Our Blog - Log 5

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Our Blog - Log 5
From 28th January to 6th February 2011
From Friday to Tuesday (1st February) we have been sailing towards Capetown. Today the captain gave us all a real treat by taking us by the most remote islands on the planet - Inaccessible Island & Nightingale Islands first of all and then Tristan da Cunha which was an amazing sight and such a thrill to be taken to within ½ mile of the island. It was a magnificent sight. The Queen Mary 2 and the St Helena are the last two royal mail boats in the world. The St Helena was visiting the island for the very last time whilst we were passing by before she is decommissioned leaving the QM2 as the only Royal Mail Ship left. Quite a memorable event and the ships exchanged greetings via their ships horns. Also had the fishing protection vessel come over to us to take photos and exchange gifts. Great experience knowing that we were so close to the island that in 1961 had to evacuate its entire population because of a volcanic eruption. There are about 270 people now living on the island earning a living from rock lobsters and stamps! How lucky we were being able to photograph so much of the island and events. Something that will never happen again.
Continued sailing until we arrived in Capetown around lunchtime on Friday 4th February.
What a wonderful experience seeing Capetown and Table Mountain in particular from the sea. Amazing watching the clouds drape Table Mountain so quickly and then disappear as quickly as they came.
We took a shuttle bus into Capetown straight after clearing passport control which was very efficiently carried out on boar ship by 40 passport officers who had come on board.
We went to a great centre which was converted dockland and warehouses and offices - A bit like Albert Dock in Liverpool but much more attractive especially as the sun was shining all the time. One sad event - Barry lost his MK Dons hat which blew off into the water and was last seen floating out into the South Atlantic. The Centre is called V&A - The Victoria and Alfred Centre (No not a mistake) Victoria’s son tipped the first rubble into the sea to start the quayside. A great place to wander around - shops of all sorts, restaurants, museums, entertainers all over the place. Wonderful experience but miss my little hat!
On Saturday we took a tour up Table Mountain which was brilliant. Last time Barry was there was over 30 years ago and it has changed a lot. The cable car he went up in is now an exhibition piece. It held about 12 people - the new ones hold 64 and the floor rotates 360° as you go up so that everyone gets a complete view which is quite breathtaking.
Spent quite some time up on the mountain taking lots of photos it is so beautiful. We then came back down again and continued with a tour of the beach area. Some amazing houses as we drove along. The buildings in Capetown are beautiful both modern and old with English, Dutch and Spanish influences in the old and some wonderful modern designs all blending in so well. There is so much to see in Capetown you do need a holiday there to enjoy it all.
We sailed Saturday evening and it was lovely watching the dolphins and seals swimming alongside us. There were lots of dolphins again on Sunday around breakfast time, Nicky also saw a turtle and we saw a brown albatross. Early morning we passed from the Atlantic into the Indian ocean.
Sorry still no photos with blog. Wait until we get to Perth and hopefully will be able to work it out then.
We are bound for Durban next.

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