Adventure Lifestyle Show – Meerendal Wine Estate – Durbanville

Directions

N1 from Woodstock

At the fork take a left towards Century City

Exit 13A (N7)

Turn right at the signboard “Durbanville”. This is M48 but it is not labelled on the signboard.

Turn left once you arrive at the entrance.

Upon approaching the wine estate, I came across a sign that said this was the start of the Durbanville Wine Route. I had no idea where the start of this wine valley was, heck I didn’t even know where the Stellenbosch and Franschhoek wine routes began though I’ve been a frequent visitor. The scenery on the way to the wine estate was dry and dull – this could be seasonal or due to the recent water shortages, but I was optimistic about the wine estate.

Attending the “Adventure Lifestyle Show” was a first for me. The event was hosted on the grounds just before you enter the actual wine estate. I made a mental note to make a trip back here to taste the wine on offer and experience what the estate had to offer.

Back to the main event – The Adventure Lifestyle show was all about extreme outdoors like camping and adventuring. Although I do not do camping (yet), it’s definitely part of my near future plans. “Adventuring” is me in a nutshell. I noticed that the bulk of the attendees were from an Afrikaans background as were the exhibitors so it may have been handy to keep a few Afrikaans phrases on hand. And it made sense as extreme outdoor activities are most popular with this demographic. I would love to encourage other demographics to get involved in being more connected with “The Great Outdoors” as Western Cape has so much to offer in this regard. Affordability may be called into question but collectively people can make a difference. The event had a small buzz, no where near the large crowds you would see at popular Cape Town markets.

I test rode one of the Specialized bikes called Epic Evo. I’m currently a road cyclist and I want to further my horizons with mountain biking – literally and figuratively. This was my first time ever riding a mountain bike in the modern era and it was such a beautiful experience. The bike feels like you’re on a quad bike as it effortlessly smoothens rough terrain making you wonder whether you are riding on gravel or tar.

I will definitely be back to continue exploring the Durbanville wine route and hopefully come across some gems.