hop-off | WhaleTales Blog by Chris von Ulmenstein

Yesterday the Franschhoek Wine Tram operated for the first time, having been eagerly awaited, after its introduction was announced more than two years ago. In the first month the Wine Tram will only travel between its starting platform, and Grande Provence and Rickety Bridge, but will expand from 15 December with an additional hop-on hop-off bus service.

We have written previously about the Wine Tram, and its owners David and Sean Blyth, a father and son team who are avid train fans. They identified the potential to introduce a tram service, a modern built tram based on the Brill Tram design of the 1890’s, as a hop-on hop-off service for tourists and winetasters wanting to taste wines without having to drive themselves.

Having received a newsletter about the new tram service early yesterday, announcing its opening day, my colleague and I made use of a two hour gap before guests arrived to try out the tram. We thought the station was alongside Franschhoek Cellars, where the tram has been securely parked since it was completed. It was a little further along, past the old Pippin Farm Stall (soon to open as The Stall), one seeing the tram in an open field, that one reaches by turning left just after The Siding, where Graham Beck now has its marketing offices, and first left again, following a road alongside the track. It was impressive that we could pay per credit card in the middle of nowhere, receiving an SMS notification of our payment, having been asked for our ‘South African’ cell number! The tram, sporting French flags, was waiting to depart (every hour, on the hour), and goes to Rickety Bridge first, where one can be picked up every hour, allowing one to spend more than hour there to taste and buy the Rickety Bridge wines, buy from their gift shop, play boules, stay over, and enjoy lunch at their new Paulina’s restaurant. On the way back, one can get off at Grand Provence, to enjoy their restaurant, art gallery, and tasting room.

The tram track uses that of the original railway that transported wine and fruit from Franschhoek, a line that has been dormant for ten years, an informative commentary spoken by recent new Franschhoek property owner Malcolm Gooding, well-known as a radio and TV voice going back to Springbok Radio days, informed, unfortunately at times inaudible due to some noisy children on board. The tram travels along the tree-lined track, and the vineyards of Grande Provence and Rickety Bridge. The tram crosses side roads, and must stop at each of these, its staff getting off, and waving red flags, with a hooter going off too. We were told that clients get on on a first come, first served basis. No food and drink, nor smoking, is allowed on the tram. An environmentally friendly bio-diesel is used to fuel the tram.

At Rickety Bridge we got onto a 1950’s farm Dodge truck that has been transformed into a vehicle transporting one to the tasting room and restaurant. One is given a list of eight Rickety Bridge and four Paulina’s Reserve wines, and one is allowed to taste five of these for free, as part of the ticket price of R60. Paulina de Villiers was the first female owner of a wine farm in South Africa in the 1800s, and the wines and restaurant have been named in her honour. We were lucky to find Sales Manager Jackie Rabe and her partner Guy Kedian at the wine estate, and were spoilt with a personalised wine tasting. Rickety Bridge is the entry level wine range, and is unwooded, while the Paulina’s Reserve range is partially wooded. Guy shared that Chenin Blanc once made up one third of South Africa’s vine production, and that it was largely used to make brandy, a large part of it consumed in the army. When the compulsory conscription came to an end, the consumption of Brandy & Coke fell dramatically, and many farmers removed their Chenin vines, this varietal only making up 20% of the country’s vine production currently, yet it is still the largest varietal. Rickety Bridge still has 34 year old chenin vines, which are full of flavour. Interesting is that Semillon vines dominated 250 years ago, and Franschhoek is particularly well suited to grow this big wine varietal. Rickety Bridge is best known for its Shiraz. The Rickety Bridge range consists of Sauvignon Blanc 2012, Chenin Blanc 2011, Semillon 2006, Rosé 2011, Merlot 2008, Pinotage 2011, The Foundation Stone 2010 (made from Syrah, Mourvèdre, Grenache, Tannat, and Cinsaut), and Shiraz 2010. The Paulina’s Reserve Range consists of Sauvignon Blanc 2010, Chenin Blanc 2010, Semillon 2008, and Cabernet Sauvignon 2009.

We did not have time to get off at Grande Provence, but the farm tractor with a trailer with seating fetches the guests from the La Provence platform, and transports one down to the wine cellar, the tasting room, the delectable restaurant for which Chef Darren Badenhorst and his team cooks, and an award-winning art gallery, winning Best Art & Culture recently in the Great Wine Capitals Global Network awards.

We are confident that the visitors to Franschhoek will enjoy their outing on the Franschhoek Wine Tram, and at the two inaugural wine estates Grande Provence and Rickety Bridge. From mid-December the route will expand to include Dieu Donné, Platter Winery of the Year 2013 Cape Chamonix, Haute Cabriere (which will offer a welcome glass of Pierre Jourdan MCC), and the Huguenot Museum, utilising a special bus, also on a hop-on hop-off basis, in conjunction with the Wine Tram. There is no doubt that current wine tour operators could see the Wine Tram as a competitor.

POSTSCRIPT 18/11: It was impressive that Sean Blyth called on Saturday evening, to obtain feedback about the Wine Tram trip, and has made changes already as a result, for example children may no longer travel unaccompanied by the parents.

POSTSCRIPT 21/12: Sean Blyth sent an update e-mail today: To give you an update, we have had a excellent response from passengers re the service with several positive reviews on Tripadvisor: http://www.tripadvisor.com/Attraction_Review-g469391-d3536165-Reviews-Franschhoek_Wine_Tram-Franschhoek_Western_Cape.html

We are averaging about 50-70 passengers a day at this point and this is with very little marketing. We have also opened our new ticket office in Franschhoek which has been a great way to attract passengers. Top Billing will be doing a segment on the tram with the shoot lined up for mid Jan – this should be great exposure. We are now getting ready to launch the bus service early next week which will extend the stops from 2 to 6 – will you been in Franschhoek next week to join us as our guest to experience the full product?

POSTSCRIPT 26/12: Today the Franschhoek Wine Tram has announced that the Franschhoek Wine Bus has begun operating, stopping at Chamonix, Dieu Donné, Haute Cabriere, and the Huguenot Museum, in addition to the Tram stops at Rickety Bridge and Grande Provence.

Franschhoek Wine Tram, Tel (021) 300-0338. www.winetram.co.za Twitter:@WineTram. Monday – Sunday 10h00 – 17h00. R60, includes one complimentary wine tasting.

Chris von Ulmenstein, Whale Cottage Portfolio: www.whalecottage.com Twitter: @WhaleCottage

Earlier this week I was at the Civic Centre, and on a whim decided to try out the new MyCiTi bus system, with the Civic Centre bus terminal close by. Being a tourist in my own city, I was surprised at how well the new public transport system works, connecting the city centre, the Waterfront, Gardens, Table View, and the airport.

Information about the stops is not easy to find at the Civic Centre terminal, with a board outside showing a map, but not indicating the route or providing any information. I saw staff in a smart uniform, and they explained that I could travel all the way to the Waterfront for a mere R5. There is no hop-on, hop-off facility, so if one makes an in-between stop, one pays a further R5. The prices of the trips are exceptional good value, with the trip to Table View from the Waterfront costing only R10, even if one has to change buses at the Civic Centre terminal. The cost to get to the airport from the Civic Centre is R50, and is set to increase to R53 on 1 July, as reported on Twitter. No information is provided proactively, and when I asked for a brochure or map at the Ticket office, I received a tabloid-size outdated May issue of ‘Let’s go MYCITI’.

The newspaper reports that a R20 Smartcard is planned, which will allow one to load ‘airtime’ to the card, at a 2,5% fee. One can also buy booklets of tickets. One wonders if the City will make its money back, at such low prices, the buses having about 10 passengers on each of the two trips I did. Fellow passengers told me that the Table View route was well supported, and here the service could be making good money. The Civic Centre terminal station is massive, and has beautiful murals produced by local artists, including Arelen Amaler-Raviv, Hannes Bernard, Tony Coetzee, David Hlongwane, Sanjin Muftic, Alan Munro,, Hannah Williams and Mark Hennig.

While waiting for the Waterfront bus to arrive, I asked a staff member more questions – one can buy the return ticket on the bus, as there is no ticket office in the Waterfront, or at the other stops. The buses depart every 20 minutes. It takes 20 minutes to get from the Civic Centre to the Waterfront. What I didn’t ask, but discovered, is that the staff do not announce the stops – one must look at the road signs (Loop Street, V&A Waterfront), or the name on the terminal buildings (Granger Bay, Stadium) to know where to get off, a potential problem for tourists. As a tourist, one would like to photograph Table Mountain, the Stadium, the Waterfront and other landmarks of the city. Our bus to the Waterfront had dirty windows, which would have spoilt the photographs. The windows of our return bus were spotlessly clean.

The overall impression was of cleanliness, efficiency, and friendliness. The buses run smoothly and quietly, quickly left each station where they had to stop, yet no apology was provided for the 20 minute lateness of the 14h46 Waterfront bus to the Civic Centre. Comment was made by some passengers about the driver going through a red traffic light, hardly what a City of Cape Town employee should be doing, given that their colleagues are traffic police. Two MyCiTi buses were involved in collisions on the Table View route earlier this month. It is unclear where one should park if one wanted to go to Cape Town International, but parking near the Stadium terminal would be a good idea, with a bus change at the Civic Centre, at no extra charge.

The buses run from 5h45 from Table View, and from 6h00 in the city on weekdays, and an hour later on Saturdays, and 2 hours later on Sundays. Buses run until 21h00 on the Table View route, and until 22h00 in the city, on all days of the week. Buses run every 20 minutes, but on the Table View route they run every 10 minutes in peak morning and afternoon traffic times. A sign on the bus says that bicycles are allowed on the bus.

The My CiTi bus route is to be expanded next year, to include Hout Bay, Camps Bay, the Atlantic Seaboard, Salt River, Woodstock, Walmer Estate, Oranjezicht, Tamboerskloof, Vredehoek and Bo Kaap. At a later stage the route will extend to Atlantis, Du Noon, Jo Slovo Park, Montague Gardens and Melkbosstrand. Township routes to Khayelitsha and Gugulethu do not appear to be on the map, perhaps the last bastion of the taxis. New bus stations are to be built on Adderley Street, Gardens, and Queens Beach in Sea Point. I noticed construction work on what looks like another building at the Civic Centre terminal.

I decided that in future I will park near the Stadium and take the MyCiTi bus when I need to be in the center of town, saving parking monies as well as the harassment by the parking guards, that is if one can find parking. The new R4 billion MyCiTi public bus transport system is a welcome ‘legacy’ of the 2010 World Cup, and its efficiency of operation was well worth all the inconvenience during the construction phases. It is a clever way of getting taxis out of the city centre, two taxi association companies and Golden Arrow Bus Services operating the new bus system.

I felt as if I was in another country, travelling in brand new world-class buses. The new MyCiTi bus system is an impressive service for our tourists and locals alike.

MyCiTi, Tel toll-free 0800 65 64 63. www.capetown.gov.za/myciti

Chris von Ulmenstein, Whale Cottage Portfolio: www.whalecottage.com Twitter: @WhaleCottage