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Trawling through the web, the words ‘Steam Train Wine Festival’ immediately caught the eye of Ryan, our Chief Entertainment Officer. Wine and trains? What more could a guy ask for!? After little to no convincing, his wife was as excited as he was … they hopped on board and were treated to a fantastic (and indulgent) day out! Read on as he tells you all about it.
The day started off at the bustling Park Station a couple of Saturday mornings ago. The sold-out event saw a diverse group of excited Joburgers all kitted out with blankets, picnic baskets and plenty of alcohol, ready for what the day had in store.
We boarded the steam for our two-hour excursion to Magaliesburg. The trip itself was so nostalgic – there’s something soothing yet strangely exciting about a train ride! There was an extremely fun-filled atmosphere on board, and bottles started popping from as early as 09:30am! People were certainly getting into the sprit of things from the get go … as we travelled through the stunning Gauteng countryside, strangers instantly became friends (I won’t say the wine didn’t play a part here!).
We arrived at the Magaliesburg station and an amazing market with an abundance of fine wine, leading artisanal food producers, cheese, fresh bread and live music. Just in case we hadn’t had enough to drink, we were each handed a bottle of either the De Redley White Merlot 2015 or the Boucheron Pinotage 2012. Both bottles were absolutely delicious! In addition to this there were various other wine options that were available to taste … once we’d checked everything out, we settled down to enjoy our picnic in the sun – pure bliss!
Those that brought children along didn’t need to worry – kids were kept entertained by a mechanical bull and jumping castle so that moms and dads could kick back and relax – it’s safe to say that a great time was had by all. The only down side of the afternoon was that we had to leave the picnic spot earlier than we would have liked!
Once we were back on board, the good times continued … the trip back was even more jovial than the first leg ... we blamed our morning of drinking in the sun (I must say - day drinking is a skill!).
All in all, the Steam Train Wine Festival was a fantastic and unique experience that we will definitely be doing again!
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