Craven : South Africa 2019 TR #4

[Jacques Vert]

Did a similar trip to the Cape a couple of years ago; nice part of the world.

 

[craven morehead]

Did an almost similar trip to the Cape a couple of years ago; nice part of the world.

Funnily enough I just listened to your interview with Matt on AFF Podcast yesterday. It was very informative. Cheers CM

 

[drross]

Throughly enjoying the photos and commentary. Bringing back great memories of only a few weeks ago

 

[craven morehead]

Throughly enjoying the photos and commentary. Bringing back great memories of only a few weeks ago

Excellent! So when are you going back?

 

[drross]

Love to go tomorrow...do really need to win Powerball this week!

Excellent! So when are you going back?

 

[craven morehead]

Okay so we made it to the National Park and we were getting good vibes I greeted the attendants in Afrikaans and was asked for my South Afircan ID Card until I explained I was from Australia and would unfortunately have to pay full price. Tourist price of R330 IIRC was about 4 times the local cost.


Some roadworks underway on the way in:


So when we pulled up in the Cape Point car park and I jump out, get myself sorted and say to the wife what's the hold up? She said I can't get out there's a Baboon on the roof of the car next to us Pasop die bobbejaan !!



One of the first views as we walked up from the car park ( Baboonless ) looking across to the Cape of Good Hope :


Looking out over False Bay from just outside the Cafe


Some monkey business not far from the Cafe and close to the Funicular station.


Resorting to typical tourists briefly :


Time to catch the Flying Dutchman up the hill to get closer to the Lighthouse and lookout : No walking up the hill today for us old codgers!


First views from the upper station:

 

[Jacques Vert]

Glad to see the weather was kind to you; the day we were there you could't see the lighthouse due to the heavy fog.

 

[craven morehead]

Can you believe it ?? We actually have to walk the last part but we know it's going to be so worth it!



This sign reminds us of our 5 sons as we soldier up the steps.


Now some photos from the top. Just a stunning views all round.






You can walk the track out to the point or most of the way apparently.


Another perspective and blatant selfie!



An attempt at a Panorama shot :


One really feels alive up here today is a good day !!

 

[craven morehead]

Glad to see the weather was kind to you; the day we were there you could't see the lighthouse due to the heavy fog.

Geez mate that's a bugger! The weather was indeed glorious for us. One must be thankful for that.

 

[craven morehead]

Now for the short drive around to the Cape of Good Hope for some more tourist 101 photo opportunities

For some reason I wasn't expecting to see this as we drove in. Bugger me it's the worlds biggest Seagulls! Mentally I didn't really have Ostriches and beaches in the same place.




We made it !!

 

[craven morehead]

Next stop Boulders Beach Simon's Town to go see the penguin colony :

















A Rock Rabbit ( Rock Hyrax ) also commonly called a Dassie in South African English cute little bugger.





Great place to spend an hour. Certainly the most Penguins I have seen in one spot and only a minimal charge to enter and waltz around the boardwalk.

 

[craven morehead]

So our plan now was to head to Hout Bay and find a place for dinner as suggested by a mate. I plugged Hout Bay into Google Maps and with no idea what was ahead of us we left Simon's Town behind. Google suggested a 45 minute trip was in order. Well the trip ended up being about 1h 45m because we were absolutely blown away by what we were about to encounter. The drive and the views were simply stunning. I may need to let the pictures do the talking. I hope you enjoy these photos as much as I did being there taking them we started to climb a fairly narrow road and we were hugging some cliffs and it just got better and better and at one stage we drove through/under an overhang that had been engineered to perfection. So we stopped to take some photos but after we headed off again we found a lookout proper just a little further up the road !!



















TBC :

 

[drron]

Yes that is a beautiful drive but we were lucky.From that lookout we watched a pod of nearly 1000 dolphins go by.Just amazing.

 

[craven morehead]

Yes that is a beautiful drive but we were lucky.From that lookout we watched a pod of nearly 1000 dolphins go by.Just amazing.

How awesome @drron that would have been mind blowing !!

 

[Jacques Vert]

I too remember that drive; very special!!!

 

[craven morehead]

Chapmans Peak Drive cont : By sheer fluke our timing was spot on !!











Looking out across to Hout Bay






The Sun Goddess performing for the masses




Really nice to have been here at sunset. Now we had been so busy today that we missed lunch so starting to get peckish. We hadn't originally expected to arrive in Hout Bay in the dark but I'm sure we'll survive. Hadn't been given any specific venue for dinner only told that we must enjoy seafood so we will just wing it.

 

[craven morehead]

Arrived at Mariners Wharf in Hout Bay and pulled up right outside the Wharfside Grill. We were ushered into a small roped off car park by security guards. These guards were employed by the restaurant and not the ubiquitous freelancing opportunists that are at every shopping mall etc. There is actually a sign as you descend the stairs from the restaurant post meal not to tip these guys as they are paid employees. I had already given one of these guys a tip as he escorted me about 300m to show me where an ATM was down along the harbourfront. I got to practice my Afrikaans and when that was exhausted he got to practice his English. A win win and a decent fellow to boot. Nicked a photo from Google to show what the place looks like in the daylight. It was a fairly quiet night we were seated roughly where the " & Drinks" signage is.







Plenty of room tonight.



Starters : Salt & Pepper Calamari and Tempura Prawns. Both were good but oddly the Prawns had a crumbed coating not the light Tempura batter I was expecting.



For mains I went with Grilled Lobster ......yum!


Mrs CM is now a huge fan of KingKlip after this very nice grilled fillet.


I selected my bottle of Red purely due to the fact that my bookkeeper's ( coincidentally a South African ) surname is De Waal so the Pinotage it was.



A bit of a look at the menu:



Great meal and ridiculous value all things considered. Starters, Mains, drinks for both and dessert for Mum came to R1450. Happy to recommend this place

Now a half hour drive back to the Capetown Lodge to end a spectacular day.

 

[Flying mermaid]

I don’t mind the freelancing guards - rather they were earning a small living, than needing to steal to live. Mr FM found them quite useful for street parking, as they would generally help you get back into the traffic as you backed out.

 

[craven morehead]

Today we are heading up to Spice Route Wines by Paarl. A SA ex-pat mate who used to live in (still working in) our small village is going to be up here visiting his Mom. So we are looking forward to a good day out. I really love the contrast of seeing and knowing someone in a small Central Queensland town and then catching up with them in another country. The roads so far have been top notch and the Beamer very comfortable to drive



Arrived safely and entering the property :


















We spent a good 4 or 5 hours here shooting the breeze and meeting members of the family. We had a nice lunch and indulged in a few beverages. Mrs CM shopped for chocolates and biltong. There are quite a few parts that make up this property. Well worth a look.

 

[craven morehead]

Instead of heading straight back to Capetown we decided to swing across to Stellenbosch and give ourselves maybe 2 hours to look around in case we didn't make it back later in the week. We were really glad we did. We would like to return here in the future and spend 1-2 nights in this beautiful little village.









Bit of a close up as to how thick the thatch is :












It was a quick visit but has definitely whet the appetite for a return trip.