Wellington Wine Walk
– The Day Walks
As the Wellington valley has a wealth of options we have crafted day walks with a focus on various aspects of this historic wine valley. This will allow you to pick your choice of walk based on the subject matter and the level of walking fitness desired. All these walks have a cross pollination of – olives, wine, buchu, stokkies, heritage, fynbos and views.
They also allow those with limited time to get a real flavour of the Wellington Valley. Try one and come back for more.
These are the alternatives available:
The Olive Walk - Olives and Olive Oil, moderate walking, about 14km
The "Kuier" Walk - Buchu, stokkies and Wine, moderate walking, about 12km
The Heritage Walk - Bainskloof, Cape Dutch farms and wine, easy walking 9km
The Groenberg Walk - Groenberg, Views and wine, energetic walking 10km
The walk starts on the Diemersfontein Wine and Country Estate where you will meet your guides at 08h00 and have for a briefing for the day. You will leave your cars here for the day. You will be taken by tractor and trailer from Diemersfontein Wine and Country Estate towards the foot of the original Du Toit’s Kloof Pass. Walk uphill for about 45 minutes and then stroll along the contour paths of Kleinboschkoppie through the fynbos with beautiful views of the Paarl Valley. Continue to walk downhill alongside the vineyards with the beautiful Paarl Valley ahead of you before ascending again through more fynbos to some spectacular granite boulders where we stop to catch our breath From here there are stunning views of the Drakenstein, Simonberg and Banghoek mountains as well as the Paarl and Franschoek valleys. We descend from here past buchu fields and into olive country. You will proceed to the impressive Cascade Country Manor where you will be introduced to olives and have an olive oil tasting presented by Volker Goetzer. This is followed by lunch, wine and coffee. Before starting take a stroll to their lovely waterfall.
After lunch you start your walk down past a buchu distilling farm, along a huge dam and past more olive groves. Eventually you will arrive at Druk My Niet for a further wine tasting.. After this tasting you will be transferred back to your vehicles.
Level:
Moderate,
some uphills,
but mostly level and downhill.
("Kuier" means having a relaxed and sociable visit. In this case we visit some very innovative farms.)
We will gather in the parking area of Imbuko Wines at 08h30 where you will leave the cars for the day. Your guides will meet you here and give you a quick briefing for the day. We start by walking down to the home of Elsabe du Plessis where we will kuier with her while she tells us the importance of buchu, the nursery industry and her home products. Taste some of Elsabe’s delicious olive products and pinotage jam We tear ourselves away to start our walk uphill through buchu fields and vineyards until we reach our next kuier spot, Hildenbrand Estate for a wine-tasting accompanied by a light lunch presented by Reni Hildenbrand, owner and winemaker. She is an expert on olive oil and is on the International Tasting Panel. After a leisurely tasting we proceed through more vineyards with views of the Hawekwa mountains ahead. We leave the Blouvlei Valley area and head for the Bovlei Valley where we arrive at Festa for a hot or cold drink and something sweet. After this the shuttle will transfer you back to your vehicles.
Level:
Moderate, a few uphills, mostly
level.
This
is our Heart of Wellington day. You will gather and meet the shuttle at
either Diemersfontein, Val du Charron or Dunstone Estate
depending on your specific day. Your
guides will meet you
for a briefing for
the day. You
are taken by shuttle
one third of the way up the Bain's Kloof Pass.
The guides will share facts and stories of Mr. Bain and the building of
this pass. Here you will start walking down on a steep farm track
through the fynbos and vineyards to the
Doolhof Estate
for your first wine tasting
and get to hear more stories around this area.
Walk on to
Nabygelegen
along the Kromme River. We walk past Velvanpas, the farm on which the
Voortrekker leader Piet Retief grew up. We continue down through orange
orchards to arrive at Nabygelegen for a traditional lunch prepared by
Renske accompanied bya wine tasting presented by Jacques the winemaker.
After lunch we continue to follow the Kromme River. The shuttle will
meet you en route and take you to your vehicle where the walk ends..
Level: Downhill and level, easy hiking.
This day is filled with views. The start is at the Val du Charron/Dunstone
Estate parking area where you will leave your vehicle for the day. The
guides will meet you here at 08h00 for a cup of coffee and give you a
short briefing for the day. The walk starts along the foothills of Groenberg walking
gradually up and up past olive groves, mother blocks and vineyards. We
stop and take in the viewson Blueberry Hill where we have a short talk
about the oranically grown berries. We then cvontinue upwards, arriving at Broodklip at the top
of the hill. After a
short break we head down back into the Bovlei valley.We walk past
Redemption Leatherwith the option for some retail therapyof their fine
leather goods.. We
then arrive We then go to the Bovlei Cooperative, now part of Wellington
Wines for a tasting and lunch.
Uphills and downhills, energetic hiking.
Contact Details
Email: l
Elaine Wegelin - Phone +27 83 235 5570
Carol-ann Jeffrey - Cell +27 83 532 4131