Probably a bit of a wild car for the daily total 10kms driving one does in CT, but maybe for those ‘crazy days’ when you feel like hitting the Hout Bay market and taking the coastal road.
In a darker time of my life, I lived in Joburg. I actually didn’t have that bad a time, when I wasn’t sitting in traffic. But for the most part of my life there, I was spending quality time adding up number plates and trying ‘make the numbers balance’ while I did my daily 40 mins to and from work. Don’t pretend you haven’t been there. CT also has traffic, I’d be lying if I said it didn’t. But unlike Joburg, there is usually a quick detour – you just have to know where to go. And thanks to the Tom Tom Go Live 1000 device I’ve been using for the past few months, I’ve literally not sat in traffic once, because this unbelievable piece of technology tells you when there’s traffic, and then directs you around it. Can you say BTFF? (Best Traffic Friend Forever)
Did you know that South Africans actually rate as some of the most frustrated drivers in the world? Not surprising – traffic basically dictates our lives – when we leave, from where… it’s a nightmare. I would like you all to experience the joy of never having to sit in traffic again, so I’ll be giving away the latest TomTom Via 120 to a CTG reader, and to win, you simply need to upload a video of yourself singing Queen’s “I want to break free” in traffic onto the TomTom facebook page. Here’s John Cleese doing his version, just to get you inspired:
Once you’ve upload your video onto the TomTomSA facebook page, send me a link to it and you’ll go into the draw to win the Via 120. If you read the facebook page competition, you’ll see that by entering there, you also stand the chance to win the grand prize of a Renault Megane AND one of 4 break free adventures to places such as Costa Rica, Namibia, Antarctica and a TRIP TO SPACE. Yes just go check out the competition page – it will blow your mind. So just to recap:
You singing + video + send link to me could =
and
(I’m not giving away the Renault – just the TomTom). You’ve got 2 weeks to get me your entries. Editor@capetowngirl.com. Go!
Check out the video from the VW Date Drive a few weeks back :) Also featured is Tracy McGregor, Dan Nash and Dylan Jack. Check out the other date drive videos live on the website too.
So last Thursday night we test drove the new Polo GTI by taking it from the 12 Apostles Hotel to Hout Bay Manor, where we enjoyed a meal and an overnight stay, and then we drove it back to town. Please just forget everything you ever thought about Polos right now, because what’s in your mind is probably further from what this car is like than Maria Shriver is from her groping governator ex-husband right now.
The car we drove was a dual-automatic, which means you can switch between gears and automatic. The gears, when you choose to use them, are operated on two paddles behind the steering wheel, and there are SEVEN OF THEM. Good thing too, since someone with a sense of humour in the VW Polo design dept drank a Red Bull and then decided to put NASA’s new rocket engine inside this car, and not tell anyone. Frightening thing to discover when wearing heels and winding along the coastal road at night. It would also explain why they strapped a heart-rate monitor to me before sending me off in the Polo. No doubt the VW team were sniggering at the intermittent heart attacks I was having while applying light pressure to the accelerator going into the corners, as one does.
By the time we arrived at Pure Restaurant at Hout Bay Manor, I had the post-rollercoaster shakes, and the red wine, prawn risotto, venison shank and malva pudding did much to ‘calm me the f down’. We settled into our suite for a night in the gorgeously rustic Hout Bay Manor. We stayed in one of the Sangoma rooms. The service and staff were just impeccable. Think enormous metal bath tubs with a huge bed and unexpected African touches that made the experience a unique one. Please enjoy the vibe at Pure below:
And then there was the drive home:
If you’d like to test drive the Polo GTI, head over to datedrive.co.za and sign up for one. It’s a great experience. They’ll lube you up, strap a heart rate monitor to you, give you a date kit complete with perfume, gum, breath freshener and a netflorist voucher, just to round it off nicely. Really not a bad way to spend an evening.
Follow @datedrive on twitter to follow others going on their Polo GTI test drives.
Recently picked up one of these:
Reason being, I’ve become pretty dependent on Googlemaps for directions. And when I say dependent, I mean if I am required to leave Gardens, I will use it. I just don’t see the point in squinting at road signs and driving slowly annoying other drivers while trying to locate venues – asking the iphone, and getting an answer, just makes sense. Until I discovered this TomTom, which looks and behaves like an iPad, but it’s dedicated to directions. Some people have said HEY CTG WHY DIDN’T YOU GET THE TOMTOM APP FOR IPHONE SHAME LOL.
Here’s why: my phone is my phone. I am usually using it to whatsapp my BFFS, or to check my updates. Switching between apps when trying to navigate is inconvenient. Plus I am all for dedicated technology. My iPhone 4 is my pocket computer which I sometimes take calls on. My iPod plays me music. My laptop is where I work. My iPad is where I read. And my TomTom takes me places. PLUS – wait for it – this one tells you when there’s a traffic jam, and finds you a new route to take instead. Yeah. Totally bi-winning.
Designed by British musician Paul Weller, to be auctioned for charity. Who is Paul Weller? Let’s google. English singer-songwriter, started out with British punk group ‘The Jam’ (??). Then branched off into “the more soulful ‘The Style Council’”. He is apparently known as ‘The Modfather’ - oh dear. Never heard of any of this. Whatevs. Don’t care. Going to close Wikipedia and walk away from men who have become iconic puns. Cute car.
That I have nothing against Tazzes. Really, I don’t. Some of my best friends are gay, black Tazzes.
CTG
Yawn...
Some of us go out on a Monday morning to get coffee, others go out to get a Ferrari. A Ferrari that looks like a girlie Peugot, but a Ferrari no less. Nice one Marc. Look it’s no ‘Porsche at 21′ but a ‘Ferrari at 24’s gotta be okay… You want one? You’re looking at about R2 million. Yeah start that startup right about now… another angle perhaps? To really get you going?
What do we think? Do y’all approve? Actually spotted this a while ago, and then saw it again yesterday morning, and I still like it. It’s like the tattoo test. If you want a tattoo, wait 10 years, and if you still want it, get it. Okay so it’s nothing like the tattoo test. But it’s a very very pretty car… also love that it’s parked in front of a NO PARKING sign.
Parked outside my place yesterday. Pretty, yes?
Would love a little beastie like this for Sunday drives. Please don’t tell me ‘how much petrol it guzzles’ or ‘how expensive the parts are’. Is not the point! Is beautiful!
