I recently spent the weekend at Blue Gum Country Estate to celebrate my husband’s birthday. We wanted a proper getaway spot – a place that feels hidden and untouched by the bustle of life, but that is still close to interesting locations for exploring, as we are quite the social butterflies, and enjoy visiting coffee shops and restaurants and meeting people on our travels. We couldn’t possibly have found a better placed spot than Blue Gum.
Located just outside the quaint little town of Stanford in the Western Cape, the first thing you notice as you drive up the gentle gravel road to the estate is the enormous Blue Gum tree growing on the front lawn. It is this that gives Blue Gum its name, and it served as a welcome marker during our Saturday morning run around the grounds – as long as I could see the tree, I knew I could manage the return distance.
We arrived on Friday evening and were met by the warmest welcome I have ever received; a theme that was continued throughout the weekend. Owners Anton and Taryn take extreme pride in the value they place on their staff and it shows – from the wide smiles when you walk in the door, to the animated good mornings at breakfast, to the genuine interest that Anton takes in each of his guests, stopping by their tables at every meal to chat about their stay and their journey.
We stayed in one of the five Mountain Cottages, beautifully decorated spaces with an emphasis on space, and the kind of warm wooded, English country style furnishings that had me frantically taking interior decorating notes for my own house. The patio opened out onto the garden, set against a backdrop of the mountain overlooking the estate. Tripadvisor reviews have said that the rooms are so lovely it is hard to leave them, and I can certainly attest to that fact.
Hard as it was, we did leave the room on Saturday to cruise through the Hemel-en-Aarde Valley for some much anticipated wine tasting. On our way to the wine route, we stopped off at the Hermanus Country Market, held every Saturday at Hermanus Cricket Club.
This eco-friendly market boasts some of the best organic and homemade produce in the Overberg region, with delightful finds like home-baked artisan breads, farm fresh olives in every imaginable flavour and my personal pick, huge jars of raw honey at an absolute steal of a price. We stocked up on as many picnic nibbles as we could carry and headed off to the wine farms.
Our first stop was Domaine Des Dieux, an unusually tiny boutique cellar set at the very top of the valley, with heart-stopping views that go on for miles. After picking up a few of bottles of their award winning bubbly, we headed off to Creation to try their newly released Sauvignon Blanc vintage, a tastebud treat in a bottle, which we enjoyed over a delicious lunch on the deck overlooking the dam.
Sated and satisfied, we headed into Hermanus for coffee at the famed Bientang’s Cave, where tables and chairs spill out of the cave interior onto the rocks of Walker Bay for a salty-aired dining experience.
Returning to the estate later that evening, we elected to have a light picnic supper of market munchies in front of the fire in our room instead of a meal in the restaurant. The cosiness of the flames against the pitch dark gardens outside the window made us feel like the only people on earth.
At breakfast on Sunday, I had the opportunity to sit down and chat with Anton and his passion for what he does is palpable. He and his wife Taryn took over managing the property from her parents 5 years ago, and his commitment to continuous improvements is evident in every aspect. From the décor to the delicious food, to the attention to detail in each guest’s experience. He delighted in telling us how his father-in-law converted the restaurant in which we sat from an old sheep shed, and was endlessly interested in our ramblings during the course of the weekend.
Blue Gum is a country gem where the warmth and welcome lingers in your memory long after the weekend is over.
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Text & Images: Lauren Austin