Cape Town

Our AirBnB apartment is in Greenpoint, about 2km from the city centre and is a very nice, modern two bedroom apartment.  We had planned on going out for tea with three others from the tour but instead invited them over for takeaway. It was a lot more relaxed than a restaurant would have been, though we had a few issues with dinner.  We went online to order pizzas but the nearest Pizza Hut closed at 7:00 - and we didn’t check until close to 7:30. We then ordered burgers from Uber Eats, but when the delivery was made only half our order had been delivered!  Luckily Tracy and I had been to a supermarket and we had already eaten some nibbles.

Next day I picked up our hire car before driving to Table Mountain and doing a 2 hour walk to get to the top up.  It was a beautiful clear day in the low 20’s, but felt much hotter as we struggled up the last 4-500 metres. A large part of the walk is like climbing stairs, with some quite large boulders to step up onto. We were pretty tired by the time we reached the top but the views were awesome.  After looking around for about an hour we caught the cable car down. Much quicker and easier.

The climb

Part of the track

The view from the top

We then drove to Signal Hill, which is opposite Table Mountain and provides different views of the city and ocean. The rest of the day was a slow cruise along the beachfront, stopping when we could to have a look.  It was a Public Holiday though and being such a nice day the beaches were packed. Made parking a bit difficult so we didn't stop as often as we would have liked. It was still very nice driving along the coast.

Day 2 and we went via to Bo-Kaap to Stellenbosch. Bo-Kaap is in the Malay Quarter and is known for its colourful houses. It is actually a fairly small area but was nice enough.

Stellenbosch is one of the wine districts around Cape Town and we stopped at two wineries for tastings.  The second one (Delaire Graff Estate) had been on 'The Bachelor’ TV show several years ago and Tracy had been keen to go and get the same views they had.  Unfortunately the weather didn’t co-operate as it was cloudy with occasional rain but the surrounding hills were still very pretty. After we had completed a tasting here of five wines, we ordered some cheese and Tracy and Lauren had a full glass of Sauv Blanc. Despite the weather we had a very pleasant day - and Trace got some good photos - arriving back around 6:30.

View from Delaire Graff winery

Day 3 was a day of driving, heading south via Simon's Town to the Cape of Good Hope and Cape Point. We are joined for the day by Tim and Tess, a British couple from our Nomad tour that we got on very well with. Simon's Town is home to a colony of African Penguins, who seem to spend a lot of their day on the beach - unlike the penguins at Phillip Island. They are also quite a bit bigger than those Fairy 'Little' penguins.

The Cape of Good Hope and Cape Point were ridiculously windy but very spectacular. The landscape was extremely rugged and the seas very rough.

For the drive home we came up the 'other side's of the Peninsula and the plan was to drive along Chapman's Peak Rd. This is a road that hugs the seaside clifftop and has some amazing views, particularly for sunset. All that sounds lovely, but the road was closed due to high winds so we couldn't drive it. We found a different way home and had dinner in a nice little Fish and Chip shop in Hout Bay, sitting by the ocean.

Cape of Good Hope

Cape of Good Hope

Our last full day in Cape Town - and Africa - was a little disappointing unfortunately. We had plans to go to the Botanical gardens, Kirstenbosch, in the morning followed by a trip to Robben Island in the afternoon. Robben Island is where Nelson Mandela was imprisoned for 27 years. The weather when we woke was wet and windy, so instead of the gardens we went to the V & A waterfront, where there are lots of shops and where the Robben Island tour leaves from. After looking around a few shops we went to confirm our tour only to find out all trips for the day - and in fact the previous two days had been cancelled due to rough seas. It was disappointing but not a total surprise as wind has been quite strong - as mentioned above. We did manage to go to Kirstenbosch in the afternoon and it was quite good, about 36 hectares of gardens and plants, all very nicely laid out.

Driving in Cape Town has been relatively easy, but parking has been a little confusing. Everywhere you park a 'car guard's will appear to watch your car while you aren't there. They also guide you when parking or getting out. Of course they expect a tip and being Australian I never knew how much to give. Parking itself was free and the tip was totally up to you. Sometimes I gave nothing (if they only turned up when I was leaving) other times a couple of dollars. Other drivers were pretty courteous often allowing change of lanes or letting you in from side streets. Generally better than Melbourne.

We are finding it a bit hard to believe the holiday is at an end and we fly out tomorrow. We have close to 24 hours of travel and airport waits ahead before arriving in Melbourne around 6:30 Saturday night.