis, he has just started a biker friendly guesthouse and although it is still a work in progress I wanted to see what it was like. "Come on through," he said, "I'll cook some graze."

It was hot in Velddrif but luckily there was a slight breeze which made it more bearable, Fungis has three double rooms which are pretty much complete with another on the way, each room has an en-suite shower and toilet and at the moment he is charging R150 per person per night. As I said it is a work in progress and as Fungis is a divorcee the place perhaps lacks that feminine touch, there is a large communal kitchen and there certainly is potential, once he gets it finished I can see that it will be very comfortable.

Fungis opened a lovely bottle of 1991 Kanon Kop Merlot, I thought that it might have passed its "drink-by" date but it was smooth and delicious, we made short work of it while he braaiied some lovely boerewors and a huge slab of lamb rib on his wheelbarrow.

 We enjoyed the ribs with some butter potatoes, a lovely tomato and onion relish and some bread rolls, Frank was also there so we sat chatting until it was time to head home, a very pleasant lunch with a couple of bikers, what more could one want?

You can get Fungis on 0823388131 if you're looking for biker friendly accommodation in Velddrif, there is also off the street, secure parking for your boney.