Perth to Johannesburg
Tuesday 26th September 2017
Having recently spent 8 days walking sections of the Bibbulman Track from Albany to Dwellingup we decided it was time to try and reduce our Bucket List a little more and shortly before midnight we find ourselves on a South African Airways flight from Perth to Johannesburg.
The reviews Gail had found on-line were not exactly glowing on SAA but we didn’t really fancy flying the midnight horror to Sydney with Qantas and then taking the longer flight back to Johannesburg. This sort of scenario seems to be cropping up more frequently with Qantas continually reducing the flights from Perth to a number of destinations. Air Mauritius was another option but on this occasion we just wanted to get to Jo’burg as quickly as possible.
A South African friend of mine had forewarned me not to expect the level of in-flight service usually associated with Business Class( yes I know that we do pamper ourselves in our dotage!) but in fact the cabin staff were very attentive and friendly. In any case, our main concern was to get a quick meal and then have a good sleep.
I took my usual sleeping tablet which gave me a few hours but Gail decided to ignore Mr Temazepam and paid the price.
Dinner just out of Perth had been adequate but the breakfast coming in to Joburg was decidedly below par.
Craig would say, with some justification, that these were all First World Problems and hardly life-threatening. However, what was of more concern was the fact that the door to the cockpit was often left open allowing passengers to have full view of the instrument panel!
However, we arrived on safe and sound in Jo’burg and with over 2 hours to transit to our flight to Capetown. What we had not bargained for was the long queue at Immigration and Customs and the world- weary apathy of the officials. In the event we arrived at the departure gate with only 15 minutes to spare before take-off!
The domestic flight to Capetown proved to be quite comfortable and the second breakfast represented a real improvement on its international counterpart on the previous flight.
Much to Craig’s alarm his oldies had booked a rental car for our 5 night stay in Capetown and Gail’s confirmation that the rental was very cheap didn’t seem to reduce his concern. He seemed to be highly amused at the thought that any would-be car hijacker would factor in the cost of the rental when selecting possible targets!
A trouble- free drive brought us to the excellent President Hotel in Bantry Bay and as our room was not ready for us we decide to take a walk along the waterfront. Whilst the beaches are hardly pristine and covered in some very large kelp there is no denying that Capetown is blessed with the most magnificent backdrop of Table Mountain and Lion’s Head.
With Gail feeling very tired and both of us somewhat jet-lagged we return to the hotel for a rest before setting off on a drive up to Signal Hill which affords us a superb view of both Table Mountain and the city.
This we have to share with hordes of mainly Asian tourists taking selfies. We decide to forgo the pleasure of viewing what will no doubt be a spectular sunset and return to the hotel, but not before taking a closer look at the famous cable car which we will be taking during our stay. Getting closer does nothing to comfort this vertigo- suffering blog author.
A quick meal at the hotel and we turn in by 8.30.
Cheers
The Obese Ferret
Hi There, just as we thought. It sounds wonderful already, except maybe the bit about the door to the cockpit being open !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Yikes !! Can’t wait to hear and see pictures of your wildlife encounters. If you’re interested, it’s still cold here. LnP xx