Farewell to the truck

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Well we finally made it to South Africa and bid farewell to the Acacia truck.
Our first night in SA was spent on the Orange river. After a dip in said river and a refreshingly cold shower (it was bloody hot out there) we spent a night sleeping out under the stars (and our mozzie nets).
The next day we headed down to Springbok where Bri cooked the final truck meal for everyone (a very successful, if very hot, curry).
We arrived in Cape town by mid-morning and were shepherded off for a township tour, which was quite sobering and enlightening, and a meal at one of the township's best restaurants (mmmm Chackalaka!).
We then dis-embarked the truck to relocate for four nights at the Backpack hostel.
Cape town is a seriously wonderful city and the following days were some of the most memorable on our adventure so far.
As our budget has suffered a little we decided to travel through SA via hire car and to camp, where possible. We bought a tent at the very excellent Cape Union mart in Cape town's V and A waterfront for the laughably small amount of 450 rand and picked up our stunning makr 1 golf 1.4 chico on our last day in Cape town (getting used to a choke and no power stearing has been a lot of fun).
Naturally we explored the top of table mountain, the Cape peninsula and the penguins at boulder bay prior to heading out to Stellenbosch and the winelands 😊
Arriving at the Stumble Inn in Stellenbosch we immediately encountered another two of our former truck-mates who whisked us out to dinner at the amazing Spier (Moyo) restaurant. More of a festival than a restaurant, this was a really awesome evening and, for 250 rand each, was really great value too. This is one restaurant that is absolutely worth a visit if you're in the region. (The Gemsbok and Springbok are particularly good! and its all you can eat!). :D
The next day we parted company with Seamus and Claire our former tour-mates and headed out on the Easy rider wine tour. Taking in four wineries in Stellenbosch, Paarl and Franshoek we were well and truly sick of wine tasting by the end of it (not to mention both getting a nasty case of the squits (maybe the Gemsbok wasn't quite as good as we thought)).
For those that were interested the best wines we tasted were the reds from the Simonsig wine house (the Tiara is awesome). The 'Goats do roam' range from Fairwater were also good (try the 'Bored doe').
The next day was an early one as we had to reach Gansbaai for our shark dive. The sharks didn't disappoint as we encountered five or six great whites whilst in and out of the cage. Sea sickness and sun burn aside this was a very special experience but, as our intended drive would have lasted about four hours afterwards, we had to decide to pitch up in the vicinity and make our way to the garden route the next day. The sole camp site we found had such strong winds that we physically couldn't pitch the tent so we ended up in a dorm at the Hermanus backpackers (with the loudest snorer I have ever heard!).
I'll blog the garden route at a later date but suffice to say we're both still well and having a blast.
All the best,

Bri and Linz

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