On Saturday we decided to take a road trip with the kids
while we still had money in our accounts (we all know that feeling) and while the petrol price is still
down (not for much longer)….
We took a trip to the Clay Café in Hout bay, it was a
wonderful day and I highly recommend this trip for anyone who has children of
any age.
Before I get into anything else I will explain that the Clay Café
is a pottery farm/ restaurant where you can take your kiddies or even just
yourselves, you can choose a ceramic piece from a wide selection to hand paint and it is then fired
for you and you have a wonderful piece of your own to take home, or you can
simply take your kids to play while you have lunch etc, they even host birthday parties which by the looks of things on Saturday they are very much popular for.
The trip itself took about an hour but we had to stop off in
Bellville to fetch my mom in law so it would probably have been a bit shorter
if we had gone straight from table view; it was a fairly easy and strait
forward trip however, not too long that the kids got irritated which is always
a plus- miserable kids in a small space is never fun.
The route was simply exquisite, the road sides surrounded by
lush forestry and gorgeous trees I thoroughly enjoyed the drive. It was easy to find along the main road there
is a sign directing you from the road side, the side road into the actual farm
area was a bit rocky and treacherous being a narrow dirt road but I think this
adds to the rustic charm.
When we arrived we went in and were met by a lovely, friendly
group of ladies who explained to us what we needed to do, the boys chose their
ornaments which took a long time as there were so many to choose from and then
the fun began… it was very messy but a lot of fun, I have to say that the boys
did get a bit distracted by the play area outside so I was a bit disappointed that
they didn’t spend more time on their pieces, but once they were done they went
off to play while we sat down outside on the patio.
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| Very happy with his bunny |
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| Gabriel chose a bear |
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| Ouma helped Jesse but he was not interested in anything but the brushes |
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| play area |
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| Jumping net |
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| Play gyms |
The play area is amazing- jumping castles, play gyms,
climbing walls and jumping nets, the boys could have spent the rest of the day
just playing and there were so many other kids it really was lovely for them-
it felt safe and really comfortable in the way that only parents would
understand, often it is hard to find a place that is child friendly.
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| True Monkeys... |
We ordered pizza and chicken strips with chips for the kids which was really good
and very much worth the cost- apart from a large but simple menu they also have
an array of baked cakes, brownies and fudge…. YUM, which you can also take to
go… my only hang up with the restaurant, was that the menu is written on boards
which you have to go and check, I prefer to have a menu in front of me at the
table, but that was a minor annoyance and I am probably the only person in the world who would find this annoying but I have a husband who takes forever to order and kids are extremely fussy so it didn't work for me personally.
My only hang up with the clay part was that we only learnt
after the kids had started painting that you have to go back to fetch your
piece in 2 weeks or 10 days’ time, I did not see this anywhere on their website
and I have to say it probably would have influenced our decision to go there as
it was a fairly long trip, but that aside having actually been there now I was
very impressed and we are more than happy to return there in 2 weeks.
We left around 1pm as we needed to get back to my in laws
place but honestly we could have spent the entire day there it really was a
lovely family trip, well worth the time and cost, they also have specials on
the ceramic painting which made it more affordable and they are open 7 days a week.
Unfortunately my camera died so I couldn't get any photos of the route on the way back or photos of their finished pieces.
I have to say this trip brought about many fond memories for me of my pottery classes in High school.
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