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Friday 29th September 2017

Cape Point/ Cape of Good Hope.

Awake to another clear day so we get down to breakfast at a reasonable time as we have planned a trip down to the Cape of Good Hope.

Some sort of religious convention is taking place at the hotel and the breakfast room is crowded with hordes of  African ladies resplendent in stunning brightly coloured outfits . In one very funny episode one very voluptuous, shapely young lady made a very impressive entrance into the breakfast area and one middle- aged Asian man in the queue for some toast looked in danger of going into cardiac arrest as she sashayed past him!

We leave the hotel in our rental car shortly after 9.00 and head down the Atlantic coastline which becomes ever more spectacular the further south we venture. We soon leave the Twelve Apostles peaks behind and after travelling along the eastern shore of  the beautiful Hout Bay we find ourselves on the magnificent Chapman’s Peak Road. This is a masterpiece of modern engineering and is certainly the equal of Highway One in the USA. At one lookout point we pull over to take in the scenery from this very high vantage point only for a guy on a bike to alert us to 3 adult and one calf Southern Right Whale very close to the shore. They do put on a bit of a show for us and we linger at this spot in anticipation of a possible breach but all to no avail. Murphy’s Law comes into play again because as we drive off we catch just a glimpse of one adult in our rear vision mirror putting on a superb breaching performance for the benefit of the more patient drivers we have left behind.

After the excitement of the Chapman’s Peak road we arrive at the town of  Noordhoek with its pristine white sandy beach. Noorhoek is favoured by artists and is a centre for horse-riding. Suffice it to say that this town would not appear to be populated by the lower socioeconomic groups!

We now head over to the east coast of the cape and eventually drive through Simon’s  Town and the nearby Boulders, home to a colony of  African Penguins. We decide to view these delightful creatures on our return journey from the Cape of Good Hope.

Fortunately, we arrive at Cape Point before the huge crowds of tourists and take the relatively taxing trek up to the lighthouse which is no longer in use. After being built in 1860 it was quickly discovered that, at 238 metres height above the ocean  it was shrouded in mist for most of the time and a second lighthouse was then built at nearby Dias Point only 87 metres above the ocean.

For those visitors feeling a little less energetic there is the Flying Dutchman Funicular up to the old lighthouse from where one is able to see both the Atlantic and Indian Oceans. Time now for a quick snack at the aptly named Two Oceans restaurant where one of the many scavenging birds dive bombs Gail and steals part of her baguette.

We now leave our car at Cape Point and take the short walking trail to the Cape of Good Hope. The boardwalk high above the water is in reasonable condition although as we near the end the trail seems to disappear as it climbs to the high point of the Cape. Come what may we are able to enjoy some superb views of this spectacular coastline.

We now drive to the Cape of Good Hope where the crowds are somewhat  smaller than at Cape Point but it is still very crowded on the actual climb to the top of the lookout. Seeing the state of some of the visitors coming back down the decidedly strenuous climb it occurred to me that they could do with the signs that used to be displayed near Uluru warning visitors of the risks involved.

As we leave the area we manage to see some seals on the nearby rocks, an ostrich and a large eland in the roadside scrub.

After a short drive we return along the eastern side of the peninsula to the attractive town of Simon’s Town with its fine selection of well- preserved old buildings and at the adjoining Boulders we take time out to view the very large colony of African Penguins. These beautiful creatures always put a smile on your face with their Charlie Chaplain gait.

Proceeding further north we come to the waterfront town of Fish Hoek which we had expected to be a quaint village. Wrong again and we later learn that we should have continued our journey to Kalk Bay with its abundance of antique, arts and craft shops, and great cafes and restaurants. In fact all of the attractions that Fish Hoek clearly lacks!

We had had a few problems following the correct route on our drive south  but on the return journey Gail’s normally excellent navigation directs us on to the M3 and heading northeast up onto a mountain road, which would have eventually brought us back to Capetown. However, we want to enjoy the return drive on Chapman’s Peak road so it’s U-turn time and back to the attractive town of Noorhoek.

The return journey on this superb road confirms that this is truly one of the great highways, especially viewed in the late afternoon light.

By the time we return to the hotel we are really in need of a nice quiet, relaxing meal in the restaurant. Unfortunately, the 110 colourful ladies here for a religious conference have taken over the buffet and we are forced to wait for a table. More concerning is the rate at which the food is disappearing on to the plates of some very

shall we say, ‘well-covered’ ladies. As it turns out there is plenty of food for all although it is really a case of “Never mind the quality, feel the width”!

In bed at a reasonable time after another splendid day down on the Cape. Tomorrow Table Mountain await if the weather gods are kind to us.

Cheers

The Obese Ferret.

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