On Sunday we bid farewell to the mountains and drove back towards the sea, passing through East Griqualand region, and briefly dipping into Eastern Cape Province. I can firmly say that I never need to pass that way again. We stopped for coffee in the main town for the region – Kokstad and this will forever be the site of the family ‘Spur Experience’.
For the un-initiated, ‘Spur’ is a major restaurant chain in South Africa, and it appears to be the favourite restaurant of most South Africans. (Sorry if I alienate most of my S.African readership with this little rant!) Why it is so popular eludes me at every visit. It’s kind of the equivalent of a bad ‘Beefeater’ restaurant with sluggish service and meals that kind of taste a bit ‘rubbery’ and never as good as it looks on the menu… We ordered coffees and milkshakes, and waffles. An hour later we were still wondering what had happened to the waffles… It’s now become a family joke when deciding where to eat as to whether we go to Spur or not….
(Despite this rant, I’ve eaten at Spur so many times, and probably will again too. In Spur’s defence, their salad bar is pretty plentiful so it’s not all bad news…)
East Griqualand is also the winner of the ‘most speed-humps in one place’ award. Another thing about South Africa is the amazing number of speed-humps. Why have one speed-hump when 6 will do… or in this case, 21 in a row!
We finally arrived at our last residence for the holiday, in the coastal resort of Uvongo. Staying in a fabulous apartment which belongs to some friends of the family. Nice. In fact, very nice. The covered patio, with views over the ocean, is bigger than my entire house… ;-)
