11th Oct 2009

If I have the money next year, I am so coming to “Rocking the Daisies” again! Think Reading festival but on a much smaller, greener, prettier, friendlier scale! It’s awesome – I went with two new friends, Michelle and Lesley who are from Ireland travelling South Africa and who are both chefs! When I met them, I couldn’t believe my luck; I was so happy to find people who were definitely on the same wave length as me. We seem to roughly have the same taste in music as well, so exploring unknown South African bands at the festival was brilliant. I will certainly be downloading some tunes from the likes of “Freshly Ground”, “Prime Circle”, “The Plastics”, “Desmond and the Tutus”, and “aKING”. We had to pinch ourselves many a time to realise what we were doing: at a festival, in the middle of nowhere, surrounded by mountains and vineyards and a dam to swim in, with glorious weather in SOUTH AFRICA – it was crazy! The most interesting part was the price, which was unbelievable; we paid 900 rand which converts to only £90.00! Included in that was not only our three day entry pass for the festival but a shuttle service to and from the event from Cape Town City centre and our tent already put up and waiting for us when we arrived!

Things stayed dead cheap when it came to food and drink as well. Beers were coming in at about £1.50 and spirits with a mixer only £1.80; and the food was so cheap and yummy, you couldn’t help but stuff your face. As a chef travelling the world for its cuisines, I was spoilt for choice. The first night, after quite a few beers, I was so excited on entering the food tent to see an Arabic stall serving schwarma and falafel – traditional foods from the Middle East. Sounds stupid but I never had an opportunity to eat them while in their home country. At that time of night and in slight drunkenness, that chicken schwarma and falafel was incredibly tasty! I went back again and again over the next couple of days and again and again fell in love with the tastes. Not to forget the best vegetable spring rolls with sweet chilli sauce and the beef and red wine pies, fresh from the oven, at only 20 Rand - £2.00!

It wasn’t only the food and drink facilities that were really good, but the bathroom facilities were pretty up to scratch – for a festival! Yes, there was a smell but they were always relatively clean and normally had toilet roll in them! It wasn’t until we were leaving that we found out there were special showers and toilets for female festival goers that were meant to be far more hygienic and relaxing! Jumping in the dam on the hot Saturday afternoon seemed to be a popular choice. It was just such a relaxed and chilled festival, slightly hippy-ish but so much fun with great rock and trance music and fantastic food!

My other days in Cape Town were a bit unproductive because of the weather, with my tours to Robben Island being cancelled two days on the trot and the following day my bike and wine tour being cancelled – but never mind, still getting into Cape Town’s vibe and still thriving on every moment  I did stroll up to the cable car station on Table Mountain, which is a bit of a hike in itself, but didn’t have time to actually get in and reach the summit. However, that is definitely on the agenda for the next couple of months when the weather gets happier!

The evenings have been a little more eventful shall we say! Experiencing Long Street at night is a definite must whilst in Cape Town but can turn out to be a little messy – as I can vouch for! Enough said! Dined in a lovely restaurant on Thursday night with Lesley and Michelle and another Irishman, Paddy. My main course was Warthog! Very tender, similar to a loin of Pork. The atmosphere was fantastic with an open plan kitchen, exposed brick walls and cabbage lamp shades – the name was Savoy Cabbage! Was lovely!

Oh I cannot wait to start work now, even though nerves are setting in a bit more.
Wish me luck,
Ashleigh xx

P.S. Funny quote: walking back to our tent during “rush hour” at the festival, another guy was walking towards us en route to the main arena and said
“I feel like a salmon!”
Michelle and I looked at each other and burst out laughing. I still burst into giggles everytime I think about it.

P.P.S. you can probably tell by the amount of exclamation marks in this blog, how much I am loving here!