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Published: October 27th 2009
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Thurs 22 Oct
RJ had organised an evening out with some of his work colleagues to a concert by a pianist & Afrikaans raconteur and invited me to join them. On the face of it not really my scene, but I am so glad that I accepted (in the spirit of trying new things on my Big Adventure) as it turned out to be a fabulous night.
The show was at a cool venue in Camps Bay called Theatre on the Bay, with great views of the sunset from the dining room windows. The pre-show meal was not particularly great but the company more than made up for it and the guys at our table were a great bunch. The theatre is intimate, the set was simple but very imaginative and we had great seats.
Rocco De Villiers put on a brilliant show called It Takes 2. He is a very talented pianist with a wide repertoire, who plays with great panache and dramatic poses. He was accompanied by a superb guitarist who also proved to have an amazing voice when he sang a couple of numbers. Between each piece of music Rocco would stand and talk to his
audience, not quite a stand-up comedy routine, more amusing observations and stories. Although many of the references and some of the punchlines were spoken in Afrikaans, there was sufficient English and intonation for me to understand pretty much everything. The audience loved him and there was a good atmosphere with the two performers being called back twice for encores. After the show we had a few drinks at the bar and met Rocco and the guitarist.
It was about 11pm when we left the theatre and we were in a party mood, so RJ and Kyrt decided that I needed to go and experience the gay bars of Cape Town. It was a fun night, with lots more drinking, dancing and talking to a wide range of guys. We mainly stuck to two bars that were only a few yards apart, the one I preferred had a small seating area open to the pavement, a nice little dance floor and good music and a more upbeat vibe The area was a bit like a mini Canal Street, Manchester. The guys really looked after me and for most of the night I was the only female there. Going to the
loo was interesting as they only had a mens toilet and for some reason it didn’t seem strange when a chap peered over the top of my stall when I was peeing and chatted to me. I think we left abut 3.30am. Great evening.
Fri 23 Oct
Feeling a little delicate, and only having had a couple of hours sleep, I decided not to go on the tour today with Kyrt and the new American couple who arrived last night. I had a quiet day and a couple of long naps. Another new British couple also arrived in the early evening and after I had shown them the local shops and we had stocked up on booze, we ordered takeaways and Kyrt and RJ joined us for juicy t-bone steaks. We had a pleasant evening chatting around the dinner table and a fairly early night.
Oops, sorry I missed out Wed 21 Oct
A gentle day in the sun with a trip to the beach and drinks at the Blue Peter bar, overlooking the beach action. RJ cooked an amazing dinner which left us too full to move.
Sat 24 Oct
In honour of me leaving (probably
to celebrate they are finally getting rid of me) RJ and Kyrt have been planning all week for tonights braai (BBQ) and invited loads of people including many of the great people I had met before, plus lots of new faces.
During the day we had a leisurely tour through the city and ended up around 11.30 am at the site on Signal Hill where they fire the noon gun. The views were a bit hazy but it was interesting to hear the Navy officer explain the history behind the regular cannon firing, which was to allow the ships in harbour to reset their timepieces (essential element of navigation in those days). Luckily there was a brief countdown so I had time to put my fingers in my ears ‘cos we were very close to the cannon. It is a pretty impressive and loud boom and you can feel the ground shake and rumble beneath your feet. I have not felt the earth move for some time, so it was nice !
We took the scenic coast road to Houts Bay, where we had a quick look in the markets on the dock (normal touristy wooden carvings etc.)
then the others went on the trip to Seal Island while Kyrt and I went to bag the best table at the Look Out restaurant overlooking the water and harbour.
There were some very nice and expensive yachts in the harbour, including a brand new one that arrived with some very well dressed and obviously loaded “beautiful people”. We found the seals just swimming under our window more entertaining though. Had a light chicken salad to leave room for all the meat tonight.
We got back later than planned so no time for a kip, just took a quick shower and by the time I had dried my hair the guests had started to arrive. There was a wide range of people of all ages, genders, sexual persuasion and looks, from wrinkled to very buff. The booze flowed, the food was amazing and the atmosphere was fun. I don’t know why but I was not in the mood for wine or beer and mostly drank coke, which I was glad about when I saw the bloodshot eyes of fellow guests the next morning.
I have only included a few photos from the party in order to protect
the innocent and avoid police intervention. Also, the ones of RJ are in black and white to save his embarrassment after a slightly over-enthusiastic application of fake tan which had left him looking as if he had been Tango’d.
The whole house was a party zone, but there was one brief oasis of calm for a couple of hours in the main lounge when Sheldon (a professional musician and wonderful keyboard player) entertained us playing a whole range of music, including old Beatles songs that caused a bit of a singalong. Outside by the pool the younger guys gathered and the music was pumping, fast, loud and created dance movement that ranged from gentle foot-tapping to all out shape throwing and arm pumping. I watched and tapped the occasional foot. Made me feel old.
I was in bed by 1am but I know the party went on until just before breakfast. Made me feel even older.
Sun 25 Oct
Gentle day with lots of sunbathing and chilling. The most energetic thing I did all day was to walk up to the local shopping mall where I got my South Africa photos burned to disc.
Mon 26
Oct
Probably not the wisest idea, but I went on an all day wine tour on the day I fly back to the UK. The SA wine is far too good to pass up and I reckoned it may help me sleep on my 12 hour night-flight. We started off just 26 kilometres from central Cape Town at the Durbanville Hills wine farm. After tasting 8 wines we did a brief cellar tour. The views from the tasting room were extensive and the gardens were attractive with lots of weaver bird nests hanging over the ponds.
Although I had been before, we revisited Fairview in Paarl where we once again attacked the excellent wines and great cheese selection. This time I managed to get a shot of one of the goats actually climbing the tower - remember their Goats Do Roam logo on their wine labels ?
A new attraction was the interesting motorbike sculpture made from old tools which was very imaginative. Their koi carp in the pond are huge and very colourful. We had another great meal in the Goat Shed restaurant, this time I went for the warm springbok salad. It was lovely but sadly
was my last meal in South Africa - boo.
I had a few drinks with Kyrt and RJ before bidding them and their 4 dogs (Cheezy, Romeo, Nicky and Zander the wolf) a fond farewell and caught my BA flight back to Heathrow. After an uneventful flight I am back in the UK for just a few days with just enough time to do my laundry and have one last proper Sunday roast, before I leave for Northern Thailand on the first leg of my 12 month RTW ticket.
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robbie
non-member comment
WOW!
Love the Blog! U dont hang about by the time u get this u might be in Thailand............just a tad envious. Give my love to ur folks. Cant wait for the next part. Oh yea some UK news is ok too. Love Ya - (they all say that over here??)