South Africa: Hopefield; Bees and Beers

Mid Friday afternoon I was handed the keys and received instruction and passable directions to drive to Hopefield as Bianka was too boozed to tailgate drivers for an hour and a half. Presumably escaping her attention was the fact that I'd had just as much to drink as she had (three beers over three hours, in case anyone is too concerned about the state I was in).

The landscape quickly flattens out to the north of Paarl and the green of the vineyards wedged between mountains is replaced with rolling hills coloured straw brown by paddocks of wheat. Sadly, we were out of the wine barrel and into the food bowl. The property we were staying at in Hopefield is a bee farm managed by Bianka's mum and stepfather. Pierre farms the honey and Helena uses the beeswax, propolis and assorted other bee related things to then produce healthcare items ranging from body scrubs to disinfectants. This is all done on site in a backroom which doubled as a braii room and the venue for much of the evening's (heavy) drinking.

While I can't say that it's ever been a life goal of mine to get pleasantly inebriated in the heart of the healthcare production line, the company and setting made for an inimitable and unique experience a long way from the backpacking trail I'd plundered a year previous. This would quickly become the strong and inescapable theme for the week.