EIGHT FEET VILLAGE
Riebeek Kasteel
30th June 2022

Twenty-four people boarded the coach at Constantia Village shopping centre and Tableview Library then headed up the R27 and N7 en route to the Riebeek Valley.  The countryside is looking awesome – with all the recent rains in the Western Cape it is looking so beautifully green!

First stop was Het Vlock Casteel Estate where their tills rang happily with everyone purchasing and tasting olives/jams – a nice touch is they gave everyone little pieces of bread to make the tasting easier! They have an amazing range of product in this shop and proved once again that ladies particularly love ‘to gather’

Second stop was into Riebeek Kasteel where we parked our coach in the ‘village square’ and everyone headed for a coffee or some general browsing – Aaardvark Etes where before they served our coffees, we were offered ice water (amazing today in the valley temperatures were +23degrees – fabulous for ‘winter’)!  “Hey girls did you find the carrot cake” – NO but “I found candles AGAIN”, said Heather!

At 12h30 we left Riebeek Kasteel and headed up the hill to Eight Feet Village.  An amazing place with 100% vibe and atmosphere.  We were all seated in Mura, their ‘under-cover’ restaurant where they made sure we all had comfortable  chairs and not benches!

Eight feet. Four brothers. One family. Started by four brothers named Pieter-Steph, Johan, Anton, and Daniel. Du Toit is their surname. They grew up on Kloovenburg Wine & Olive Estate in the beautiful Riebeek Valley. Where there was once eight dirty little feet dangling from the back of a bakkie-flap at sunrise, there are now eight, large, confident feet taking daring strides out into the world, each pair heading on its own adventure. But no matter how far these exciting new roads may take us, they will always come together again for another cup of coffee, a glass of wine or one more opportunity to grow together as brothers.
Their restaurant on the top of the Bothmanskloof pass Pass, overlooking the breath-taking Riebeek Valley, is an iconic location unlike any other.

It all started as a humble coffee trailer which acted as a beacon of hope; going through the tough times of 2020, serving fresh brew to friends, family, and a place for the community to gather.

On arrival there were many oohs/ and aahs!  The views from the top of the Bothmanskloof Pass are fabulous – a treat for everyone on the coach today to ‘escape’ the ravages of power outages we are all experiencing in the city!

Lunch today, had a choice of:

• Crispy fried fish and chips;
• a pulled lamb pizza;
• chicken burger with brie and figs (a fabulous taste sensation) or
• a pulled lamb burger with fries!
• and to round it off, a bowl of ice cream and chocolate sauce.

Reluctantly at 3.00pm we all boarded the coach and headed back on the N7 to the city!

THE CITY HAS A ‘FACE’  

THE COUNTRY HAS A SOUL!

Jacques de Lacretelle