Cape Town

So today was an early start with being in the van by 5.00, we were even up before the sun this morning although that made for a good drive first thing as we were able to watch the sun rising behind us, although as I was sitting near the front of the bus, I wasn't able to get a good picture of it unfortunately. The drive was going to take around 6 hours, so I done what I know how to do best, which was sleep the time away. We stopped for breakfast at a Wimpy around 8.00 in a town called Robertson, just as it opened for breakfast, so I had eggs, bacon, toast and hash brown bites; not quite a McDonald's or Premier Inn breakfast I must admit, but still

good all the same. The journey to Cape Town went quite quick and we pulled up at the V&A Waterfront dead on 11.00. The V&A is a large shopping centre along the... you guessed it, waterfront; I am sure there is more to it than just that but from today's short visit, that was all I really noticed. Cape Town was like any other city with lots of traffic and people, the first time I have really seen this amount of population since I have been away. The shopping centre was massive with loads of different shops ranging from homemade trinket shops all the way up to designer shops. I was surprised by the range of shops and the modern feel in not just the shopping centre, but also most of the city, as we drove through. It felt just like I was in a big shopping centre at home, for lunch we popped into their equivalent of M&S and just grabbed a small picnic each to go and enjoy by the waterfront which was very peaceful other than the few people who kept coming over taking pictures and disturbing my view. We headed with Jeff along through the shopping centre to the Robben Island booking centre as we were hoping to go today considering Jessie drives back to Kwantu early morning although unfortunately, due to it being rough at sea (although I couldn't see how) all the trips were cancelled for today so no luck there and although there was availability tomorrow afternoon, which Morgan and Annie booked on, by the time they get back, I need to be at my new accommodation on the other side of town for an induction and dinner. We then

had a bit of free time to kill before heading over to Table Mountain so we managed to have a proper mooch around the shops and buy anything if we wanted, although I only got a pair of 3/4 length trousers as I am either too cold in my shorts at night or too hot in my trousers.

Today the weather was absolutely roasting with highs of 32 so we were practically melting, especially once we got in the bus that had been sitting in the sun to drive us up to the cable car for Table Mountain. Table Mountain was another one of our included activities so that was a bonus today, but even better that there was no queue to get in the cable car. They tried to cram as many people in the cable car as they could with each one apparently able to carry 65 people, although I am sure if you did have the maximum amount in there, then you would have just been sardines. The floor in the cart rotated so that you managed to get a view from every angle as you went up, which I thought was such a good idea! Prior to getting in the cart, I saw a sign that said make sure you have layers for the top of the mountain and briefly I panicked, as I had left my jumper in the bus, but there was no need to worry, as although it was cooler at the top, it was actually pleasant compared to the heat on the ground. The cable car could only have taken around 5 minutes, if that, to reach the top and the views were breath-taking, you could see across Cape Town. Once we reached the top and disembarked the cart, the 4 of us went outside to get a better look and some pictures over the city. Table Mountain is an official 7 world wonders, and it is easy to see why with its flat top that spans for around 2 miles, it is perfect to explore and get loads of different angles of not just Cape Town but also the Table Mountain national park that surrounds it. We walked around the path that takes us round the top of the mountain managing to see all the different types of plants that are living up there with around 70% of them being endemic, meaning they are not found anywhere else although don't ask me what they are as I don't have a clue. The path, although made from rocks, was very easy to walk along even in my Birkenstocks due to the flat landscape. What was amazing, was watching the clouds come over the top of the mountain and fall down the side like a waterfall; as we were fairly close to where this was happening, you could even feel the damp from the clouds which was so refreshing. It does not do it justice me trying to explain the view, so instead feel free to enjoy the photo page that I am going to upload. After around 90 minutes, we decided to head back down the mountain in the cable car and as we looked across the city, we could see a raging wildfire making its way up Signal Hill and onto Lion's Head. It looked so bad, there were several helicopters dropping water bombs on it as well as the fire crew we could see on the ground. We could see it was going to go across a road that was around the mountain, thankfully this was not the road we had to drive down back to our hostel. We did however, have to go down a road near where the fire had started, and we could see the blaze only a couple of hundred metres away which made it seem so real. No one seemed to be worried though as if this stuff happens all the time. The fire continued to burn well into the night being carried by the strong winds that had picked up in the early evening.

Tonight, we walked to a little restaurant just next to our hostel called 'Nelson's Eye' and tonight's meal was included in our package up to a certain amount, so I opted for a salmon tagliatelle whilst the others opted for springbok fillet or kebab. Annie let me try a bit of her fillet and I think I prefer the springbok to the ostrich as it has a lot more flavour and was incredibly succulent. We then headed back to the hostel to play a game of pool in the bar area as it was our last night together before we go our separate ways. Jessie, who has never played before, was surprisingly good and I was also quite pleased with a couple of the shots that I done as well. Me and Morgan ended up winning the game although it was very close and to be honest, I will let Morgan take most of the credit for that. The bar area closed at 11.00 so that was our cue to go and get ready for bed, but we stayed up for a little bit chatting just as we were determined to stay up past midnight at least once this week.

So that is it, the end of my Garden route; I cannot believe this week is already over and it is time to leave the Kwantu family behind for good and move onto my Cape Town tour with a new group of people.