Isomatic UK Weblog

We have just returned from Hout Bay near Cape Town, South Africa. Amblewood Guest House was in a superb location and provided us with a really good room and excellent breakfasts. Many of the other guests were regulars who come back year after year. We can certainly recommend it to anyone wanting great views, a pool and good company.

It is very centrally placed on the Cape Peninsular, a short drive from the many local attractions, including Cape Town's V & A Waterfront, which I was surprised how much I enjoyed. There was plenty of live open air music and two restaurants with jazz. We tried the Green Dolphin; great food but the jazz was mediocre that night.

Our longest trip, still only 1.5 hours, was to Franschhoek in the Cape Wine region, where we bought 4 bottles of the 2002 Merlot from Rickety Bridge Vineyard. This Merlot is a very fine wine and in the UK would be outside our price range. Also the Franschhoek Pass was the most exciting of the many mountain passes in the region.