Tag Archives: Robin Carlisle

Creation wine and food pairing now even more heavenly!

Creation wines Whale Cottage Portfolio (2)I last visited Creation more than two years ago, when I wrote a story about the Hermanus Wine Route, which had been launched in 2011.   Since then a number of changes have taken place,  new chef Warwick Taylor offering even more heavenly food to match the heavenly Creation wines, living up to promise made in the Tasting Menu heading: ‘Original, distinctive flavours. Exceptional, harmonious matches’!  

The road to travel to Creation was never in great condition, having been a gravel road 7 km before the entrance to the wine estate.  They were very excited when the Western Cape province announced the tarring of the road to Caledon, and 3 km of the untarred section had been tarred when the construction contractor went bankrupt, a huge frustration for Creation.  A number of months have gone by while the province appointed a new contractor, and work has finally commenced again, it taking ten months for the road to be completed, owner JC Martin estimated.  The road currently is in a worse condition than it was on our last visit, in terms of its surface, with more accidents on the road, and having a stop/go system in place.  Co-owner Carolyn Martin said she is placing pressure on the Western Cape Minister of Transport and Public Works Robin Carlisle to get things moving.  Creation will have to possibly change its entrance once the tarring is complete.  Despite the poor condition of the road, it was a surprise to see the car park at Creation completely full, Carolyn’s marketing of their wines and the Tasting Room being so excellent that tourists as well as Johannesburg and Pretoria locals come anyway.

I thought I had arrived without being recognised, but Carolyn had seen me (I was sitting with myCreation JC Martin Whale Cottage Portfolio back to the desk) and she called JC to come and say hello.  JC was busy in the cellar with the preparation for the start of the harvest the following day, but made time to chat, reflecting how good they are in connecting with their customers (we stock their Whale Pod range) and visitors.  JC said that the harvest is only 3 – 4 days later than last year after the wet winter, and that they have some botrytis, which his staff is picking out.  He expected the harvest to take a little longer this year, being 3 – 4 weeks, depending on the weather.  He shook his head, almost in disbelief, Continue reading →

WhaleTales Tourism, Food, and Wine news headlines: 12/13 October

WhaleTalesTourism, Food, and Wine news headlines

*   The N1/N2 Winelands toll road project is unlikely to be implemented, despite the Supreme Court of Appeal giving the go-ahead for e-tolling, says Robin Carlisle, Western Cape Minister of Transport.

*   Praise for Chef Chris Erasmus of Pierneef à La Motte‘s old-world-meets-science cooking comes from America.

*   Will Kempinski Hotels’ announced expansion in Africa include South Africa, given that it has just opened two hotels in Kenya?  Five more Kempinski hotels are planned for Africa.  Hotel investments in Africa are likely to drive tourism to the continent.

*   Africa is the India and China of ten years ago, and will see an increasing investment from international companies, including hotel groups such as Hilton, Starwood, and Marriott International Inc. growing their hotel presence on the continent, especially in Kenya, Tanzania, Nigeria, South Africa, Botswana, and Angola.

*   A Nelson Mandela Tour has been developed to show Continue reading →

Cape Town city centre to change dramatically, will benefit tourism!

Convention Centre 3A number of multi-million Rand projects are underway to change the face of Cape Town in the next few years, reports The Times.   They will also have a positive effect on tourism.

One of the biggest tourism income generators is the expansion of the Cape Town International Convention Centre, which is set to double in size, currently earning the City R400 million per annum.  Expanding the Convention Centre will allow Cape Town to bid for the Heart Congress, for example, the world’s largest conference, as well as to host the annual Tourism Indaba, which would meet the Convention Centre’s goal of Continue reading →

Cape Town to be developed into 24-hour world class city

Many would say that Cape Town already is regarded as a world class city. However, the Western Cape province and the City of Cape Town, in association with the Cape Town Partnership,  believe that there is more work to be done to turn Cape Town into one of the top cities in the world, and to rezone the city into “mixed-use-zones that are lively, inviting, open and operate 24 hours a day” by 2014/2015, reports the Weekend Argus.

Driven by the MEC for Public Works and Transport, Robin Carlisle, Cape Town is to be divided into six ‘precincts’:

*   the Artscape precinct will connect Artscape with the new to-be-extended Cape Town International Convention Centre, to be doubled in size, to operate 24 hours a day, and to be completed by 2014, via the Artscape Gardens, to be developed as part of the extension.  The Gardens are to be raised to the height of the freeway, and parking developed beneath it.  Two buildings, one an hotel and another an office block with 30000 square meters of retail space, will be designed to act as ‘wind buffers’ against the south-easter, which affects the area close to the harbour badly.   The Artscape Gardens is planned to contain an amphitheatre seating 25000 visitors.  The Convention Centre expansion will include the proposed move of the Netcare Christiaan Barnard Memorial Hospital to the precinct too. 

*   the Somerset precinct plans have not been finalised, but include the Somerset Hospital, a part of the building having historical value.  A new casino is planned for this area, an attractive location for it, being adjacent to the V&A Waterfront.   One of the options is that the Gold Reef’s Mykonos Langebaan casino may move to this precinct.  This area is also planned for mixed-use zoning.

*   the Prestwich precinct will see high-rise buildings and another pedestrian bridge and Fan Mile, to ‘allow the city and the Waterfront to better complement each other’, and connecting these two popular areas.  Prestwich Street runs parallel to Somerset Road, and is the street in which The Foundry/Beluga can be found. 

*   the provincial government precinct around Dorp, Wale and Keerom Streets will see glass walls erected to block the wind from blowing through the arches of the provincial building.  A new high-rise building is to be built on the corner of Loop and Leeuwen Streets, to accommodate the office requirements of government departments.

*   the Government Garage precinct in the Roeland/Hope/Mill Streets area is to get a facelift, with retail, residential and urban spaces to be developed.   Entry-level housing is to be developed, to allow residents to work and live in the city without having to use cars to get to work.  “This precinct will focus on turning Roeland Street into a ‘boulevard’ leading down to the gates of Parliament, with shops and cafés at street level, and accommodation on the first floor, built around squares.  The Government Garage and ambulance depot are to be moved to the ex-abattoir in Maitland.

*   the Two Rivers Urban Park, including Oude Molen, Alexandra, Valkenberg and other government property, will focus on medical facilities, including the expansion of psychiatric hospital Valkenberg, an office park for ‘bio-medical engineering companies’, ‘compact hospitals at Alexandra’, and will expand the residential arm of Oude Molen.   A ‘water taxi’ is to connect Oude Molen and Athlone via the Black River.

Linked to the province’s bold city regeneration plans is the planned development of a second international airport near Saldanha Bay.  It is also planned to introduce ‘130 new, quieter and graffiti-repellent trains, which could comfortably transport 550000 people a day…’.

The plans for the regeneration of the Cape Town city center sound exciting, and will lead other businesses to invest in the city centre.  For example, the section of Bree Street near Buitensingel Street is seeing a revival, with interesting restaurants and decor shops opening. One hopes that the DA will win the municipal election in May, so that these grand plans can be realised.

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