Belvidere Manor Hotel, Knysna

We arrived in Knysna on Tuesday morning and went straight to Belvidere Manor where owners Sue and Mike Mills had invited us to stay. We had a lovely well decorated and comfortable house, with a lounge with a log fire, two bedrooms and two bathrooms. The kitchen is fully equipped and we were delighted to discover that we had heated blankets on the beds as the night temperatures here have fallen as low as 1 degree C. There was also a heater. Not only a place for high summer, as exploring this wonderful area year round can be a delight. Cycling and walking are very popular. Fishing, canoeing, boating, all from their own jetty too. We had a lovely lunch from their pub, The Bell sitting on the terrace outside the historic Manor house which dates back to 1834. We also had two marvellous breakfasts and the staff are terrific, especially tall, amusing Jeffrey, who acted as a tour guide around the estate as well. He has been on the estate longer than the Mills’

Belvidere Manor House, c. 1834, is now the reception, breakfast area kitchen and offices and still has some beautiful original ceilings and floors

The gardens are magnificent and here you can see down to the lagoon. We had one of the cottages on the left

These are the two bedroom cottages

Ours from the back, with the undercover parking

Large fully fitted and equipped kitchen

Nicely decorated and very comfortable lounge with a large TV with some satellite channels, and an open fire. Lots of wood is supplied. Some cottages have gas fires

From the other side you have a better view of the layout

Our double bedroom has views of the lagoon

It has an en suite bathroom

The second bedroom has twin beds and it also has an en suite with a shower

The view of the Pergola, swimming pool and the Manor House from the cottages. They hold a lot of weddings here and there is plenty of accommodation for guests

A lovely place for breakfast or lunch in good weather

Great views of Knysna across the lagoon

Mike Mills invited us for lunch on the terrace

Crisp fresh fish and chips from The Bell

Sue Mills and Lynne had the Crab cakes with a sweet chilli dip and salad

A good hamburger with chips for John and Mike

Their son Tom Mills, who was down to represent Avondale wine farm (where he is the Western Cape Sales Executive) at the Oyster Festival, joined us for a long and fun lunch in the sunshine

Down on the hotel’s jetty

Lovely afternoon light on the cottages

The side view of the manor house

There are also double storey houses with more space

They are grouped together

behind the manor house

The Conference Centre

The Bell pub

Chatting to Mike Mills at breakfast

A buffet breakfast is laid out in one of the front rooms. If the weather is bad, breakfast is held inside

It is a very good selection including cold meats, cheeses scones, muffins, warm pain au chocolate and juices

Fruit, yoghurt, cereals, even hot porridge

There is also a menu of cooked breakfasts. This is the open omelette with cheese, bacon, spinach and optional mushrooms

Lynne chose the Eggs Benedict and they were probably the best she has ever had. Really fresh eggs, perfectly poached, set on ham, spinach and crisp blinis rather than muffins, and the hollandaise sauce was thick and creamy without being sour

There is a comfortable lounge at the back of the Manor house

There is some history on the walls

The main entrance leading to reception

Jeffrey took us to the Three Elephant tree on the Belvidere Estate

carved by an Italian sculptor, whom we later met, who lives in the house in front of it

The duck pond, reminiscent of Monet

Sadly the old oak trees on the estate all have some sort of virus and are having to be cut down.  Some interesting fungus has taken over

Our second morning dawned bright and sunny so we had breakfast on the terrace. Other guests were also enjoying the sunshine

Juice, a chocolate muffin, a warm pain au chocolate and a good cup of black coffee to start for John

Sue Mills came to say goodbye as we were leaving after breakfast. She is describing taking down their stand at the Oyster festival

The Belvidere breakfast for Lynne. Lovely pork banger and well cooked mushrooms

John had the cheese French toast

Thanks to all at Belvidere, we had a wonderful stay

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© John & Lynne Ford, Adamastor & Bacchus 2014

Knysna Oyster Festival Wine Show

We go to many wine festivals but one in a totally new area was a good draw when we learnt that some local wineries from George to Plettenberg Bay and beyond would be showing their wines. So some very familiar faces and wines and lots that were completely new to us

When we arrived we found they were holding a fish braai competition on the festival grounds

We don’t know who was judging and everyone was disappearing into the wine Festival

The festival puts up tents over the food area, so there is shelter if necessary

A lovely welcome and a great way to start a wine festival. Erika Obermeyer of Graham Beck pours us a glass of one of our favourite Bruts

Then it was next door to Steenberg to say hello to winemaker JD Pretorius and taste some of their Brut. Note how warmly everyone is dressed. Those night temperatures were low.

A taste of Armilla MCC and the Anima Chenin with Tom Mills on the Avondale stand

and we tasted some reds at Rhebokskloof,

had a taste at Lords wines

We tasted with Charmain Delgado at Dewetshof and went home with a box of Danie de Wet Sauvignon Blanc, which is exactly lean and green, the style that Lynne loves. A bargain at R360 for 6 and it goes perfectly with oysters

Met  Tanya Pretorius of Newstead from Plettenberg Bay and liked their MCC bubbly

A surprise was to find our friend Peter Bayly sharing his stand with Leon Coetzee and his range of interesting The Fledge & Co wines. Loved the Vagabond Rhone white blend, which they describe as "a true ruffian gentleman"

Peter was, as usual, rather busy serving and selling his port style wines  and his red blend III, made from port grapes

Domaine des Dieux is at the very end of the Hemel and Aarde Valley and their two Claudia bubblies were another good match for oysters.

Fresh oysters au natural on offer

and we met some like minded folk Andy and Penny Hillock from Hillock Wines near Ladismith, who asked us to visit when next we are in their area

The hall was cleverly and beautifully decorated with green mobiles from the forest

Then it was back to The Bell pub at Belvidere

Glass ceiling/floor with a view to the wine cellar

Then back to our cottage and a lovely view of Knysna and the lagoon by night 

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© John & Lynne Ford, Adamastor & Bacchus 2014

Sunday Lunch at Flava Café, Wilderness

While we were staying on the Garden Route, we had been directed to The Girls restaurant in Wilderness, but they were closed. However we discovered they also run Flava Café and on offer was a rather tempting menu with a value Sunday lunch, so we booked for that

The Sunday lunch menu for the 6^th of June

It is a cheerful summery restaurant with a terrace upstairs, but it was warm enough inside on a very cold Sunday

They do have a very respectable wine list, but we wanted to spoil ourselves with some wines from our cellar which we had taken on holiday with us. This 2012 Raats Old Vine Chenin Blanc was beautifully full of mellow fruit and lees and a great start to lunch

They also have products for sale

This 2003 Boudinaud Côtes du Rhône was probably at its peak a few months ago, but was still full of fruit and life. The nose was an overwhelming storm of sandalwood and John also found a few violets. It went well with the lunch

A deconstructed, deeply flavoured beef and ale pie, fresh beans with caramelised onions and a thick portion of a vegetable root bake was sustaining, if a little tricky to eat. Almost a Banting portion, some of us avoided the pastry, others did not.. The stew was a good match for the Côtes du Rhône

Some were willing to brave the elements and eat on the upstairs terrace

Very possibly the best malva pudding Lynne has yet to eat. Very moist and served with a perfect real vanilla custard spiked with Amarula liqueur

They absolutely don’t

Here he is giving in his kitchen

And later giving us a song or two after dinner service was finished

It is a deservedly popular restaurant with locals and visitors. This large group was celebrating a 35th wedding anniversary

Lunch cost us only R 286 with corkage and service

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© John & Lynne Ford, Adamastor & Bacchus 2014