Beach...sort of

So today we started with brunch at a place that was like a little oasis in a part of town that we would not perhaps have gone to ourselves (Supertte in Woodstock). But the brunch was delicious. The highlight of the menu, which we didn't have although others in our company did, was the Nutella french toast with banana caramel and mascarpone. We both stuck with an omelette, felt safer.

After brunch we made a trip to the beach. Well not actually to the beach, but to a beach house in Clifton. I'll let the pictures do the talking.

Dinner was a pizza evening at Birger's. The idea was to see the sunset from the beach, but we were having so much fun making our own pizzas that we didn't even notice that the sun had gone down. Another great evening...not many left now.

Robben Island & Table Mountain

We had pre-booked tickets for Robben Island and (after a slight detour) managed to park the car in time to head to the V & A Waterfront in time for the boat over there. After the tour by an ex-political prisoner and a trip around some of the island on a very hot bus we headed back across a pretty choppy bay to Cape Town.

We spotted that Table Mountian was clear so dashed across town to the cable car, nervously observing the famous 'table cloth' slowly descending on top of the mountain. Luckily we timed it perfectly and managed to see some fabulous views across Cape Town in between occassional cloud cover. Table Mountain is a must experience before you die and I (Helen) just couldn't get over the beauty of it. I will be back.

View of Table Mountain from Robben Island.


Nelson Mandela's cell.

The famous tablecloth.

I LOVE THIS PLACE!

View of Lions Head on the way down.

Denzel day!

No energy to write a lot and no pics to upload BUT I must just tell you that after a lovely dinner with friends at Primi this evening, we bumped into Denzel Washington at the One & Only. Now Bridge and I have been Denzel fans for as long as I can remember, so I do admit to giggling pretty uncontrollably over my dessert. (And OK, so bumped into was a slight exaggeration but he was sitting at a table only 20 meters from us.)

Tomorrow the idea was to go to Robben Island but the wind is so strong today that I'm not sure that we will want to.

Oh and I almost forgot the wonderful winetasting at Tokara in Stellenbosch with more friends. Everyone is looking after us so well, thank you so much for all your hospitality...and driving us around :).

Weds Feb 16th - Upgrade!

We booked the hotels and guest houses months ago and when we got to our guest house in Franschhoek today, they couldn't find our booking. I admit that I started to panic slightly even though we had paid the deposit and Bridget had received confirmation. Unfortunately, for them, they had made a mess of the booking and were going to have to offer us the Deluxe suite instead! OH NO! :)

Check out the website of this place, La petite ferme. So we now have a library with a HUGE open fireplace, an enormous mini bar with REALLY cheap wine in it, a bathroom bigger than my kitchen and lounge together at home, a shower big enough for 20 people at least, a huge bed with about 10 pillows, a large balcony with pool, views to die for and the shock of the lot......flowers in the toilet bowl! That caused the dilemma of the day - does one remove flowers from the toilet before going to the toilet, or does one do one's "toilet business" on the flowers? And this is in both bathrooms too. We opted for the latter version.

So after almost dying of shock of being upgraded big-time we decided that we could definitely afford to have lunch here and it was lovely, like REALLY lovely and we think we may only be able to manage an ice cream for dinner this evening we ate so much. So that's where we are now...Bridget is sunning herself, and I'm writing. It would be a shame to waste such a beautiful place by going into Franschhoek to explore. We can do that in the morning.

But oh no, what is that on the horizon? I hope that's not rainclouds I see.

Baboons in the middle of the road. Not exactly a normal every day occurence for us.

The wonderful view over Franschhoek from La Petite Ferme

I think we could eat lunch here.

So, does one remove them before going to the loo?

This was our upgraded room with balcony.

Do we think we can cope with this? Oh well, we can give it a try.

Tues Feb 15th - Cape Point

Today it was the turn of Cape Point and the cape of Good Hope and it was my turn to drive. The steering wheel is on the wrong side, they drive on the wrong side of the road and apparently Korean cars in South Africa have the indicator levers on the wrong side too. So Bridget and I can confirm that the wipers work perfectly well, even when there's no rain in sight! Has caused quick a few giggle attacks.

We'd stopped off at my friend Christopher's house on the way to Cape Point to pick up a cool bag for the day as we'd planned a picnic lunch. We didn't have a map of the outskirts of Cape Town and well, he, um, didn't seem to have had to give directions there very often (giving him the benfit of the doubt), so if you're ever in need of a guided tour of Claremont in Cape Town, give us a call, we know the place very well now.

There's not a lot to say about Cape Point and the Cape of Good Hope, so I'll let the pictures do the talking. Stunning landscape, wonderful views and a lovely picnic on the boulders overlooking the Atlantic Ocean.


On the way to Cape Point where the Atlantic and Indian meet


Proof that we were there


Most south-westerly point in Africa


It's a long way home!

Bridget with picnic basket. THE BEST picnic spot, although you can't see the enormous view but believe us it was.

Mon Feb 14th - New friends

We've done so much over the past 3 days that I just had to ask Bridge what we did on Monday, that must mean that we're having an action-packed holiday with not a lot of sitting down, my kinda holiday. I could remember the braai (BBQ to you and me) at Joanne and Peter's house in the evening, but how could I possibly have forgotten the penguins in the afternoon and that enormous white beach at Nordhoek?

So the morning started by picking up the hire car and driving down Chapmans Peak Drive on our way to see the penguins at Boulders Beach. Now I've been along Highway 1 in California and this was just as stunning, but in an entirely different continent. The views, the cliffs, the enormous white beach at Nordhoek that appeared out of nowhere and there wasn't a soul on it....everything was better than I thought it could be. And the weather.....today I'm burnt as I wrote earlier, need I say more. We stopped in Kalk Bay for fish and chips at Kalkys and managed to tick that one off the list too.

To most people a penguin is a penguin. Oh no, not to Bridget. Bridget loves penguins. Not quite sure how many photos she took, but there were quite a few. In fact I think that she would have happily tried to smuggle one home if customs would have let her. But I must admit that they were cute and when you see that many of them, in pairs and with babies, you know that you're not in Sweden watching sparrows in the garden. There is a definite difference.

And then there was the braai at Joanne's house on Monday evening. After following Joanne's blog online for months every day, it was GREAT to finally get to meet her and of course some others (who shall remain nameless) who I have also been in contact with online for the past few years. To finally meet them in real-life was something else and we had a truely enjoyable evening.

Oh yes, how could I forget, I found my first geocache in South Africa today too! If I can be a geek at home, then I sure can be one here too.

Enjoying the braai with friends



Helen with Christopher and Jeremy

Penguins at Boulders Beach

Bridget and the view on Chapmans Peak Drive

P-p-p-pick up a penguin!

Long, white empty beach at Nordhoek

Can't get enough of that view.

WiFi problems in Franschhoek

Which must mean we're in the middle of nowhere, aka an upgraded hotel room in the Winelands. Be back later.

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Leaving Cape Town for Franschhoek

After 3 nights in Cape Town, we're today heading inland towards Franschhoek in the Winelands. Yesterday we had a great day out at Cape Point, saw the Atlantic meet the Indian ocean and had a picnic on the boulders overlooking it all. Pics to come later today. Silly me managed to get burnt but at least my red nose matches my red forehead and shoulders. Bridget is the sensible one of us, and has been applying spf 30.

Photos of the past few fun days will be posted this evening. Highlight for me so far was the dinner at Joannes, finally meeting people you've conversed with online for ages is fun. And I think I can safely say that a highlight for Bridge was the penguins on Boulders Beach. I think she may have been one in a former life, but they were cute.

Over and out from 4 on Varneys in Green Point. Highly recommended by us.

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11½ hours on a plane actually wasn't as bad as I thought it was going to be. But its been a tough first day with sun, warmth, sea views, fab food, great company, super-duper car and chauffeurs, white wine, sunset, pink champagne, nice guest house. Sigh, lovely lovely day!


Cape Town Stadium as seen from Signal Hill on evening 1.

View of Lions Head as seen from the road from Hout Bay.

First lunch, Calimari and white wine at the Chapman Peak Hotel in Hout Bay. Yum!

Hout Bay.

On to Cape Point and Boulders Beach tomorrow.

Worried? Me? Naaa, just preparing.

My Mum often tells me that I shouldn't worry about things of which I have no chance of influencing the outcome. I don't like to call it worrying, I prefer to call it "preparing for all eventualities". So you can imagine that I have a list of questions going around my head 5 days before lift off.

• How many pairs of shoes should I pack? Can I really take 5 pairs for 11 days? Duh, of course I can. :)
• How can I guarantee the best view when the plane comes in to land? Google it right?
• Will I cross the equator in the middle of the night when I am asleep or will I be able to watch my GPS go from N to S? (I am a self-confessed geek after all.)
• What should I do on the plane to make 11½ hours pass as quickly as possible? Book suggestions please. Just started the latest Dan Brown, but it has large copy and I don't think it'll take long to finish.
• What did we do with that pepper spray we shouldn't have brought home from the States a few years ago? (Wonder if it's as banned to take it out of the country as it was to bring it in?)
• How high is the possibility of me coming home with freshly squeezed orange juice overdose? Pretty high I would say, LOVE the stuff!

Not worrying, just enjoying preparing for all eventualities.

Helen - February 5 - Uppsala, Sweden

This time next week I'll be lifting off from Heathrow with an 11½ hour flight ahead of me. Bridget will already be in the air somewhere over France.

Seems strange that it's next week. The flights have been booked for months. The holiday itself has been booked in my head since a cold, snowy morning in January 2010. I remember it like it was yesterday, the moment I decided that I needed something warm and positive to look forward to as part of my 40th celebrations. And here we are...next week. Yihaa!