A day at the Harbour House

The first staff function of the year kicked off in March. We decided on a relaxed afternoon of good seafood, good South African cider (such as Hunters and Savannah) and an up close and personal sea view.

Louis at MediaVision UK made snide remarks about the lack of adventurous spirit this side of the world, until I quickly pointed out that Melissa is rather heavily pregnant, so sand boarding and bungee jumping must, unfortunately, be postponed for a few months. Brett suggested that once Melissa is back from maternity leave we make up for it by skydiving into a shark cage, so never let it be said that we aren’t a hardy nation. We may not have the cold (although this autumn is something like a South African ice age) but we know how to rough it. Just not this time because Harbour House is pretty much as cushy as you get.

Situated in the Cape fishing village of Kalk bay, which is a little bit hippie and artsy, yet olde-worlde and even slightly trendy at the same time. You can occasionally pick up a first Edition book at the dusty, cluttered antique stores along the way and you have your pick of atmospheric restaurants and coffee shops. Sandy’s irrational and intense dislike of boats means that Harbour House is as close and we’re going to get to the ocean as a team. And it’s not a bad substitute for a swaying boat and sea sickness. The restaurant overhangs the harbour and the large glass windows afford a panoramic sea view. Unfortunately, the sea was rather grey and listless for our staff function.

After a great deal of dithering over the menu roughly half of the team opted for calamari while the other half chose the line fish of the day and assorted veggies. Neither half was disappointed as the food was quite simply outstanding. Darren was struggling to stay awake through dessert but we attributed it to a full tummy and gloomy weather rather than a lack of beauty sleep and tequila Thursday. Brandon was a little preoccupied because he couldn’t decide how the long lunch should be logged into our production system, but the conversation and cider flowed nevertheless and we decided to hit the metropolis of neighboring Fish Hoek to find the place with the best Italian coffee, which just happens to be a French crêpe shop run by Melissa’s authentically French husband, Yoel.

‘Excuse my French’ recently had its grand opening. Yoel sports a beret while flipping pancakes behind his polished wooden bar counter (handmade by the man himself). The good Italian coffee took second place to the sinfully decadent ‘nutella and cream’ crêpe that Yoel made in a matter of minutes. But then, alas, the clock had inched its way to close of business and we parted ways to continue the weekend’s celebrations independently.

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Tags: team day