Raving Through The Winelands

Speed Classic

Before I left on the Western Cape trip, I went to a sports event called Speed Classic, which is basically fast cars racing through the city like Cape Town suddenly decided to become Monaco. Speed Classic is one of the few car events in South Africa where regular city roads turn into a proper race track for a day. They had closed Long Street, Loop Street, and parts of Hans Strijdom Avenue, and the whole track was fenced off for safety. Great for safety, bad for me trying to find a place to watch. I walked around and around (and then around again), trying to peek through fences to get a sight of the cars.

And then, somehow, I ended up inside the VIP paddock area. Don’t ask me how. One second I was walking past a gate, the next second I was standing two meters away from race cars, and I’m not saying I’m a racing expert now, but I felt pretty cool. After the races, I walked down to see the prize ceremony, which felt like a very fancy ending to the week.

Red Bull Spot Check

When I got back from my trip, Cape Town welcomed me with another event: Red Bull Spot Check, a skateboarding competition that moves from spot to spot around the city. It started at City Bowl Park, then rolled down to Company’s Garden, Thibault Square Plaza, and finished at the Civic Center. I have never seen so many skateboards at the same time. I sat on the side, watching people fly, flip, crash, laugh, and try again. I obviously brought my camera along and shot a total of 2364 pictures. How many turned out good? About 150 haha.

Bachelorette Party

The weekend arrived, and I got invited to a bachelorette party for my friend Grace from Lesotho. The first stop: Steenberg Wine Estate in Constantia, dating back to 1682. So yes, we were drinking wine on historical ground, very fancy. We had a wine tasting inside the cellar, right next to the steel barrels. The wine? As usual, very, very good. Surprisingly, my favourite was the red wine, and that shocked me because I’m normally not a big fan of red wine. After the tasting, we had lunch at the estate restaurant. I ordered pickled fish tacos, and listen… I know how it sounds, absolutely terrible. But it was genuinely amazing.

Then it was time to get ready for the evening event: Hidden Paradise. It’s an outdoor rave / music festival set in nature, and this time it took place at Calais Wine Estate in Paarl. So yes, a rave in the winelands. Only in South Africa. Imagine mountains, stars, lights, DJs, people dancing barefoot, and a whole load of nothing around us. It was very cool.

Flea Market & Shopping

The next day, my friend and I decided to go to Milnerton Flea Market. If you’ve never been, it’s a big open market right by the water with everything from tools to vintage clothes to random objects you didn’t know you needed. But the wind… oh man. The wind was doing insane. Tents were shaking, our hair was everywhere, and after ten minutes we looked at each other and said, “Yeah, let's go.” So off we went to Canal Walk in Century City, which is basically a massive shopping centre surrounded by canals, bridges, and very impressive architecture. Century City is known for its modern design, with glass buildings, curved shapes, and a little touch of Dubai. We spent the afternoon wandering around the mall, shopping a little, looking at everything, and enjoying the sun and wind in a less dramatic way.