Ferndale Nursery

This nursery in Constantia was wonderfully child friendly. Our first stop was the Koi pond where Nathan and cousin Jamie were facinated by the shining fish (for R2 we bought a tiny container of fish food). Then the main attraction was the geese which we had brought a few slices of bread to attract but these noisy birds needed no invitation to start sqwarking and crowding at the fence of their large pond enclosure hopeful of catching a treat. The black motorbikes, old tractor, swings and jungle-gym will all be a lot of fun as the boys get older but they were able to enjoy the short jungle walk with fake crocodile and finding their way through the maze.

Shade: lots of trees and some of the play area shaded
Safe/contained: open water
Outdoor/indoor: all outdoor
Space: large, sprawling play area and a small space to picnic
Cost: Free plus whatever you are tempted to spend on gardening
Parking: pleanty

Metro Rail to Simonstown

It sometimes takes the enthusiasm of foreign visitors to get me to try something I wouldn't normally think of. A recent visit from my sister out from Taiwan saw us heading off for the Plumstead Station just before 9 one morning. We were aiming to catch the 9.10am South-bound train which the Metrorail website showed as having a buffet car attached. Initially sceptical about the accuracy of the site, I was very pleasantly surprised by what we found. One carriage (the blue one as we were informed at the ticket office) has a small bar area and then a series of restaurant booths to seat 4 people. We were lucky to find an empty table and sat to choose from a menu which included a full cooked breakfast through to muslie, yoghurt and design-your-own toasted sandwiches.

We had picked a beautiful winter's day to enjoy the view of False Bay and our breakfasts during the 50 minute trip. After a couple of hours exploring Simonstown we headed home on a regular Plus carriage, feeling that we had experienced something quite unique.