Day 4: Cape Town

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Far out I'm absolutely buggered, and it's only 3.30pm! I woke up this morning and decided that I wanted to try and hike tthe Platterkip Gorge up to the top of Table Mountain. Steve, the hostel owner warned me against it though, saying if the weather moved in I would be stuck up there and it would be dangerous to get down. He suggested that I try the Lion's Head climb instead, because it was shorter, andsafer to get back down if bad weather came along. What he didn't mention, is that it is pretty hard (despite what the reviews say) and includes section where you are scrambling over rocks and using chains, foot holds and ladders. I'm glad he didn't tell me though, because if I knew, I wouldnt have started it. Once I arrived, the first section is quite steep and difficult. In the past I would have made an excuse and given up, but in the spirit of adventure, I soldiered on. I hiked up for probably 2 hours when the weather started to turn. I asked a hiker who was heading down how long there was until the top. He said at my pace it would be another hour, so I decided to head back down before the rain made the difficult rocky section even more tough. On the way down, you realise just how steep it is when your hips, thighs and knees start to really ache.

Once back down I took a cab to the hostel, where I dumped my stuff and headed around the corner for some well deserved lunch. I had a amazing steak sandwich with horseradish cream and creme fraiche, along with rocket. With that I had a butternut pumpkin soup. It was amazing, and really cheap too, all of that for under 10AUD. Now I plan to spend the rest of the day relaxing, the weather has turned really bad so there is not much I can do. According to Wayne, other than the wine tour, the only other things to do when it's raining in Cape Town are the aquarium and the strippers. Neither sound liek the best way to spend a whole day, so I'm content to just chill out and catch up on things back home.

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