Leonard my friendly taxi driver rang to say he was outside, but I couldn't see him anywhere (wasn't sure if it he genuinely wasn't there or whether it was me - anyone who has ever shared a room with me will know that I can only open one eye at that time of the morning, so I couldn't be sure if he was there or not). I then realised he was waiting outside the apartment that I never stayed in back in Greenpoint...! Anyway I eventually got to Tokai (about half an hour south of Cape Town) to meet the boys at their guesthouse. Dominique, the owner, made me a cup of tea which was just what the doctor ordered, I made a fuss of Jasper the dog for 5 minutes, then we set off in our 2 cars for Prince Albert. 
I managed to fall asleep after about 30 minutes (FYI I don't drive so I was in the back) and woke up at a service station in the snow-capped mountains! Mark and Michael, who were sharing the driving, were planning on telling me they'd seen lions, elephants etc etc while I'd been asleep, but they weren't quick enough! I did see some baboons hanging around by the tunnel though. Just like Longleat. Got to Prince Albert late afternoon and checked in to our guesthouse - another lovely place. Charles the owner gave us all a drink on arrival and showed me to my suite, HURRAAAAAHHHHH! He then drove us out to the middle of nowhere (only about 5 mins away) so that we could watch the sun setting over the mountains. He also packed about 12 bottles of white wine in the back of the car - bliss! Took some fantastic photos of us all drinking wine in the sunset until it got dark.
Then the stars came out and Charles pointed out a satellite flying overhead, unbelievable. Didn't want to leave, but my hands had gone numb so I had to. That night we ate out at a lovely restaurant in Prince Albert, set in an art gallery, and had another amazing 3-course meal, all washed down with a bottle of the local sparkling wine (shared with Michael, pacing myself tonight).Sunday June 20th: Had another cracking breakfast before setting off for Knysna via the scenic route. Discovered I'd been bitten all down one side by something unidentifiable, so am now paranoid that a spider has laid eggs which will hatch in a few weeks. It happens. Watch this space...
Drove through the mountains with M & M again, saw - and touched! - snow, almost got blown off 'Die Top' (you'll see the photos!) and decided to have a break by visiting the Cango Caves which were en route. I was in the loo when the boys bought their tickets and they told me we were all doing the "Adventure Tour", which involved 
90 minutes of climbing through tunnels. Hmmmmm. I wasn't expecting much more than a quiet wander through the caves, but ended up on what felt like a full-blown pot-holing trip (if we'd been in England we'd have had hard-hats, harnesses, knee pads etc!!). There were about 15 of us on the tour with a guide (Nita, who was great), who led us through 12-inch wide tunnels, including the 'Coffin', 'Tunnel of Love', 'Devil's Chimney' (which I couldn't climb up for laughing!) and finishing with the 'letter box' which we all had to slide out of head-first! Not attractive as my top clung to the bottom of the cave, my jeans got stuck to the top and I almost slid out of both - I'm sure the germans in front of us got an eye-full! And hopefully no photos. Funny though. 
We were all filthy when we got out of there, I don't think any of us were expecting it to be quite so physical (and humid), but we had lots of giggles and bruises to share with each other when we got to the other end!We arrived in Knysna, back on the coast, in the early evening - reminded us of Torquay! Yet another lovely lodge - Bill, you did us proud yet again. Had dinner at the Lodge (again another fantastic 3-course meal, I'm sooooo going to have to lose about 3 stone when I get back!), watched the end of the Brazil v Ivory Coast game and went to bed. Managed to spend about 3 hours on the internet first though...
Monday June 21st: Headed off to George Airport
in the morning to pick up Liz - another girlie to join the group, hurrahhhh!! Liz wanted to head straight for the beach (another hurrahhhh!) so we drove off to Mossel Beach, about an hour away I think but I can't actually remember because I fell asleep again! It was quite warm down there so I took my jelly shoes :o) rolled up my jeans and we all paddled in the water like a load of english people on holiday (which is what we are!). Liz even went for a full blown swim - I was very tempted, but decided it wasn't pretty and my 2nd pair of lucky pants (union jacks) weren't respectable enough. It was lovely though, we all stood paddling in the sea, catching up with Li
z and telling her our stories from the last fortnight. Wandered into Knysna in the evening and had a few drinks and dinner at a restaurant near the waterfront - we never actually found the water come to think of it (and a bit odd considering it's a huge bay), but it was nice anyway! And now I'm back at the Lodge updating this blog. Heading off to Port Elizabeth tomorrow morning so will fill you in once I've done something worth reporting on... night night.
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