Saturday was up early as usual to another beautiful morning. After having breakfast and getting ready we left about nine for the Dullstroom area where we had a get-together with the Marketing Manager of ‘Kloppenheim Country Estate’ ’ to discuss having an old car event at their venue. When we left we had jackets on as, though it was a sunny morning, the wind was chilly. By the time we were approaching the Belfast area we had taken our jackets off as it was really warm in the car. All of a sudden a low, dark cloud blew across the sun and the sun disappeared from view. We arrived at Klppenheim and got out the car, discovering how cold and windy it was. We put on our jackets before going in for our meeting. While Hubby started the meeting Diane and I wandered around the place taking pics. The Estate was right up in the mountains. The main building and the surrounding views were absolutely stunning. The place was built by a German who originally came from Kloppenheim in Germany. The huge wooden doors to the place are unbelievable. We joined Hubby once we had enough pics and were then taken on a tour of the place. Downstairs was an English-style pub and huge wine cellar. The main floor had a library and various lounge areas as well as the restaurant and private dining room. Down a passage we were shown the old photos, displayed on the wall, from Kloppenheim in Germany dating from 1897 to about 1913. The place is absolutely magnificent and we enjoyed our brief visit there. We left for Dullstroom where we wanted to stock up on trout again and have lunch. This time we stopped at one of the pubs, the Flying Dutchman, to eat. When we got out the car we couldn’t believe how cold it was. The entire area was blanketed by a low, thick cloud and mist. Inside the pub it was lovely and warm. There was no electricity in the place so certain items on the menu were not available -trout – so I settled for a lamb curry. Hubby had a steak and Diane had a meal of chips with veggies. My lamb curry was delicious and had so much meat in it with not a single bone. I had my usual glass of wine while Hubby had coffee and Diane had a pot of tea. When the meal was over the waitress bought the bill and I put my card on the table to pay while Diane and Hubby went around the shops. The waitress came back and when she saw my card said they couldn’t accept it as they needed electricity to process it. Disaster! I phoned Hubby and he sent Diane back with the cash he had on him. With the cash I had and his we had just enough to pay for the meal and give the tip. Talk about Luck – for us, them and the waitress. The freezing weather hit us the moment we stepped outside and Boy! Was it freezing? We wandered around a few shops but the whole town had no electricity and not one place had a generator so we were unable to get any trout. The decision was made to head for Millys to shop there instead. We arrived about four and went in to the restaurant for a coffee and piece of cheesecake which unfortunately was not a patch on that we had at Feast in Parys. Hubby rushed off to stock up on trout and we left about half four for home. Both Diane and I were absolutely frozen because our jackets were only lightweight ones. It was dark just after five due to the cloud cover. We stopped once on the way back for petrol and to put oil in the car. It was half seven when we got home and though it wasn’t as cold as the Dullstroom area it was cold enough. I hadn’t warmed up the entire trip back. We spent the evening bundled up in front of the TV having our Milo. 
Sunday morning Hubby left about half six for his monthly Piston Ring Meet. Diane and I surfaced at eight and had a leisurely morning having breakfast and getting ready for our hike. It was another lovely sunny day. Val and Kim arrived at half ten and we all left to go on the hike. We arrived just after eleven and joined all the other hikers on the 4.5km hike. There were plenty of people out on the trail enjoying the lovely weather. We made our way around enjoying the company and sun and stopping at all the viewpoints. After we had completed the trail we went into the restaurant where we had lunch. Val, Kim and I had poached hake while Diane had the vegetable curry. Kim ordered chips with her fish while Val and I asked for the potato wedges. When the food arrived we were disappointed to see the waiter had not listened. Kim only had chips and we only had veggies. He said it would take a while as the wedges would have to be made so we settled for him giving us chips and Val shared her veggies with Kim. Apart from that the meal was good and we had a good laugh about the veggies/wedges misunderstanding. When we had finished the meal we went for a quick walk around the 1km trail behind the hotel before driving briefly through the reserve and then heading home. Val and Kim left and Diane and I decided to have a nap. We surfaced around six and once supper was over spent the evening watching TV before eventually going to bed around one.Cheers and have a good week.
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