Here’s a random photo of us all on Table Mountain. Nothing to do with today’s fun.

And so, to today……. There are some places you have to go (Pyramids of Egypt, Eiffel Tower, Grand Canyon – stuff like that) and the Cape of Good Hope is one. The most south westerly point in the continent of Africa (most southern point is Point Agula – about 200km east from here) is somewhere that travellers like to go. It has a great name, it has history, and it is spectacular.
We left Cape Town this morning and travelled by car with a local guide along the eastern side of the Cape. The whole region has many historic buildings due to its Dutch and English colonisation, not to mention the Portuguese influence. We saw some beautiful old buildings from centuries ago, especially at Simon’s Town. Here we visited a penguin colony where there is now a population of over 3000 birds, which was nurtured from just one pair some years ago.

The landscape is wind blown and treeless, reminiscent of Scotland. The vegetation of local wildflowers and shrubs was lush with winter rains, and whilst we didn’t see any zebras, there were quite a few antelopes (can’t remember their correct name) and ostriches wanderings around.
So we made it to the fabled Cape of Good Hope –

Unreal! It was really windy there, making for a bad hair day. We walked up to the point (didn’t get blown off) and then across to Cape Point where the light houses are. The first one they built was too high and got lost in the fog too often, so they built one down lower at 87m above the sea.

This is looking back to the Cape of Good Hope from the lighthouse. We drove back along the Atlantic coast of the Cape to have a late lunch in Hout Bay. The road here cuts into the cliff side and puts the Great Ocean Road to shame. Can you believe I said that? It was spectacular.
Leaving Cape Town tomorrow, and driving east for a few days.
Gee, and I thought I’d write a short paragraph at the end of each day!

If you ever get the chance, you absolutely must try this. Being this close to the top dog of predators is humbling.
We headed off from Cape Town this morning and travelled east for about 2 hours to Gansbaai. After a briefing from the skipper, and signing the waiver (not their fault if we die) we motored about 10km offshore to the famed Shark Alley which lies alongside Dyer Island where a small marine research facility is located. Shark Alley is to Great White Sharks what the MCG is to football fans.

Here’s John, Ferg and Harry in the cage. When the crew yells “down”, they go under the water and get a close look at any dental problems the sharks may have. After surfacing, there is always a yell of “that was awesome”.

Fergus reckons he’s going to tell everyone in his grade they should do this! There was definitely some intrepidation beforehand, but now – nothing but smiles.

Unfortunately our shark adventure was postponed due to bad weather. We woke up to a perfect day in Cape Town and can only assume the swell was much worse where the sharks live. So we moved on to Plan B and tucked into a yummy breakfast by the waterfront and then headed over to the ferry for a visit to Robben Island, where Nelson Mandela and many others were imprisoned. Turns out that’s a rather popular outing and all ferry trips to the island are booked out for the next 10 days.

Plan C is to take a boat trip out of the harbour and see some of the local marine life – not to mention fantastic views of Table Mountain and the funky soccer stadium they built for the World Cup. The swell was rather lumpy and the catamaran was rocking and rolling while we scanned the sea for Cape dolphins, African fur seals and Jackass penguins. I wouldn’t say the sightings were abundant, but it was worthwhile. And we got off the boat just in time to avoid surrendering to sea sickness. Phew.

CapeTown is truly one of the most spectacular cities in the world. Table Mountain lives up to its reputation of being awe inspiring in the extreme. Topped by cloud for much of the day, it eventually cleared so we could see how it majestically sits above the city.

Whilst waiting for said cloud to clear, we went to the Two Oceans Aquarium. This is a world class aquarium and we spent ages in there looking at the many displays. Fergus and Harry loved the touch pool, the great white sharks, and just about everything there! In fact, Harry loved it all so much, he flattened the battery in his camera before the day was over! And the best part was that there were no crowds like we’ve seen at the Melbourne Aquarium.

Next we hopped on a bus and headed to the cable car that takes you to the top of Table Mountain – 1066m high. Wow! Goes without saying that this is one sensational view. As well as this, we were treated to a wind free visit. I think we were very lucky! What a way to finish the day, watching the sun go down as we descended in the cable car.

I

When the alarm is set with a time beginning with a ‘3’ , you know it’s never going to be a good day. So we got the text message to say our flight to Sydney was cancelled as we parked the car at Tullamarine. Not really a problem as we just jumped on another flight. Then boarded our Sydney to Johannesburg flight, only to waste time waiting for a Mr.Battista to show up and board too. So we waited, and we waited. He must have found the plane, as we did eventually leave. The boys watched almost every movie, played every game and generally asked the flight attendants for snacks at 30 minute intervals. So we made the 14 hours to Jo’burg, but then they fell in a heap. Been awake for 20 hours by now. Thanks to Mr.Battista (he better hope he doesn’t meet me in the street one day) we missed our connection to Cape Town. Having boarded a later flight, and managed to get the boys to walk whilst sleeping, we arrived at our accommodation in Cape Town (after the taxi took us to the wrong place – close, but too far to walk) we have clocked up 27 hours on the go. Sleep is a beautiful thing when you’re horizontal. And not, when you’re not.

Bags are packed. Pouring with rain right now, so we hope Cape Town dishes up some better weather. Ferg has his basketball grand final this afternoon, pizza to celebrate (let’s be positive), and we’re off in the morning.