We went to a concert at Kirstenbosh the other evening. We being: my parents, brother, two nieces, nephew and friend from London, Tracy. They've all been staying for the past 8 days – completely hectic, but wonderful.
This kids' ages range from two to six. So I needed to look at Cape Town through fresh eyes. And the Fist Full of Diamond's concert at Kirstenbosch seemed a good option. We packed up a picnic, brought mounds of warm clothes and blankets (doing anything with kids, I've learned, is like moving a bedouin encampment) and headed off for what isone of the most beautiful spots to see live music anywhere in the world.
Kirstenbosch is a botanical garden – bequeathed to the city by Cecil Rhodes when he died in 1902.It's a wonderful, unstuffy place – with streams and pools for the kids to splash in, grass to picnic on – and gorges to hike if you have the inclination.
The stage is set at the bottom of a gentle rolling lawn and last Sunday it held three singer/songwriters: Dan Patlansky, Josie Field and Farryl Purkiss who each played short individual sets – then joined forces for a jam. It was fabulous. The kids danced, stuffed roast chicken into their mouths, played at the 'kiddies club' and generally had a ball.
The adults lounged on a picnic blanket, keeping one eye on the weather moving in over the mountain and chilled out: asking each other from time to time – “where else in the world could we be on the beach all day, and halfway up a mountain at a rock concert in the evening?” If anyone out there knows the answer – drop me a line.
We also discovered the waterslide park at Sunrise Beach. Although it's pretty horrible looking from the road, it was undoubtedly the smash hit of the 8 days. The kids ran up and slid downfor a couple of hours, tired themselves out completely and begged to go back the next day. Affordable, containable and superclean – the place is ideal for any kid over four. The littlest one went to the beach with her Poppa and lolled around in the shallows.
We also: picnic'd on 4th Beach for New Years Eve, hiked along the high road on Table Mountain to an icy mountain pool, boogie boarded at Muizenberg, drank Frothaccinos and ate chocolate muffins at Seattle coffee, fished in rockpools at Seapoint and swam at Newlands public swimming pool when the wind was up. All in all – a nonstop round of kid-fun. Adults too.
If staycations are the new vacations: then Cape potenzmittel Town is the new black!