Tuesday, 23 March 2010 08:47
Date: 20/03/10Location: Big Blue Backpackers, Cape TownMiles travelled: 614 miles (Kamieskroon to Cape Town - 307 miles, Around Cape Town - 307 miles as well)Weather: 28ºC, unbelievably windy!Today we mostly listened to: Toto, Africa
I have been extremely lacks with the blog since we arrived in SA, mainly because we’ve been so busy with everything we have had on since reaching here, but also because I have been a little relutant to write it, given that it signifies the end of our journey. So let me start with the diary stuff.After leaving Keetmanshoop, where it was incredibly hot and dusty, we were all keen to get down to the cooler shores of the Cape - and also sample all the wonderful wine we have been hearing about! The drive was long and beautiful and the more we progressed the more we felt like we were getting back in to civilisation once again. As the afternoon drew on we got closer and closer to the end destination of our 5 and half month trip. It was only when we were on the three lane traffic of the main motorway in to Cape Town that it dawned on us that although Cape Town was to be our end destination, we never really decided where the finish line would be! Much to my annoyance there was no fanfare or film crews to greet us at the foothills of Table Mountain in a Ewan Macgregor / Charlie Borman sort of way. We just sort of stumbled in to Cape Town and in to a rather mediocre caravan park on the outskirts. To make matters worse, the weather had turned really nasty so it was raining upon our arrival - not what we were expecting at all!However, I’m happy to say that the subsequent days in Cape Town more than made up for the somewhat crappy arrival we experienced. After an extremely late night drinking session with Pim and Git the day we arrived, which ended in Pim being a little ill on the doorway of the crappy caravan park - an appropriate ending to the night we all thought, we headed South of Cape Town to the somewhat nicer area of Simons Town. We managed to find a nice campsite right on the seafront and a short walk from the shops and bars. Sounds perfect. Well almost. No-one told us that the Cape gets a little windy in summer. Well very windy in fact. We didn’t sleep at all on the first night, on account of our roof tent being blown to pieces! One of the straps that holds it together snapped and most of the poles came out. We spent the next couple of nights sheltering in one of the chalets on the campsite trying desperately to get away from the howling wind.
From Simon’s Town it was relatively easy for us to get in to down town Cape Town on the bus and train, so we managed to get in on all the action despite staying quite far out. Within a few days we had managed to get our fix of visiting nice shops, seeing the sites and getting very very drunk most nights - also another reason why the blog hasn’t been written.A few days after our arrival, mama and pop Muskett flew in to town to start their holiday here. We had a lovely reunion - where mama Muskett arrived wearing a facinator and holding a bridal magazine, on account of our recent engagement - which I suspect she is more excited about than we are! Much champagne was drunk that night!We also took a short visit to Franschoek to attend the wedding of our lovely friends Claire and Jason. We had a great day, met some wonderful people and guess what…..drunk an awful lot of good wine again. For those of you at home who are desperate to know - the vineyard setting was beautiful, the bride looked stunning and Jason didn’t scrub up too bad either.Back to Cape Town and we had another exciting event. The arrival of lovely George! Yes the cyclist we met all the way back in Egypt made it in to Cape Town only a week and a half after us! Despite a little limp and a big ‘gap year’ beard, George looked fantastically well for someone who had been sleeping in petrol stations and cycling around 200km a day for the last 7 months! Many beers and dodgy bars followed.