There's more than potatoes in Napier...

This time last week I was heading out to Napier with my good friend Vuvuzella in her trusty steed, Snowey. It all seems like a lifetime ago already, but going through countless photographs (oh the life of a wannabe journo) brought it all flooding back. Good times indeed...

Here are some highlights:

• Sweet potato soup in a teacup at The Red Windmill. A novel idea that will be used at next dinner party.
  
• A very yummy baby Bunny Chow from the same place. It was apparently mildly currried, but my sinuses remained clear for the rest of the weekend.
  
• Happily discovering a bottle of wine, a block of Camembert cheese and a jar of rusks at Journey's Rest farm. We love free stuff! Especially food and alcoholic beverages.
  
• Unhappily discovering that Monster and The Viking chose to "swop" our bottle of red wine for their bottle of white wine. They can't believe we noticed. Come on guys, us girls don't miss a thing. We just let you get away with it.
  
• The heating panels at Journey's Rest were a godsend. I am going to get one next winter.
  
• Phoning the main house to organise a light for the braai area. Only to find our light charging in the kitchen after they had left.
  
• Monster and The Viking scratching at our window after midnight. Apparently it was their version of The Blair Witch Project. A drunk version...
  
• Being locked in the house by Monster after Blair Witch Project incident. Vuvuzella had to climb out the window the next morning to let us out. Glad they were drunk enough to leave the key in the door.
  
• Stomping around at 8am in the morning in the freezing cold (sorry, crisp country air) taking photographs. Sometimes "picture perfect hour" comes at a price. My slippers have never recovered.
  
• Listening to the sheep and frogs at night. Watching horses run free whilst having a morning cuppa and scratching a donkey between his ears. There's a lot to be said for simple living.
  
• Going to the local OK store to buy Milk of Magnesia. Who would've thought a childhood remedy would come back to haunt me. The design has never changed. I finished the bottle in a day.
  
• Hearing the quaint story of the Barber of Napier. Every Friday he braai's boerewors and listens to his Boer music ... just for a few hours, after work, every Friday.
  
• Buying sweet potato soup in little containers with a pink sticker on them saying "I love Napier". Packaging is everything.
  
• Eating the best damn chicken pie I have ever had from the Napier Farm Stall - get yourself one the next time you in town.
  
• Watching the parade down the main street complete with a brass band, vintage cars and tractors.
  
• Meeting Miss Napier, the best looking kid in town. Out of seven entrants...
  
• Visiting an organic cheese-making farm with 60 hand-reared goats, 100 chickens and 2 pigs. Sunrise must be quite something.
  
• Almost getting butted up the bum by a goat called Lindt. Apparently she is just really friendly, but I was not so sure. Yellow eyes and large horns should be respected.
  
• Having tea and cheesecake at Pascals. Cheesecake, my God, that cheesecake...
  
• Learning how Napier Bier is made. No wonder I don't like it much, you should smell the stuff that goes into it.
  
• Finding out that they wash out the pipes for the beer with acid. Not sure if I am going to be drinking beer again in a hurry.
  
• Attempting to take a photo of the brewery from the outside only to be thwarted by two very young girls sitting outside with a baby in a pram. Not very PC, but the photo just screams "Napier Bier, better than mother's milk".
  
• Pizza at the Suntouched Inn. It is probably the best pizza in South Africa. Make that Africa.
  
• Being asked advice on how to deal with a tummy bug and recommending Jaegermeister shots. Well, it worked for me! For a while...
  
• Being told to keep quiet during The Hedges gig. Apparently Vuvuzella and I were making more noise than the band and causing people to watch us instead of the band. Folk bands, they clearly not very loud and we are clearly much more entertaining.
  
• Asking a random group of guests at the inn if I could have a potato wedgie, "because you are not eating them".
  
• Shouting "Ooooh, I love wedgies" at the top of my voice at the bar and wondering why I was getting strange looks.
  
• Asking the owner of the inn (who is a friend, thankfully) to go get the left over potato wedges and give them to me because they still wern't eating them. This resulted in me getting my own bowl of pototo wedgies, on the house. Thanks guys! I ate ALL of them! Because I love wedgies...
  
• Driving along the country dirt roads after midnight, listening to Bob Marley and singing along to "Easy Skanky" .... what??!!
  
• Having to stop mid-country road jaunt due to the "burning bum incident". Nope, not mine (thanks to Jaegermeister), but rather Vuvuzella. Smoking and driving can be hazardous. Especially when listening to the King of Reggae (and head lice).
  
• Seeing car headlights behind us and realising that the lads had caught up to us even though they left a good half hour after us. They blame poor driving, we blame it on the "burning bum incident". But between you and me, the speedometer did read 40 at one point.
  
• Watching Vuvuzella spread peanut butter on her toast. No wonder a jar only lasts her a few days and she's banned herself from buying it.
  
• Meeting Daniel Bourget, the French rastafarian baker. Rastafarians taught him how to speak English, which explains everything. A legend with a whole lotta dreads under a chef's hat.
  
• Eating breakfast at Napier Farm Stall, only to scoff about five croissants later at the croissant-making demonstration.
  
• If that wasn't enough, it was straight on to Pascals for their Sunday roast lunch. Roast pork .. considering we had spent the day being piggies it was quite fitting really.
  
• Being requested to review another fine establishement in Napier at a later date, with free accommodation at said establishment in return.  Which means I will have to go back to Napier. Sigh, sometimes I love my job...