New beginnings

Day one at Stony Brook greeted us with warm sunshine and mountain views second to none.

We took a walk around the farm to get our bearings and find our farm legs, still in disbelief that we were now living and working on a wine farm in Franschhoek. Well, not quite working yet - as 1 May was a public holiday which was perfect for settling in.

Making our way back to the manor house after our walk, a car came up the driveway towards the tasting room and I panicked at the thought of wine tasters visiting (even though we were closed) when I didn't know a thing about the wines at that stage! Car stops - front seat passenger starts talking to Neill and then I saw our very special friends, Pieter and Anthony, who had driven from Riebeek Kasteel to welcome us to the Western Cape. A true gesture of love and care.

The 2nd of May dawned - our first day of work. Meeting our new colleagues - Craig the winemaker and Jackie, our marketing person, we quickly realised that there was much the learn. But, our mantra was go-with-the-flow, learn new things, walk new paths, and experience what the wine industry is all about.

The first week was a blur of learning about the wines, learning about the farm, getting to know the people who work here and of course, enjoying this tiny spot on the African continent where we were to carve out a new home.

Our first visit into town (a whole 5km away) was on our bikes with backpacks to bring our groceries home.

After three days of camping in the empty manor house, we moved into one of the cottages that I would be running. Cottage 5 - the big one, with two bedrooms and a lovely, spacious living area. It was awesome! The incredible view of the mountains so close, the babbling brook (literally) just metres from the door and the sound of birds in the trees. Did I mention the multitude of protea bushes that line the road to the cottages? Two weeks of heaven albeit it without a good wi-fi signal. This is a farm after all. Bookings had been made for the cottage so we trekked our meagre belongings back to the manor house where a few additions to the furniture and kitchen items had been procured.

This house had a different view, offering a front row seat to spectacular sunsets and vineyards touched by the red paint brush of Autumn. We loved it. A much simpler life than we had become accustomed to. Less clutter. More nature. We now had a bed, couch, a TV (propped up on an old sewing machine cupboard of Joy McNaught's), plastic table and a couple of chairs, a fridge, microwave and a few more kitchen essentials. And wine. Mostly Stony Brook wine.

The manor house has a small wine cellar and Nigel, the previous winemaker had a left a few bottles behind when they moved. Craig told us to help ourselves - they're old and probably no good anyway he said. Our eyes were as big as saucers. WHAT? you're letting us taste this vintage wine? All our Christmases had come at once. A 2001 Cab, a 2008 Syrah, etc. Some were great - some had passed their prime but the experience was priceless.

Moving on to homework. Of the gustatory and olfactory variety. Getting to know the Stony Brook wines was required for the job, so almost every day, I was sent home with a bottle or two (that had a glass left in it) left over from the tasting room. We had to learn about the nose and the palette of our wines and no better way to learn, than from your glass. It's fantastic to be part of a wine farm that produces some exceptional wines. More about this in a forthcoming blog.

So many things changed in our lives. From braaiing three times a week to...well, pretty much never. Finding new social places - like Taki's for after-work drinks and The Station Pub to watch our new team, The Stormers, in the Rugby Championship. The people here are friendly, and welcoming. Not snobbish and aloof as we thought.

We changed our "home" Parkrun to Franschhoek and did our first one on the Rickety Bridge Wine Farm on the first Saturday in May (it's not as nice as Hobie Beach mind you!)

There's no hooting taxis, no litter, no traffic lights, no protesting students, no Music Kitchen - that we miss a lot!

We like it here. We think we'll stay.

With our special friend Pieter Swart on Day 1 in Franschhoek

The "warm room" in the manor house on Day 1

The warm room two weeks later after a couch and TV had been bought

Autumn in the vineyards at sunset

DELORES DIARIES

More snippets from Neill's voice notes (see previous blog for an explanation of this if you are only coming in at this point)

4 May 2023
"...I'm starting to work on instilling a new mindset of a place for everything in it's place - where it's needed. Bev made her first sale. We had the most fantastic experience - tasting four of our wines WITH Craig, the winemaker. The details of how each wine was made. Special, really special."

6 May 2023
"...this is the steepest learning curve we have ever had."

12 May 2023
"...we mustn't forget to remember that we're living the dream. It's flippen awesome here - I love it. In terms of work - I'm on a much clearer path now, of what I have to do."

18 May 2023
"...it's dark here. You can see the milky way. Bev is learning all the parts of her new job. I've been locked into a working career where you work from this time to that time. Today I went into town to buy stuff for the farm - how weird to be paid to go shopping. After hours work is very much part of the job, but we have bought into this project and we want to be part of the journey of improvement."

25 May 2023
"...it has been raining persistently the entire day and it's getting cold."

31 May 2023
"...this is the 3rd night in a row that it has rained. Jissie, it can rain here! It's cold - but I'm acclimatising. It's a simple life. I heard one bit of news in the car today - the first in a month."