Around Cape Town

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Geo: -30.5595, 22.9375

Had a bit of a look around Cape Town. Visited the botanic gardens and wandered through the collections of proteas, fynbos, cycads and succulens dwarfed beneath the majestic Table Mountain. Took in the atmosphere of the V&A waterfront. Must be the world's largest of its kind. An amazing array of shops, restaurants, street entertainers, markets and marinas. The sun finally came out and warmed us as we strolled around. Also took a short drive out to the Stellenbosch winery area to see a bit of the countryside. An interesting mix of the haves and the have nots, mansions on one side of the road and tin shacks on the other. Landscapes of gum trees and dry grasses, reminding us of country Victoria, dotted with English style terrace housing. As Andrew said "Africa doesn't look very African"

Headed south the next day. Drove through the beachside suburbs of Bantry Bay and Clifton passing flash mansions built into the side of the hill with views over the Atlantic. Proceeded south to Hout Bay. Great views from the lookout but the road to Chapmans peak was closed. Took the alternative route down to Cape Point through Simontown which appeared to be an older seaside area dotted with houses dating back to the 50s and beyond. One house in particular stood out as an iconic remnant from the 20s, Had lunch in a café serving traditional Cape Malay fare overlooking the sea. Made Cape Point but declined the steep walk to the lighthouse. Andrew still wasn't feeling up to something so strenuous. The Cape of Good Hope was pretty. Loads of cormorants and views across the rocks and up steep escarpments. Our arrival coincided with a couple of busloads of Indian and Chinese tourists so we had to wait a while for the obligatory photo of us at the southern most point.

Woke up the next morning to clear skies. Finally our chance to ascend Table Mountain. By the time we had breakfast a thick fog had set in but we persevered and the fog did eventually clear. The drive up the hill to the cable car was quite surreal as we came out above the fog and could look down on a city enveloped in it. The views from the mountain were stunning. There was a kind of peace up there on top of everything despite the loads of tourists.

In the afternoon we headed east towards Wilderness. Followed the mountain range the whole way there but crossed it only once. The hotel was quite palatial and built in the style of an old hunting lodge. The town of Wilderness was small and laid back. Quite a contrast to the pace of Cape Town and more intimate than other towns in the area.

Stopped in a Knysna the next day and took a good look around at all the luxury new century homes built into the bedrock with views over the estuary and the heads. It appeared it was the new place to build and retire if you had the rands. Had lunch at Plettenberg Bay. We didn't find it quite so impressive as there were very few places that took advantage of the bay views but did find a nice spot eventually where we were happy taking in the panorama and the atmosphere. Some of locals were having success with their fishing. Headed further on just inside the Eastern Cape and over the toll road made up of a serious of bridges spanning massive gaping gorges.

On the way back to the big city the following day we stopped off at Mossel Bay for a late breakfast. Found a hip café overlooking several surf breaks. We drank our coffees and sat and watched the spectacle of young men on their boards for quite some time. We then headed north to the Ostrich capital of the country and Andrew was happy to sample the regional dish for lunch. The drive back to Cape Town along the more northern route was awesome. We crossed the mountain range at several points traversing roads with seemingly endless sweeping curves. The backdrop of the mountain ranges constantly varied in size and shape indicating many differing types of geology. The towering ranges appeared one behind the other like waves in vast sea of rocks.

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