When in Cape Town

I’m in catch-up mode.  Yesterday morning, after the weather cleared, we decided to have a drive down to the Cape of Good Hope.  As you do.  The first part of the drive was along Chapman’s Peak Drive and a good one to keep in mind when I'm back here on a BMW.  Having the sun make an appearance made all the difference because the views of the bays and beaches were well worth stopping for.  There were heaps of parking lookout bays dotted along the road.

Our first real stop was at Simon’s Town to visit The Boulders.  Simon’s Town at first glance was very like an English seaside town.  It is apparently also a naval base.

The Boulders has a thriving colony of African penguins.  They live in a protected natural environment of beaches, rocks and scrub and we had the time to just watch them.  At the first beach, there was a nesting colony, some sitting on eggs and some with very young chicks.

Continuing the signpost theme, I noticed this sign.  Usually there seem to be signs everywhere asking us to "clean up after our dogs" but I haven't noticed too many that just bluntly state "dog poo".  The size of the "poo bin" along the path was enormous, so either Saint Bernards are popular pets, or ......

 

and even this sign has been changed.  It used to have a drawing on the bottom left corner of a penguin under a car, but I guess political correctness has reached Simon's Town too.

We then headed down to the Cape of Good Hope and first had a walk around Cape Point.  It isn’t hard to imagine what it would be like in blustery windy conditions, but we were treated to sunshine and blue skies and only minimal winds.  Still, I was happy to see the Cape from the land – the idea of sailing around the world isn’t likely to top my Bucket List.

The views from the Cape Point walk were absolutely stunning, and once down at the Cape of Good Hope, it was almost an anti climax. 

Today, we headed back to the Old Biscuit Mill for the NeighbourGood Market.  We enjoyed our breakfast there – Jenny had oysters but passed this time on the champagne, and I opted for a more traditional omelette.  Then we spent ages in the food section, tasting our way around all the stalls before heading out to the craft area.  The place was thriving, and even the weather cleared from a rainy start to sunshine.

The market was busy, but we got there early and finding space to sit and eat wasn't too bad.  I loved the layout for the eating - old doors proped up on easles.  Added to the atmosphere, and it was fun to chat to the people around us.

These pink pigs are made out of recycled plastic bags - there were other animals made in the same way, and quite cute.

And to continue the other theme of things I didn't buy:

Imagine you're having friends around for dinner - as you do - and you've set the table and included crockery because you're having a buffet style dinner.  Imagine the reaction if you'd bought these plates!

I adored this one.  Not sure if you can see it, but it's a guy sitting in a bath and he's got the dirty crockery floating around on the top of the water - ready to wash!

We had decided to head back to the V&A for a sushi lunch, but ended up on a sailing catamaran cruise around Table Bay.  We were lucky with the weather - sunshine and plenty of wind so when we'd cleared the breakwater and the sails went up, we were moving quite quickly.  We sailed right across the huge bay, and then (obviously) turned around and sailed back, with the wind picking up and the chill factor increasing.  Half way back, the group who were sitting out on the front deck area were all absolutely drenched when a rogue wave did a thorough job.  Fortunately most of them could see the funny side, but they all ended up moving "inside" and two of the women just giggled all the way back, sitting rugged up in blankets (the wind had seriously picked up) and every now and then wringing out their sleeves and jeans.

Back at V&A

After the cruise, we stopped in at Woolworths - the food section - to buy a couple of things we needed.  As you enter the food section, there is this dispenser in case you had the urge to freshen up - "please use all-purpose germ fighting wipes and hand gel with our compliments".  I didn't see anyone bothering.

But what I did notice the other day was that in the fruit & veg section, ABSOLUTELY EVERYTHING is packaged, either in sealed bags, or bags with ties or cling wrapped in miles of plastic. 

even a single avocado!