wherever I lay my hat

(Lloyd)

So, that's a wrap, nice flight back, all got a bit of sleep, and one decent film Molly's Game appealed to the poker aficionado in me.  Felt the eyes drooping as we took on the M4, Chrissi picking up the driving at Leigh Delamare where I ran out of gas and saw us home safely.  Rain all the way, what drought affected Cape Town would give for that.

Seem to have picked up a few new readers on this trip, nice to have you come along, this is the third blog we have done (wish we'd started earlier on this back on some of our European road trips) but for any interested parties take a look at https://williamstowilliams.blogspot.co.uk/ or https://southwalestonewsouthwales.blogspot.co.uk/
We may be back sooner than you think, but in the mean time I have uploaded a random collection of our videos to My You Tube channel, which never had any purpose before this trip.  https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCoPVNxB-mdg1poFGH5YPyQw?view_as=subscriber

I think then, we did run with the cheetahs metaphorically, but from South Africa Usale/Goodbye/Totsiens


(Carys)

So, a much better flight than last time. I managed to get lots of sleep, watched some good movies and I even ate some food. Not much to say about it really, just that it wasn't a terrible experience.

I want to thank everyone who's stuck with us since the beginning, and thank you even more if you've been reading since our first blogs. As we do every year, the whole family give an overview of the holiday, and say our best bits. So here's that:



Best meal -

Bryn: Cape Town curry

Carys: My favourite meal was the street food, not because it was extremely tasty - although it was - but because the whole atnmosphere was lovely. I liked how it was quite  dark, and there was music and chatter about, as well as the variety to choose from.

Lloyd: Addo Bush Palace tucker out in the wilds, good meat and accompaniments and interesting post dinner entertainment

Chrissi: Addo Bush Palace for me too - steak and boerwoers cooked on the braai in true SA style was delicious.

Best accommodation -

Bryn: Stellenbosch

Carys: Even though Stellenbosch was a beautiful place, I hardly slept because of the mosquitos. So for me, it has to be Jeffrey's Bay. Gorgeous view, nice hostess, cute room and tasty breakfast. What more could you want!

Lloyd: Singa Lodge, quirky, spacious, interesting grounds and first day excitement, quite unique. Special mention to Fynbos in Stellenboch but mosquitos, oh the mosquitos.

Chrissi: We were very lucky with all of accomodation, exceeded expectations.  I loved the Singa Lodge in Port Elizabeth too, as it was palatial and a little cool oasis in the heat.  Also loved our apartment in Mossel Bay too with the lovely pool and ocean view.


Best activity - 
Bryn: i really enjoyed the double parkrun

Carys: I especially loved monkey world. I adored the game drive in the elephant park too, but I loved how you could walk around the monkeys freely, but safely. I also love monkeys in general.

Lloyd: Climbing Table Mountain - sense of achievement and great views

Chrissi: game drive around Addo Elephant Park.  Seeing all the animals in their own environment was just breathtaking.

Best plane movie - 

Bryn: Jumanji

Carys: I'd seen it before, but The Greatest Showman is a lovely, feel-good musical that just made me happy whilst watching.

Lloyd: Molly's Game, true story about poker, right up my street

Chrissi: Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri.  Dark, funny, moving.

Best day - 
Bryn: Animal tour in Addo

Carys - The days I enjoyed most were the days where we climbed the mountain,and the day we took an audio tour around Cape Town. I found the history of Cape Town so interesting, and climbing the mountain was just so much fun.

Lloyd: Parkrun PB, Swans and a curry, yes could have been at home, bit all done in different locations across Cape Town made pretty tasty

Chrissi: it's very difficult to choose because each day was genuinely brilliant, each for a different reason.  If i had to choose, probably the day we drove from Stellenbosch to Capetown as we packed so much in....leisurely breakfast after a stroll around the botanical gardens, drive into the city and seeing Table Mountain towering over it.  Then city bus tour, learning a lot of local history and hopping off at various points, just soaking up the views and sights of Capetown.

Best location - 
Bryn: Jeffreys bay


Carys: My favourite location was Cape Town. It had everything - rural, grassy parks, bustling cities, tall, dry mountains. The whole lot. It was magical, in a way.

Lloyd: Jeffrey's Bay, wish we could have stayed longer, the oasis of calm came at the right time

Chrissi: I'd have to pick Cape Town as it really does have everything you could ever want from a holiday destination and a city break all rolled into one.  But everywhere else we went was wonderful too.  Beautiful beach resorts of Jeffreys Bay and Mossel Bay, peaceful Stellenbosch (and all that wine), Port Elizabeth beachfront on bustling Easter weekend were we spotted dolphins, out in the bush at Addo, in the African wilderness, spotting giraffes and zebras in the distance from our car and monkeys and baboons on the roadside.  And not forgetting our chance encounter with the Kaizer Chiefs football team on our flight from Jo'burg to Port Elizabeth!

Our overall song of the holiday  was Waca Waca (hop on/off bus tour version)

Time flies when you make a long story short

Combined idioms, the thing I associated most with South African people before this trip, and I haven't heard one.  Maybe it was just those that worked in Flight Centre :)

(Lloyd)

Well the story is drawing to a close, this the penultimate blog, before we do our final 'best of' votes tomorrow when we get home and wrap up another journey to savour.  For those who haven't seen our previous musings I'll share some links tomorrow, and have also uploaded loads of random videos onto my you tube channel which may be worth a look.

Writing from the airport after a bit of a holding day.  Preference is to always leave later in the day than sooner, but equally, you are somewhat constrained as to what you can do.  We took a stroll around Cape Town after breakfast soaking up the sights on the ground, some of which we had seen from the top deck of the bus.  These included Company's Gardens, Bo Kaap (the muslim quarter), and lots of closed museums, including District 6 and the Slavery memorial.  Sun was out so took a few breaks in the parks, and at the market, supping our milkshakes and not getting drawn into buying tat or souvenirs (sometimes they are the same thing)  One of the main reasons for writing this blog is this is our souvenir, along with the guidebooks we use and abuse during the course of the trip.

See if this link gives an overview of our day

And now we are in Cape Town airport, grabbing a bite to eat and feeling pretty satisfied with what we have achieved, and watching Premier League football where we need Arsenal to do us more of a favour than they are actually managing so far (edit - thanks Arsenal).  It's been nice to have  so many of you along with us on this journey, please leave any final thoughts or comments below.

(Carys) 

So, our last day; not as exciting as some, but a nice, quite relaxed end to our adventure. We packed all our clothes - 2 cases and a big bag for the dirty ones and one small suitcase with the clean ones. After we'd (almost) finished we popped downstairs for our final breakfast in the tasty breakfast-buffet. I ate all continental again, though the others enjoyed some hot food as well as continental.

We said goodbye to our room after getting ready, and dropped off our bags at the front desk and left to begin our spontaneous walk around the city. Mum had 'planned' a route, though somehow, we almost got lost.

We saw Bo Kaap, a street of vividly coloured houses, a variety of beautifully designed cathedrals and chapels, as well as the gorgeous city park. It contained many statues, lakes, flowers and wildlife, which were lovely to see as we strolled through it's depths with the sun on our backs.

After leaving the Bo Kaap area, we sort of went the wrong way, but managed to put ourselves back on the right track. We drank some  delightful milkshakes in a cafe, and walked through some nice markets. I bought a small hand-made keyring of the South African flag as a little souvenir.

We reconvened at the hotel, collected our bags, and got a taxi to Cape Town International Airport. Our flight isn't until 7:30, so we've still got plenty of time. I've just eaten my last meal of the holiday in Cape Town, a chicken pizza - not exactly a South African meal.

I just want to thank you all for following us through our adventures, and we'll finish this blog tomorrow with an overview of our trip from the whole family.

Furrowed brows and frivolity

One of our plans for the day, the Robben Island tour, cancelled due to weather conditions, but my word did we learn a lot today.  How the human spirit overturns injustice, how the swans can scrape a draw from the jaws of defeat, and how a parkrun PB can be achieved when miles away from home.

(Carys)

Another good night of rest, but I woke with a nervous feel in my stomach, in anticipation for parkrun. We got dressed tiredly, and got a taxi to Greenpoint Stadium.

anticipation of run, where are the toilets?

The run was lovely, with a low heat and soft breeze roaming the air. My lace was undone for most of it and I didn't want to stop, but I didn't mind. All-in-all, a nice course and nice day.

We managed to find a taxi to take back to the hotel, and had a late breakfast. Once again, very tasty. We all had showers and set off on our walk to the waterfront.

After having a little turn on some peculiar spinning chairs, we strolled to the Robben Island Museum. We were devastated to find out that 'due to bad weather' our boat trip was cancelled. We spent the next hour or so looking around the museum and reading about the interesting past of 'Rights For Black People In South Africa.'

spinning top

Once we'd finished, we got a drink, watched some street dancing and walked through lots of different market areas. We also saw a dog rescue centre advertisement stall, where there were lots of dogs you could play with!

We also looked around a large food market, and I was so desperate to buy some fudge that we got two chunks - white chocolate (My favourite), and strawberries & cream. Very rich and sugary, but purely delicious.

spot the teenager

In search of a place to watch the football, we visited two bars - the first a balcony bar overlooking the gorgeous harbor, and another bar that felt just like we were in a British one back home. The second bar did have football, which made the boys happy.

contemplation, a moving afternoon

The whole of V&A Harbour is simply stunning. It feels like France, London and Africa all pulled into one. I really enjoyed spending the day there.

To avoid to incoming darkness, we got a taxi back to the hotel, I changed and went out for our last dinner of the holiday. We ate in a tasty Indian, where I had a medium spice Chicken Tikka Masala, and we made the most of our last night in South Africa.

contemplation, what to eat next

(Lloyd)

6am alarm call to get ourselves right and ready for parkrun down at Greenpoint stadium.  The Stellenbosch mosquitoes had done their worst and the antihistamines kicked in, perhaps performance enhancing drugs?  Lovely morning for a run, perfect temperatures, and a very flat, paved course, and without focusing on a PB (by getting too near the front so a slow first .5 mile) I only went and got a PB!!  Albeit 2 seconds off my best parkrun time but a PB is a PB is a PB.  Chatted to a few of the welcoming locals and a nice fella from Pegasus running club in Cardiff.  He had been out here doing the 2 oceans marathon, he mentioned his tour to Robben Island that afternoon had been cancelled, a warning shot across the bow if ever I heard one.

Lliswerry on tour

family parkrunners

Taxi back to Holiday Inn Express for breakfast, and then a stroll down to the Harbourside through town.  Not the most walkable city but made good tracks and were at the Robben Island museum to be told our tour had also been cancelled due to sea conditions.  The museum itself though had some fascinating insights from the prisoners in the form of written testimonies and an exhibition recounting the history of appartheid.  Must confess to have not fully understood the scope of human rights abuse that existed for so many years in this country, just looking at some of the legislation, even before the cultural discrimination.  Guessing these kinds of entrenched views do not change overnight, but some of the quotes from Mandela and others show the intellectual challenge that was going on alongside the more brutal protests emerging from the townships and beyond.  The cultural and sporting isolation being the only real pressure I was aware of in my youth from the international community, was now put into some context by the information and moving historical accounts showcased in the museum.  Haven't read Long Walk to Freedom but will be purchasing to read immediately on my return home.

the main man

thousands of other activists

Some time of reflection at the harbourside as we moved slowly back into tourist mode.  The Victoria and Albert Dock is a lively area of street entertainers, art work, sculptures, food and of course bars.  Having done our wandering and wondering the afternoon of course took a more frivolous turn.  Lots of table mountain backdrop photos, a drink overlooking the harbour, then a quick google as to which bars might show premier league football.  Found one  https://mitchells-ale-house.com/, ushered upstairs where we were royally looked after, provided our own TV and stream of drinks to watch the Swans scrape a draw and keep their heads above water in the Premier League relegation battle.  Taxi back to the town centre, where beer and football were complemented with a curry to end the day, and a very nice one at that.  A final night cap at the hotel, and fell asleep quite quickly drunk on life, love and erm .. drink?

tammy abraham

come on the swans

our host

our toilet

our curry

Table Mountain - 3 metres higher than Snowdon

(Carys) Another jampacked day of fun, food and adventure!

We had a bit of a lie in today and went down to breakfast 8:30. I had pastries, pineapples, yoghurt etc. It was very tasty, and the first 'hotel' sort of breakfast of the trip. We then smuggled some muffins from our table to eat later on as a snack, and went back to our room.

eat like its your last meal

Later that morning we left for the bus stop where the  hop-on-hop-off bus left. We got on the Table Mountain tour and listened to the audio again as we  traveled through the city.

we are coming for you

At the foot of the mountain, we abandoned our idea to take the cable car up and walk up a 2 and a half hour mountain path. It was a tiring, hot climb, but nevertheless, an adventure. On the trek up, we had many stop and water breaks, and when we passed by some mini waterfalls, even collected some weirdly green-looking spring mountain water in our bottles!

smiling and swearing

On the climb, many people coming down past us said we were almost there, however each time they said that there seemed so much more to go. Eventually, we reached the top, and had our own little photoshoot on the viewing points. I walked all the way out on a rock that had a terrifying drop, but the picture I took on there was great!

living dangerously

We took the cable car down, an experience that was more terrifying before we got on, rather than when we were actually moving. It was very crammed in the cable car, and the 'ride' ended soon enough.

gulp

After taking our bus through the same route as yesterday, we came back to the hotel, deciding against the sunset tour as it was too long. We got changed, like how we'd done the night before, and walked to a small Italian restaurant across the street.

food, glorious..

We were very lucky to have had that street food last night, as it wasn't there tonight! We had a meal just as good though in the Italian. I ate peri peri chicken wings for starter - very spicy - and a gorgeous stone-baked margherita, bacon and chicken pizza.

We came back to the hotel had a quick drink, and went to bed, preparing ourselves for the run we have tomorrow, and reflecting on the amazing day we'd had.

(Lloyd)

Cameras at the ready, it was money shot day.

Not a rushed start to the day and continental breakfast included hot food so not a continental breakfast in my book.  Pleased though as it meant we could stuff ourselves silly and not worry about food again until the evening.

Another beautiful Cape Town day, although some mention of a blanket of cloud on top of the mother of the city.  This is a common phenomenon but not one we could dwell on as this was Table Mountain day.  It is mother of the city today, and no doubt mother of the nation tomorrow, as I can't believe our trip to Robben Island won't have any references to Winnie in the week she has died.

point us to the path please

So the bus wound its way up to the lower cable car site pretty quickly.  It wouldn't have been the Williams way to go for the easy Cable Car climb, I had heard whispers of a 2.5 hour climb and we had the time, and the training so why not?  Dragging the kids up Skiddaw and the old man of Conniston from the ages of 5 or so made this a relative walk in the park.  It was a constant climb, I will say that, but the heat disappeared as we got further up the mountain, and attitudes remained positive.  Felt it most on the old knees, fitness levels across the board seem pretty good at the moment, and we even had a few laughs on the way up.  Feigning to push Carys off the mountain half way up and being rebuked with the line 'shut up you cock' telling you all you need to know about the bawdy, rough and ready nature of our family outings.

mountain bloggers

Platklipp Gorge - our chosen route up

Platklipp Gorge steep

Platklipp Gorge one step at a time

At the top it was photo time, a few elements of vertigo being overcome by Chrissi to make sure she could get all the right shots for Facebook.  Luckily they also had a viewing point with free wifi so we could instagram the shit out of it all.  The views were magnificent, sweeping down across the City and out over the Atlantic.  This the monument that all those early sailors saw when circling the Cape and was great to be on top of this part of the world.  Bit of flora and fauna too, our old friends the little elephants, or dassis; and fynbos was everywhere.

hmm how do I get down

balance

dance

greenpoint stadium tomorrows parkrun

dassis the little elelphants

jack shot

Cable Car down with all the daytrippers was fun and quick, and we hopped on the bus for a last little City tour, stopping off at Sea Point to admire the surf and sand.  Very much feeling the love for this great City, and finished the day in a restaurant reflecting on our adventure.  One of the few times we have eaten out on this trip, always keen to keep the backpacker spirit alive on these types of holidays, eating cheaply but heartily in more creative (but legal) ways.

going down

the apostles - 17 of them

waves at seapoint

eating out!

Caped Crusadors

(Carys)

I'm not going to lie, didn't have a great night sleep. Woke up quite a lot because there was an awful buzzing sound in my ear. I think it was a mosquito. Anyway, I managed to sleep in the end, and when I woke up and got dressed, we had breakfast, which made up for the  lack of sleep. Was very happy to receive my first pancake breakfast on the holiday.

We packed up and left the lovely guest house - it almost felt like  we hadn't been there at all. After driving through mmore terrible townships and pretty looking lakes, we arrived in the big city - Cape Town. My first impression of it was good. It reminded me of London a bit, a bustly, big city full of food, shops and tall buildings.


We said farewell to our faithful hire car, Zola, and left her at the Avis  drop off station. We strolled back through some markets to our Holiday Inn. After bringing the bags up, settling in a bit and deciding our plans for the day, we walked to the  office of  the  City Sightseeing Bus Tour. We decided to take the blue bus tour  around the coastal part of town. We sat in the top part of the bus, and the wind was cold on our faces and we whizzed around the city. We learnt a lot about the city history from the audio guide.

We ignored most of the stops such as the botanical gardens, winery, and a bird sanctuary; but decided to stop off at  a lovely little beach called Hout Bay. Here we ate some burgers, calamari and chips, walked on the beach and even saw some seals in the port!

Once the bus returned we  drove round some rocky beaches and got off outside the aquarium where we got on a boat for a tour of the harbour. It was lovely to see all the boats and shops, and even some more seals resting in hung up tires.

After getting of the boat and hopping back onto our hop-on-hop-off bus, we drove through the busier part of Cape Town and back to the starting point. We decided to have a quick drink in a nice restaurant called Thirty-Ate and then walked back to our hotel.

We changed into some nicer clothes, and went out in search of a restaurant to eat food in. We were hoping for a curry, but found some great food right on our doorstgep, instead! There was a street market full of different foods and drinks from various cultures.

I caught sight of a stall selling  'Macaroni-And-Cheese Balls' and desperately wanted one. For my first one, I had a bacon one, and later ate a lasagne one. They were one of the best things I've ever tasted! I also ate a tasty white oreo donut for my dessert, and once everyone else had found some food, we were all set for dinner.


We enjoyed the street music and the fairy lights and chatter in the street market for a while, but came back to our hotel for another drink at around 20;00. We came up to our room and went to bed, having full stomachs and having had a fantastic day!

(Lloyd)

Where to start, very much an action packed day, if not lots of Kapows and Kapazz, enough to put some sort of comic feature together.  Started in slightly less active fashion, no run today, a gentle stroll around the Stellenbosch botanic gardens.  The largest bonsai collection in Africa don't you know, which is obviously the reason we came.  Bit of Japanese influence they also love their comics out there, anime, manga, kawii etc  Need to add Japan to the list of next destinations.  It's forever growing.

Anyway, I digress, back to our lovely little calm oasis for some breakfast, before a deep breath and launch into Cape Town.  Must admit to being ready for a bit of crime fighting as we navigated the mean streets of Cape Town, but perhaps the bad press and stereotypes had influenced my thinking unnecessarily. Traffic was fine even in and around the town centre, did a few loops of some back streets while family dropped bags off in Holiday Inn Express.  Then over to Avis to say goodbye to Zola and stroll through town back to our hotel for check in an check wifi time.

bonsai

road trip end

goodbye faithful friend (the car)

Planning for the next few  days ensued. Looked at the internet and settled on buying a 2 day pass with Cape Town City Sightseeing.  https://www.citysightseeing.co.za/cape-town/products/cape-town-open-top-bus-tours  What a good decision, even if I do say so myself.  Perched ourselves up top of a double decker, plugged in some ear phones and learnt a lot, and saw a lot.  Table Mountain can't be avoided but will feature more tomorrow, but plenty of info about the history of the area, the Khoeikhoi tribes that were indiginous, how they were done over by the Dutch, how the Dutch were done over by the Brits, how everybody does everyone else over... humans eh, always seeking the upper hand.... history written by the victors said Churchill, so most of South African history pretty modern.

top deck travel

university of cape town

The bus took us out onto the coastal peninsula where we saw townships, fishing villages, beach resorts, and all over looked by Table Mountain.  Weather changed from hot sun to clouds and mist at various stages of the afternoon, the micro climate is very ummm changeable.  We transferred from the bat bus into the bat boat for a while, to take a seal trip around the harbour.  Don't think we'll bother with Fisherman's Wharf (San Francisco) again now.  Back into the city, Chrissi found us a funky jazz bar hangout type place (no sign of Anchorman and his jazz flute), and then we enjoyed a bit of African street food and gin with a bit of guitar music and smiley faces.  Final bit of reflection in our hotel on what has been a truly super day.

township

Hout bay

not llandudno but near to llandudno

free harbour tour

seal the deal

table mountain ... a teaser

out after dark