Cape Town - There is so much to do at Spier in Stellenbosch you could set aside an entire day and you still wouldn’t fit it all in. This story is just the tip of the iceberg, and the tale of one fine Saturday.
New at the farm is the Werf Market every Saturday from 9am till 2pm. These days you can take your pick of markets all over the place, but if you’re looking for one that is deliberately smaller and less crowded, this one is for you.
There are plenty of food and drink stalls for breakfast, lunch or just a snack and beverages which include freshly squeezed juices, coffee and wine. The wine slushy is a must on a hot day. Besides the vendors selling food to eat on the spot at picnic benches set up under the giant oak trees, there are also things to take home from plants for the garden to fabulous breads from Hog House Bakery. You simply must get some of Uncle Angus’s biltong – it’s the best I’ve had.
On the last Saturday of every month children are invited to have their own little stalls and there is loads of space for them to run around and play. Games are set up for them, as well as the cutest giant chicken jumping castle.
A lovely thing I noticed at this market is that there are several tables with no one at them. Instead there are chalkboards explaining the wares – which include packets of seeds, coffee grounds for the garden, picnic sets and blankets and silkworm “hotels” – and honesty tins for your money.
You help yourself and tuck the required amount into the slot. If you don’t, karma will get you I’m sure.
A French-looking man in a striped shirt and beret wandered around playing a piano accordion.
After breakfast we strolled over to Eagle Encounters for the 11am show. This project is supported by Spier through the donation of land, electricity and water for its facilities on the farm.
It is a bird-of-prey rehabilitation, conservation, education and eco-tourism project, which is in keeping with Spier’s overall ethos.
The birds have been injured, poisoned, knocked over by cars, or illegally removed from their nests.
Eagle Encounters, however, works towards releasing healthy, fit, successfully hunting and able-breeding raptors into the wild.
During the show you will be amazed and awed by the beauty of the birds, some of which – barn owls and rock kestrels – sit right on you. The handler will explain how each bird “works”; some of them can see really well (these are not the barn owls) while others have acute hearing.
Afterwards, you can visit the rest of the birds and even gently touch more owls. If you have some music with a good beat on your phone, there are some that will dance.
Eagle Encounters is open 9.30am till 5pm daily (closed Christmas Day). For more information call 021 858 1826, or see www.eagle-encounters.co.za.
After that we walked back to the newly opened Hog House Bakery & Café for lunch.
Because the focus is on the bakery there are lots of bread-based options, but being a spin-off of a meat-oriented place in Ndabeni, the menu slants towards that.
I had “steak tartine” which was sliced steak on top of soft bread layered with truffle cream cheese, onions caramelised to a sweet paste, and paper thin sliced pickles. My friends had roasted bone marrow with oxtail marmalade and a pulled pork bun with pineapple kimchi and cauliflower piccalilli.
Hog House brews its own beer so that’s worth a try, and Spier wines are available at almost cellar door prices. Since I was driving I had not one but two old-school lemonades, which were delicious and refreshing. I so desperately wanted to buy a lemon and raisin brioche loaf to take home, but everyone else had the same idea and it was sold out.
The Hog House Bakery & Café is open Tuesdays to Sundays 9am till 4pm. Call 021 881 3174.
l Spier Wine Farm, Baden Powell Drive (R310), Lynedoch, Stellenbosch.
Weekend Argus