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Published: December 28th 2020
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This day, like our first day in Sydney, was to prove one of the finest days of our double trip. The common reasons are not difficult to find. Despite the rhetoric, there is actually no substitute for personally experiencing arrival in one of the world's great cities. In the case of Sydney, it was arrival by sea into the harbour, past the Opera House and under the Harbour Bridge. In the case of Cape Town, it was by air with a fabulous view of Table Mountain (Tafelberg) covered in its table cloth. (Unfortunately, for reasons we cannot fathom, we never got to photograph the table cloth). The other features of commonality were that on both occasions we had less than a full day after our arrival so we packed lots into the first day and were met by great friends who showed us around.
After an early start we caught the 8.55 am flight from Durban and arrived slightly late at 11.15 am at Cape Town. We were met by Stewart and Pam, our friends and dining companions from the east-west world cruise who spend part of the year in SA from where Stewart is from. They had organised a
programme for us and we set out in Stewart's 1974 Mercedes Benz like film stars of yesteryear into Cape Town on the N2 motorway. We then journeyed along Rhodes Drive, passing the rear of Table Mountain and the great man's monument and Groote Schuur as we headed to Hout Bay and the Cape Peninsular. After coming down into Hout Bay we next travelled along Chapman's Peak Drive, a fabulous coastal toll road only reopened in the last year which travels across precipitous cliffs, much of the time inside overhangs and protected most of its length from falling boulders.
See the photo of M and Stewart taken from the highway looking back towards Hout Bay and one of the toll road which better captures the wildness. At the end of the highway, looking south, the cliffs give way to a huge sandy bay where, according to Stewart, a British surfer was taken by a Great White Shark last year . The waters off the Atlantic shore are chilled by the cold Benguela current and, being rich in sea life, are populated by sharks. We were surprised to see a large thatched house overlooking this bay, but soon realised that thatch
is a common roofing material in these parts. We crossed the bay and stopped for a late lunch which at a restaurant with a superb courtyard half shaded by trees. M had spare ribs and D, S and P had 'line fish' (otherwise known as freshly caught fish of the day - Cape Salmon), all washed down by a bottle of local wine. The bill for the four of us was just £20 including the wine.
We then set off for the Cape of Good Hope Nature Reserve - but not before M procured a 5 foot high carved wooden giraffe, from roadside stall, which was so huge it wouldn't fit into the boot of the Merc - so rested for the remainder of the day between the seats, running from the gear select (automatic) to the rear parcel shelf. We then turned into the park, S teaching us how to benefit from the reduced rate for pensioners. M proved to be relatively expensive that day!
We drove the 10 or so kilometres to the Cape Point car park from where we took an excellent photo of Diaz Bay and the Cape of Good Hope. Cape Point (
Afrikaans: Kaappunt) located at 34°21′26″S 18°29′51″E is about 2.3 kilometres (1.4 miles) east and a little north of the Cape of Good Hope on the southwest corner. Although these two rocky capes are very well known, neither cape is actually the southernmost point of the mainland of Africa; that is Cape Agulhas, approximately 150 kilometres (93 miles) to the east-southeast.
We rode the Flying Dutchman Funicular (aka Cape Point Funicular) from the car park towards the new lighthouse and walked the remainder. This, new lighthouse, is at a lower elevation than the original one because the 'old lighthouse' could be seen 'too early' by ships rounding the point towards the east, causing them to approach too closely. Secondly, foggy conditions often prevail at the higher levels, making the older lighthouse invisible to shipping. On 18 April 1911, the Portuguese liner Lusitania was wrecked just south of Cape Point on Bellows Rock for precisely this reason, prompting the relocation of the lighthouse. The new lighthouse, cannot be seen from the West until ships are at a safe distance to the South. The light of the new Cape Point lighthouse is the most powerful on the South African coast, with a
range of 63 kilometres (39 miles; 34 nautical miles) and an intensity of 10 megacandelas in each flash. S & P sensibly remained perusing the items in the car park gift shop, but M took a pic of D from the lighthouse with Cape Point in the background.
Following our visit to Cape Point we drove to Boulders Beach to view the colony of South African or Cape Penguins (Spheniscus demersus), which were both numerous and very tame. These penguins are only found in South African waters. Adults weigh an average of 2.2–3.5 kilograms (4.9–7.7 pounds) and are 60–70 centimetres (24–28 inches) tall. The species has distinctive pink patches of skin above the eyes and a black facial mask. The body upperparts are black and sharply delineated from the white underparts, which are spotted and marked with a black band. The pink glands above their eyes help them with thermoregulation.
Next stop was Simon's Town . This home to the South African Navy's largest navy base. This naval base was formerly one of the largest naval bases for operations for the British Royal Navy. Construction started on the base in 1898 and took 12 years to complete, officially
opening in 1910. It was handed over to the South African Navy in 1955 under the Simonstown Agreement. Simon's Town itself had some interesting colonial architecture but was otherwise unexceptional. It is located on the shores of False Bay, on the eastern side of the Cape Peninsula and is named after Simon van der Stel, an early governor of the Cape Colony.
We drove on via Muitzburg past a couple of townships to Strand and on to Gordon's Bay where our accommodation was located. This comprised an excellent B & B called the 18 on Kloof Guesthouse. After establishing ourselves we went with S & P for an evening meal to top off a fabulous day.
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