Shirley, the consummate host, had coffee and fruit and toast waiting for us when we got up. (Although bread is NOT part of the ‘Banting diet’, she had bought bread for us.) The day was the opposite of the afternoon before: sunny, warm, no mist or fog. We could see the mountain behind the house and the ocean and the beach from the front balcony where we sat and ate our breakfast.

And then it was time to get our walking shoes back on. We were going for a ‘cliff walk’. Sue was excited to take Jessica for this walk, to show her what we thought was such a highlight of our time in Hermanus. We walked about 4 or 5 kms along the walk, then back again, stopping to dip our feet in the surf at Grotto Beach before heading back to the house.

We showered and then Jessica, Sue, and I drove down to the town center to check out the shops and restaurants. We parked the car and walked around. Shirley had recommended a lunch at a winery restaurant just out of the city and had made reservations for the four of us for after one o’clock. So after a bit of walking around downtown, we drove up into the scenic Hemel-en-Aarde area, to Creation Winery and Restaurant. Shirley joined us there just after 1:30 and for the next two-and-a-half hours we were introduced to 8 different Creation wines, each one paired with a beautiful plate of delicious tapas.

After a great afternoon, we said goodbye to Shirley — she was also heading into Cape Town for a weekend with friends — and got into the car and headed west along the N2 highway. We were finally home after 7pm — the traffic into Cape Town was quite busy. We unpacked and unwound, sitting around. Since we’d been eating all afternoon, none of us was very hungry, so we stayed home and had a light snack and watched TV. Jessica recommended the documentary “Somm” which follows four wine stewards as they prepare to take the Master Sommelier Exam; very appropriate after our wine tasting experience. While the girls went to bed at around midnight, I ended up working on my computer for a couple more hours.