Cape Town

I will be putting more photos on here, I seemed to have trouble putting them on (as usual)and only half of them appeared! I will try and give a bit of an update on what has been happening since I left the 'Dan and paula overland tour'.

For a start one of the people in the group was also heading for 'Cape Town' and that was Matt you will see him on my blog bunjee jumping in Livingston. And so Matt and I got a bus from Phalaborwa to Pretoria to Cape Town it probably took us about 28 hours! How things have changed, I would not even take a bus to go see my little sister in Worcester when at home!

And so, Cape Town...as my old colleague from work Sarah (do you like that Sarah or do you prefer ex colleague???) said is pretty darn beautiful, it is surrounded by mountains including the infamous 'Table Mountain' and a short drive away are some gorgeous destinations including 'Stellenbosh' where Matt did a bit of a wine tour and I just enjoyed the beautiful scenery! We also caught up with some of our friends from the overland tour - Paula and Sarah - who are now volunteering elsewhere...as surf instructors...and please note...they can't surf!!! They were working in a little beach town on the way to Cape Point called Muizenberg at 'Gary's school'. I know the question you ask how can they teach and they don't know how to surf...well I thought that myself until I saw them teach and people actually stand up on the surf board (which they couldn't do at the time...don't know if they can yet...can you?) It seems they know 'theory' they just can't put it in to practice themselves! And so Matt and I decided we would take a lesson with them and so thank you to Jenny one of the other volunteers for her instruction, however, much to our disappointment I did not stand up on the board...but it was fun...when you were not under pressure to stand up! We also spent the afternoon with the girls going to 'Cape Point' and the 'Cape of Good Hope' which was stunning, but it got a bit strange when a mist came in from the sea as we were walking back up the hill from the Cape of Good Hope and it seemed to be trying to swallow us up as it sneaked behind us so slowly...it was quite eery as it was this big block of mist and you saw it following you...anyway..we had a really nice day and later went to a lovely little place full of an eclectic mix of objects and poetry on the walls in St James beside Muizenberg, I think it was called the 'Octopus Garden' and we had a really good waiter to top it off! We must have really missed the girls as we also went to see the 'penguins' with them at Boulders beach and then we invited them to a comedy night we had tickets for and also to dinner at a place we heard was HALF PRICE! It was a lovely meal at 'the grill' for a fiver you got a big piece of steak with all the trimmings and a drink, you can't say better than that. The comedy evening, well that is a whole other story...we met James at our backpackers called the 'Zebra Crossing' and he is one funny guy! From arriving at the backpackers James started chatting to us and especially seemed to enjoy the fact that I would break into song with him (I think he would get on very well with my sister!). James has a cabaret act as 'Sister Mary James' where he dresses up as a nun and interacts with the audience joking with them and being just so very funny. Well Matt and I ended up sharing James' room and from only a few days became good friends, and so we went along to his night and invited the girls...a good night was had by all...including the fact Sister Mary James invited me to come up and sing with him/her 'summer loving' - people were surprised I knew the words...people I know would not be surprised by this information!

And so that has been Cape Town, Matt and I hired an old banger to drive around in and we had a really good time there. And how could I forget to say...I climbed Table Mountain and it nearly killed me!!!! It is so steep and there is sheer drops and there are rocks to climb over...ain't no way thats just a walk! But I did it and the view was beautiful...we came back down in the cable car! Apart from that we also went to visit 'Robben Island' which has been important to me as I was so taken by Nelson Mandella's book 'Long walk to freedom' and that is where he was kept for about 26 years! I admire the people who struggled to fight against Apartheid, wow, so much.

And so that has been my time here, I have also bought too much at markets with money I don't have and visited the beautiful waterfront as well as the Sunday Market which we had trouble finding. And now Matt and I are travelling from Cape Town to Johannesburg along the Garden Route, the Sunshine Coast and the Wild Coast to Durban then up through Drachensburg to Joburg for flights home. Tell you more later, my time is up here!

Hugs
Sylv x