Strandkombuis beach restaurant, Yzerfontein

And now for something completely different - alright beers and a braai were involved, just no bikes. We have been associated with Strandkombuis restaurant in Yzerfontein for many years, I have been supplying their mussels right from the start but I also used to supply oysters and would go there to teach the staff how to open them, and even help to open oysters for the numerous weddings that they had then. It is still a very popular wedding venue.

I got a call from Natie, the owner last week inviting Janet and I to lunch on Sunday which I accepted with alacrity, we hadn't seen them for a while and the food was excellent the last time we visited, I am a seafood lover so I had been looking forward to the lunch since that phone call.

We arrived just before 13h00 which is when the first course, a delicious chunky fish soup with homemade bread is served and the place was bustling. I went up and bought a bottle of wine and we settled in.

The restaurant is perched on top of the sand dunes just to the north of the town and has easy access to the beach right below with a spectacular view. Unfortunately that day the wind was howling so the awnings were down but it was very comfortable inside, we noticed how clean and inviting the restaurant was for such a casual venue.

You have to queue for your food but they have it so well organised that you don't wait long;

 The bread table, here Natie slices up another hot fresh loaf of homemade brown bread.

 The soup is unbelievable, I could have gone back for more but I didn't because I knew what else was coming. They have a short break in between the soup and the main buffet and I took the opportunity to go out to the braai area;

 Everything is clean and well organised, Bastian the co-owner was busy preparing the fresh Yellowtail fillets for the ovens.

 Natie, in the meantime was busy with the smoked Snoek, a South African favourite and the aromas were killing me!

 The first batch of prawns was coming off the braai, just look at the size of those things!

 They were then doused liberally with a garlic butter sauce which really got the juices flowing.

In the meantime the staff were busy setting up the salad tables and soon Natie was calling the crowd to the food tables.

 Wonderful salads on offer, a Greek salad, next a Chickpea and then an Apple salad, I only took a bit of the Chickpea which was delicious, I didn't want to take up space on my plate which could better be used for seafood!

The crowds moved in, they dish up on two sides so the queue actually moves quite fast and there's no danger of the food running out, they keep replenishing empty platters.

 My plate; mussels, deep fried calamari, smoked Snoek, baked Yellowtail, three large prawns, rice, Chickpea salad, roast potatoes and a pumpkin fritter, there were also sauces on offer but I didn't need them.



Look at me a happy man, I'm in seafood heaven! Everything on my plate had it's own taste and texture, the prawns were crisp and fresh, the calamari was tender. both types of fish were delightful, the Snoek which they smoke themselves was delicately flavoured, not overpowered by the smoke but complimented by it. I managed to go back for another small helping of both types of fish but by then I was pretty full.

To end off a perfect meal, moerkoffee and koeksusters and I was replete and completely satisfied. This is a slick and professional operation, we arrived at 13h00 and without feeling at all hurried we were finished by 15h30. We sat for a bit longer contentedly finishing our (second bottle of) wine and then it was time to leave.

The cost per person is R240 which for a three course meal of this calibre is a bargain, especially when you consider what you would pay for a seafood platter anywhere else and the quality is, as I have said, absolutely outstanding. The wines that they sell are fairly pricy but they do not charge corkage on wines if you take your own, I have no hesitation whatsoever in recommending this restaurant to you but you have to book because it is a summertime place and they get busy.

Phone them on 022 4512360 and the manager, the lovely Chantelle will take your booking.

2015 Beaver rally, the journey and the party

I managed to ride out of Saldanha at around 09h45 on Friday, a clear sunny day with the temperature already in the low twenties, it was going to be a hot day but I had been looking forward to this trip for ages. It is only some 300kms to the little Boland town of Montagu but through some of our best riding country.

Four stop/go's on the R45, two of them stopped me and two let me straight through, no problem I wasn't in any particular hurry - I was enjoying myself.

Just after 11h00 I stopped for an ice cold beer at Du Vlei, so far the ride had been excellent, Mooreesburg through to Riebeek is a good fast road and there was virtually no traffic, more good stuff to come. The R43 which runs from the Nuwekloof Pass right through to the N1 is now an absolute joy for bikers, wide, smooth and undulating through the farmlands you can't help but ride it fast.

I stopped for a burger lunch in Robertson after enjoying one of my favourite roads; that 50km stretch of the R60 from Worcester, what a ride! There were lots of bikers around by then.

I arrived at the rally site somewhere around 15h00 after a thoroughly satisfying day and soon found my companions, they had set up camp in a nice shady and grassy spot and I soon had my tent up.

 Time to start the party, my hosts were already busy and I went off in search of friends new and old, one of the first people I came across was Alan;

wearing the same outfit he wears to every rally, one of the well known characters.

The party raged on into the night, getting more crowded as more and more people arrived.

 On the left Mohicans National first lady and on the right Western Cape chapter first lady, these two were to feature very well in the games the following day.

Beauty and the beast.



A really good band started playing rock and roll favourites, enjoyed by all of us old bikers in particular;

 

 

 

 

Soon it was time to head back to the camp, the bar had closed and the band had packed up, it had been a great evening.



Sometimes I sit and think and sometimes I just sit. The guys lit a fire again and warmed up some of the meat from earlier, by then it was the early hours of Saturday morning and I felt great - I wasn't going to be feeling so great in a few hours time though! Sometimes I'm sensible.

A big thank you to my hosts the Mohicans, what a great bunch of guys and gals they are;

Mohicans maak die jol vol!

2015 36th Annual Beaver Rally - my third

I woke early on Saturday morning even though I had not had enough sleep, Friday had been an epic party with the Mohicans and I'm going to go back to that later.

I do not suffer with headaches, I have never had one in my life but if I did I know that I would have had the Mother of all headaches that morning. I staggered out of my small tent in the cold early morning with my mouth feeling like a homeless person had been sleeping there and had left his blanket behind. Clutching my toothpaste and toothbrush I walked into the ablution block, the same one out of which I had fallen the previous night, or was it earlier that same morning, hurting my ribs which were still bothering me.

With my breath a bit fresher I went off in search of coffee, even lousy coffee is good! People were moving around, bleary eyed many greeted me like we were old friends - were we? Did we know each other from the previous night?

The Wimpy restaurant in Montagu didn't seem able to cope with the demand and my breakfast was disappointingly cold but still it made me feel better. Later on that morning I rode the wonderful, fast R62 to the Karoo Saloon. It was a mild morning, perfect for riding and there were a lot of bikers there, I drank half a beer and headed back to Montagu.

Saturday passed in a dull blur, I had more to eat in the early afternoon but I was not in the mood for any more alcohol and then it was time for the biker games which were pretty much dominated by the Mohicans who certainly know how to rally!

Here's Mercia getting ready to throw the shackle, just look at the size of that thing! She and the Mohicans National first Lady were the winners on a draw - the two of them threw that thing further than most of the guys did, even though the guys had to throw it with the pin in.

That evening we had a braai, very nice meat and a convivial atmosphere after the prize giving in the main tent. Things started slowing down, I had still not had a drink and by ten o'clock I could not keep my eyes open and retired to my chambers.

Sometime later I heard Alex, the Mohicans President arrive back in the campsite and ask where I was, he was told that I had gone to bed. The Mohicans had been good to me, a Meeulander had been welcomed into their camp and the prospects had looked after me, such is the biking fraternity in South Africa. Eventually I drifted off to sleep for an hour or two.

Sunday morning I surfaced early, I could hear people moving about, coughing, many like the guy right next to me were still snoring. Toothpaste and coffee time again and then I packed up my gear, I bade my hosts, the Western Cape President and the National President of the Mohicans and their respective first ladies farewell and a safe journey and I was on the road.

I felt much better, my ribs still hurt but I was ready for the road and the first part of that road is glorious, Montagu, Ashton and then Robertson to Worcester - high speed, wonderful riding and a much better breakfast at the "Whistle Stop" where many early riders had gathered.

I phoned Janet to say that I was on my way, where I was the weather was not bad, sun shining and fairly warm but her news was different, get ready for the crap. Sure enough after Worcester the skies darkened to ominous grey and the temperature dropped.

After the "Nuwekloof pass" I pulled over to put a jersey on, don't get me wrong though I was still enjoying myself, my eyes were clear and bright!

Nearing Riebeek I could see the rain against the mountain and stopped to pull on the bright orange plastic rain suit, I do not like riding in rain but I believe that if you are a biker and you do any riding you are going to get caught in it, best to be visible.

Janet's news had also been that it was blowing a gale and the nearer I got to home the more the wind increased until I was speeding along leaning at an angle into the wind, wiping the rain off my visor and shivering with the cold. You know what? I wouldn't have changed anything that day, it's all part of the total package, the experience of being a biker.

I arrived home safe and after a warm welcome from my lovely wife and our friend Linda, a hot shower and a good lunch I felt absolutely wonderful - my ribs were still sore though.



Dart run part two - the party

It was actually a pity that the rugby world cup semi final was on that evening because it slowed things down a bit. We all moved into the pub to drink and watch the game, which only started at 17h00 so the fires for our dinner braai only got started late.

But anyway herewith a pictorial essay of the evening;

 In the bar Alex, the Mohicans President chats with Stephen, whom we hadn't seen for a while.

Our lovely Monica, I took this photo for Frank because he just loves her, she takes such good care of him.

 In the meantime Steve was outside helping to get the fires going.

 Another random sign that amused me; "Silence please" in between the ladies and gents toilets, what normally goes on here? Are they usually noisy?

Soon the fires were roaring, it was actually very cold that evening so they kept people warm while the meat was being readied for braaiing.

Mike, Stephen and Murray (among others) did an excellent job braaiing all of the meat so that it was ready for everyone after the rugby had finished, which was unfortunately a bit late for some of us who were starving by then!

 I caught Mercia digging into the potato salad while she thought that nobody was watching!

Dammit I love this lady biker, she is one of the characters of any event, a real party animal.

 

 

 My brother Sooi was outside enjoying the spectacle.

It was around 21h30 when the dinner was served and there were a lot of hungry bikers by then but there was plenty of good food to go around.

In the pub just before midnight they called last rounds so as is usual we all ordered three last drinks to take outside, that was when Mercia arrived with this sign;

 "No drinks beyond this point" - which point? I'm going to be with these people again at the Beaver rally on the weekend and you just know that it's going to be one hell of another party!

This last picture was taken at midnight, I cannot remember who took it but it started to rain shortly thereafter and I used that as a good excuse to call it a night and head off to bed.

It had been an excellent party once again, the last photo of last year's dart run was quite similar! I'm afraid that I did not pay attention to the prize giving although I do remember that my bro Alex won the booby prize for the worst score.

We had a good breakfast the next morning and a very pleasant ride home, we called in at Frank's on the way to give him a nice packet of biscuits for his tea and to check that he was alright, he had been missed at the party with lots of people raising a glass to his speedy recovery.

I believe that 60 people took part in the dart competition! It was a sterling effort by the club President Divi and his team to organise such a well run event, we just pitched up and enjoyed ourselves but many others worked their butts off to make sure that it ran smoothly, well done to you all.

Meeulanders Dart Run 2015

Okay so I'm a biker........Isn't this a great picture? This lovely young woman agreed to pose with a dirty old man, but I'm getting ahead of myself, this picture was taken late on Saturday night at the hotel in Eland's Bay (Janet had already gone to bed) and what a party it turned out to be!

We arrived at "Die Wingerd" dance hall and bar in Vredenberg at 11h30 and already I was seeing 24 degrees Celsius on my readout, there was quite a good crowd already and the dart throwing was already taking place under the watchful eye of Jolene;

I was surprised that Janet took part, she doesn't play darts, neither do I for that matter and we didn't feature in the prize giving.

Murray Harris concentrating on his throw
 

In the meantime the guys were busy outside braaiing the boerewors for our "boerie rolls"

and somewhere around 13h00 it was time to get the mob on the road for the next destination, the R45 pub at the "Plaasmol",

Lovely biker chicks in Stormers country; from left Wendy, Mercia, Janet and Monica.
 

We blasted through to the R45, still very warm and as it was already quite a sizeable bunch of bikers it was difficult to stay together through the Saturday traffic but it didn't take long to get the next dart on the go.

After a short time spent at the pub we were back on the road for the very pleasant ride through from Hopefield to Velddrif, that road has been repaired and what was once a very bumpy, slow ride is now really worth using again.

We took it easy, cruising along at about 120kph and as we approached Velddrif we rode into coastal fog which dropped the temperature by a huge eight degrees.

We were soon lining the bikes up outside the "Wielhuys" pub for the third dart of the day.

 

 

 

Under the strict control of Divi and Jolene the competition got underway immediately, anyway most of the guys wanted to be at the hotel in time for the semi final game between the Boks and the All Blacks.

Some of the participants;

    The Harris' on their LT

 Heinie and Gerda and the new Triumph

 

 

Stephen and Carmien on their Yamaha

 



The next part of the ride was about forty kilometres along the coastal road to a small farm stall called "Skooltjie" (little school), the road is notoriously bad with several patched pot holes that can give a serious jolt, especially to the pillion passenger so I just cruised along enjoying the now chilly weather. At that stop there was another boerie roll for everyone, making sure the stomachs were well lined.

 

 

The next throw was an undignified one with which I had considerable difficulty, it took me many throws to hit the board and I kept feeling like I was going to fall forward onto my forehead! Eventually I got a dart to score but I could see by then that I was not in the running.

A short ride from there to the hotel, again a rough patchy section of road over which I took it easy and by 16h30 we were parked at our destination for the night, we got settled in to our room and then got ready for the party.

Obviously they often have bikers staying over!

 

I'll tell you all about the party in my next post shortly, watch this space!