Volunteers

Once again we have many thank you’s due to volunteers who helped us in the second part of 2016 and early 2017. These included Yoann, Nina and Tina from Germany, Anthony and Margot from France and Nick from South Africa

Everyone left happy we think and we got some heart-warming emails.

Winemaking

Nina and baby Winston

Margot and Leena

Yoann

"I spent one month and a half in Fynbos as a volunteer and it was a really great experience. When you enter this place, first you fall in love with this beautiful spot in the middle of the mountains and when you fall in love again but this time you do this with all the persons working there and the owners. It was really great to see these people every day; they all had good vibes and a lot of experience and knowledge to share with me. 

I already saw the wedding and events season, I can't wait to go back there to help with the harvest and discover this atmosphere which makes a really good wine.

Now that I'm back in my country I really know that I was lucky to live in a place like this with beautiful people in this beautiful country. 

Thank you a lot for everything!!!”

Yoann

Nick

Is like 5 months or something sinceiI’ve been there? So by now you and Johan must be on the cover of 'natural medicine' with that diet. (But loved every moment of ever inch gained!)  I often think of that time , it was more challenging than the places I’ve been to before in terms of work and general relationship  I smile about it as I’ve learned many great lessons , with you I had a lot more time to figure things out regardless how 'clownish' it might’ve looked I always appreciate the slowness in experiencing something new …I’m very grateful the experience and thought about you a lot with this incredible draught , I do hope you have a lot of harvest , I think I would’ve enjoyed the grape pickings , can you imagine me? I can hear you say 'nick you must bend' …. I trust you are well ,do send all my love to Gail and Johan , also for the dogs , I really enjoyed Karl , he was one of the coolest dogs I’ve met in a while! 

I hope we continue to write, if not reconnect again eventually

Much kindness

Nick 

Leena and Grace

Fynbos Estate was the perfect place to be for my 1 month wwoofing plans! Escaping from cold & grey Europe for a while to discover a country that had been on my list for such a long time was great! And it was perfect timing, too: after a week of helping with different things on the farm (weeding the vegetable garden, labelling bottles, sanding & painting chairs, etc.) the harvest started. What a gift to learn about and participate in wine making at a small-scale winery! Joining the picker team in the morning to harvest beautiful (and tasty ;-)) grapes while glancing at the beautiful landscape every now and then was simply gorgeous. And for sure it also teaches you a lesson about the hard work wine making involves… After a few hours of sun and heat and bending down one does look forward to helping with the grape processing in the winery during the afternoon - hard work as well, but shade, cool temperatures and Charles & Doubt who are truly fun to work with. And lucky me to also have met Andy - the associate wine maker - and his wife Becky during the last week of my stay! Their enthusiasm and knowledge-sharing was simply great! Cooking with the other wwoofers in the evening was fun too - though I would recommend other wwoofers to split up in cooking teams as to have a free evening every now and then during the week (weekends are off anyway!). 4 weeks went by super-fast. But I very much enjoyed the experience, the learnings, the people at the farm and all the stories - and also the great accommodation! Will be back to South Africa for sure... 

Leena Kuhne

WORKSHOPS, RETREATS AND WINE TASTINGS

Here are some of the many different workshops, retreats and wine-tastings that have happened at Fynbos over the last few months. We are delighted at so many happy, well fed (and on occasion, well-wined) participants.

Shambhala Buddhism 9 day retreat

This was their yearly retreat here. And they are back early next year if anyone is keen to participate (see link below).

 

Comments

Shambhala never fails to attract a beautiful variety of people. This well-attended retreat was no different. The aspirant heart warriors came from all over the country - and beyond - and represented the unique diversity of this land. On this occasion commonly inspired by the prospect of contributing to a borderless Enlightened Society of the Kingdom of Shambhala. And if that sounds like too lofty or esoteric an ideal, we practised it every day, walking through the vineyards together, eating local food, and sipping tea together on the stoep - SA style. 

The week at Fynbos Estate, felt like being home. The magical surroundings under the Dragon Ridge, the wonderful home cooked food, and the warmth of our hosts Diana and Johan, consummated the occasion with abundant grace.  

Shambhala Training Levels I-III 

https://capetown.shambhala.info/

University of Stellenbosch Music Department writing retreat

Comments

The writing retreat at Fynbos Estate with senior graduate students and postdoctoral fellows has been a long time a coming. For many years I have looked to find a place – not too far from Stellenbosch or Cape Town – where a group of us could spend time together writing, reading, discussing, relaxing, cooking and eating together in beautiful and tranquil surroundings. The Farm House and Owl Cottage more than met with our expectations. The house provided ample rooms and tables where we could meet in small groups and discuss work, the beautiful gardens had benches and tables where individuals could withdraw and focus for a morning or an afternoon on completing a section of writing, and the entire group could gather in the evening before dinner around the fire in the lounge to discuss the progress and issues relating to a particular piece of work or study. The space was big enough to allow privacy and alone time, and intimate enough to facilitate good conversations and a spirit of togetherness. The kitchen was very well equipped and we had some memorable meals with some of the left-over tasting wines of the estate, which are excellent. And those gifted bottles of wine from the tasting room speak of something else: the generosity and hospitality of Fynbos Estate that made our stay so unforgettable. A piece of the farm will be in each of the theses and dissertations that were discussed and worked at during our week there. And I know the retreat will be a cherished memory for everyone who attended the retreat. Speaking for myself: I look forward to bringing the next cohort of young academics to Fynbos Estate soon.

Prof. Stephanus Muller, Africa Open – Institute for Music, Research and Innovation, Stellenbosch University.

Biodanza retreat

This was the third Biodanza retreat held at Fynbos, and as always we enjoyed having this lovely bunch of people here on the farm  

Comments

We all give a hearty thumbs up to you guys and to your beautiful place. Thumbs up to the accommodation, thumbs up to the food and wine, and thumbs up to the energy and peace of the farm. We hope that we can organise more Biodanza retreats at Fynbos in the future.

Facilitator (Shumi) and group.

http://www.biodanza.co.za/contact/

Engine Room international workshop Engine Room international workshop

The NGO `Engine Room’ has supported more than 200 organisations all over the globe to accelerate social change through the use of data and Technology

Comments

I think I can speak for the whole group when I say this has been an

exceptional experience for all of us. Your place, your kindness and

your responsiveness have made this workshop a blast for everyone and

our guests all had a wonderful time at Fynbos.

Can't express how thankful we all are, we will most definitely keep

coming back to your place!

Julia Kaseru

Facilitator

Everyone was thrilled with the whole experience.

Your support from start to finish was amazing and hugely appreciated. We will definitely be recommending you and the venue to friends and colleagues :)

Anneke Victoria

Human Resources Director

The Engine Room |

 https://www.theengineroom.org

Lise Marie and friends: food wine-tasting and laughter

Comments

How much we wanted to experience it all over again, and how thankful we are.

Gerda Lise and friends

Norwegian tour

A large group of Norwegians tourists once again enjoyed two nights at Fynbos.

Comments

On behalf of the Norwegian group, I would like to say thanks very much for the wonderful stay at Fynbos Estate last week. We enjoyed it all: the stunning location, the good “vibrations”, the excellent wines and food – and, last but not least, the warm and friendly welcome by you and the entire staff.

It was also very interesting to learn more about the ideas, philosophy and reality behind running such a rewarding and demanding project.

John and I are looking forward to visiting you with yet another group next time, next year, hopefully.

Warm regards to all,

Anne-Marie and John

Nathan’s Vision Quest Retreats

Comments

Thank you for a wonderful stay, beautiful venue and sincere hospitality 

Nathan Raaths.

outofbodyguide@gmail.com

`Unwined’ wine tasting and lunch

Comments

On behalf of our wine club ‘Unwined’, I would like to thank you for the most enjoyable wine tasting and lunch on 11 June 2016. We all thoroughly enjoyed it and we appreciate all the effort you went to, to make it a day to remember!

Thanks to Gail too for all the organizing.

Claire and Clive Lake for Unwined

Fynbos Photos

Approach (dna photography)

Left Unconscious Right Goldfish (Diana)

Left De Perdestal door Right Pear and chocolate (Gerda)

Left Summer cut Right Ozama (Caro)

Blissful Rupert  (dna photography)

On the way home (Diana)

Carl (Gerda)

Eagle roof (Diana)

Volunteers late summer and autumn 2016

Thanks go to the final of the season’s volunteers.   We crowned Emma from the US, `label queen’, after she spent days and days writing and then stamping wine names onto labels. She also painted various signs and worked weddings not to mention sharing anti-Trump tirades.

Caro from Hamburg worked weddings and cooked and helped wherever she could. Lucky lass went on to have a fantastic trip north which included working at an elephant sanctuary.

And here for two months between school and his studies was Jonas from Germany.  His family own a large distillery and he came to get experience in wine. Jonas was very helpful in the winery, and labelled his fair share of wine. He also became renowned for glass polishing before weddings.

And then just an additional note we had a lovely visit from Sven and Geri, once volunteers now friends. They are hoping to return to Cape Town to spend much more extended time and although they would be based in Cape Town, we know we will see lots of them on the farm.

Comments

Caro (Hamburg)

 My two weeks on Fynbos Estate were a refreshing time. I stopped here between my travels around the South African coast. Right from the start I felt like being part of the farm, part of the family and fully embedded in the farm dynamics. I worked with lovely staff and enjoyed being with all the lovely animals. I spent time in the wine cellar helping to clean old bottles and making room for the new harvest. Besides, I did some wine labelling, I renovated the sign for the restaurant and cooked with Johan in the kitchen. On the wedding weekend I was part of the helping staff. I really enjoyed the nature in that rural place and that I could work with my hands.
The farm is situated in awesome landscape, surrounded by a mountain range. On my days off I did some hiking enjoying the beautiful view over the valley and over several vineyards. Thanks to the lovely place and the lovely people. Thank you for having me!

Emma (USA)

Hey guys you know that you guys are all amazing and the farm is amazing and I don’t want to leave, and will be back for sure

Jonas (Westawald)

It was a very good experience for me. Thank you. 

VOLUNTEERS: SPRING TO SUMMER

There have been lots of friendly and hardworking volunteers over this time.

South African drama student Chante Geary, composed a song for Fynbos (see video clip bottom of page).
New Zealander James Templeton helped label wine and serve at bar.  Ronja Mienert from Germany got wedding organisation perfected for us and loved being in the garden too.  Marie Schreiber, also from Germany, gardened and worked like the devil at weddings.  Dido Voorma from Amsterdam volunteered while doing her Masters on Swartland Independent Producers (SIP), and she poured all of her considerable passion into discovering and drinking wine and cooking delicious food. For a while Dido’s boyfriend Jurian joined her and did the mammoth task of clearing our Zimbabwe creeper as well as doing a fine job at the bar.  We are delighted that Dido and Jurian are returning for 3 months on the farm to help with harvest and wine marketing.

Clockwise from top left: 1) Dido grows basil. 2) After the party with Chante, Marne, Dido and Johan. 3) Dido and Jurian. 4)  Chante and Dido labelling wine.

And then we had a short but wonderful visit from Sven Walther and Geraldine Blatter, who volunteered the year before last for many months becoming really part of the Fynbos community. They brought their friends from Ethiopia - Alexandra Huber, Rami Ahmed and baby Ilai.  Best of all they are hoping to return here for a year or more.

To you all we are very grateful for your help.  Much thanks.

Clockwise from top left: 1) James washing Sweetpi. 2) Sven & Gerri. 3) Marie on a painting job. 4)  Sven,Gerri, their friends & Ronja. 5) Spring volunteers with part of the wedding team.

Clockwise from top left: 1) James labels wine. 2) Gail and Johan with Chante, Dido and James. 3) Ronja at a wedding. 4)  Jurian and Stephan do bar.

Comments

Dear Diana and Johan,

Thank you very much for everything!

I loved my stay here, sleeping (the art hut, Farmhouse, Fynbos house, the Restaurant), eating and working at your farm.

I will miss you, the team and the animals.

I am looking forward to seeing you again! 

Ronja

Dear Diana and Johan

I can’t begin to describe my time here. It was more than I ever hoped for. You made me feel so at home. Fynbos is a magical place, where I could think a lot about my life. Of course I will be back in only weeks time, and I know will miss Fynbos and you a lot.

Thank you so much for letting me in your life, I enjoyed every minute of it

See you soon,

Lots of love

Dido

Dear Diana and Johan,

The last three weeks have just been amazing. I'm really glad I decided to do Woofing in South Africa and decided to do it on your farm because otherwise I would have missed out a lot! I would have missed out the wonderful peaceful time, when the Buddhists were there. It opened my heart and mind, because I can't take it for granted to meet people so incredibly kind and inclusively. It was the perfect start in year 2015. I also would have missed out the biggest wedding you've had so far! It showed me how strong the whole Fynbos family is, and what you are capable of without going mad! Chapeau! And I would have missed out all the lovely people and animals I met. Your place is filled with love in every corner. That made my stay really special. I found paradise on earth. 

Thank you Johan and Diana, Gail, Miggie, all the amazing Zimbabs!! the donkeys, cats, dogs!

I will not forget you and promise I come back for harvest - one day!

Wish you all the best!!

Marie  

My people

I think about you guys all the time and I love the photos.  Is Dido and her love still there? And the workers, my little Natasha.

From sleeping on a mattress at the floor of the mountain at Sonkop to sleeping in the chapel in the windy night air. I learnt a lot about people, nature and working hard. Taking afternoon strolls after working in the garden and moving chairs for the wedding on the plaasbakkie. What a cool experience on the most beautiful farm.

Hope u guys are smiling.

Good energies

Chante

A steady stream of lovely Volunteers

Over the last six months volunteers from all over the world have brought their skills and talents to Fynbos.  As usual they did many different things; finishing off the new venue, helping at functions, bottling wine, gardening, cooking, and during February, winemaking.  And as always they each brought their particular energy to Fynbos contributing to its ongoing vibrancy.

Volunteers pictured below include Carolin Hauser from Copenhagen who has a wonderful eye for design and photography, Lucille Broussolle who is doing a Masters in agricultural engineering in Montpelier France and Chloe Ewes, a physiotherapist from the UK, who has a special way with animals and was ace at selling wine. Lorin Bohm and Jacobus Wille from Cape Town brought their DIY skills to bear on finishing the new venue and Charlie Grosman a champagne maker from Champagne, led winemaking in the first harvest weeks. Charlie was helped by Raimund Peckover from Pretoria who plans to farm his family farm, Simon Wolf from Germany who was here building township schools and Theo Huttel also from Denmark who was on his first big trip away from home. Craig Du Preez from Durbs, is working to get small businesses sustainable and so after helping with winemaking, assisted us with marketing strategy. Alex Frow from Gauteng came straight from school, cooked up a storm and is passionate about scalelectrics. The one woman making wine was Suzanna Ruckert also from Germany.

Also volunteering were Marc Stanley who restored furniture in between his studies at Rhodes University, and Swedish Gosia Stechman, who works in TV along with travelling the world. Initially she volunteered for two weeks and then, to our delight returned for another month. Finally Charmaine Orie from Amsterdam, and the French wind engineer Gaelen Ruiz with his social worker partner Rebecca Gaillard, helped us with a wide variety of tasks.

(See comments and correspondence below photos).

Clockwise form top left: Alex, Theo and Raimond bottling, Charlie Grosman and Raimund Peckover, Carolin with Abraham and Brazi, Chloe on dog duty and Carolin Hauser.

Clockwise form top left: Volunteers around the table, Chloe Ewes doing her thing at the SIP tasting, Craig helps with wine marketing, Marc at the bar and Lucille painting the new venue.

Clockwise form top left: Gaelen and Jacob DIY, Gaelen and Rebecca prep for a wedding, Marc and Gosia with Johan and Sweetpi, Rebecca finishing her mosaic table and Raimond serenading.

Clockwise form top left: Gosia chilling, Lorin and Jacob painting, Simon bottling with refreshment, volunteers take time off and Suzannah Ruckert on pump duty.

Clockwise form top left: Gaelen Ruiz and Rebecca Gaillard awith Johan out for lunch, Staffing a wedding, Theo helping barman Stefan and volunteers toast with Gail. 

Correspondence and Comments 

Carolin
I'm Carolin, 20 years old and my home residence is Copenhagen, Denmark. I am studying building engineering, but needed a break. I wanted to be more outside and work with my hands, instead of reading all the time. I wanted to experience a new country and its culture while meeting local people. 
WWOOFing was just what I was looking for. I was taking a half-year off from studying and visited and worked on four different farms in SA.
The description of Fynbos Estate on the SA WWOOFing list convinced me right from the beginning and the farm is not far from Cape Town City.  
Fynbos Estate was the first farm I visited. It is a lovely farm placed in a beautiful valley. There is always a lot going on at Fynbos Estate, which resulted in that I met a lot of interesting people. I did a lot of different work and learned many new things. I was never bored on the farm. There was also time to have a walk up the mountain or to visit CT during the weekend. 
One of my tasks at the farm was to feed the animals (three donkeys, two sheep, two goats, two gees and two ducks) every evening, which I enjoyed a lot. There are also three lovely dogs and two cats on the farm. One of the cats shared my bed with me during the night - lovely. 
I had to prepare my own breakfast and lunch, but supper was together. The food was very delicious!
Johan and Diana are one of the most lovely couple I have ever met. They made me feel a part of the farm, teached me a lot and I loved to talk with them.  
There are also some very kind permanently workers on the farm. I enjoyed their company and had fun, when we worked together.
I stayed 4 weeks at Fynbos Estate and had a great time, which I will never forget. Fynbos Estate became my home in SA. 

Gosia 
Thank you so much for having me! I’ve had a wonderful time and wish I could have stayed longer. Thanks to Johann for his patience with my (lack of) cooking skills. I hope to see you all soon again
Love Gosia

Lucille 
Dear Johan and Diana,
I send you a little message to give you some news.
 I really enjoy my weeks on the farm and my week of travelling to go to Johannesburg. I could see more landscapes of South Africa, it was wonderful. After that it was really hard to go back to France!
But now I went back to school and it quite strange after a year of working and travelling. I hope I will be able to find my last internship in an african country, I really want to come back on this continent!
Jacobus learnt me that Sweet Pea came back some days after my left, it's amasing!! I hope you had nice holidays in Angola.
Kind regards
Lucile Broussolle from France

Gaelen and Rebecca 
Hello the Fynbos team!
Happy new year from Swaziland! Our stay in Cape town was great and the place in Campsbay was amazing. Now we are in Swaziland back on trip.
Thank you again for the stay it was super great.
See you in France if you come. Take care
Gaelen and Rebecca 

Jacquelyn and Jacob
Hi you all
We are from the United States of America! Jacob attends school in North Carolina and Jacquelyn attends school in Kansas. There were two major reasons why we wanted to wwoof; the first was the opportunity to live as the "locals" do and the second was to grow/improve in a variety of skill sets. The wwoofing organization is very reliable and a fun way to travel and see the beautiful world we live in! We chose Fynbos Wine Estate because they provide a variety of jobs that can be done and there is always a place for any type of volunteer. Anything from cooking to laying tile pathways was available. As well as the unique opportunity to work with olives and grapes that we helped form into oil and wine. Not to mention, Fynbos is located in an extremely beautiful area. The mountains that surround the property are something we miss waking up to everyday. Our experience at Fynbos was incredible. The diverse group of people that we were able to meet was our favorite part of our time there.  We were able to work two conferences, a wedding and paint cabinets for the kitchen. In addition, Diana and Johan are very fair when it comes to work schedule and giving volunteers time off because there are days when you must work hard and stay on top of everything that needs to be done. They also are good about allowing you to work on tasks that are most interesting and fun for you, for example we expressed an interest in painting/gardening and Diana began to give us more tasks in that line of work. We learned so much from Johan through our conversations in the kitchen and loved chatting with Diana most evenings at dinner time. Both individuals are extremely hard workers and very inspiring people and we miss our time at Fynbos very much. The experience went by so quickly but was very wonderful and provided a great learning experience. Please update us on the estate, conferences, yourselves and the pups! We miss you both! 
Love, Jacquelyn and Jacob from the US

Suzanne Rückert  
I chose to stay at Fynbos Estate for a few weeks in January and February as I am interested in wine making and farm work in general. Furthermore I think it's so much better when you experience a country not “only” by travelling, but also by living with and learning from the local people.
During my stay I felt a little like at home and I enjoyed that there were some other volunteers around. When it comes to work we helped in the winery: bottling of last year's wine and pressing of the new grapes – really hard work to do it the traditional way. We also helped during preparation for the weddings that were hosted at the farm. All in all there were always lots of things to do and never a shortage of work. But it was always fun, only the heat was sometimes a pain in the a...
In our free time we could “chill” in the garden, hang out at the pool or explore the beautiful surroundings. The area is just perfect for hiking. There was also time to spend a long weekend in Cape Town.
In the end I have to say that I had a great time and I'll probably come back to South Africa soon.

Theo
Hello dear Diana and Johan!
The reason to why i chose the farm, was because of the wine. I have always been interested in how the process of wine went, and to try working in this sort of environment. I found the farm, amongst others but Fynbos seemed to have a lot more to offer, than other farms, which they also did. Because what i learned, was more than just the wine making process, but also how the infra-structure of South Africa works, and i got to get closer to the “real-deal” of Africa, than if I just had travelled as a regular tourist.
(anything more you want me to add? Its hard to narrow such a nice experience down to just a few words, hehe)
I chose to go home a little earlier, than what i expected, in order to go to Morocco and Thailand, so that i can take a cheap diving course, so that i can be a qualified diver, and then head back to South Africa and start from Durban this time, so that I can get some more surfing going on! But the rest of my trip in South Africa, was by far one of the best travels i have journeyed, and thanks for everything, i had a GREAT time on your farm, and the memories from Fynbos shall never be forgotten!

Stonework to astound

Alice Cohen sent us this link to some extraordinary stone work.

For more see

http://designtaxi.com/news/354377/Japanese-Artist-Creates-Amazing-Sculptures-Out-Of-Stone/

Spring volunteers at Fynbos

With spring came Hillary Thornton from Oklahoma, and shortly after and overlapping, Tania Dinnery and Glen Holst from Australia.

Hillary

Hillary had just been an intern with a wildlife photographer in Mossel Bay, where she won a competition with the photographs below.  At Fynbos she worked in the kitchen and the garden and took lots of lovely pics some of which have already been posted.  The photo of her above was taken at Rocking the Daisies which she and the other volunteers attended.

Letter

My last days in CT were wonderful. I met several great people in The Backpack, and we all had a BLAST. I am now back in America -- currently in Oklahoma, but this weekend I am moving back to Chicago where I will continue my job hunt.
I love reading the blog and seeing everyone's pictures -- it definitely helps me to still feel connected.  I think about you guys all the time and how grateful I am that you took a chance on this silly American city girl!

Tania and Glen

Tania and Glen have both done a lot of travelling and have homes and families in Perth (Glen) and Tenerife and Barcelona (Tania). They worked like demons - in the garden, fixing things, painting, cooking, and Tania’s favourites, relating to the sheep and looking after guests.   Originally they planned to stay for just a few weeks, but ended up staying over a month.  It was great to have them.

During their stay here Tania and Glen spent time in Hermanus where they watched whales and dived with sharks. They loved both.

Letter from Glen and Tania

Five weeks ago Tania and myself arrived at Fynbos Estate for some volunteer work. Originally we had only planned to stay for three weeks though we loved it so much we stayed on for five.

Diana and Johan are really lovely people, both of them make you feel so welcome here, as if we were here at home. Their warm hospitality, beautiful farm, amazing food, range of animals and large variety of work duties has mad our stay here very enjoyable and left us with some great memories.

During our stay here, on one of our weekends off work, Tania and I were given one of the cars from the farm and spent four days away on the coast in Hermanus staying in Diana and Johans awesome holiday house. Hermanus is one of the best land based whale watching towns  in the world and we did indeed see a lot of whales. We also spent a day cage diving with the great white sharks. A great weekend.

Unfortunately all good things must come to an end and it’s our time to leave.