Training it from Jo'burg to Cape Town

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Hi everyone,
This blog will be about our trip south from Jo'burg to Cape Town by train and time we spent with a social work colleague in Wellington, just outside Cape Town.

After hearing so much about the bad things that happen around Jo'burg train station we made it just fine and got on the train to Cape Town. We had booked a 2 berth compartment which proved to be very small so Linda asked the main staff manager if there were any empty 4 berth compartments available. He said they were full. So we settled down for the evening and about an hour into the train ride, the manager came and told us to pack up as he had a 4 berth compartment for us! We were so excited and to celebrate we opened a bottle of Glenfiddich 18 year old scotch that Linda had bought quite cheaply in Addis Abeba. We were so pleased and could spread out and enjoy the ride much more.

The train took us through vast grasslands, all the way to the mountains by Cape town where the wine fields are and where most of the S.A. wine is made. We arrived in Wellington, Afrikaans heartland, and my friend Lambert took us to an old historic slave house, where we stayed, on the college campus where his wife works. Lambert and Rianna treated us to South African braai (barbeque) each evening including a mutton and wild water lilies in a stew. We went to Stellenbosch to the university and I met the social work staff there. The town and University could be anywhere in Europe or North America with few black people or coloured people around. This was in stark contrast to U of Jo'burg and the University at Durban. We got a very different perspective about the new south Africa from our Afrikaans friends.

Lambert took us wine tasting. We went to two wineries (Fairview and Seidelberg) in which we could taste 6 different wines each. You should try their sauvignon blanc and chiraz. Needless to say we were a little worse for wear at the end of the day. Steve was able to do some yoga with the locals. The following day Lambert drove us to Cape Town and this will be on the next blog.

Steve and Linda

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