South Africa - Cape Town Again!!

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Cape Town Yet Again

Tuesday 23rd March

It’s a short drive from Hermanus back to Cape Town as the tour I am on takes me back towards Cape Town for the third time. There’s still plenty for me to do in Cape Town, which is rapidly becoming one of favourite cities. Being on an organised tour and having the “bus” available, it’s a chance to see some of the attractions a bit further out from the city.

Stellenbosch

Stellenbosch is a university town and the centre for South Africa’s wine industry about 50km from Cape Town. It was founded by Simon van der Stel who modestly named it after himself! The town is the second oldest Dutch settlement and still retains a lot of old Dutch architecture in the town centre. With it’s distinctive but smart town centre with plenty of shops, bars and restaurants I can see why it would be a popular place for students and for Capetonians coming for a day trip or a weekend away.

And, of course, it’s a centre for the wine industry and so some wine tasting is called for. In the morning we visit the Bergkelder Wine Centre for a tour of the cellars, a detailed explanation about the different wines produced there and some wine tasting.
After a visit to the shop on the way out we stop for a picnic lunch in the grounds of the centre and Roy is shocked to find out he is not allowed to drink the bottle of wine he has just bought in the shop and opened. We are in a wine centre but we are not allowed to drink wine!

It seems that the laws in South Africa about drinking in public places are quite strictly enforced {as I previously discovered when I had my beer taken off me at Clifton Beach}. But at least the football supporters will still be able to buy beer and get drunk at the new stadium!
After a couple of hours exploring the centre of Stellenbosch we go to the Delheim Wines vineyard for some more wine drinking {sorry, “tasting”}. Here we get to sample another seven wines, all produced on this estate. The charge for each of our wine tasting tours was only about £2 each.

Simonstown

Simonstown is one of South Africa’s naval bases and was previously a British base. It was founded by Simon van der Stel who modestly named it after himself! {Hang on, didn’t I write that before somewhere?} Its history as a naval base makes it worth a visit and a walk around the town. After this we find a place to sit and have a coffee in the harbour as we watch a South African warship heading out to sea. {I wonder how many warships South Africa needs now? Who might they go to war with??}

Boulders Beach

A short drive from Simonstown is Boulders Beach, famous for its colony of African Penguins. The penguins first arrived here in 1982 and now there is a colony of more than 3000. I think I had expected to be able to walk onto the beach where the penguins are but obviously the tourist numbers must have become too much and now we are kept off the beach and restricted to watching the penguins from a couple of wooden walkways.

The Most Southerly Point in Africa - NOT

Carrying on along the Cape Peninsula coast we soon arrive at Cape Point and the Cape Of Good Hope.
I’m sure that I was taught in school that the Cape Of Good Hope was the most southerly point in Africa. You don’t need to look at the map for too long to realise that it isn’t. I don’t think that I’m the only person who was misinformed, though. I’m told that until quite recently you could buy T-shirts in the souvenir shop {’fraid so!} saying that you’d been to the most southerly point in Africa.
We arrive at the car park and souvenir shop (!) and walk up to the upper lighthouse at Cape Point.

There are two lighthouses at Cape Point - the upper, older one that we walked to is often hidden by fog and can’t be seen by shipping. From here we look out over the Atlantic Ocean {or is it the Indian Ocean here? Or both?} towards Antarctica. A half-hour walk then takes from here to the Cape Of Good Hope where there is a sign welcoming us to “The Most South Western Point In Africa” It’s not really the same, is it? I wonder if there’s a sign somewhere announcing the most north-north-east point in Africa? . I can understand why it was originally called the Cape Of Storms as we battle with the elements and two coach parties of Japanese tourists to pose for photographs at the sign.
The most southerly point in Africa is actually Cape Agulhas.

There’s A Big Queen In Town

It’s back in Cape Town for the last day and a half before I fly home.
The tour group are going to the District Six Museum and Robben Island, places I’ve visited recently, so I head off in search of an Ajax Cape Town football shirt {Failed! I had to make do with a Kaiser Chiefs shirt and an incentive to lose some weight} and then spend the afternoon in Company Gardens.
We learn that the Queen Mary 2 is due in town that night so the group need to make an early start in the morning before the 2600 passengers on the QM2 all find their way to the Table Mountain cable car. I join them later on Signal Hill for a different view of the city and a farewell to the group, to Cape Town and to Southern Africa with a couple of bottles of sparkling wine {I’m sure that drinking sparkling wine on top of Signal Hill would probably get us into trouble with the drink laws!}

We head back to the Victoria and Alfred Waterfront to pass the time until we go to the airport. The area is particularly busy this afternoon because the QM2 is in port and a lot of the passengers are here. Curiously Roy gets mistaken for one of the passengers - he’s befriended by a group of people off the world cruise who mistake him for a fellow passenger and pay for his lunch! We wonder if he could have bluffed his way onto the ship - it was on its way to St. Helena and Rio next! I think Roy enjoyed sharing his recent travel experiences with the cruisers, especially when some of them complained that the coaches which brought them the short distance from the boat to the waterfront weren’t air conditioned!

And Finally……..

{This is definitely “Work In Progress”. I’ve been on this tour for two months and I think I’ve done so much. It’s going to be difficult to summarise it and to pull out the main things I’ve learned or discovered. Give me some time on this one.}

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Photos

Stellenbosch
Old colonial Dutch architecture

Simonstown
South African naval base

Boulders Beach
Penguin colony

Boulders Beach
Penguins

Cape Point
Looking towards Antarctica

Rock Hyrax
Near the Cape Of Good Hope

NOT As Far South As You Can Go
At The Cape of Good Hope, hoping it will stop raining

Cape Town Waterfront
Queen Mary 2

The Cape Town Stadium
The view from Signal Point

The End!!!
My last day in Southern Africa and it's farewell to everyone on the recent tour with a couple of bottles of sparkling wine at Signal Point