Monday 5th July: I popped into the Apex shop to say goodbye to Renee on the way to the airport, then took my flight from Cape Town to Joburg. Had about 5 hours to kill at Joburg airport before my evening flight back to London so pottered around the shops for an hour or so, bought some goodies for the kids back home (queued up at the Out of Africa shop alongside a cockroach - the true Africa experience!) then headed for the Africa Lounge, which Spurs Mark had recommended for a drink and a bite to eat. I'd been planning on a glass or two of cava, but of course they didn't sell it by the glass so I had to have a whole bottle to myself - I figured I had about 2 or 3 hours to drink it so it wouldn't be a problem... Spoke to mum while I was sitting in there and said I was on my way home and planning on popping in to see her tomorrow to catch up. Ended up having to rush my last glass of cava for fear of missing my flight - nightmare. Flight was uneventful anyway, except the on-screen inflight map was 2 hours out and I was tearing my hair out thinking I had 2 more hours to fill... I didn't sleep a wink, but arrived at Heathrow on time at around 7.20am. Walking through the arrivals hall I spotted a familiar face and realised that Spurs Mark had come to meet me - HURRRAAAAAAHHHHH!
And we all lived happily ever after. The End... (but hopefully not!)
Saturday, 7 August 2010
Monday, 19 July 2010
A EUREKA moment! And more wine (continuation of Saturday 3rd July)...
Saturday 3rd July (continued): when I got back from the shark trip I called in at the shark shop to see Karyn and to pay all my bills and arranged to go out with her later that night. Tried to go to the internet cafe to update my blog, but their connection wasn't working (which explains why I'm trying to remember 2 weeks later what I was doing on 3rd July...). Made my way back to the apartment via Rectory Lane, but took a different set of steps from there, which turned out to be the Capstan steps - finally, HURRAAAHHHHHH! I bumped into some people coming down them (nobody EVER seemed to be walking up, only me) and asked them where they came out at the top. They gave me a bit of a vague look and pointed to another set of steps (the ones I'd taken yesterday) and said "but they're better". I don't know what constitutes "better" steps, but I'd already walked up them yesterday and I don't think the people appreciated the mission I was on... so mission accomplished, I found the mystery steps. They do exist. And now I can sleep at night. Anyway, Karyn picked me up, as planned, at 5pm and we drove back to her house in Fishhoek, just along the coast. I met Karyn's gorgeous 15 year old twin daughters and her lovely little boy, Connor, and we dropped the girls off at a party and took Connor with us to the Southern Right, a pub/restaurant along the coast. We met some of the locals in there and had a good laugh with them - they were mainly taking the micky out of the english and their sporting prowess, but it was funny (I just went off in private and cried afterwards). They were asking me about the sights I'd seen since being in South Africa and I mentioned that I hadn't 'done' the wineries yet, but was heading home on Monday. Karyn suggested hiring a driver tomorrow (Sunday) and driving over that way for some wine-tasting, which sounded like a great idea. With that, Mick jumped in, said "don't worry about a driver, I'll take you there, just pay the petrol and buy me lunch". It's a date. So that's what we did. That's just so typical of the South African people I've met on my trip, they'll go out of their way every time. But I haven't got to Sunday yet... I'll finish off Saturday night first. So Poenas, Chanty and Matt (the crew from the shark trip) came to join us at the Southern Right and we all sat down for dinner while we watched the football (Spain v Paraguay I think - did they play each other?!). Then Poenas ran us all home in his car which was falling apart, dropping off Chanty and Matt first and picking up some of his mum's home-made samosas for me! Bless. I was really sad to say goodbye to all of them - they'd all made the shark trip a fantastic experience for me and I loved every minute of it.
Sunday 4th July: Karyn, Connor and Mike picked me up at 10am, as planned, and we all headed off to Stellenbosch in the wine region. Bliss! Our first stop was Fairview in Paarl (I think), which was Mike's favourite winery. Mike suggested Karyn & I went for the full blown wine- and cheese-tasting session while he amused Connor by showing him around the grounds. Had a lovely time with Karyn and must've tasted about 12 different wines and 10 different cheeses while we were sat there. The sommelier sat us at a table and just brought us the different wines, told us a bit about them (which went in one ear and out the other after the first 2!) and left us to it. The next thing we knew, Mike and Connor were hovvering outside the door and we'd been in there for 2 hours, hahahaaaaaaaaa! I know Mike drove us to a couple of other wineries afterwards, but I have no recollection of their names, what I drank or where they were - think I tried some sparkling wines somewhere along the line, but can't remember what they were like! We drove back to Simon's Town in the sunshine, listening to 60s tracks on the radio, and stopped off at a cheetah sanctuary for Connor. Had a lovely day - a perfect way to spend my last day in SA. Unfortunately Mike didn't get his lunch that we'd promised him (it was his fault for suggesting the 2-hour wine-tasting!), but he said that he'd enjoyed the day as much as we had, so that's good. When I got back I think I had a bit of a siesta, then cooked some of Poenas's mum's samosas, which were fab! I made a start on packing :o( and had an early night...
Sunday 4th July: Karyn, Connor and Mike picked me up at 10am, as planned, and we all headed off to Stellenbosch in the wine region. Bliss! Our first stop was Fairview in Paarl (I think), which was Mike's favourite winery. Mike suggested Karyn & I went for the full blown wine- and cheese-tasting session while he amused Connor by showing him around the grounds. Had a lovely time with Karyn and must've tasted about 12 different wines and 10 different cheeses while we were sat there. The sommelier sat us at a table and just brought us the different wines, told us a bit about them (which went in one ear and out the other after the first 2!) and left us to it. The next thing we knew, Mike and Connor were hovvering outside the door and we'd been in there for 2 hours, hahahaaaaaaaaa! I know Mike drove us to a couple of other wineries afterwards, but I have no recollection of their names, what I drank or where they were - think I tried some sparkling wines somewhere along the line, but can't remember what they were like! We drove back to Simon's Town in the sunshine, listening to 60s tracks on the radio, and stopped off at a cheetah sanctuary for Connor. Had a lovely day - a perfect way to spend my last day in SA. Unfortunately Mike didn't get his lunch that we'd promised him (it was his fault for suggesting the 2-hour wine-tasting!), but he said that he'd enjoyed the day as much as we had, so that's good. When I got back I think I had a bit of a siesta, then cooked some of Poenas's mum's samosas, which were fab! I made a start on packing :o( and had an early night...
Friday, 9 July 2010
More sharks, more steps and lots of wine!
Well I'm back home now :o( and thought I'd better finish off my blog before I forgot what I'd done with myself! So here we go...
Friday 2nd July: Last night after I left the internet cafe I headed for the Rectory Lane steps - very pretty, bloody dangerous and still went the wrong way!! Nice views from the top, reminded me of Clovelli in Devon (now you'll understand the kind of hill I had to walk up - and down, and then up again as I took the wrong turning!). I think this was the same direction the mumbling tramp pointed me to on my first night here, so I'm glad I didn't follow his grubby little index finger in the pitch dark... Had to shed about twenty layers of clothing as I climbed up the hill so might've burned off all the extra calories I've taken on since eating all the red meat! Somehow I managed to find my way to the apartment again though so I'm getting my bearings at least. Richard had fixed the TV when I got back (apparently I'd overloaded one of the sockets upstairs in my bedroom by plugging in a radiator - just to ease the pain of getting up at 6am for 5 days on the trot), so he gave me a tour of the fuse box and everything was fine. I stayed in and cooked some tinned stuff on toast and watched TV - because I could.
Anyway, back to Friday. A double-whammy today as I went out on the boat this morning and then did a trip in the afternoon. Monique, Chris's wife, came out on the trip today. Saw some huge great whites breaching in the morning and a pretty gruesome kill - it was a bit early in the day to watch the gulls swooping down to the slick and picking off the entrails... and the smell wasn't the best! Decided to go in the cage again today and went in last again (as I couldn't make my mind up) with a couple of the boys, both of whom had bloody great underwater cameras so it was a tad crowded in there. Saw some fantastic sharks though and they were swimming around for ages. The boys must've got some great shots of them (and of my backside, thanks!). But the funniest part of the day (and I'm chuckling as I'm typing this!) had to be when I was standing on the top deck with Sandra, a Swedish girl who reminded me of KT Tunstall (so much so that she could've actually been KT Tunstall and using a false name) and who'd also been on a couple of trips this week. We were leaning over the edge, shark spotting and watching the group in the cage, when I heard a sharp intake of breath and "That's disgusting!" from Sandra. Then I noticed a poo (had to be human, not shark!) floating by and heading straight for the cage... the look on Monique's face was so funny as she was throwing out the decoy seal and trying to avoid it - or swoosh it away from the boat! The trouble is, I'd been to the loo on the boat about 20 mins before that and I know everyone heard me asking one of the crew how to operate the pump, so I was hoping they didn't think it was mine, hahahahaaaaaaa (it wasn't by he way)! Anyway, Sandra & I couldn't stop giggling and became transfixed by it floating towards the boys in the cage. And at this point Chris looked up and shouted out to me "You going in the cage Sally?" and when I hesitated I think he thought I was scared of the sharks... but I went in and didn't get a close-up, thank god (of the poo) and the sharks took my mind off it! I'm just wondering whether the boys in the cage got a shot of it on their cameras!
There wasn't room for me to dive in the afternoon as it was an extra trip for me, but I was quite happy spotting from the top deck and we had a couple of sharks breaching on the decoy again - a bit of a rarity in the afternoon. Then when we sailed back to the harbour we got caught up with the Cape cormorants flying back in their thousands to the island, an amazing sight and sound. I almost fell asleep on the way back, so decided to pop into Bertha's to catch the rest of the Brazil v Netherlands game over a glass (or two) of waaaaahhhhhht waaaaaaahhhhhhhne. Arranged to meet Poenas, the skipper, in there after he'd sorted (technical nautical term) the boat then went to The Captain's Table (above the bar where I'd got stranded the other night) with Chanty, another crew member. Had a lovely steak - again, but drank a fair bit and I'd already had a head start on the others so felt a bit dodge on the way home. Don't actually remember going to bed... and was booked on another shark trip at 7am!
Saturday 3rd July: Funnily enough I struggled to get up this morning (and without the aid of my radiator too, thanks Richard!), but somehow made it out on the boat. Think Chanty was a bit delicate too, but she covered it well. Felt quite sad that it was my last trip and the minute we reached Seal Island a thick blanket of fog fell over us and I completely lost my bearings (I've just proof-read this and I'd missed the 'b' off bearings, hahahahaaaaaa! My earrings are still intact!). We still managed to see 4 sharks breaching on the seal decoys off the back of the boat though, and it was amazing - the last one really made me jump. I'd been trying to get a picture and was poised with my camera each time, but they made me jump every single time and I ended up with a frame full of foggy sky! I'll just use Chris's! I was too cold to go in the cage today - the thought of stripping off (to my cossie) and putting on a damp wetsuit scared me off, and it seemed to be a bit quiet for sharks around the boat today. Still managed to eat an apple or two on the top deck anyway and got a cracking view from up there again - once the fog had cleared.
Friday 2nd July: Last night after I left the internet cafe I headed for the Rectory Lane steps - very pretty, bloody dangerous and still went the wrong way!! Nice views from the top, reminded me of Clovelli in Devon (now you'll understand the kind of hill I had to walk up - and down, and then up again as I took the wrong turning!). I think this was the same direction the mumbling tramp pointed me to on my first night here, so I'm glad I didn't follow his grubby little index finger in the pitch dark... Had to shed about twenty layers of clothing as I climbed up the hill so might've burned off all the extra calories I've taken on since eating all the red meat! Somehow I managed to find my way to the apartment again though so I'm getting my bearings at least. Richard had fixed the TV when I got back (apparently I'd overloaded one of the sockets upstairs in my bedroom by plugging in a radiator - just to ease the pain of getting up at 6am for 5 days on the trot), so he gave me a tour of the fuse box and everything was fine. I stayed in and cooked some tinned stuff on toast and watched TV - because I could.
Anyway, back to Friday. A double-whammy today as I went out on the boat this morning and then did a trip in the afternoon. Monique, Chris's wife, came out on the trip today. Saw some huge great whites breaching in the morning and a pretty gruesome kill - it was a bit early in the day to watch the gulls swooping down to the slick and picking off the entrails... and the smell wasn't the best! Decided to go in the cage again today and went in last again (as I couldn't make my mind up) with a couple of the boys, both of whom had bloody great underwater cameras so it was a tad crowded in there. Saw some fantastic sharks though and they were swimming around for ages. The boys must've got some great shots of them (and of my backside, thanks!). But the funniest part of the day (and I'm chuckling as I'm typing this!) had to be when I was standing on the top deck with Sandra, a Swedish girl who reminded me of KT Tunstall (so much so that she could've actually been KT Tunstall and using a false name) and who'd also been on a couple of trips this week. We were leaning over the edge, shark spotting and watching the group in the cage, when I heard a sharp intake of breath and "That's disgusting!" from Sandra. Then I noticed a poo (had to be human, not shark!) floating by and heading straight for the cage... the look on Monique's face was so funny as she was throwing out the decoy seal and trying to avoid it - or swoosh it away from the boat! The trouble is, I'd been to the loo on the boat about 20 mins before that and I know everyone heard me asking one of the crew how to operate the pump, so I was hoping they didn't think it was mine, hahahahaaaaaaa (it wasn't by he way)! Anyway, Sandra & I couldn't stop giggling and became transfixed by it floating towards the boys in the cage. And at this point Chris looked up and shouted out to me "You going in the cage Sally?" and when I hesitated I think he thought I was scared of the sharks... but I went in and didn't get a close-up, thank god (of the poo) and the sharks took my mind off it! I'm just wondering whether the boys in the cage got a shot of it on their cameras!
There wasn't room for me to dive in the afternoon as it was an extra trip for me, but I was quite happy spotting from the top deck and we had a couple of sharks breaching on the decoy again - a bit of a rarity in the afternoon. Then when we sailed back to the harbour we got caught up with the Cape cormorants flying back in their thousands to the island, an amazing sight and sound. I almost fell asleep on the way back, so decided to pop into Bertha's to catch the rest of the Brazil v Netherlands game over a glass (or two) of waaaaahhhhhht waaaaaaahhhhhhhne. Arranged to meet Poenas, the skipper, in there after he'd sorted (technical nautical term) the boat then went to The Captain's Table (above the bar where I'd got stranded the other night) with Chanty, another crew member. Had a lovely steak - again, but drank a fair bit and I'd already had a head start on the others so felt a bit dodge on the way home. Don't actually remember going to bed... and was booked on another shark trip at 7am!
Saturday 3rd July: Funnily enough I struggled to get up this morning (and without the aid of my radiator too, thanks Richard!), but somehow made it out on the boat. Think Chanty was a bit delicate too, but she covered it well. Felt quite sad that it was my last trip and the minute we reached Seal Island a thick blanket of fog fell over us and I completely lost my bearings (I've just proof-read this and I'd missed the 'b' off bearings, hahahahaaaaaa! My earrings are still intact!). We still managed to see 4 sharks breaching on the seal decoys off the back of the boat though, and it was amazing - the last one really made me jump. I'd been trying to get a picture and was poised with my camera each time, but they made me jump every single time and I ended up with a frame full of foggy sky! I'll just use Chris's! I was too cold to go in the cage today - the thought of stripping off (to my cossie) and putting on a damp wetsuit scared me off, and it seemed to be a bit quiet for sharks around the boat today. Still managed to eat an apple or two on the top deck anyway and got a cracking view from up there again - once the fog had cleared.
Thursday, 1 July 2010
SHARK!
I'm back in the Italian restaurant/internet cafe-type place with the Gypsy Kings on in the background and a South African man sitting behind me trying to sing along to Volare (and not making a very good job of it - and I'm dying to turn round and see what he looks like...). So let me fill you in on the last couple of days...
Wednesday 30th June: Well, I had an interesting evening in Simon's Town last night... After I left the internet 'cafe' (restaurant) I realised it was dark outside and I didn't have a clue (or a map) how to get home to my apartment. I tried calling Georgie who'd dropped me into town, but she wasn't answering so I assumed she didn't work after dark. The local Information desk was closed, so I asked at a local restaurant - the waitress was so helpful and tried to order me a taxi with 2 different companies, both of which weren't working on a Tuesday... When I'd checked into the apartment, Richard the owner showed me some steps which start from the top of the apartment road and would take me straight down the hill into town. The trouble is, I couldn't work out where they started - and it was dark! Plus the fact that there are about 4 or 5 sets of steps going up the hill, but none of them known by the same name as the ones coming down the hill. And all of them in pitch darkness. A tad awkward and even though everyone said it would be safe to walk, I think it was myself I didn't trust in the circumstances (being a bit on the clumsy side). So I spent about half an hour wandering past the bottom of the different steps deciding which one to pick, until I stumbled (almost literally) across a tramp sitting at the bottom of Rectory Lane. I thought I'd ask if he knew the way and with that he pointed up the hill and muttered something incomprehensible, at which point I decided to walk in the opposite direction. Further up the road I stumbled (again - see, clumsy) across a pub so I wandered in and asked the barman if he knew of any taxis - but he gave me the same numbers as the waitress, so apparently there are only two taxis (and Georgie) in Simon's Town and neither of them work on a Wednesday. Obviously not a hotbed of action around here. Anyway, whilst in the pub telling the barman, Alan, of my dilemma, I got chatting to a couple of old american sailors ("oh hello" I hear you thinking, but they were OLD, had lots of facial hair and were smoking the biggest fattest cigars I've ever seen! Now I know all the nice girls love a sailor, but you wouldn't go there, believe me). Anyway, they told me they had copious amounts of Rand that they had to spend before leaving town tomorrow so they offered to buy me a drink. I was just waiting to hear if Alan the barman had found a taxi for me and the minute he said "20 minutes" a large glass of white wine arrived in front of me - what a service. My mum just happened to call me whilst in the middle of my dilemma (with getting home, not with the sailors) so I had a quick chat and checked in, making sure she knew I was safe (except I wasn't really sure if I was at that point!). Watched a bit of the Spain v Portugal game, had another glass of wine as the driver hadn't shown up and had a good chat with Gary and Peter, the sailors - Peter reminded me a bit of Richard Dreyfuss's character in Jaws, which I thought was quite fitting in the circumstances. Anyway, the taxi never showed up, so Alan asked Adam, the local elecrician (apparently there's only one of those here as well) to drive me home. So he did! He didn't want any money, so I said I'd buy him a drink when I see him next... bless him. So eventually I made it home - about 2 hours after I'd intended to get there - and I never did find those bloody steps!
Anyway, back to Wednesday... I'd set my alarm on my phone for 6.10am to make sure I had enough time to get everything sorted for my shark trip, but strangely enough I was woken up by a knock on my bedroom door around the same time. Unbelievable the service you get from Vodafone these days isn't it! I was a bit baffled, then realised Richard from next door had let himself in to give me a wake up call, hahahahaaaaa! He was giving me a lift to the harbour for the shark trip so he wanted to make sure I was up. I did wonder where I was for a minute though... so I met all the crew at the harbour and we set off at 7am for Seal Island in False Bay, where the great whites hunt the seals. I sat at the top of the boat, almost froze to death, but it meant I had the best view and, lo and behold, I spotted the first shark - HURRAAHAHHHHHH! I just caught its tail going into the water, but it then flew clean out again and breached right in front of us - and everyone saw it as I'd shouted "SHARK AT 11 O'CLOCK!" (like a true pro), which is what we were told to do. Unbelievable. Then we towed a decoy seal about 8m behind the boat and were told to keep our eyes on it. And we saw a great white jump clean out of the water with the decoy in its mouth - it only lasted about a second, but seemed like slow-motion. It was fantastic, exactly what I'd come here to see. I was debating whether or not to go into the cage, only because it was so bloody cold! - but I went in last with Vince, the only other English person on board and a Crewe Alexandra fan (the first one I've ever met). Once I'd got my wetsuit on - about 20 mins and lots of pulling later - we jumped in and shared the cage. The crew on the boat would shout out when to duck under the water (holding our breath rather than using a snorkel) and which direction the shark was coming from and we ended up seeing about 2 or 3 different sharks and some amazing sights. The most memorable was a huge female shark, about 3.5m long, who cruised past the cage a number of times, looking straight at us. She approached us head-on a few times as well and I had to keep stepping back in the cage as it looked like she wouldn't stop! A great first trip - can't wait for the next 4... After we'd got back to the harbour I popped into the shark shop for a hot chocolate with Renee. I decided to stay put in Simon's Town 'til the end of my trip, rather than go back up to Cape Town. Mainly because I can't be bothered to pack and unpack again and it will save me some money. The apartment is so nice I'd be silly not to stay on, and I'm on a mission to find the missing steps before I leave town. I went for a bite to eat at the Meeting Place cafe and wrote a few postcards for the old folk at home who don't have computers! Then I decided to head back home whilst it was still daylight. I decided on the Alfred Street steps, which ended up being about 200-strong and at an incline similar to the Droveway in Hove. They weren't the right steps, but I somehow made it home to the apartment. I'll try a different set tomorrow... Managed to blow a fuse in the apartment last night and typical that it was the one connected to the TV so I had an entertainment-less evening and ended up falling asleep on the sofa at 9.30am whilst reading my FourFourTwo. A long day, but a fab one!
Thursday 1st July: Where did June go? Got up at 6.10am again (although it was my phone waking me up rather than Richard's knocking this morning). Felt a bit sicky on the boat today, so decided against going in the cage and stayed up on the top of the boat spotting instead. And what a day of spotting - saw 9 different sharks today, including Cruella, who's notorious in these parts as she's got attitude. Took some great pics - well I think I did, but it was too bright to see them on the boat. Once I've worked out how to upload them to my blog I'll stick them on for all to see. Had a chat with a few of the crew who all know their stuff so it was really interesting listening to all their stories. So a different day to yesterday, but another fantastic one - even though I missed the shark breaching by the boat this morning! And now I'm back in the internet cafe/restaurant, swaying and wondering if people can see that I'm swaying. Right, I've got another set of steps to find... I'll keep you posted.
Wednesday 30th June: Well, I had an interesting evening in Simon's Town last night... After I left the internet 'cafe' (restaurant) I realised it was dark outside and I didn't have a clue (or a map) how to get home to my apartment. I tried calling Georgie who'd dropped me into town, but she wasn't answering so I assumed she didn't work after dark. The local Information desk was closed, so I asked at a local restaurant - the waitress was so helpful and tried to order me a taxi with 2 different companies, both of which weren't working on a Tuesday... When I'd checked into the apartment, Richard the owner showed me some steps which start from the top of the apartment road and would take me straight down the hill into town. The trouble is, I couldn't work out where they started - and it was dark! Plus the fact that there are about 4 or 5 sets of steps going up the hill, but none of them known by the same name as the ones coming down the hill. And all of them in pitch darkness. A tad awkward and even though everyone said it would be safe to walk, I think it was myself I didn't trust in the circumstances (being a bit on the clumsy side). So I spent about half an hour wandering past the bottom of the different steps deciding which one to pick, until I stumbled (almost literally) across a tramp sitting at the bottom of Rectory Lane. I thought I'd ask if he knew the way and with that he pointed up the hill and muttered something incomprehensible, at which point I decided to walk in the opposite direction. Further up the road I stumbled (again - see, clumsy) across a pub so I wandered in and asked the barman if he knew of any taxis - but he gave me the same numbers as the waitress, so apparently there are only two taxis (and Georgie) in Simon's Town and neither of them work on a Wednesday. Obviously not a hotbed of action around here. Anyway, whilst in the pub telling the barman, Alan, of my dilemma, I got chatting to a couple of old american sailors ("oh hello" I hear you thinking, but they were OLD, had lots of facial hair and were smoking the biggest fattest cigars I've ever seen! Now I know all the nice girls love a sailor, but you wouldn't go there, believe me). Anyway, they told me they had copious amounts of Rand that they had to spend before leaving town tomorrow so they offered to buy me a drink. I was just waiting to hear if Alan the barman had found a taxi for me and the minute he said "20 minutes" a large glass of white wine arrived in front of me - what a service. My mum just happened to call me whilst in the middle of my dilemma (with getting home, not with the sailors) so I had a quick chat and checked in, making sure she knew I was safe (except I wasn't really sure if I was at that point!). Watched a bit of the Spain v Portugal game, had another glass of wine as the driver hadn't shown up and had a good chat with Gary and Peter, the sailors - Peter reminded me a bit of Richard Dreyfuss's character in Jaws, which I thought was quite fitting in the circumstances. Anyway, the taxi never showed up, so Alan asked Adam, the local elecrician (apparently there's only one of those here as well) to drive me home. So he did! He didn't want any money, so I said I'd buy him a drink when I see him next... bless him. So eventually I made it home - about 2 hours after I'd intended to get there - and I never did find those bloody steps!
Anyway, back to Wednesday... I'd set my alarm on my phone for 6.10am to make sure I had enough time to get everything sorted for my shark trip, but strangely enough I was woken up by a knock on my bedroom door around the same time. Unbelievable the service you get from Vodafone these days isn't it! I was a bit baffled, then realised Richard from next door had let himself in to give me a wake up call, hahahahaaaaa! He was giving me a lift to the harbour for the shark trip so he wanted to make sure I was up. I did wonder where I was for a minute though... so I met all the crew at the harbour and we set off at 7am for Seal Island in False Bay, where the great whites hunt the seals. I sat at the top of the boat, almost froze to death, but it meant I had the best view and, lo and behold, I spotted the first shark - HURRAAHAHHHHHH! I just caught its tail going into the water, but it then flew clean out again and breached right in front of us - and everyone saw it as I'd shouted "SHARK AT 11 O'CLOCK!" (like a true pro), which is what we were told to do. Unbelievable. Then we towed a decoy seal about 8m behind the boat and were told to keep our eyes on it. And we saw a great white jump clean out of the water with the decoy in its mouth - it only lasted about a second, but seemed like slow-motion. It was fantastic, exactly what I'd come here to see. I was debating whether or not to go into the cage, only because it was so bloody cold! - but I went in last with Vince, the only other English person on board and a Crewe Alexandra fan (the first one I've ever met). Once I'd got my wetsuit on - about 20 mins and lots of pulling later - we jumped in and shared the cage. The crew on the boat would shout out when to duck under the water (holding our breath rather than using a snorkel) and which direction the shark was coming from and we ended up seeing about 2 or 3 different sharks and some amazing sights. The most memorable was a huge female shark, about 3.5m long, who cruised past the cage a number of times, looking straight at us. She approached us head-on a few times as well and I had to keep stepping back in the cage as it looked like she wouldn't stop! A great first trip - can't wait for the next 4... After we'd got back to the harbour I popped into the shark shop for a hot chocolate with Renee. I decided to stay put in Simon's Town 'til the end of my trip, rather than go back up to Cape Town. Mainly because I can't be bothered to pack and unpack again and it will save me some money. The apartment is so nice I'd be silly not to stay on, and I'm on a mission to find the missing steps before I leave town. I went for a bite to eat at the Meeting Place cafe and wrote a few postcards for the old folk at home who don't have computers! Then I decided to head back home whilst it was still daylight. I decided on the Alfred Street steps, which ended up being about 200-strong and at an incline similar to the Droveway in Hove. They weren't the right steps, but I somehow made it home to the apartment. I'll try a different set tomorrow... Managed to blow a fuse in the apartment last night and typical that it was the one connected to the TV so I had an entertainment-less evening and ended up falling asleep on the sofa at 9.30am whilst reading my FourFourTwo. A long day, but a fab one!
Thursday 1st July: Where did June go? Got up at 6.10am again (although it was my phone waking me up rather than Richard's knocking this morning). Felt a bit sicky on the boat today, so decided against going in the cage and stayed up on the top of the boat spotting instead. And what a day of spotting - saw 9 different sharks today, including Cruella, who's notorious in these parts as she's got attitude. Took some great pics - well I think I did, but it was too bright to see them on the boat. Once I've worked out how to upload them to my blog I'll stick them on for all to see. Had a chat with a few of the crew who all know their stuff so it was really interesting listening to all their stories. So a different day to yesterday, but another fantastic one - even though I missed the shark breaching by the boat this morning! And now I'm back in the internet cafe/restaurant, swaying and wondering if people can see that I'm swaying. Right, I've got another set of steps to find... I'll keep you posted.
Tuesday, 29 June 2010
From elephants to sharks (via some crap football!)
Well I'm now in Simon's Town (2 separate words I think), about 50k (I think!) south of Cape Town (definitely 2 separate words) preparing for my shark trip - eeeek! By asking some random people in the street, I managed to find an internet cafe, which for once really is a cafe with internet access. Actually it's an Italian restaurant and they've stuck me in the corner next to a high chair and the fire hose and I'm on someone's laptop with the Paraguay v Japan game on in the background. It's not exactly 10/10 in the ergonomic stakes and Health & Safety would have a fit, but needs must. Incidentally when I Googled 'Sally does South Africa' to find my blog, 'Sally does Dallas' came up automatically in the history. Hmmmmmmm...
I arrived last night in the dark, so have been waiting to venture out of the gorgeous apartment I've been booked into by the shark people - 4 ensuite bedrooms, very plush, overlooking the bay (which I couldn't see this morning), a billion TV channels including the Hairy Bikers (hahahaaaa!) and only me staying in it, yay! - to explore Simon's Town and get my bearings. I was meant to be on a shark dive this morning, but it was cancelled due to gale force winds and I ended up imprisoned in the apartment by another tropical storm. Made it out the front door and about 50 yards up the road in horizontal rain before I realised it was pointless going any further. So I turned around, changed out of my 'waterproof' coat - which clearly wasn't - and ordered a taxi. Georgie, the driver, said to me "give me 5 minutes. I've just got to get the penguin out from under the car and I'll be right with you". And she wasn't joking, hahahahaaaaaa! If Brighton Streamline ever try using that one on me... So I've just popped into the Apex shop, the shark company I'm diving with, to let them know I'm here and ready & raring to go. Managed to spend 150 quid in one fell swoop on great white shark stuff. While I was there tomorrow's trip was confirmed so I get picked up at 6.45am and dropped at the harbour - aaaaaaaarrrrrrrrrrrrggghhhhhhh!!!! And now I'm officially sh*tting myself (sorry mum). I remember feeling like this the last time, but I know I'll love every minute of it - think I'm more scared of the cold water than the 4m great whites out there... Anyway, I'll fill you in on the last 7 days - if I can actually remember what I've been up to.
Tuesday 22nd June: left Falcon's View in Knysna and decided to stop off at the Elephant Park which was en route to Port Elizabeth (PE). But not before an unscheduled drive through a small township on the outskirts of K
nysna!! I think the plan had been to visit a waterfall near the coast and Ali had programmed something into the sat nav to take us there. Unfortunately the sat nav had other ideas and took us through a township and a maze of dirt-tracks, complete with lots of black people looking at the silly white people who had so obviously taken a wrong turn!! We managed to find our way out of it (with Liz, Mark and Michael following us in the other car) and just smiled at everyone at the side of the road as we went past - they were all waving at us and I couldn't stop laughing and waving back. I don't think they'd seen many white people in their neck of the woods and we must've provided some entertainment as we drove past the 
same groups of people about 5 times, hahahaaaaaa! Anyway, once we got to the elephant park we took a short trailor ride out to the middle of the park and fed the elephants loads of carrots - a bizarre experience, but a good one. They're so HUGE though and I was a little bit wary of them. Think I was more scared of the elephants than the township experience. One of the bigger ones took a liking to my chest (I think it must've been the way I was holding my carrots!) and frightened the life out of me with its trunk. After tearing Liz away from 
the elephants we carried on along the coast, driving into Eastern Cape province and stopping at Tsitsikamma National Park. Decided to take the cliff walk to the suspension bridge, which was about 1km of steps up and down and played havoc with my knees. Well worth it though as when we got to the end we spotted a pod of southern right whales out to sea - you could just see them in the distance when they surfaced. We could make out at least 4 from the water coming from their blowholes and we saw them breach a couple of times - hard to
tear ourselves away. The landscape there reminded me of great white shark country too. Can't wait... Finally arrived in Port Elizabeth in the dark and in the pouring rain so we had a bit of trouble finding our B&B. Dumped our bags and went straight out for dinner at Mike's Kitchen. We all ate so much food it was embarrassing!!! I did manage to eat something green though, as well as sinking a large bottle of JC Le Roux (the local cava) by myself. 
Had a call from Spurs Mark while we were there - he'd just flown in from Cape Town - and he ended up joining us for a drink. Called a cab to take us home, but the driver never turned up so John, the owner of Mike's (work that one out) offered to drive us back, about 20km out of his way! People are so friendly over here. I can't imagine that happening at home. So a funny, but bloody cold, night all round.
Wednesday 23rd June: had breakfast at the boys' B&B and got a taxi to the Boardwalk in PE with Keith the driver, who gave us a guided tour on the way - in competition with the taxi office at full blast on the radio, a Beegees cd and a very broad accent. Sat in the sun outside the casino and
had a couple of glasses of wine to calm my pre-match nerves. Bumped into Kev and Tone, West Ham fans who I'd met in Japan in 2002 - they looked exactly the same - and reminisced about the karaoke bar where we'd all met. Spurs Mark joined us for a beer and we all set off for the match. Stood about 4 rows from the front near the corner flag so had a cracking view of the game, which we went on to win - thank god. Heard that USA scored a late winner in their game though, so that threw all our travel plans into disarray as we now finish second on goals scored and face Germany. Typical americans! Went for a curry on the way back to the Boardwalk and they were playing the Saturday Night Fever cd - more Beegees, hahahaaaaa! Had a farewell drink with Spurs Mark who is flying home tomorrow.
Thursday 24th June: had breakfast at Apron Strings B&B again and discussed our Plan Bs which we'd all had to put in place after finishing second in the group. I had a flight booked from Joburg to Cape Town for my shark trip, which I would have to delay by a day, but would need to stop off in Bloemfontein for the next round game v Germany. The boys and Liz were driving that way anyway so I decided to stay with them and go by car. A few phonecalls to Bill our hero travel agent in
England and he was on the case with accommodation. Set off quite early for Smithfield, an arty town about 100km south of Bloemfontein, where Bill booked us all in for 3 nights. Think I must've fallen asleep again in the back of the car (Clarence Seedorf??!! - it's a long story) as I can't remember much of the journey. I do remember putting on my red jumper which I'd last worn in Knysna, only to find elephant snot down my left boob. Nice. And a first (it's ok, I managed to scrape it off and it's now in the washing machine in Simon's Town!). We arrived in Smithfield just as the sun was setting so the owners, Linda and Peter (an artist), made us a pot of tea which we drank outside on the veranda in short sleeves. Until the sun went down and the temperature dropped to something like -2 and I almost froze on the spot. At this point Linda told us that we all had electric b
lankets on our beds, hurrahh!! Peter put the fire on in the living room and we watched the Italians get knocked out by Slovakia (my sweep team, hurrah!) over a glass or two of white wine (or "waaaaahhhht waaaaaaahhhhhne" as me & Kev have taken to calling it, hahahaahaaaa!). Had dinner at Pigout, a local restaurant about 5 minutes (freezing cold) walk away - a lovely place, run by Henk (a great host and a UFO enthusiast!) and Lynette (a great cook). Ate lots, drank lots, sat by the fire, played with the dogs & mad cat and watched the football. A good evening all round. Had a cryptic message from Spurs Mark to say he'd see me in Bloem - confused as he was meant to be going home...
Friday 25th June: awoke around 1.00am to the smell of burning flesh where I'd left my electric blanket on full power, hahahaaaaaa! Leapt out of bed to cool off and eventually had a really good sleep. Had a cracking full breakfast, packed our bags and moved about 100 yards down the road to Smithfield House where we were due to spend the next 2 nights (unfortunately Linda and Peter were filling up with church folk...). Met our hosts, Ann and Geoff, both in their 80s and both artists. I can't describe them, but they were fantastic - on a par with Terence & John at Quiet Mountain, but obviously straight. Geoff had so many stories to tell and was so plummie. He's from Rhodesia, not Zimbabwe ("they keep changing the bloody names, I don't know where these places are any more! There's a place called Polokwane and I've never bloody heard of it!"). We decid
ed to drive off to Geriep (pronounced Harreep with a rolling R - we had problems with it) to see the dam and the nature reserve, which was a surprise when we got there. We paid about a pound each to drive through a huge expanse of nothing, then turned a corner and saw ostrich, wildebeast, zebra, some kind of antelope, kudu and mongoose. Talk about value for money - I got my safari after all! Drove back to Smithfield and Ann made us tea on the veranda. Got changed for dinner (adding about 20 layers of clothing in preparation for the walk) and Geoff poured us all a glass of wine which we drank by the fire in the drawing room whilst listening to his stories - we could've stayed there for hours, but we were booked in for dinner at Luigi's on the "High Street" of the sprawling metropolis that is Smithfield! Had a few drinks in the bar beforehand and got chatting to a couple of Carlisle fans who were also making their way to Bloem for the match. Had one of the best steaks I've ever had, followed by pudding and more wine... All sorts of people started drifting into the bar and I got chatting to a local sheep farmer who said he'd been kite surfing in Brighton (do they do kite surfing in Brighton?!). He offered to buy us all drinks, but we had to get back so turned down the offer - I don't think I've ever done that, but I did. Honest! Also had a phone call from Spurs Mark to say he was in Joburg and hadn't gone home, hahahaaaaa! He's got World Cup Fever and is doing what I did when I was in Japan - I think I extended my flight about 3 times when I was there.
Saturday 26th June: had another cracking breakfast, cooked by Geoff, who continued telling us stories while we were eating it. Had a chill-out day in Smithfield. Went the local museum and were given a great guided tour by Richard. We walked up the "High Street" and popped in to a couple of craft shops and galleries, all selling paintings by Peter, Ann and Geoff!! Wandered up to the old cemetery as there were war graves there from the Boer War, which we'd read lots about in the museum. There was a grave which had "SALLY" on it "born May 1871, d
ied 1908" which freaked me out a bit as it was exactly 100 years before I was born. We think it may have been a horse. Walking back down the High Street we popped into the Factory Store, which we'd heard so much about. It really is a shop that sells everything - we went in there for Panini football stickers which were cheaper than at home, about 35p each! We spotted a load of people from the local township who were drinking outside the Smithfield Saloon, so we decided to go in for a drink (or were practically dragged in by one of the girls standing outside). The locals made us feel welcome and later told us that we were the first white people ever to go in there!!! Richard from the museum also popped in and wondered what we were doing in there! I was even asked for my name and phone number, hahahaaaaa! Lots of photos and a bottle of beer (70p each!) later we managed to get out
and headed home. We decided not to tell Geoff that we'd been in the local shebeen... It was so hot when we got back that we all crashed out by the swimming pool in shorts & t-shirts (mad weather) and I dried my socks on the window sill (I'm all class). Geoff invited us into the drawing room again for more wine with him and the two jack russells before we ventured off to Pigout for dinner. Had ostrich tonight - lovely - then watched the football by the fire again. Ghana beat the USA (hurrah!) and I never had a chance to sell my match ticket...
Sunday 27th June (D-Day): got up early for breakfast with Geoff. He mentioned to the boys that Ann had taken a call from Richard (Museum and shebeen Richard) last night, inviting us to a party in the township, hahahahaaaaaa - Geoff must've had a fit! Talk about give the game away... Once we'd said goodbye to Ann & Geoff we drove straight to Bloemfontein and arriv
ed by 11am. Checked into Spurs Mark's hotel as he's driving me to Joburg airport in the morning as Kev & Ali are going to drive straight to Cape Town, if we win. Made our way to the Waterfront and arranged to meet Mark as he didn't have a match ticket. Had a few drinks with the germans before the game and Mark got a ticket. Also bought t-shirts off a dodgy Italian bloke with the Three Lions badge and South Africa 2010 on it (I actually bought the shirt off his back as it was the smallest one he had! But it smelt a bit sweaty so I stuffed it in my handbag - maybe England lost because I wasn't wearing it...). Bumped into Jay and Phil from Crowborough. Walked to the ground and felt so confident before the game, wasn't nervous at all and thought that was a good sign. What a let-down. We all went mad when England scored their second goal (that wasn't) and I got covered in beer all down one side. All for nothing. England seemed to 
give up as soon as the Germans scored their third and the rest is history. I'm just glad it didn't go to penalties and glad they didn't put 5 past us. I clapped the team at the end, but the players weren't very quick in clapping the fans, so I'm a tad miffed. The walk back from the ground is all a bit of a blur. Went back to the Lodge with the boys and Liz to pick up my bag, then went for a bite to eat with Mark and headed home about 11pm I think... Die Keller, where we had dinner, was full of England and Germany fans, all getting drunk and singing together so there was no hassle and a pretty good atmosphere considering all the English were so p'd off!
Monday 28th June: got up early to pack, but both of us faffed about so didn't end up leaving Bloemfontein 'til 11am - about an hour later than planned!
Drove straight to Joburg airport without stopping and just managed to get there, drop off the hire car and check-in with about 30 mins to spare before my 4pm flight to Cape Town. Said goodbye to Spurs Mark for the third time in a fortnight, but half expecting him to turn up again in Cape Town! Got picked up at the airport and had a guided tour of the bay en route to Simon's Town. Checked in to the apartment and met Kaye who had been on the same shark trip (that I should've been on) this morning. Sounded fab - she said she had at least 3 sharks circling the cage at one point, one of them 14 ft long. Unfortunately my trip tomorrow has been cancelled due to bad weather, but I've got potentially 5 days of sharks so hopefully I'll get to see some this week...
So that brings you up to date. Now I need to get back to the apartment (if Georgie can get the penguins out from under her car again), eat something and prepare myself for sharks! HURRRAAAHHHHHHHHHH!!! :o)
I arrived last night in the dark, so have been waiting to venture out of the gorgeous apartment I've been booked into by the shark people - 4 ensuite bedrooms, very plush, overlooking the bay (which I couldn't see this morning), a billion TV channels including the Hairy Bikers (hahahaaaa!) and only me staying in it, yay! - to explore Simon's Town and get my bearings. I was meant to be on a shark dive this morning, but it was cancelled due to gale force winds and I ended up imprisoned in the apartment by another tropical storm. Made it out the front door and about 50 yards up the road in horizontal rain before I realised it was pointless going any further. So I turned around, changed out of my 'waterproof' coat - which clearly wasn't - and ordered a taxi. Georgie, the driver, said to me "give me 5 minutes. I've just got to get the penguin out from under the car and I'll be right with you". And she wasn't joking, hahahahaaaaaa! If Brighton Streamline ever try using that one on me... So I've just popped into the Apex shop, the shark company I'm diving with, to let them know I'm here and ready & raring to go. Managed to spend 150 quid in one fell swoop on great white shark stuff. While I was there tomorrow's trip was confirmed so I get picked up at 6.45am and dropped at the harbour - aaaaaaaarrrrrrrrrrrrggghhhhhhh!!!! And now I'm officially sh*tting myself (sorry mum). I remember feeling like this the last time, but I know I'll love every minute of it - think I'm more scared of the cold water than the 4m great whites out there... Anyway, I'll fill you in on the last 7 days - if I can actually remember what I've been up to.
Tuesday 22nd June: left Falcon's View in Knysna and decided to stop off at the Elephant Park which was en route to Port Elizabeth (PE). But not before an unscheduled drive through a small township on the outskirts of K
nysna!! I think the plan had been to visit a waterfall near the coast and Ali had programmed something into the sat nav to take us there. Unfortunately the sat nav had other ideas and took us through a township and a maze of dirt-tracks, complete with lots of black people looking at the silly white people who had so obviously taken a wrong turn!! We managed to find our way out of it (with Liz, Mark and Michael following us in the other car) and just smiled at everyone at the side of the road as we went past - they were all waving at us and I couldn't stop laughing and waving back. I don't think they'd seen many white people in their neck of the woods and we must've provided some entertainment as we drove past the 
same groups of people about 5 times, hahahaaaaaa! Anyway, once we got to the elephant park we took a short trailor ride out to the middle of the park and fed the elephants loads of carrots - a bizarre experience, but a good one. They're so HUGE though and I was a little bit wary of them. Think I was more scared of the elephants than the township experience. One of the bigger ones took a liking to my chest (I think it must've been the way I was holding my carrots!) and frightened the life out of me with its trunk. After tearing Liz away from 
the elephants we carried on along the coast, driving into Eastern Cape province and stopping at Tsitsikamma National Park. Decided to take the cliff walk to the suspension bridge, which was about 1km of steps up and down and played havoc with my knees. Well worth it though as when we got to the end we spotted a pod of southern right whales out to sea - you could just see them in the distance when they surfaced. We could make out at least 4 from the water coming from their blowholes and we saw them breach a couple of times - hard to
tear ourselves away. The landscape there reminded me of great white shark country too. Can't wait... Finally arrived in Port Elizabeth in the dark and in the pouring rain so we had a bit of trouble finding our B&B. Dumped our bags and went straight out for dinner at Mike's Kitchen. We all ate so much food it was embarrassing!!! I did manage to eat something green though, as well as sinking a large bottle of JC Le Roux (the local cava) by myself. 
Had a call from Spurs Mark while we were there - he'd just flown in from Cape Town - and he ended up joining us for a drink. Called a cab to take us home, but the driver never turned up so John, the owner of Mike's (work that one out) offered to drive us back, about 20km out of his way! People are so friendly over here. I can't imagine that happening at home. So a funny, but bloody cold, night all round.Wednesday 23rd June: had breakfast at the boys' B&B and got a taxi to the Boardwalk in PE with Keith the driver, who gave us a guided tour on the way - in competition with the taxi office at full blast on the radio, a Beegees cd and a very broad accent. Sat in the sun outside the casino and
had a couple of glasses of wine to calm my pre-match nerves. Bumped into Kev and Tone, West Ham fans who I'd met in Japan in 2002 - they looked exactly the same - and reminisced about the karaoke bar where we'd all met. Spurs Mark joined us for a beer and we all set off for the match. Stood about 4 rows from the front near the corner flag so had a cracking view of the game, which we went on to win - thank god. Heard that USA scored a late winner in their game though, so that threw all our travel plans into disarray as we now finish second on goals scored and face Germany. Typical americans! Went for a curry on the way back to the Boardwalk and they were playing the Saturday Night Fever cd - more Beegees, hahahaaaaa! Had a farewell drink with Spurs Mark who is flying home tomorrow.Thursday 24th June: had breakfast at Apron Strings B&B again and discussed our Plan Bs which we'd all had to put in place after finishing second in the group. I had a flight booked from Joburg to Cape Town for my shark trip, which I would have to delay by a day, but would need to stop off in Bloemfontein for the next round game v Germany. The boys and Liz were driving that way anyway so I decided to stay with them and go by car. A few phonecalls to Bill our hero travel agent in
England and he was on the case with accommodation. Set off quite early for Smithfield, an arty town about 100km south of Bloemfontein, where Bill booked us all in for 3 nights. Think I must've fallen asleep again in the back of the car (Clarence Seedorf??!! - it's a long story) as I can't remember much of the journey. I do remember putting on my red jumper which I'd last worn in Knysna, only to find elephant snot down my left boob. Nice. And a first (it's ok, I managed to scrape it off and it's now in the washing machine in Simon's Town!). We arrived in Smithfield just as the sun was setting so the owners, Linda and Peter (an artist), made us a pot of tea which we drank outside on the veranda in short sleeves. Until the sun went down and the temperature dropped to something like -2 and I almost froze on the spot. At this point Linda told us that we all had electric b
lankets on our beds, hurrahh!! Peter put the fire on in the living room and we watched the Italians get knocked out by Slovakia (my sweep team, hurrah!) over a glass or two of white wine (or "waaaaahhhht waaaaaaahhhhhne" as me & Kev have taken to calling it, hahahaahaaaa!). Had dinner at Pigout, a local restaurant about 5 minutes (freezing cold) walk away - a lovely place, run by Henk (a great host and a UFO enthusiast!) and Lynette (a great cook). Ate lots, drank lots, sat by the fire, played with the dogs & mad cat and watched the football. A good evening all round. Had a cryptic message from Spurs Mark to say he'd see me in Bloem - confused as he was meant to be going home...Friday 25th June: awoke around 1.00am to the smell of burning flesh where I'd left my electric blanket on full power, hahahaaaaaa! Leapt out of bed to cool off and eventually had a really good sleep. Had a cracking full breakfast, packed our bags and moved about 100 yards down the road to Smithfield House where we were due to spend the next 2 nights (unfortunately Linda and Peter were filling up with church folk...). Met our hosts, Ann and Geoff, both in their 80s and both artists. I can't describe them, but they were fantastic - on a par with Terence & John at Quiet Mountain, but obviously straight. Geoff had so many stories to tell and was so plummie. He's from Rhodesia, not Zimbabwe ("they keep changing the bloody names, I don't know where these places are any more! There's a place called Polokwane and I've never bloody heard of it!"). We decid
ed to drive off to Geriep (pronounced Harreep with a rolling R - we had problems with it) to see the dam and the nature reserve, which was a surprise when we got there. We paid about a pound each to drive through a huge expanse of nothing, then turned a corner and saw ostrich, wildebeast, zebra, some kind of antelope, kudu and mongoose. Talk about value for money - I got my safari after all! Drove back to Smithfield and Ann made us tea on the veranda. Got changed for dinner (adding about 20 layers of clothing in preparation for the walk) and Geoff poured us all a glass of wine which we drank by the fire in the drawing room whilst listening to his stories - we could've stayed there for hours, but we were booked in for dinner at Luigi's on the "High Street" of the sprawling metropolis that is Smithfield! Had a few drinks in the bar beforehand and got chatting to a couple of Carlisle fans who were also making their way to Bloem for the match. Had one of the best steaks I've ever had, followed by pudding and more wine... All sorts of people started drifting into the bar and I got chatting to a local sheep farmer who said he'd been kite surfing in Brighton (do they do kite surfing in Brighton?!). He offered to buy us all drinks, but we had to get back so turned down the offer - I don't think I've ever done that, but I did. Honest! Also had a phone call from Spurs Mark to say he was in Joburg and hadn't gone home, hahahaaaaa! He's got World Cup Fever and is doing what I did when I was in Japan - I think I extended my flight about 3 times when I was there.Saturday 26th June: had another cracking breakfast, cooked by Geoff, who continued telling us stories while we were eating it. Had a chill-out day in Smithfield. Went the local museum and were given a great guided tour by Richard. We walked up the "High Street" and popped in to a couple of craft shops and galleries, all selling paintings by Peter, Ann and Geoff!! Wandered up to the old cemetery as there were war graves there from the Boer War, which we'd read lots about in the museum. There was a grave which had "SALLY" on it "born May 1871, d
ied 1908" which freaked me out a bit as it was exactly 100 years before I was born. We think it may have been a horse. Walking back down the High Street we popped into the Factory Store, which we'd heard so much about. It really is a shop that sells everything - we went in there for Panini football stickers which were cheaper than at home, about 35p each! We spotted a load of people from the local township who were drinking outside the Smithfield Saloon, so we decided to go in for a drink (or were practically dragged in by one of the girls standing outside). The locals made us feel welcome and later told us that we were the first white people ever to go in there!!! Richard from the museum also popped in and wondered what we were doing in there! I was even asked for my name and phone number, hahahaaaaa! Lots of photos and a bottle of beer (70p each!) later we managed to get out
and headed home. We decided not to tell Geoff that we'd been in the local shebeen... It was so hot when we got back that we all crashed out by the swimming pool in shorts & t-shirts (mad weather) and I dried my socks on the window sill (I'm all class). Geoff invited us into the drawing room again for more wine with him and the two jack russells before we ventured off to Pigout for dinner. Had ostrich tonight - lovely - then watched the football by the fire again. Ghana beat the USA (hurrah!) and I never had a chance to sell my match ticket...Sunday 27th June (D-Day): got up early for breakfast with Geoff. He mentioned to the boys that Ann had taken a call from Richard (Museum and shebeen Richard) last night, inviting us to a party in the township, hahahahaaaaaa - Geoff must've had a fit! Talk about give the game away... Once we'd said goodbye to Ann & Geoff we drove straight to Bloemfontein and arriv
ed by 11am. Checked into Spurs Mark's hotel as he's driving me to Joburg airport in the morning as Kev & Ali are going to drive straight to Cape Town, if we win. Made our way to the Waterfront and arranged to meet Mark as he didn't have a match ticket. Had a few drinks with the germans before the game and Mark got a ticket. Also bought t-shirts off a dodgy Italian bloke with the Three Lions badge and South Africa 2010 on it (I actually bought the shirt off his back as it was the smallest one he had! But it smelt a bit sweaty so I stuffed it in my handbag - maybe England lost because I wasn't wearing it...). Bumped into Jay and Phil from Crowborough. Walked to the ground and felt so confident before the game, wasn't nervous at all and thought that was a good sign. What a let-down. We all went mad when England scored their second goal (that wasn't) and I got covered in beer all down one side. All for nothing. England seemed to 
give up as soon as the Germans scored their third and the rest is history. I'm just glad it didn't go to penalties and glad they didn't put 5 past us. I clapped the team at the end, but the players weren't very quick in clapping the fans, so I'm a tad miffed. The walk back from the ground is all a bit of a blur. Went back to the Lodge with the boys and Liz to pick up my bag, then went for a bite to eat with Mark and headed home about 11pm I think... Die Keller, where we had dinner, was full of England and Germany fans, all getting drunk and singing together so there was no hassle and a pretty good atmosphere considering all the English were so p'd off!Monday 28th June: got up early to pack, but both of us faffed about so didn't end up leaving Bloemfontein 'til 11am - about an hour later than planned!
Drove straight to Joburg airport without stopping and just managed to get there, drop off the hire car and check-in with about 30 mins to spare before my 4pm flight to Cape Town. Said goodbye to Spurs Mark for the third time in a fortnight, but half expecting him to turn up again in Cape Town! Got picked up at the airport and had a guided tour of the bay en route to Simon's Town. Checked in to the apartment and met Kaye who had been on the same shark trip (that I should've been on) this morning. Sounded fab - she said she had at least 3 sharks circling the cage at one point, one of them 14 ft long. Unfortunately my trip tomorrow has been cancelled due to bad weather, but I've got potentially 5 days of sharks so hopefully I'll get to see some this week...So that brings you up to date. Now I need to get back to the apartment (if Georgie can get the penguins out from under her car again), eat something and prepare myself for sharks! HURRRAAAHHHHHHHHHH!!! :o)
Monday, 21 June 2010
On the road with the boys - Western Cape
Saturday June 19th (I think): I'd had the foresight to order breakfast before heading off to the Algeria game (always thinking of my stomach), so I was woken up by an early phonecall from room service asking if we wanted 2 of everything... confusing question at 7.45am so think we said yes, even though I can't actually remember eating any of it. Left Mark at the hotel and thanked him for his hospitality and the hotel staff all waved me off like I was a paying guest - felt a bit like Julia Roberts in Pretty Woman (except I didn't earn any money out of it and Mark didn't come chasing after me in his limo...). 
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).
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.
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.Sunday, 20 June 2010
From match day to the mountains
Well I'm sitting in yet another lovely hotel, but stiff as a board at the mo due to crawling for 2 hours through a number of REALLY small caves this afternoon! More about this later, but I'll try and remember what I've been up to since the last time I blogged...Match Day (18th June?): After checking out of the apartment that I never actually stayed in (!) I grabbed a cab back to the Waterfront, dropped my bags off at Mark's plush hotel and went for a few drinks before the game. Met up with Phil & Jay (Brighton fans - hurrah!) and then Mark and the rest of the boys. Three blokes sitting at the table next to us spotted Mark's Albion t-shirt and told us they were from Burgess Hill! Blimey it's a small world. The Waterfront was
absolutely packed, completely taken over
by England fans, but too manic for me to handle. So I met the boys in a restaurant with a big screen and ate a huge lunch! Started getting nervous around 7pm so made our way to the ground (no Park & Ride this time thank god, just our feet to get us there!). Didn't spot our nutty Algerian friends from the bus yesterday, but met a few characters along the way. The outside of Greenpoint Stadium was pretty impressive (I'd been walking past it every day since arriving), but the inside was amazing. Such a good atmosphere there, not too many vuvuzelas in the England section, but I realised the minute the match kicked off that I had the misfortune of being stuck 2 rows in front of the band - again. I was just taking a quick, comforting sip of beer from my bottle of Bud (yes I know, I don't do beer, but needs must) when the drummer started - and I almost bit the top off the bottle!! The last time I was stuck in front of the England band was in Stockholm in 1998(?) - it wasn't a good omen then and it wasn't on this occasion either. Next time it happens I'm moving seats, lucky pants or not (which haven't been very lucky at all - sorry Sally Rolly). Decided I'm not going to wear them on Wednesday - I will wear pants though mum, just not those ones! I almost went involuntarily commando in the caves today, but that's another story...
So the less said about the 'football' the better. I did meet up with a couple of Brentford supporters who I'd met with Sal in Nice at the World Cup in 1998 - John and Paul (I think, or was it the other twin?) - so that was funny seeing them again. They were sitting 2 rows in front of me. Other than that the game was dull and we all piled out of there feeling pretty gutted. So moving on... all the Brighton gang and Spurs Mark had tickets for Fatboy Slim at the Convention Centre so we headed up there after the game, had a few drinks and danced all night! Fab! Last seen being twirled around the floor ('waltzing' apparently) to The Beautiful Blue Danube until the vodka Redbull kicked in and it was Taxi for Sally time. Left the venue at 3.15am, knowing I had to get up about 7am... not good. Felt like a zombie the next morning despite all the Redbull, but as David Ginola would say, he (FBS) was worth it.
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