Our next stop was Fairview where we had a combined cheese and wine tasting. This was undoubtedly the best value of the day – the equivalent of just £2 for six cheese and wine pairings!

We then moved from wine to MCC which is the South African equivalent of champagne, and is made using the same process. The tasting session at Haute Cabrier included a talk in the private cellar and a demonstration of sabrage – the process of opening a bottle with a sword. Perhaps this is something not to try at home! Matt’s birthday is on Sunday so he was presented with the cork as a memento.

We ate lunch sitting on the veranda at Le Petite Ferme – a winery and restaurant in Franschhoek. Although this wasn’t one of the official tasting venues on our schedule, there was obviously more wine with lunch!

Our final tasting was at the Asara wine estate where we tried three wine and chocolate pairings. The grounds of the estate are stunning and there was a nice shady area of grass where at least half of our group took some time for a recovery nap from all the wine drinking.

We finished our day in the outdoor bar at the Asara wine estate, which was particularly appropriate as they also provided some of the wine for Matt and Lita’s wedding. I think everyone will be getting an early night tonight!

Table Mountain takes its name from the very flat table-like summit, with the layer of cloud that often flows over it appearing like a table cloth. It has recently been chosen as one of the seven wonders of nature. When we first reached the top it was quite windy and there was a lot of cloud cover and so the visibility would rapidly change from just a few metres to many kilometres as the cloud passed over. We ended up spending about two hours walking around the summit, by which time much of the cloud had cleared so that we could see the excellent views in every direction – the coastline, Lion’s Head and Cape Town itself. The fynbos vegetation on top of the mountain is unique to this area and specially adapted to cope with the unusual conditions. There is also plenty of wildlife to be found here – dassies, agama and clip springer to name a few.

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After taking the cable car back down we drove to the V&A Waterfront for a late lunch at Quai Four. The waterfront is a very lively and popular area of Cape Town with restaurants, market stalls and a large shopping mall. We had a leisurely afternoon walking around the absorbing the atmosphere.

For dinner we all met at the Five Flies – an excellent restaurant in central Cape Town. Other than the very tasty food, one of the highlights was the huge pepper grinder!

Arriving in Cape Town and hiring yet another car felt a bit like déjà vu, as this is where we started our South African journey just under three weeks ago. For the next five nights Noz, Shammy, Hannah, Kat and I are staying in a hostel called the Ashanti Lodge in central Cape Town, while the rest of the group will be in nearby Stellenbosch. We checked in and then walked to the closest restaurant we buy cialis online could find – Nelson’s Eye. I’m assured that they do excellent steaks – the vegetarian platter was also very nice!

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Just before going to bed we popped into the hostel bar for a glass of Amarula (a cream liqueur with fruit from the marula tree). We were soon persuaded to join the killer pool tournament and ended up having a few more drinks than expected, especially Shammy (see photo)!

After lunch there were organised games drives and mountain hikes. As we have already been on quite a few game drives, Kat, Noz and I decided to go on the hike. We walked for about two hours up to one of the nearby peaks which has great views across the reserve and the mountain range beyond. A good part of the walk involved climbing up rocks so it was fairly challenging, especially on such a hot day. Fortunately we had time for a swim in the pool when we got back!

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In the evening all of the wedding party met for a final dinner before everyone starts to go their separate ways tomorrow. The staff at Askari prepared a special braai with lots of nice salads and there was plenty of wine and champagne to finish off from last night!

At 3pm we were all driven into an area of forest within the game reserve and took our seats ready for the ceremony. Matt looked very nervous while we were all waiting for Lita to arrive! Her dress has been a very closely guarded secret but she looked amazing, as did the bridesmaids who all wore custom-made olive coloured dresses. After the introduction and vows had been said, two small bottles of sand – one from Australia and one from South Africa – were mixed to signify the two families coming together. Sarah (Matt’s sister) and Rowena (Lita’s sister) also said a few words.

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After the ceremony Matt and Lita went for their wedding photos. These include some taken with the elephants during while they both ended up getting sprayed with sand! Meanwhile the rest of us were taken on a short but very bumpy game drive around Askari. This was a very different experience to Kruger as some of the animals are more closely tracked and can therefore be easily located. We saw some vervet monkeys, lions (male and female), kudu, hippos and wildebeest. Towards the end of the drive, one of the three vehicles got a puncture right next to the hippo pool so we had to turn around and go back to rescue the other guests.

The wedding breakfast took place on a large balcony in the Askari centre overlooking the reserve. All of the food was excellent and there was a special menu for the vegetarians which included a tropical vegetable steak for the main course. It goes without saying that there was plenty of champagne and South African wine flowing. Mark (one of Matt’s groomsmen) approved viagra was our MC for the evening and we had very good speeches in between courses from Bill (Lita’s dad), Matt, Lita, Sarah (Matt’s sister), Evan (the best man) and Noz.

After dinner the new Mr and Mrs Kirkland took to the dance floor for their first dance. As is tradition, Matt retrieved and threw Lita’s garter to predict the next groom – it was caught by Francis who wore it as an armband for the rest of the evening. Noz caught Lita’s bouquet – perhaps an excuse for us all to visit Australia sometime soon? The DJ did a good job of keeping everyone dancing until 1am and the photographers provided various hats and accessories for the photo booth. The evening ended appropriately with everyone on the dance floor singing Africa by Toto!

All in all it was a really good day – mainly down to the meticulous planning that Matt and Lita have done over the last year or so. Congratulations Mr and Mrs Kirkland!

In the afternoon we drove across the Hartbeespoort Dam to the opposite side of the valley and took the Harties cableway which is the longest mono-cableway in Africa. From the top there are excellent views of the dam and valley between the Magaliesberg mountains to the north and Witwatersberg mountains to the south. The dam itself was built to improve irrigation for the surrounding area and features a Roman style triumphal arch – the only one of its kind in South Africa.

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This evening we had another braai at the lodge with around two thirds of the wedding guests. Mark (one of Matt’s groomsmen) was in charge of the cooking, which was again halted cheap discount viagra abruptly by a big storm. We’re hoping the rain stays away for the wedding tomorrow…

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For the next two nights we’re staying at Stone House Mountain Lodge which is near Skeerpoort, 40km west of Pretoria. This area is part of the Magaliesberg Mountain range which has some of the oldest geological formations in the world at around 2.3 billion years old. Matt and Lita have booked out the whole lodge and some of the nearby cottages for the wedding guests so there are around twenty people staying here. Matt cooked dinner for everyone on the braai – until a big storm came in anyway! Dessert was Noelle’s birthday cake – Happy Birthday Nozza!!