Cape Point and Peninsula - Friday December 2nd 2016

Day 1 in Cape Town was a full day touring Cape Point and Cape Peninsula. We gathered in the foyer of Le Vendome and admired their Christmas display which seemed out of place in such warm weather!

A self-snowing tree!













We were rather disappointed not to see Tracey with Ashley this morning. Tracey's mother had taken ill and was in hospital and Tracey had to be with her. Her replacement was Henry and we warned him that we were a difficult bunch and that he had big shoes to fill!He decided to try to entertain us in order to win us over. He told us that the Atlantic is very cold - maximum 16 degrees. "You go in a big man and come out a boy"!

The Lion's Head near Table Mountain

Bantry Bay (originally Botany Bay) is an affluent suburb on the slopes of Lion's Head and overlooking a rocky coastline.

We stopped for photos at Camps Bay, another affluent suburb very popular with tourists in the summer.
Henry described it as "yuppy town". More than 160 properties here are over 20 million Rand

The Atlantic side of the Back Table of Table Mountain is called the Twelve Apostles Mountain Range.

Henry was busy taking photos for everyone!

The white sand beach here is very popular for volley ball matches.

For the King and Queen!

We traveled along the coast through Llandudno to Hout Bay (Hout means Wood).

Little Lion's Head

The Sentinel Peak

Hout Bay

Then it was on to the Chapman's Peak Drive. This is a spectacular drive affectionately known as "Chappies".

The road winds steeply up with wonderful views at every curve.
This is a white sand beach called Chapman's Choice.

The white flowers behind the tree which look like stones are called Everlastings.

A troupe of baboons. Baboons can be very aggressive so there are baboon managers to eliminate conflict between them and humans.

Having Only Positive Expectations
we reached the Cape of Good Hope! It was very very windy but Henry said it was a very calm day.

Stone sculpture seem to be everywhere in the world.

Lots of cormorants

And then it was on to Cape Point where the choice was to walk the path up to the lighthouse or take the funicular. You can guess what we chose to do. But only because it was 20 years to the day since the funicular first opened and the return fare was only 20 rand. How could you miss a bargain like that!

Pin Cushion Protea with yellow flowers.

Our next stop was Boulder's Beach to see penguins, specifically African Penguins which used to be known as Jackass Penguins because of the braying sounds they make. It is a natural colony of penguins which was first spotted in 1982. There are close to 5,000 of them. Henry told us that they are monogamous, unlike the South African President. They lay a maximum of 2 eggs. It take 3 weeks for the chicks to reach maturity. They moult once a year. It takes 3 weeks during which time they live off their body fat.

These are not penguins but performers!

I was largely disappointed with these penguins as they just stood about. The Little Penguins we saw in New Zealand were much busier, scurrying about and chattering and generally very funny.

I'm all alone!

Where has she got to now?

I'm still all alone!

We had a great view from the seafood restaurant where we lunched. Charlotte went down to test the water.

Simonstown (where Boulders Beach is located) was the most southerly Atlantic Naval Base until 1987. There is a staue there of a Great Dane called Just Nuisance. Just Nuisance was a very friendly dog who was treated to all sorts of titbits by the sailors who loved him. They would often take him for walks and he considered all sailors his friends. He started to follow them round and then onto the ships with HMS Neptune being his favourite. His favourite spot was to lie on the deck on the brow at the top of the gangplank where it was difficult to get past him. The sailors would say, "You're just a nuisance, why do you have to lie there of all places!" And that is how he got his name. He used to follow the sailors onto the train and it got to the stage that he knew which station to get off at. The railway authorities wanted to kill him but the sailors got him enrolled in the navy. So on the 25th August 1939 he was enlisted, given the Christian name "Just", the trade  "Bone Crusher" and Religious Denomination "Scrounger". Like all new sailors he underwent a medical and was declared fit for service. The proper forms were filled and he signed with a paw mark. After a short while he was promoted from" Ordinary Seaman" to "Able Seaman". He often appeared at parades wearing his seaman's hat. When he was put down following a motor accident he was laid to rest with full military honours. The legend lives on through his statue on Liberty Square.

Our next stop was The Kirstenbosch Gardens which are in a magnificent setting against the eastern slopes of Table Mountain. It grows only indigenous South African plants. The land now occupied by the gardens was bequeathed to the country by Cecil Rhodes.

A plant called pig's ears

We didn't spend a lot of time in the Kirstenbosch Gardens but enough time to enjoy some of its beauty.

On our way back to the hotel we could see the table of Table Mountain.

Back at Le Vendome, Jim and I were a bit annoyed to discover that our room had not been cleaned. We went down to reception to be told that the light that indicates the guest does not want to be disturbed must have been on. We had no idea what they were talking about but discovered that there was a switch beside the room and bathroom switch that could easily be knocked on inadvertently. This was the do not disturb switch and indeed it was on. However, in the booklet explaining the hotel and its services etc., the only indication around "Do not Disturb" was to put the sign (that you normally find in hotel rooms) on your door handle. There was no mention of a switch. We explained that to reception but were told we must have missed it. We hadn't!

Anyway, we took the shuttle bus to the V&A. While waiting for it we started a conversation with 2 men who were also waiting. It turns out that they were from Belfast. We had a hilarious conversation with them on our way to the V & A.

From the bus stop we went through the huge shopping centre out onto the waterfront which was buzzing. There are great views of Table Bay Harbour and Table Mountain. And there are lots of restaurants. Lots of people refer to it as the Victoria and Albert but it is, in fact, the Victoria and Alfred. Alfred was the second son of Queen Victoria. He visited the Cape Colony Harbour in 1860 as a sixteen year old Royal Navy Midshipman. The first basin of the new Navy Yard was named after him and the second after his mother.

Doesn't Charlotte look well! We had dinner in Harbour House - Charlotte and I had Kingklip which is very popular in South Africa. Jim had Yellowtail which was also good. Our waitress was very friendly and good fun. It was she who provided Charlotte with the blanket as it got quite chilly and windy.

The shopping centre all done up for Christmas.













To our surprise and delight the 2 Belfast men were on the shuttle bus on our return trip to the hotel. If it was hilarious on our way there it was doubly hilarious on our return!