Flying South

The Final Countdown – 1 (Thursday)

davidt — Thu, 6 Feb 2014 23:00:00 GMT

It seems a little weird to think that today was my last full day in the country before heading home. It’s going to feel quite strange coming back to the UK after so long away but I’m very glad that I’ve still got a week after I get back before I start back to work. Still, my flight being tomorrow evening, a lot of today was spent sorting and prepping so it doesn’t take too long to pack in the morning. I’ve got a 30kg hold luggage and 7kg cabin luggage allowance but I got an awful lot of books for Christmas so I’ll probably be doing a bit of shuffling around to hit the allowances. Hopefully I won’t have to leave anything behind but I’ve checked the costs and an extra 5kg would cost me R2415 which is about £135 so I suspect anything over weight will be staying here, for now at least.

Other than that today I took Amy for a last lunch with just the two of us. Deb will be joining us tomorrow I think. We went local because Amy had stuff to do afterwards but we had some of the most amazing pizza. This evening was spent at the theatre in the Monte Casino complex watching Rocky Horror. We were a touch late going in so I didn’t bother grabbing an audience participation pack in the foyer – bad move! It’ the first time I’ve seen Rocky Horror at the theatre and I have to say it was bloody amazing. The whole cast were fabulous and the guy playing Frank-N-Furter was awesome. He had a real repartee going with the audience and wasn’t afraid to confront them when necessary to “keep control”! All in all an awesome way to spend my last evening here.

The Final Countdown – 2 (Wednesday)

davidt — Wed, 5 Feb 2014 21:00:00 GMT

Today was another shopping day. I’ve been trying to pick up a Springboks rugby shirt while I’m here and up until today, every time I found one they didn’t have my size. This morning Amy and I went shopping. We started off at the African Market in Rosebank where I picked up some pressies to bring back with me for various peeps and then we headed to Sandtown to look for the Rugby jersey. This time they had my size so all is well at last. I picked up a couple of other bits and pieces I needed and now I can report that my list is complete so tomorrow, as my last full day here, can be spent as I please. Not quite sure what I’ll be doing yet but there are a few options on the table.

Meantime, this evening I took Deb and Amy out for a kind of farewell dinner. We’re busy tomorrow night so we slipped it in a day early. We went to Browns of Rivonia which is a fantastic little place. Although not the cheapest in town, the food is excellent. Their wine cellar is impressive to say the least and the ambiance of the place was wonderful. If you ever find yourself here you must try the duck and black cherry spring roll starter, it’s the best. We got back around 10 and Amy and Deb have both hit the sack. I must admit, once this is posted I won’t be far behind them.

The Final Countdown - 3 (Tuesday)

davidt — Tue, 4 Feb 2014 23:00:00 GMT

Today has been another fairly quiet day. I went out for lunch and a bit of shopping with Amy. My main requirement was a slightly larger bag for hand luggage as I have quite a few books I got for Christmas and I don’t want them to eat my hold luggage allowance. We eventually managed to get something that suited my needs but we passed through quite a few different stores to do so. Who’ have thought buying a small bag could be such a pain.

This evening was one I have long been waiting for. Pretty much since I got here Amy and Travis have been promising to cook prawns in an amazing lemon and garlicky sauce you can buy here… And today was THE day! Amy had picked up the prawns and sauce while we were out and I’d grabbed a couple of bottle of white to go with it (well it would be rude not to!) and this evening we had the best prawns I’ve had in my whole visit, along with a very pleasant meal together on the patio.

The Final Countdown - 4 (Monday)

davidt — Mon, 3 Feb 2014 23:00:00 GMT

After the long drive home over the weekend, Monday was mainly spent downloading pics to the PC (which I am still sorting through but don’t think I’ll get any more posted before I’m home, at which point expect the rest all in one hit!) and generally getting washing done etc as I’d been away almost 3 weeks.

While I was doing this Amy was running around her Uni sorting out and registering for the courses she wanted to be on for next term. She got back having not really had lunch and quite tired from all the running around she'd been doing but I'm happy to report she was not too tired to come with me for lunch at a local Indian Restaurant. I have to say eating out Indian here is very different from the UK experience. The popadoms were a little strange and they came with a spicy chutney or a mint and coriander dip but apart from that the food was excellent and made for a very enjoyable lunch.

This evening I took Amy out for all-you-can-eat sushi. Deb was also invited but she’d been back at work today and I don’t think she was really feeling up to anything other than couch. (Can’t say I blame her, I’ll probably be the same after my first day back too!) The sushi was really good and we had a great evening but it was a close run thing. In order to get value for money from the all you can eat you actually have to eat quite a lot of sushi, but we made it and I think were R40 or so up on the night.

Amy had also warned me that all the times she’d been there had never seen a single piece go uneaten. It looked for a while like we were about to let the side down on that but with a valiant joint effort we managed to finish the last two pieces, although I was so full I had to leave half of my last beer!

The long drive home

davidt — Sun, 2 Feb 2014 23:00:00 GMT

Although it didn’t seem it on the way down, mainly due to the fact that I flew to the halfway point, it’s quite a slog from Paternoster to Jo’burg. We did the trip over two days, with 9 hours driving one day and 7 or so the next. We came a more central route north of the mountains so the scenery was very different from the coastal route we’d been on most of the trip.

The first thing I noticed about the scenery was that it was big. By that I don’t mean necessarily in size but scope. The landscape did change along the route but slowly. I mean 2 or 3 hours of the same scenery not changing not looking any different. It was desert scrub land for the most part, with mountains in the distance, and boy did those mountains take a while to reach.

We saw some interesting birds of prey over the two days we were travelling. We can’t be 100% on some of them but we’re pretty sure we saw, among other things:

Verreaux’s (Black) Eagle

Tawny Eagle

Booted Eagle

Black Harrier

Chanting Goshawk

Peregrine Falcon

Amur Falcon

Greater and Lesser Kestrels

We stopped on the Saturday night in a little place called Colesberg, in a guest house which was an old farmhouse and was being run by a old lady whose name I forget, but she was lovely and she had some wonderful stories about the place her family and the local area It was an amazing little place with some antique guns on the wall as you climbed the stairs. I couldn’t identify them all but there was a percussion shotgun (side by side), some sort of fancy percussion rifle, what appeared to be a cut down percussion musket which was stamped for the Tower and what was either a Lee Metford or a Mk 1 Lee Enfield (long nose).

We ate out at a little place billing itself as the best lamb in town. Sadly this was more a statement of optimism than fact. It was ok (for ok read edible) but not the best lamb I’ve had here by a long way. Sunday’s drive was more of the same although the countryside was less desert and more farmland in look and the birds of prey were more kestrels than eagles. As long drives go, this one was not too bad but the Sunday definitely seemed to drag more than the Saturday!

2 Days in Paternoster

davidt — Fri, 31 Jan 2014 21:00:00 GMT

I’m sitting here on our last night in Paternoster, very conscious of two things. 1) this time next week I’ll be on a plane and homeward bound and 2) we have two very long days of driving and a ridiculously early start tomorrow.

Paternoster has been a very different couple of days to what we’ve had for most of this trip. It’s been very relaxed and laid back and incredibly hot. It was up to 38 degrees at one point today. We’ve not really done much since we’ve been here. We ate out yesterday lunchtime and I managed to get me a full lobster this time instead of the half I had last time. The lobster was every bit a good, if not better than the last one. After that I took a long walk around the bay along the beach. Looking on Google maps I reckon I covered about 10 miles. Most of that as on deserted beaches with only the waves and sea gulls for company.

Yesterday evening was passed with a late supper at the apartment and a good book on my kindle. For anyone interested, the book in question is American Gods by Neil Gaiman, a classic I’m re-reading and also one of my top ten all time faves.

This morning I headed out with Amy and Travis to the West Coast Fossil Park which contains the Langebaanweg fossil site, world-renowned for its exceptionally well-preserved fossil faunal remains that date to the terminal Miocene/early Pliocene (circa 5.2 million years ago). The deeply buried fossil deposits were uncovered during phosphate mining started in 1943. Solid phosphate rock was mined for armaments and later for fertilizer and it is thought that many tons of fossils were crushed up along with the rock before scientists were made aware of their existence. Today the site offers a tour which gives a wonderful glimpse of a paleo-archaeological dig sit and has a large area of uncovered dig on show which is literally oozing fossils. Over 200 different species have been identified on the site. The tour also includes the on-site lab and goes through some of the fossils they have on general display. Our guide, Patricia, provided an intelligent and humorous commentary to the whole experience. For anyone with more interest their website is here: http://www.fossilpark.org.za/

The rest of the day was once again spent reading and lounging around as the heat of afternoon was fierce. This evening we took a spin out for supper and now everyone is grabbing early nights as we have about 900km to do tomorrow and the decision has been taken to leave at 7! So on that count, it’s goodnight for now…

Goodbye to Cape Town

davidt — Wed, 29 Jan 2014 23:00:00 GMT

So today we left the Strand and headed north (north west?) to Paternoster. We took a slightly convoluted route in order to swing past the Franschhoek Motor Museum. We had passed the place earlier in the week and a quick google had revealed a collection so vast it would be rude not to visit! We duly attended today, en-route, and it was definitely worth the visit. They have 4 large hangers housing the ‘on-show’ part of the collection. The rest are housed elsewhere and we have been told that is you can, the time to visit is when they are changing round what’s on show. Still the collection we saw today was impressive on its own. Everything from a Model T to Ferraris, Bugattis and Jags. There will be an album of some of the best going up later but for now you’ll have to take my word for it, if you’re in this neck of the woods then the Franschhoek Motor Museum is a hidden gem that rates ‘must visit’ in my book. After that it was back in the car for the drive to Paternoster. The drive took us across the top of Cape Town and then headed up the coast through dune country for an hour or so. Paternoster itself is one of the oldest fishing villages on the west coast of the country. From what we’ve seen so far it’s a mixture of really fine sandy beaches and rocky areas where the waves crash ashore. The sea here is definitely the Atlantic, and it’s bloody freezing, at least it was this evening! The origin of the name is unknown but on one old map it’s shown as St, Martins Paternoster. The place is known for being hot and dry, almost Mediterranean, but with high offshore winds. We’re here for the next couple of days before moving on to a half way stop on our way back to Johannesburg but there are several things we’ve marked on the list for while we’re here. The main one, eating. This area is renowned for its Crayfish – the spiny lobster I mentioned in a previous post, so I suspect we’ll be hitting them once or twice while here, especially if they’re not too pricey! There is also a vast variety of sea and birdlife in the area and I’m hoping to spot plenty by paying a visit to the Cape Columbine Nature Reserve. Also of interest, but I need to find out more information first, is a mention in the welcome pack for the place we’re stopping in of “the West Coast Fossil Park, one of the richest fossil sites in the world.” Apparently the bones of over 200 different species have been discovered there in the last 40 years. They do guided tours so I’m hoping to get on one either tomorrow or Friday. One final note for anyone who didn’t see the pics on Facebook yet. The self-catering cottage we’ve rented is wonderful. Although open plan, it has a massive dining area, the table is awesome, lounge and kitchen. It has 2 bathrooms and 3 bedrooms, which makes the sleeping arrangements nice and easy, and it actually has views to the sea! We sat at the dining table for supper and had fish and chips ZA style. The chips were more non-crispy McDonalds fries than a trad British chip but they were very good. The fish was either snoek or hake. I tried the snoek and I have to say it definitely gave me a moment of homesickness and a longing for a large portion from the local chippy! Still not too long now and I can grab a bag!

How to get drunk while being a tourist!

davidt — Tue, 28 Jan 2014 23:00:00 GMT

Any day that starts with brandy must be a good one, right? Today we were touring the wine regions outside Cape Town on a hop on/hop off style wine bus. We were also joined for the day by one of Amy’s oldest friends, KP and all in all we had a pretty damn good time.

First stop was Van Ryn’s distillery where they make the best brandy in South Africa. This is not just their opinion and they have won awards around the world to prove it. We did a tasting before our tour and we opted for the chance to taste their 12, 15 and 20 year old varieties, with accompanying chocolate and a coffee as a palate cleanser between tastes. I’m not the biggest fan of neat spirits but I have to say I thoroughly enjoyed all the brandy we tasted and would recommend Van Ryn’s to all.

After the tasting we took a tour of the distillery and were taken through the brandy making process. This was very interesting and seeing the still room with its gleam of copper from the 8 stills was pretty cool. The highlight of the tour had to be the barrel making demonstration. The cooper, Jackson, was amazing and took us through the entire process from shaping the wood right through to finishing the barrel and fitting the base/lid. The variety of tools used was impressive and they had all be hand/purpose made by the cooper himself. When finishing off the barrel there was an almost musical moment as we got to hear what was referred to as the Cooper’s Tune, a moment when the craftsman and his craft combine to produce a melody out of their work. I have some video so I’ll get it posted when I can.

After Van Ryn’s we headed to Klein Zelze for lunch and another wine tasting. We sampled 5 different and interesting wines and, due to our interest, were given a sixth one to compare which had been opened for a VIP tasting the day before and would not normally have been available to us. The lunch here was also very good indeed and the wines we had with it were amazing. Amy selected both wines and one was a rosé which we had tasted earlier and the other was a red called Luddite which looked interesting. It was around £35 per bottle with the current exchange rate but worth every penny. I know people say you can get some perfectly good cheap reds but this one was definitely a case of getting what you paid for!

Our final stop on the trip was at Bilton which specialises in matching wines with chocolates. Four more wines later meant I was getting pretty tiddly and I was glad in a way that this was the last stop on our tasting trip. The wines and chocolates worked well together though and it was a very pleasant end to an amazing days tasting.

Cape Town, Buses and Helicopters

davidt — Mon, 27 Jan 2014 23:00:00 GMT

Cape Town City Tours - Hop On/Hop Off busses were the order of the day. We had tickets for the cable carat Table Mountain so the plan was to do some touristy sight-seeing for the day starting from Table Mountain and finishing back there at the end of our buss adventures, at which point we would take the cable car and go see the views. I was particularly excited as my friend Denise, who has been to Cape Town, had sung their praises to me and told me it was a 'must' when visiting here. We picked up our tour tickets on board and headed for our first stop at the V&A Waterfront. This is also the location of the offices of the tour bus company and I wanted to pop in and see if it was possible to upgrade my R150 day tour to the R1350 special with a helicopter flight thrown in. As it turns out, it was possible and everyone else went for the upgrade also. Our luck was running today so within 15 minutes of upgrading we were collected and taken to the base of Cape Town Helicopters where we set off, after a quick safety briefing, on our Two Oceans helicopter flight. I have to be honest, I was expecting a quick flit up and down the harbour, as the R1200 for the upgrade is about ﾣ67 at the current exchange rate, which would get you didly in the UK. Here it got us a monster 40 minute flight all the way around Table Mountain, following the coast except where we crossed the peninsula just below the mountain and above it where we cut back across Not sure how far the flight was as I still have to check it on google maps, but it was fabulous. It's been a while since I last flew in a heli and so it was an absolute pleasure to renew my acquaintance with this form of transport The view we had were amazing and I honestly believe this was one of the bet spur of the moment decisions I've ever made! Once we were back on the ground we had a fish and chip lunch at the restaurant in the Aquarium after which we were back on the bus to head to the castle for the 2 o'clock tour. Sadly we missed the bus we needed so we also missed the tour by around 15 minutes. Still, for all that the castle was well worth a visit. I say castle but to any of my re-enactment friends, you would recognise it for what it is, a star fort, Dutch, circa 1666. However, here in Cape Town it's known as a castle and, apparently, nothing you say will convince them otherwise! The oddest thing about it is that today it is in the middle of the city. When it was first built it was on the coast, which highlights how much of the modern city is reclaimed land. The 'castle' is also a working barracks of some description so there are quite a few squaddies hanging around. Mainly lasses which was notable in passing. The place has some excellent little displays and galleries. I visited their Boer War exhibition and the main gallery relating to the military history of the place. Travis managed to find the old magazine, the dungeons and a re-invigorated blacksmiths shop where an actual smith practises his art for the public. All in all a fascinating little stop for which we could easily have used 2 or 3 more hours had time allowed. Sadly it did not and so it was back on the bus and off to the cable stop for Table Mountain. The cable car at Table Mountain i very interesting. Normally in a cable car you find the nearest bar and hold on for dear life and sure enough that's what everyone did, right up until the attendant asked us all to let go of the bars, step back from the sides and enjoy the ride as the car/floor revolved to let everyone share the view! The trip up was pretty quick considering how far we had to go and before we knew it we were on the table top. I won't say too much about the top, except that, as I had been warned, the view were breath taking and the scenery top sides was fantastic. We walked the whole perimeter of the top and saw some amazing views all round. The top remained clear the whole time we were up there but the clouds were drifting in below us and covering the lower tops on either side. Not quite the table cloth but close and watching the clouds pouring over the peaks and down the sides of the mountain was superb. The trip down was better than the trip up as the car was not as crowded so the viewing was even better. I'm not sure how far up/down he cable car goes but the whole trip is no more than 3 minutes of so all in. The views we had seen were comparable to the views earlier in the day from the helicopter and the whole thing was a very memorable experience. Once we were down we headed off for supper. Initially we took the route which carried on from the way we had driven up to the cable station but the road was closed off with a chain so we had to back track. We headed into town and went for sushi at a place Deb had found online where we had the most amazing supper at a restaurant billed as the best sushi in Cape Town. It's the only sushi I've had there, so I can't say for certain, but it was certainly some of the best sushi I've ever eaten!

Robben Island

davidt — Sun, 26 Jan 2014 19:00:00 GMT

Today we went to Robben Island. For those who don’t know, this is where Nelson Mandela and many other political prisoners spent a lot of their prison time. The entire island is now a museum and the only people who currently live there are museum staff and workers. The only way to get to the island is to sign up for a tour. On doing so you can book to go via ferry or, if you have the cash, you can get there via helicopter. We took the ferry!

The journey out to the island is about 20 minutes. I picked the wrong side of the boat to stand on the way out so I didn’t get the best views in the world of either Cape Town (looking back) or the island itself (looking forward). What is did manage to see on the way out were several seals or, I think more likely, sea lions and also a trio of penguins floats contentedly on the swell.

Once we docked on the island we were asked to board busses for the island tour. The tour is quite short as the island is not too large but it covers the old church, owned by the Anglican Church and so never demolished or replaced, and some information about the leper colony that went with this period. The church is still owned by the Anglican Church and as such is the only privately owned building on the island. After that we saw where It also covers the cottage where Robert Sobukwe was held indefinitely with no charges and the village where once the guards and their families lived on the island. The village is now used to house the museum staff who work on the island. As such, it has its own emergency ambulance, post office etc. It did have a school but this was closed in 2011 and the children now have to take the ferry to school each day on the mainland.

The final point of call for the island tour was the quarry. There are 3 quarries on the island, one to the north, one to the south and the one we saw in the middle of the place. These quarries are where most, if not all, of the political prisoner did hard labour the old fashioned way with picks and shovels and wheel barrows.

We were then taken to the prison itself where a previous inmate escorted us around the place and generally became our tour guide for the final part of the day. We were shown around the buildings in a brief, functional way with the odd anecdote here and there from our guides own experience. We were shown the exercise yard, the cells, including the one where Mandela was kept most, the punishment area and the larger communal cells where the women, and some of the male politicals were kept (although not together). After that we got to follow in Mr Mandelas footsteps and take his final walk to freedom, from the prison exit down to the harbour where we could board our boat home.

The sea was much heavier on the way back but I managed to pick the right side of the boat and was well positioned for some great views and pics of Robben Island as it receded behind us and of Cape Town and Table Mountain as thy grew before us. I also managed to spot a few seals/sea lions and plenty of cormorants and gulls on the homeward journey.

I have to say, this was the first time in my trip that I saw Table Mountain looking as I had expected it to look. If for nor other reason, this made the whole trip worthwhile although I think it would be very interesting to come back in 40 years or so, when this country is under new management as it were and all of the guides are just that and are no longer ex-inmates, whose story has a definite bias as they tell it. All in all, well worth the trip.

Wine, cheese and monuments

davidt — Sat, 25 Jan 2014 18:00:00 GMT

First stop today was Haute Cabriere, a small winery in the Franschoek wine valley. This place is the home of the Pierre Jourdan range of sparkling wines along with its own range of Pinot Noirs, Ratafia (really sweet pre dinner white) and a Chardonay Brandy. Our clear tour/tasting was conducted by Achim von Arnem, the Cellar Master and Chairman (although currently handing these duties over to his son) who told us a great deal about the history of champagne making along with some seriously wonderful anecdotes about the winery and his family. As designated driver I only took a brief sip of each of the six wines made available for tasting but they were all very enjoyable. Amy got to participate during the tour as one of Achim’s specialties is opening champagne bottles with a saber, for which he requires with each bottle the assistance of (and a kiss from) a pretty girl. Amy dutifully stood her turn and got to wing the sabre under Achim’s guidance. For doing so she was later ‘knighted’ and received the cork from her bottle mounted on a small presentation stand. If you would like to know more about Haute Cabriere their website is www.cabriere.co.za After the tour had finished and we had all taken the chance to purchase some of the produce, we quickly headed off to our next appointment, Fairview Winery (www.fairview.co.za). This is another small winery that also makes it’s own cheeses, including goats cheeses. The restaurant is aptly named the Goatshed, as indeed goats may be found around the site, particularly near the entrance where there is an enclosure where the goats have a tower in the middle. Think Rapunsel but with clean white goats! (This place even does a ine called Goats do Roam!) The food was excellent and the cheese board I shared with Deb for dessert contained some definite delights, although it also had one not so great cheese too in the ten we got to sample. We were so impressed with the cheeses that we rushed off after lunch to the on-site shop and brought a selection to go with the wine we’d purchased earlier. I’m definitely looking forward to supper tonight. Our final stop of the day was at the Afrikaans Language Monument near Paarl. This imposing monument was officially opened on the 10th October 1975 and commemorates Afrikaans being declared an official language and a separate one from Dutch. The aim of the monument seems to be to strengthen Afrikaaners sense of identity and their pride in their native language. I will be posting some pics later but I’d suggest you google it anyway as you’ll probably get more of an idea of the symbolism contained within than I could impart to you here. The view around the monument were also pretty special, looking as they do across the valleys to the mountains on most sides. I’d have to say this place is definitely worth a visit for the views alone, even if the object of the monument seems a little strange…

To the Cape

davidt — Fri, 24 Jan 2014 23:00:00 GMT

Today’s plan was simple, head round the coast road to visit the Cape of Good Hope, maybe making a couple of stops along the way. We’d read that catching the rush hour can add hours to the journey so we waited until after 9 before heading off.

We started out slightly later than planned but the run round the bay from The Strand was very pleasant. The sea front here is reminiscent of every sea front location you’ve seen on tv that is somewhere hot and sunny. Wide walkways, golden (almost white) sandy beaches and lots of beautiful, and not so beautiful, people enjoying the place. Between built up areas the coast on the bay seems to be mainly dunes and some of the views looking out are great. It’s quite awesome to look out and see the points on both sides of the bay. You really get a perspective on the geography of the place.

Our first stop was in Muizenberg to visit the cottage owned by Cecil John Rhodes, in fact the very place he died. The place is now a small museum with 3 rooms which pretty much covers Rhodes’ entire life in it’s small but well crafted layout. The interesting thing for me was that the place gave me more feel for the man than anything else, and I believe this is by intent. This guy really was one of the giants of history. By visiting the cottage it also meant I have now visited the start of his funereal journey as well as the end, his grave which I visited in Matopos while we were in Zimbabwe.

After this we headed to a restaurant called the Brass Bell, on Deb’s advice, for lunch. The Brass ell is actually 4 slightly different places under one roof, as it were, although at least one of the areas is actually outdoor. We ate indoors as the wind across the bay was pretty fierce and between the four of us we demolished 2 extremely large Crayfish Platter’s for 2Two (A quick note here for all those reading this in the Northern Hemisphere: a crayfish down here is the name for a spiny lobster, not for a crayfish as we know them.) It consisted of half a crayfish each, a fillet of line fish 3 or 4 large prawns per person and more calamari than you could shake a big stick at, all accompanied by rice, fries and salad. The place also did some great craft beers. I sampled an Amber Weiss and a Pale Ale both of which were really good. Along side al of this Deb and I did sample a couple of G & T’s, after all “it’s hell in Africa!”

After lunch it was onwards to the Cape. The area itself is a national park here and the scenery is as g and untouched as it must have appeared to sailors throughout the ages. There is a car park almost at the end from where you can walk up, or take a kind of tram thingy, to the top of the first view point/lighthouse. From here there is another walk which leads down the side and across an exposed ridge to the far end of what we discovered is Cape Point. The views were amazing, if somewhat vertigo inspiring, and the coastline here is way beyond rugged but with large doses of awesome. We saw a strange lizard which I have yet to identify and a rock kestrel on the way over and on the way back there were a couple of rain belts moving in which managed to catch us. Being on the sheltered side of the point at that time we didn’t get too wet and I did catch an interesting picture of the two swathes of rain moving towards each other across the sea.

We then headed through the park to the actual Cape of Good Hope as shown on all the tourist guide maps for more photos and to enable us to say we’d done the job properly! This is also a great place, even more so than Cape Point as you don’t have to climb anywhere to get to it. There is a scenic walk up and over to Diaz beach but that is, thankfully, optional. The rocks here were jammed with some type of tern and a species of cormorant. So many that there didn’t seem to be an unoccupied patch of rock anywhere within view.

We then left the park area, later than intended and headed for Simonstown to try and catch a glimpse of the African Penguins in the colony at Boulder’s Bay. The actual colony is in a mini national park and so we decided to give that a miss a take a walkway which runs alongside it. From there we saw all the penguins we could wish for, close up in the greenery which has been ‘managed’ to hide the colony from the walkway, but also by looking through the gaps and over the top to the beach and rocks themselves. I have to say penguins, despite all the warning signs about their bites, are every bit as cute and loveable as when you see them on tv. I will post a small spot of video at some point to make this point more obvious!

After this Deb navigated us over the tops, the views leaving Simonstown and heading up were amazing, and down to the western coast of the peninsula from where we took the route over Chapman’s Peak and through various local towns to Cape Town itself. It was getting dark by this point but my main impressions were of the grandeur of the coastline in the dusk and the picturesque, almost ethereal quality of the towns and villages when their lights were seen in the distance. Chapma’s Peak itself is insane. How you come up with the idea to pretty mush build a road around and over a mountain, right on the coast, where no obvious route for a road actually exists, is beyond me, but they did. You end up with a road which I would very much like to travel again in daylight as the view must be awesome by day. There is even one point where they are awesome by night. The road has been build into an ‘almost’ tunnel in the cliff. I say almost because, from where we were driving, if you opened the sun roof and half of the car was under ‘tunnel’ and one half wasn’t – brilliant!

Once we hit Cape Town we took a brief tour along some of the sea front there by night (This seems to be where all the clubs and nightlife is happening,) and then headed out past the world cup soccer stadium and on back to the Strand and supper. From what I saw Cape Town looks fabulous and I’m really looking forward to seeing it again in daylight!

Furthest South

davidt — Thu, 23 Jan 2014 21:00:00 GMT

Today was mainly another travelling day. We had some ideas of places we wanted to hit en-route but the main aim was to end up at the flat we have rented for 6 nights at the Strand near Cape Town. As we left Swellendam we initially headed for Bredasdorp with the idea of making a decision at that point whether to head straight for Arniston, a small place famous for its fisherman’s cottages or to head straight for Agulhas and the southernmost tip of the African continent, which we definitely wanted to get to.

The decision was taken to visit Arniston as we had plenty of time today and, with our accommodation being already booked, we could arrive later if that’s how it turned out. Arniston itself was originally a fishing village but is now very much a village of two parts. The old fisherman’s cottages seem to be home to the less well off of the locals while the rest of the village is much more a modern holiday village of small and almost Mediterranean houses. As we were driving round the place Travis spotted a sign for a cave. (If you google Arniston you can read all about the cave as it turns out it has a significant place in the village history.) The cave turned out to be only reachable at low tide which was 2 hours away and we didn’t really have the time to wait for that. However, the cave was part way along a sand track through the dunes of the local area. The track is only suitable for 4x4’s so being in a 4x4 ourselves we had to go. It was very bumpy in places and the sand driving was interesting but all in all it was a splendid drive out to a headland and back.

After this we headed on for Agulhas passing through Struisbaai on the way. There is some debate over the meaning of the name Struisbaai but one of the most common theories is that it is named after the Dutch for Ostrich as local farmers used to keep Ostriches on their farms. Whatever the truth, the village itself is another old fishing village which has managed to escape over development and retain a degree of character, although now it is more known for leisure activities than the fishing.

Agulhas is very similar although seems to boast a lot more holiday type properties as we drove through. However we were not so much interested in Agulhas itself as in Cape Agulhas, a rocky headland just past the village itself which is the southern most point of Africa. It is also (technically anywhere between here and Cape Point) the point where the Indian and Atlantic Oceans meet. There is a marker on the beach and although it is very hard to get to the water due to the nature of the shore I did manage to get to where I could be photographed with one foot in each ocean, with a little poetic license that is!

Once we had finished with the photos and had taken in our fill of the scenery and I had gotten my head around exactly where we were and where I was standing we headed back and had lunch at a small place in Agulhas itself.

The remainder of the day was not so exciting as it was mainly driving on to the Strand and getting settled in. The place we’ve got is massive, more an apartment than a flat, with four large bedrooms and plenty of room for everyone. Once we’d unpacked we took a walk down to the beach which is at most, no more than 3 minutes walk from here. After the others had gone for a dip we had a pleasant stroll down the beach before heading for home. It’s now supper and a glass of red before bed and tomorrow we’re off to the Cape of Good Hope and Cape Point itself.

From Mosselbaai to Swellendam

davidt — Wed, 22 Jan 2014 22:00:00 GMT

Having touched lucky and found accommodation for last night with 3 bedrooms available we had quite a late start this morning. I guess not having to listen to me snoring allowed Travis to actually sleep for once!

Our first port of call was back into town to go and see something called the Post Office Tree. To explain what this is I need to give you a little of the history of Mossel Bay itself. (I’ll be honest, I’ve ripped this next bit straight from Wikipedia but it will give you what you need to know.)

Best known as the place at which the first Europeans landed on South African soil (Bartolomeu Dias and his crew arrived on 3 February 1488), the modern history of Mossel Bay began on 3 February 1488, when the Portuguese explorer Bartolomeu Dias landed with his men at a point close to the site of the modern-day Dias Museum Complex.^[2] Here they found a spring from which to replenish their water supplies. Dias had been appointed to search for a trading route to India by King John II of Portugal, and, without realising it, actually rounded the Cape of Good Hope before landing at Mossel Bay - which he named Angra dos Vaqueiros (The Bay of Cowherds). Dias is also credited with having given the Cape the name Cabo das Tormentas (the ‘Cape of Storms’), although King John II later changed this to Cabo da Boa Esperança (the Cape of Good Hope).

Dias’ excursion ashore ended hastily when the local people chased him off in a hail of stones.

By the time the Portuguese explorer Vasco da Gama reached the area in 1497, the Bay had been marked on the maps as Aguada de São Brás, (the Watering Place of St Blaize - whose feast is celebrated on 3 February).

Da Gama bartered successfully for cattle with the local Khoe people in what is generally regarded as the first commercial transaction between Europeans and the indigenous people of South Africa.

In 1501, another Portuguese navigator, Pedro d'Ataide, sought shelter in Mossel Bay after losing much of his fleet in a storm. He left an account of the disaster hidden in an old shoe which he suspended from a milkwood tree (Sideroxylon inerme) near the spring from which Dias had drawn his water. The report was found by the explorer to whom it was addressed - and the tree served as a kind post office for decades thereafter. (More recently, a boot-shaped post box has been erected under the now famous Post Office Tree, and letters posted there are franked with a commemorative stamp. This has ensured that the tree has remained one of the town’s biggest tourist attractions.)

The Post Office Tree can still be found in the grounds of a museum in the centre of town. The museum also has a replica of the Caravel that Dias sailed in. The replica was made for an anniversary and was siled from Portugal to South Africa. Purchase of the correct admission ticket allows you access to this ship and I have to say it is a great experience to step aboard, land-locked though it may now be.

There is also a shell and fish museum in the complex, the highlight of which was watching one of the staff entertain an octopus in one of the tanks. Our visit to the museum complex took longer than we had anticipated because it was much more than we expected and had loads more to do. Once we left we hit the road and headed west playing catch-up with our schedule.

We had a brief stop in Stillbaai to take a look at the beach, which is fabulous, let the ladies visit a factory outlet and to stock up on provisions for supper. After that we headed on towards Swellendam via what here count as dirt roads but in the UK would be dirt track. The scenery was amazing and the amount of wildlife we saw en-route was excellent. We seemed to be in blue crane country (the South African national bird) for most of the day and also saw a mongoose, African Sacred Ibis, various boks and birds of prey and more ostrich than you could shake a stick at!

We finished the day in Swellendam and managed to book a self-catering cottage at the Impangele Guest House (www.impangele.net). The place is run by David and Amanda Shackley. David tells us he’s been in SouthAfrica 8 years next week and, having just been granted permanent resident status is about to apply for citizenship. I can’t speak for the main guest house but the cottage we were in had everything we needed for a night stay and we spent a very pleasant evening over a long supper in the garden, where I am now sat finishing this entry. So take note, if you’re ever in the area of Swellendam and need somewhere to stay, Impangele Guest House is well worth a call..

On the road again

davidt — Tue, 21 Jan 2014 21:00:00 GMT

Once again we find ourselves on the road. We’re heading down the garden route towards Cape Town and have a couple of days to fill as we please before we are due at the accommodation we have pre-booked for when we get there.

We started the day by heading out towards Bloukrans but instead of going over the bridge we turned off and took the road to the old bridge. The road itself is closed but the fact that there is a sign saying such doesn’t seem to stop people here so off we went. The old bridge is at the bottom of the gorge where the new one sits atop it and so you have a long twisty route down one side, cross the bridge itself (which is much more palatable than it’s more modern counterpart!) and head up the other side. I’m not sure how long the road was closed for but it’s already got grass growing through the tar in places and an awful lot of fallen rocks at the edges. In places, especially where it goes over gullies, there is a reasonable degree of subsidence which makes the route interesting, although being in Travis’ 4x4 we were well equipped for the job at hand!

The scenery on the way down and back up was pretty cool too. At one point we had an amazing view of the new bridge further down the gorge towards the sea and got a real (as if we needed it) feel for exactly what the bungee jump involved! There were a lot of baboons on the road as we passed and we found a sign as we left the closed road warning not to feed the baboons from a stationary vehicle. I guess it’s fine to throw them scraps as you drive by though! ;-)

Our first stop of the day was looking for a rock formation on the coast called Cathedral Rock. Our first attempt came close but apparently we would have had a 6km trek to the rock itself along the beach. Our second effort was much more successful as a chap at the failed attempt had provided us with much better directions to the easier access route. We stopped in the car park by a restaurant called Enrico’s in a place surrounded by houses which, if they weren’t already, looked like they should be filled with the rich and famous! The car park attendant told us it was about 20 minutes down what turned out to be one of the best beaches I’ve ever been to in my life to get to the rock, so we duly set off in the indicated direction.

The beach was that perfect fine sand that only seems to exist these days in childhood memories and the ocean to our right was the most perfect cinematic mix of shades of green you could wish for. There were small fish in the shallows and, I’ve no doubt, sharks in wait beyond the breakers. The water was, in my considered opinion as a Brit, warm and in places bordered on hot and a very pleasant 20 minutes walking through the surf brought us to Cathedral Rock. The rock itself is a very high arch but what makes it so special is the smaller hole in the rock above which creates the effect of a small circular window above an arched window, hence Cathedral Rock. It was certainly worth the visit and the walk itself along such a wonderful beach was lovely.

We stopped in Plettenberg Bay for lunch at a little Mozambique place which, along with it’s more traditional food, did one of the best burgers I have ever eaten. After lunch we headed west once more and made our way, with a couple of stops, to Mosselbaai or Mossel Bay in its English form. We had managed to blag a self-catering flat for the night, a stunning find from Amy as we were en-route and once we had checked in we popped down to the nearby beach for a quick dip. After that we headed out to supper at a restaurant called the King Fisher, which had been recommended to us as the place to go if you wanted to sample the mussels which gave the by its name.

The King Fisher did not disappoint. The food was good and the wine also. The mussels were some of the best I’ve had and the garlic sauce was sublime. I think all four of us would recommend this restaurant to anyone who finds themselves in the area. The plan for the morning is to keep heading west and hopefully end the day in the vicinity of Cape Agulhas which is the geographic southernmost point in Africa and also has a marker on the beach showing official dividing line between the Atlantic and Indian Oceans.

The remains of the day

davidt — Mon, 20 Jan 2014 23:00:00 GMT

Having failed spectacularly to make the bungee at Bloukrans by way of collapsing into a gibbering wreck, what better way to pull everything back together than lunch at Marilyn’s 60’s Diner. This fabulous little place in Storms River village was the perfect American Diner, serving burger and shakes enough to content any fan of Presley, Monroe, Dean or even the Beatles. Alongside the obligatory brace of cardboard Presley’s were a couple of car boot sofas several late 50’s early 60’s BSA’s, a period pinball machine (turned off, although allegedly working) and an old Ford with a Do Not Touch on the side and an interesting sign in the front window regarding who could and could not pose on the bonnet! The food was good, the shakes were better and the music, supplied by a proper old style juke-box, was classic! Well worth a visit.

After lunch it was back to our chalet in Tsitsikama National Park. The plan was for Amy and Travis to take a hike up to the waterfall while Deb and I took the boat trip to the same destination. Amy and Travis I am happy to report completed their objective successfully, while Deb and I failed miserably. I managed to spend the afternoon on the balcony playing with my camera while Deb very graciously pretended to sleep in order that I not feel pressured into putting the camera away and heading for the boat trip.

The rest of the evening was pretty much spent lazing around the chalet drinking wine. We had another spectacular display of phosphorescence. It seems to happen every night and lasts longer than I stayed up on any given evening. I tried to get a few pics of the display and I’ve managed to get some lovely blue-green blurs on the shots which capture the colours but I struggled to find the focussing distance to get any more than blurs. We also had our most spectacularly clear night here and the display of stars was amazing. I have now seen and can identify the Southern Cross and have even managed to get a few ok’ish snaps of it which hopefully will give people an idea of how clear the sky here was and how little light pollution affects this part of the country.

Know your limits

davidt — Mon, 20 Jan 2014 19:00:00 GMT

This morning I found my limits. During the course of the trip so far I have jumped off the gorge at Vic Falls (3 different ways), been white water rafting down the Zambesi and even done a free falls tandem skydive but this morning I hit my limit. It wasn’t the bungee, I’m still hoping to try a bungee sometime and maybe to even come back and try Bloukrans again one day. No, it definitely wasn’t the bungee, it was the trip out to get to the jumping point that got me.

For those of you who don’t know, Bloukrans Bridge Bungee used to be the highest (longest drop?) bungee in the world. I think it currently ranks number 3 now, behind places in Switzerland and China. It’s a 216m (approx.) fall which gives you 5 seconds of free-fall on the first drop. Yes, the first drop, you bounce enough to get a couple of mini bungee’s thrown in for free! While I admit to being nervous about this one I did want to try it once. I figured the bragging rights alone would be worth it back home!

Unfortunately for me, and my undoing in a way, is the route you take to reach the centre of the bridge where you jump from. I’ll try and post a picture of the bridge but for now I recommend a quick Google search. Found it, good. You jump from the centre of the bridge on the curved section below the main road bridge. To get there you traverse a hanging walkway secured to the under-side of the bridge. With me so far? This walkway has a metal ‘mesh’ floor enabling you to look down through it into the, very deep, gorge below! That is what got me.

Some of you who have known me a while may remember the trouble I had with a certain gorge bridge in the mountains behind Neuschwannsteain castle in Bavaria. This was like that only a thousand fold. By the time we got across the walkway I was already a gibbering wreck and, as Travis was going first, spent the wait for my go trying to calm myself down with slow breathing etc. I did really well. When I was called I walked across to the seat and got strapped in and ready to go. I even stood and shuffled into the area just before the edge where they hook you up. I was still concentrating on my breathing and doing anything I could think of to calm down but at this point my body over-ruled my brain, my legs turned to instant jelly and to say I got tunnel vision would be an understatement. In the end I was left no option but to cry off and make my very shaky way back across the walkway to terra firma!

The aim of adrenalin activities is to make you face your fears and feel the rush but it also lets you find your limits and this morning I found mine. I’m not worried by this. Everything else I’ve tried here I’ve done, fear or no fear. As I say, I’ll probably try a bungee one day but not necessarily Bloukrans. I need to do a lot more work on my general fear of heights before I come back here again. That said, the views from the bridge were stunning! ;-)

Meet the gang…

davidt — Sun, 19 Jan 2014 19:30:00 GMT

In theory, after the shark cage trip, I had a full day in Cape Town to myself. Sadly the reality proved very different as I woke on the thursday morning, after a troubled nights sleep, feeling cold and very shivery, despite the fact it was 27 degrees outside! My day in Cape Town therefore turned in to a day in bed in my room. Thanks heavens for room service. Thankfully by Friday I was feeling better enough as I had a flight booked that afternoon to George where I was to spend the night.

The flight was one of the smoothest I’ve ever taken and, due to following the coast, the view out the window was superb. The scenery in this part of the country is fabulous and actually quite varied as you follow the coast. I arrived in George with no problems and caught my transfer to Acorn Lodge, the guesthouse I had booked for the night. Acorn lodge is a pleasant, slightly rustic little place where I was greeted with little ceremony but a great deal of welcome!

Having settled in to my room and changed it was off for supper. I’d asked Cathleen from Acorn for recommendations for a local restaurant and she had booked me in to a little Turkish place around the corner called Kafe Serefe. It was a great little place, with a very cosy atmosphere and on the night I was there even had a belly dancer going. (I have to admit, when dining alone, it’s quite hard knowing where to look when the dancer if performing for someone else but stood right by your table!) The food was great and, if you’re ever there I would definitely recommend the lamb’s liver cakes for your starter.

The highlight of the night for me had to be their wine list however. The moment I saw I could order a bottle of Old Man’s Blend red wine, I knew someone had tipped them off I was on my way!

The following morning I was picked up by Deb, who had just flown in to George and we set of for a place called Oudtshoorn to meet up with Amy and Travis. From there we drove to Cango Caves where Amy, Travis and I took the adventure tour and Deb took the standard tour. The adventure tour certainly lived up to its name. The cave system stretches around 5km of which the adventure tour goes about 1.something km in. During the course of the walk you get to walk, crawl and squeeze through several tight places in order to visit parts of the caves the regular tour does not reach.

I have to report that I failed to finish the course. We got to a tunnel called The Chimney. It was a kneel down, squeeze in, twist and stand up kind of tunnel with a maximum diameter for the stand up bit of 43cm. I was feeling distinctly claustrophobic at this point and when the guide mentioned my shoulders may be a little broad for the tunnel I got even more so. I was the last of our group to try and having poked my head in and looked up I had what can only be described as a full on panic attack and respectfully declined to continue.

At this juncture I made my way solo, part way back along the route we had come, to where the guide had instructed me to wait for the rest. I have to say, it was worth declining the chimney as the solo part was an experience in itself. There were a couple of tricky bits to get back through and being able to do so on my own was amazing. I almost, almost but not quite, got to understand why people would do this. Making your way through a cave system when the only sounds you can hear are of your own making and there is no-one else around was a very special moment. Mind you, if someone had come along about then and turned off the lights…

After this we headed back to Oudtshoorn for lunch. I can’t remember the name of the place but had the most amazing neck of lamb. Amy reliably assures me that Karoo lamb is the best in the world. I tried arguing the case for Welsh or New Zealand but, even after the neck of lamb for lunch, the best I could get was an agreement that I needed to eat more karoo lamb before I could give a really qualified opinion. I’m kinda looking forward to the research!

After lunch we headed back to George to drop off the hire car Deb had and then we headed south. We were aiming for, and made it to, Storm’s River Mouth Rest Camp. This delightful spot is in the Storm’s River National Marine Park and we have a chalet about 80m form the sea. I can’t say beach as most of this is rocks but this sound is amazing The surf really does boom here and the rollers are crashing in throughout the day.

The place is billed as between the forest and the sea and it certainly is that. Our chalet backs onto the forest pretty much and, as I said, the sea is within 80m too. We arrived quite late so after supper and a quick look at the particularly clear night sky, until it clouded over, it was time for bed. We’re here for a couple more nights so I’m hoping at some point for a clear night sky as light pollution here is pretty much non-existent!

Today was spent pretty lazily until lunch time. The highlight of the morning being when Deb noticed I’d actually had one of the few shaves of my trip so far! We headed slightly further down the coast road from our chalet to the restaurant and visitor centre where we had a delightful lunch followed by a short, 30 minute, trip out into the bay and then up the gorge of the Storm’s River itself. Well, I think it was that gorge, but it was a gorge none the less. The rest of the afternoon had been spent catching up with this blog.

I’ve managed to update the shark pictures but will not be uploading and further pics until I get back to Joburg or find proper internet elsewhere, as I connected via my iPhone this afternoon and had 550MB of data eaten by Windows background processes as I uploaded the pics! (Luckily I got another 3GB for under £15 so it’s not as bad as it sounds!)

Anyhow, tomorrow is, in theory, the Bloukrans Bungee. We’re to be there around half nine and our jumps are scheduled between ten and eleven, so if you don’t hear anything from me after that then I guess there were rope issues! Otherwise I will let you know how I get on in the next day or so. Don’t hold your breath though, I’m having nightmares and panic attacks just thinking about it now so I currently have no idea if I will do it or not! Either way, wish me luck!

Photos: Shark!

davidt — Wed, 15 Jan 2014 23:35:00 GMT

Cage diving with Marine Dynamics

Interview with a... Great White!

davidt — Wed, 15 Jan 2014 23:30:00 GMT

With Amy’s birthday out of the way it was time to pack and head for Cape Town for my shark diving trip. I caught my flight from Lanseria to Cape Town on Tuesday afternoon and then grabbed a shuttle to my hotel which was a whole 400m from the airport. Hotel Verde is very aptly named. The entire hotel has been structured around green initiatives and energy saving systems. In spite of this, as airport hotels go, I found it to be a very good place to stay with a very helpful and friendly staff. The food in the restaurant was very good and the rooms were fabulous.

My first night here I didn’t get much chance to do anything other than eat and sleep as my pickup for Gansbaai was at 4:30 the following morning. The drive to Gansbaai was about 2 hours but our driver managed to do it in around 1 ½ which made for a very interesting trip, especially coming through the mountains when the driver seemed to be fighting the steering wheel the whole way. Still, we managed to arrive in one piece and, having already had a packed breakfast from the hotel en-route, I settled down to enjoy second breakfast prior to our trip briefing.

The company I was taking my excursion with was called Marine Dynamics and I had chosen them because, after a great deal of reading on the subject, they seemed to be the best equipped outfit in the area. Certainly their website (http://www.sharkwatchsa.com/en/home/) left all the others far behind and, aside from being the only unit with a custom built boat, they do a lot more conservation and research work with/for the sharks than any of the other shark diving groups around.

Having enjoyed second breakfast and sat through the pre-trip briefing it was time to head for the boat. As we left the building we were issued with a life jacket and a waterproof and then headed to the harbour. Once on board it was “all please remain seated” for the 20 minute trip out to the dive spot where the cage was dropped and secured to the boat. Remaining seated was vitally important as the skipper didn’t want to lose anyone overboard when he opened up the engines. (Having 1000hp available, this boat could shift!)

So what can I say about cage diving with the Great Whites. We’d been warned in advance that sharks could not be guaranteed, that they had no control over the water visibility or temperature and that the last few days had seen very little shark activity. That aside, today was the day the luck changed. Visibility was described as good, 2 ½ meters. Water temperature was just over 15 degrees, also good and sharks we had in abundance. During the day we were privileged to be joined by 12 different great whites, the largest being a fine specimen of some 4.3m in length. (We also had a very inquisitive stingray hovering around for a lot of the trip, but let’s be honest, we were there for sharks!)

You actually tend to get a much better view of the sharks out of the cage from the boat, especially on the top or viewing deck but the actual experience of being inside the cage when one of these Lords of the Seas passes within a couple of meters of you is an amazing experience. The speed and grace with which they move through the water has to be seen to be believed and I’m pretty sure that, if you weren’t too busy holding it, it would take your breath away every time! I was very lucky and got two goes in the cage during the morning and had some very exciting moments watching the sharks come past. I also used an underwater camera but until I get it developed I have no idea what, if anything, I managed to capture on film. Luckily I got some reasonable shots from on the boat which will be going up in a gallery on here so hopefully they will be enough should my attempt at underwater photography come to naught!

After we were done the cage was ditched, attached to a marker buoy, ready for the afternoon trip to collect and re-attach it. For us it was back to harbour, back to base and soup and drinks followed by an opportunity to watch the video of the trip taken by Marine Dynamics own videographer. As I’d booked online I got a complimentary copy of the video. Least ways I will have as soon as I get enough bandwidth to down load it to my PC.

Finally it was back onto the mini bus for the trip back to Cape Town where I then proceeded to collapse in my hotel room and sleep the rest of the afternoon away.