A very quiet day today. No accidents to report, no protest marches, and no adrenaline filled adventures. Today, it was just nice being a tourist. God it was dull!
The cloud lifted today and Table Mountain returned to us, but unfortunately was completely covered again by late afternoon so the helicopter ride was again cancelled and Sandra and Zak have inherited this as well.
The campervan was delivered today and now sits proudly in the hotel carpark being guarded by some homeless guy who I have promised breakfast to if he makes sure no harm comes to it during the night. He assures me that he will guard it with his life and Kieran has been put on stealing rolls and croissants duty from the breakfast buffet tomorrow morning.
We had the best milkshakes in Cape Town today from 'Mr Pickwicks', a cafe come pub. This is where the gorgeous Natalie works when she is not helping people step off the edge of Table Mountain. Kieran has really taken a shine to her, so we drove across Cape Town so he could give her a present and say goodbye.
Dan's dread locks are looking positively better than they did yesterday and thankfully most of the beeswax has either evaporated or been rinsed out, whatever has happened to it, he no longer looks like he took a head bath in the deep fat fryer.
This afternoon we caught the ferry to Robben Island, something I had been looking forward to since planning this trip. Yesterday at Slave lodge we learned a lot about Stephen Biko, today it was Nelson Mandela's turn. We met a great old guy on Robben Island, Thulani Mabasu. Thulani spent 18 years in prison on Robben Island for blowing up a government building in Johannesburg. He said no-one was killed but 57 people were injured. I guess really he was a terrorist, but one man's terrorist is another man's freedom fighter and we really liked this guy so we were not going to let the small matter of a bombing spoil a friendship.
Thulani told us about his time on Robben Island and also about his time spent with Nelson Mandela in prison. Conditions were really poor and even now to this day Thulani still has nightmares about his ordeal. Of course we saw the cell that Nelson Mandela spent his time in when incarcerated and also walked through the court yard where he was allowed, after negotiation with the wardens, to plant a small garden.
I guess one of the things that was difficult for me to comprehend was the relationship he has with some of the former wardens. When asked, he told us that the guy who drives one of the ferries to Robben Island was one of his warders and they are now friends and he invites him over to his home and cooks for him every so often. I guess another example of how people can forgive and move on and not dwell on the past. Thulani signed Kieran's scrapbook and underneath his name wrote, last political prisoner released 1991.
Not sure when I am going to update next as we hit the road tomorrow. So, until next time take care and we will too, and next time I check in, hopefully we will have dived with great whites and kayaked with whales.
Thursday, July 30, 2009
Wednesday, July 29, 2009
Cape Town Pt 5. Matatu's, Protest Marches and What? No Mountain?
We thought we would have a much quieter day today following yesterdays excitement. It was only when lying in bed last night and reflecting on the day that it really sank in. I think it took that long for the adrenaline rush to subside. I don't think I actually mentioned yesterday how cold the water is. It's winter don't forget and that piece of water we were thrown in had just come straight up from the Antartic and was just a tad on the chilly side. The other thing that hadn't occurred to me till much later was isn't this the place people come to see Great White Sharks? Oh how we chuckled over that this morning at breakfast! I am pleased to report that Kieran's leg is OK, though you should see the bruise.
So, we thought we would kill the day by visiting some museums before our helicopter ride and Sunset cruise. The cloud I have ordered is well and truly here and the table cloth I was hoping for resembles a bloody great blanket and Table Mountain is nowhere to be seen! So, I may not get that shot after all.
The first thing we happened on today was a market just by the Castle of Good Hope. We have discovered that by far the cheapest way to get around town is by matatu, taxi-minibuses. These guys drive like they are crazy, of course, the more fares they get, the more money they make, so they all drive at high speed and it is a huge race competeing for fares and I guess the quicker you drive around Cape Town, the more times you get to go around it, meaning more fares, meaning more money. There doesn't seem to be a limit as to how many people they will squeeze into one of these things either and the locals don't seem to be that fussed about where or who they sit on. As Kieran discovered this evening when, amongst all the arses and elbows that we were jammed up against, an elderly gentlemen just plonked himself right in his lap. Unfortunately I didn't know the Swahili for, "excuse me sir, you are sitting on my son" and niether could I converse to the lady beside me "madam, your elbow is crushing my testicles".
The market wasn't much to write home about but Dan was able to get his hair 'dread-locked' properly here, and whilst we were waiting for Angela from The Congo to finish the job, a huge commotion suddenly made it's way up the street. If there were going to be protests against the government, it was going to be a day when we decided to visit down town! K and I went to check it out, it looked a little hairy in places so I quickly deposited kieran back to the safety of Angela from The Congo, grabbed my camera bag and decided to mingle. This was to good an opportunity to miss.
Now, I had seen protest marches before in Athens, and had coped resaonably well when confronted with around a 1000 angry Greeks marching towards me whilst I sat in the middle of the road to get that perfect low shot, but a 1000 angry South Africans wielding pick axes, shovels and clubs was something totally different. I had 2 choices, run like hell, or stand my ground. I chose the latter and it was like the parting of the Red Sea when they reached me and swarmed all around me as they passed, whisking me up in the melee and carrying me along for good measure. God knows what they were chanting, but it sounded good so I joined in and soon became part of the hubbub and I would say they took to me pretty well, the only white face amonst this ocean of chaos and occasionally they would stop and let me take their photo, or I would be tapped on the shoulder and the scowls and shouting would change to toothless grins to pose for me. Once establishuing that I was not in any immediate danger, I ran back and got the boys, Angela from The Congo had finished the mission in hand and had been paid, and we went back to view the march from a safe(ish) distance. Unfortunately, it had pretty much died down by the time we reached the crowd, so we didn't stay too long, and decided to go and visit some museums instead!
This pretty much took up the rest of the afternoon, well that and some shopping on Long Street where my son shops like a woman. Well and truly stocked up on Vans (shoes) now, well who can resist a bargain at 15UKpounds a pair. We've also got hats, big old woolly hats in Rastafarian colours, what with Dan and his dreadlocks and Kieran in his multicoloured beany, it was like walking round Cape Town with Bob Marley and his brother!
Because it was so cloudy the helicopter ride was cancelled, just as well, knowing our luck we would have flown straight into the side of Table Mountain, and we decided to knock the sunset cruise on the head as well as it would be more like 'The Fog' than 'Tequila Sunrise'
We pushed the boat out tonight and dined at a great resteraunt in Cape Town called Ngoni's Kraal. Kieran, being Kieran decided to find out who the owner is on arrival and within minutes Colin Nygoni, the owner was sitting with us and was learning all about our adventures so far. Colin has a son who is also 9, and I think he took a shine to us, and as well as desserts on the house, Dan and Kieran were given free T-Shirts. We have decided to see how much stuff we can blag this trip, and so far the count is 1 helicopter ride, which we hope to take tomorrow, a sunset cruise which we are going to give to Sandra and Zak, and Irish lady and her 10 year old son who have been travelling around the world and we have become friendly with, and 5 T-shirts. Not bad for 5 days work I guess.
So, we thought we would kill the day by visiting some museums before our helicopter ride and Sunset cruise. The cloud I have ordered is well and truly here and the table cloth I was hoping for resembles a bloody great blanket and Table Mountain is nowhere to be seen! So, I may not get that shot after all.
The first thing we happened on today was a market just by the Castle of Good Hope. We have discovered that by far the cheapest way to get around town is by matatu, taxi-minibuses. These guys drive like they are crazy, of course, the more fares they get, the more money they make, so they all drive at high speed and it is a huge race competeing for fares and I guess the quicker you drive around Cape Town, the more times you get to go around it, meaning more fares, meaning more money. There doesn't seem to be a limit as to how many people they will squeeze into one of these things either and the locals don't seem to be that fussed about where or who they sit on. As Kieran discovered this evening when, amongst all the arses and elbows that we were jammed up against, an elderly gentlemen just plonked himself right in his lap. Unfortunately I didn't know the Swahili for, "excuse me sir, you are sitting on my son" and niether could I converse to the lady beside me "madam, your elbow is crushing my testicles".
The market wasn't much to write home about but Dan was able to get his hair 'dread-locked' properly here, and whilst we were waiting for Angela from The Congo to finish the job, a huge commotion suddenly made it's way up the street. If there were going to be protests against the government, it was going to be a day when we decided to visit down town! K and I went to check it out, it looked a little hairy in places so I quickly deposited kieran back to the safety of Angela from The Congo, grabbed my camera bag and decided to mingle. This was to good an opportunity to miss.
Now, I had seen protest marches before in Athens, and had coped resaonably well when confronted with around a 1000 angry Greeks marching towards me whilst I sat in the middle of the road to get that perfect low shot, but a 1000 angry South Africans wielding pick axes, shovels and clubs was something totally different. I had 2 choices, run like hell, or stand my ground. I chose the latter and it was like the parting of the Red Sea when they reached me and swarmed all around me as they passed, whisking me up in the melee and carrying me along for good measure. God knows what they were chanting, but it sounded good so I joined in and soon became part of the hubbub and I would say they took to me pretty well, the only white face amonst this ocean of chaos and occasionally they would stop and let me take their photo, or I would be tapped on the shoulder and the scowls and shouting would change to toothless grins to pose for me. Once establishuing that I was not in any immediate danger, I ran back and got the boys, Angela from The Congo had finished the mission in hand and had been paid, and we went back to view the march from a safe(ish) distance. Unfortunately, it had pretty much died down by the time we reached the crowd, so we didn't stay too long, and decided to go and visit some museums instead!
This pretty much took up the rest of the afternoon, well that and some shopping on Long Street where my son shops like a woman. Well and truly stocked up on Vans (shoes) now, well who can resist a bargain at 15UKpounds a pair. We've also got hats, big old woolly hats in Rastafarian colours, what with Dan and his dreadlocks and Kieran in his multicoloured beany, it was like walking round Cape Town with Bob Marley and his brother!
Because it was so cloudy the helicopter ride was cancelled, just as well, knowing our luck we would have flown straight into the side of Table Mountain, and we decided to knock the sunset cruise on the head as well as it would be more like 'The Fog' than 'Tequila Sunrise'
We pushed the boat out tonight and dined at a great resteraunt in Cape Town called Ngoni's Kraal. Kieran, being Kieran decided to find out who the owner is on arrival and within minutes Colin Nygoni, the owner was sitting with us and was learning all about our adventures so far. Colin has a son who is also 9, and I think he took a shine to us, and as well as desserts on the house, Dan and Kieran were given free T-Shirts. We have decided to see how much stuff we can blag this trip, and so far the count is 1 helicopter ride, which we hope to take tomorrow, a sunset cruise which we are going to give to Sandra and Zak, and Irish lady and her 10 year old son who have been travelling around the world and we have become friendly with, and 5 T-shirts. Not bad for 5 days work I guess.
Tuesday, July 28, 2009
Cape Town Part 4. High Speed Jet Boat Crash!!!
We didn't make it to Robben Island. Mainly because the ferry was full, but also because, even if we had of managed to book a ticket, we wouldn't have made it as we spent part of the afternoon in the hospital. Right now Dan sits here with a swollen lip, Kieran has his leg strapped up. I escaped with a scratched pinky!
So, let me start from the beginning. After a very enjoyable stroll around the Victoria and Albert Waterfront, (by the way Jersey, any chance anyone from Jersey could get their buts over here to have a look at a proper Waterfront. Seriously, if anyone at home had bothered to do even the tiniest amount of research, they could have modeled it on Cape Town and we could have had something really good to be proud of, not some half hearted effort with a Cine world, KFC and 2 really naff pubs with the entire area being taken over by chavs and teenage drunks. Rant over!). we made our way down to Quay 5 for Jet Boating. All went well, there were only 5 of us, plus 3 crew, and as we cruised gently out from the harbour watching the occasional seal bob its head up and down amongst millions of sea birds.
Once out of the harbour walls the jet boat really let rip. Within seconds we were it seemed half way down the coast and whilst being bounced up and down at high speeds we caught fleeting glimpses of Table Mountain, Lions Head and Signal Hill, then the 12 Apostles and within minutes we were at Camps Bay. I think! with all the adrenaline rushing through my body I could have been at the North pole and not cared! The skipper showed off by doing a few turns in which it felt like the boat was literally on its side as it did huge donuts in the water, then off again for more high speed performances across the ocean. We stopped every few minutes or so for a rest. We had to. Our arms were in agony from holding on so tight, and the legs, well, what I thought might be a day of rest for them with what I thought sitting down activities, well how wrong was I. It was like riding a race horse with every muscle clenched and knees pressed hard against the seat, those muscles that have ached now for 2 days were getting no respite whatsoever.
As far as enjoyment went this was grade A fun and Kieran's giggling and shrieking almost drowned out the jet engines. I couldn't hear Dan who was in front of us, but occassionaly he would turn his head and I would catch sight of a grin that stretched from ear to ear. It was about half way through the ride when the accident happened. The boat suddenly come to a screeching halt from top speed and suddenly swerved from side to side with such force that Kieran, Dan, myself and the skipper were catapulted right off the side. Now, I have never been that great at measuring distance whilst flying through the air, but the people at the back of the boat said we were thrown about 30 yards or so. Which at about 55 knots could have been more severe if we hadn't had all the safety gear on.
I'd like to say that my life flashed past my eyes, but it didn't. All I could think about was poor old Kieran as I distinctly remember smashing into him first before exiting the boat. Then hitting the water the first time and actually thinking, that didn't hurt, and neither did the second or third time as I bounced accross the surface. The first thing I saw once I got my bearings back was the skipper who looked like the most frightened man I have ever clapped eyes on in my life. The second thing I saw was Kieran who was about 10 yards away from me and I don't think he actually knew what had happened. Anyway, I quickly established that apart from being a bit shaken up he was fine, just a little in shock. Dan hadn't actually been thrown that far and within about 30 seconds he was back on board nursing a cut lip having whacked it on his way out and gave me the thumbs up with a look on his face that seemed to say, I don't know if I enjoyed that or not!
I reached Kieran and checked him over proper and I was thankful that the only thing he really seemed concerned about was that his shoe had flown off on impact and he was more worried about losing it than anything else. In fact he insisted we swam over to that first before making our way back to the boat. By the time we got to the boat we were all smiles and jokes . Although the skipper still looked like had just seen a thousand ghosts doing a jig!
What had happened was that the steering shaft had snapped which caused the jet boat to stop dead at the same time as ensuring the skipper lost total control. A complete freak accident and we were just so thankful that the only damage done was a pair of lost sunglasses and some minor scrapes. Kieran had banged his knee on his way out, either on the boat or it might have been me, and once checked out by the doctor back on dry land it was reckoned that he may have a twist or some minor ligament damage and he has been told to stay off the skate board for a few days. He is of course milking it and the limp become more severe the more people that are around!
The boat company was great and really looked after us and initially we were given a free jet boat ride tomorrow to make up for todays mishap, and as much as the boys wanted to do it all again, I opted for something different and I managed to negotiate a refund, as well as a helicopter ride, a sunset champagne cruise, and some free T-shirts. And a ride home as we were all soaking wet!
So, the rest of the day was spent chilling and we have just dined out on a feast of more Kudo and Squid. The Kudo seems to be a real hit with the boys, who I have been tremendously proud of today. What could have been a far more serious and they know it, they just took in their stride, made the most of it and we have all put it down to just one of those things. Another tale to tell, another thing to add to the been there done that list, and thank God the mishap is over and done with, cos surely lightening can't strike twice. It can't can it. We're diving with great whites on Saturday!
So, let me start from the beginning. After a very enjoyable stroll around the Victoria and Albert Waterfront, (by the way Jersey, any chance anyone from Jersey could get their buts over here to have a look at a proper Waterfront. Seriously, if anyone at home had bothered to do even the tiniest amount of research, they could have modeled it on Cape Town and we could have had something really good to be proud of, not some half hearted effort with a Cine world, KFC and 2 really naff pubs with the entire area being taken over by chavs and teenage drunks. Rant over!). we made our way down to Quay 5 for Jet Boating. All went well, there were only 5 of us, plus 3 crew, and as we cruised gently out from the harbour watching the occasional seal bob its head up and down amongst millions of sea birds.
Once out of the harbour walls the jet boat really let rip. Within seconds we were it seemed half way down the coast and whilst being bounced up and down at high speeds we caught fleeting glimpses of Table Mountain, Lions Head and Signal Hill, then the 12 Apostles and within minutes we were at Camps Bay. I think! with all the adrenaline rushing through my body I could have been at the North pole and not cared! The skipper showed off by doing a few turns in which it felt like the boat was literally on its side as it did huge donuts in the water, then off again for more high speed performances across the ocean. We stopped every few minutes or so for a rest. We had to. Our arms were in agony from holding on so tight, and the legs, well, what I thought might be a day of rest for them with what I thought sitting down activities, well how wrong was I. It was like riding a race horse with every muscle clenched and knees pressed hard against the seat, those muscles that have ached now for 2 days were getting no respite whatsoever.
As far as enjoyment went this was grade A fun and Kieran's giggling and shrieking almost drowned out the jet engines. I couldn't hear Dan who was in front of us, but occassionaly he would turn his head and I would catch sight of a grin that stretched from ear to ear. It was about half way through the ride when the accident happened. The boat suddenly come to a screeching halt from top speed and suddenly swerved from side to side with such force that Kieran, Dan, myself and the skipper were catapulted right off the side. Now, I have never been that great at measuring distance whilst flying through the air, but the people at the back of the boat said we were thrown about 30 yards or so. Which at about 55 knots could have been more severe if we hadn't had all the safety gear on.
I'd like to say that my life flashed past my eyes, but it didn't. All I could think about was poor old Kieran as I distinctly remember smashing into him first before exiting the boat. Then hitting the water the first time and actually thinking, that didn't hurt, and neither did the second or third time as I bounced accross the surface. The first thing I saw once I got my bearings back was the skipper who looked like the most frightened man I have ever clapped eyes on in my life. The second thing I saw was Kieran who was about 10 yards away from me and I don't think he actually knew what had happened. Anyway, I quickly established that apart from being a bit shaken up he was fine, just a little in shock. Dan hadn't actually been thrown that far and within about 30 seconds he was back on board nursing a cut lip having whacked it on his way out and gave me the thumbs up with a look on his face that seemed to say, I don't know if I enjoyed that or not!
I reached Kieran and checked him over proper and I was thankful that the only thing he really seemed concerned about was that his shoe had flown off on impact and he was more worried about losing it than anything else. In fact he insisted we swam over to that first before making our way back to the boat. By the time we got to the boat we were all smiles and jokes . Although the skipper still looked like had just seen a thousand ghosts doing a jig!
What had happened was that the steering shaft had snapped which caused the jet boat to stop dead at the same time as ensuring the skipper lost total control. A complete freak accident and we were just so thankful that the only damage done was a pair of lost sunglasses and some minor scrapes. Kieran had banged his knee on his way out, either on the boat or it might have been me, and once checked out by the doctor back on dry land it was reckoned that he may have a twist or some minor ligament damage and he has been told to stay off the skate board for a few days. He is of course milking it and the limp become more severe the more people that are around!
The boat company was great and really looked after us and initially we were given a free jet boat ride tomorrow to make up for todays mishap, and as much as the boys wanted to do it all again, I opted for something different and I managed to negotiate a refund, as well as a helicopter ride, a sunset champagne cruise, and some free T-shirts. And a ride home as we were all soaking wet!
So, the rest of the day was spent chilling and we have just dined out on a feast of more Kudo and Squid. The Kudo seems to be a real hit with the boys, who I have been tremendously proud of today. What could have been a far more serious and they know it, they just took in their stride, made the most of it and we have all put it down to just one of those things. Another tale to tell, another thing to add to the been there done that list, and thank God the mishap is over and done with, cos surely lightening can't strike twice. It can't can it. We're diving with great whites on Saturday!
Cape Town Part 3. Sand Boarding & Quad Biking.
So, day 3 and the cloud I ordered a couple of days ago seems to be drifting in and hopefully by Thursday or Friday we shall see Table Mountain with it's tablecloth. At the moment my legs are in agony with every muscle aching. I think in the past 2 days we used muscles we didn't even know we had. I reckon I have even developed a few extra ones just for the sheer hell of it and they are throbbing too. Whoever said that it would be a good idea to walk up and down sand dunes all morning the day after climbing a ruddy great hill needs their head tested.
So sand boarding was a lot of fun. About 16 of us crammed into a 12 seater minibus for an hours ride north of Cape Town to the Dunes at Atlantis. After a brief explanation of how to sand board, and discovering that everyone else were highly seasoned snow boarders, we set of for kamakazi adventures down the dunes. Kieran set off first and, whilst cautious, made it all the way down without falling over once, Dan follwed, a true natural like the bugger is at everything, then I went down. I would like to say in the same style as my 2 charges, but I somehow got the feeling that my sand boarding was more that of something that could have resembled a hippo on roller blades. However I did manage to stay on my feet. For the first run. Taking a huge tumble and eating a ton of sand on the second, and then flying spectacularly through the air, (I think the correct terminology is arse over tit), on the third, I decided to call it a day there and stick to taking photographs. Much safer and I seriously worried that if I break a leg or arm, who's going to drive for the next 5 weeks.
The boys carried on regardless and Dan tackled some pretty steep slopes and really looked the part. Kieran did good too, though did take a few tumbles. On one occasion the whole group watched as he somersaulted down one dune and we waited with baited breath to assess the damage. There was no answer when I called out "are you OK son". Silence! I asked again, and by the time I had said Kieran, just say Yes or no" and there was still nothing we started to get a little worried. I was just about to launch myself down the dune to his rescue and called out "Kieran, just say something, anything" when a little voice shrieked back, " I've got sand up my arse!" Phew, he's OK we all sighed, and carried on.
I did give it another go before the session had ended, and I am pleased to report that I did manage a few runs upright from start to finish, but I sensed that I was still looking awkward, later confirmed in the pictures Dan took of me doing it.
Quad Biking was, on the other hand a completely different bag, and God did we have fun racing all over the Dunes. Russ, the guy that I had booked alot of the adventure activities through from Jersey met us here and came Quad Biking with us. He's from Birmingham originally but came over to SA some years ago and set up an adventure activity business as well as a diving videographer business in which he was one of the first to take people out to the great whites and film them.
We biked over the same dunes as we sand boarded and this was so much fun. I'm not sure how fast we were going but it felt like we going pretty quick and the dunes we going up and down were pretty steep at some parts. There were times when I did think, isn't this how Ozzy Osbourne nearly kill himself?
The boys really enjoyed this, you could feel their grins breaking out from behing their helmets and occasionally i would hear Kieran giggle as he went over a particularly scary bump or hill. He asked me to follow him on his 'route' that he created and we set off down what I thought must have been the steepest slope in the whole of Africa, only to be confronted by an equally steeper one when we got to the bottom of it. So much fun. Of course there was one enormous crater that only a mad man would attempt. A very deep hol with almost verticle walls leading down to it. Guess who ends up stuck at the bottom? Kieran. Guess who has to go and pull his quad bike out of it? Me!
We did get our first injury of the trip today, a minor skatebording accident along the beach front. Only a graze and trickle of blood though and nothing worth worring about. I told Kieran, we are on a udget, Band aids are for when it's gushing only.
A great day and the perfect finish. We watched the sun go down witht he waves crashing over the rocks on the beach in front of the hotel then found a great little resteraunt right next to where we are staing where we feasted on Kudo Potjie and Ostrich meat balls.
Today, we are going Jet Boating, then will go visit Robben Island. I'll tell you about that tomorrow.
So sand boarding was a lot of fun. About 16 of us crammed into a 12 seater minibus for an hours ride north of Cape Town to the Dunes at Atlantis. After a brief explanation of how to sand board, and discovering that everyone else were highly seasoned snow boarders, we set of for kamakazi adventures down the dunes. Kieran set off first and, whilst cautious, made it all the way down without falling over once, Dan follwed, a true natural like the bugger is at everything, then I went down. I would like to say in the same style as my 2 charges, but I somehow got the feeling that my sand boarding was more that of something that could have resembled a hippo on roller blades. However I did manage to stay on my feet. For the first run. Taking a huge tumble and eating a ton of sand on the second, and then flying spectacularly through the air, (I think the correct terminology is arse over tit), on the third, I decided to call it a day there and stick to taking photographs. Much safer and I seriously worried that if I break a leg or arm, who's going to drive for the next 5 weeks.
The boys carried on regardless and Dan tackled some pretty steep slopes and really looked the part. Kieran did good too, though did take a few tumbles. On one occasion the whole group watched as he somersaulted down one dune and we waited with baited breath to assess the damage. There was no answer when I called out "are you OK son". Silence! I asked again, and by the time I had said Kieran, just say Yes or no" and there was still nothing we started to get a little worried. I was just about to launch myself down the dune to his rescue and called out "Kieran, just say something, anything" when a little voice shrieked back, " I've got sand up my arse!" Phew, he's OK we all sighed, and carried on.
I did give it another go before the session had ended, and I am pleased to report that I did manage a few runs upright from start to finish, but I sensed that I was still looking awkward, later confirmed in the pictures Dan took of me doing it.
Quad Biking was, on the other hand a completely different bag, and God did we have fun racing all over the Dunes. Russ, the guy that I had booked alot of the adventure activities through from Jersey met us here and came Quad Biking with us. He's from Birmingham originally but came over to SA some years ago and set up an adventure activity business as well as a diving videographer business in which he was one of the first to take people out to the great whites and film them.
We biked over the same dunes as we sand boarded and this was so much fun. I'm not sure how fast we were going but it felt like we going pretty quick and the dunes we going up and down were pretty steep at some parts. There were times when I did think, isn't this how Ozzy Osbourne nearly kill himself?
The boys really enjoyed this, you could feel their grins breaking out from behing their helmets and occasionally i would hear Kieran giggle as he went over a particularly scary bump or hill. He asked me to follow him on his 'route' that he created and we set off down what I thought must have been the steepest slope in the whole of Africa, only to be confronted by an equally steeper one when we got to the bottom of it. So much fun. Of course there was one enormous crater that only a mad man would attempt. A very deep hol with almost verticle walls leading down to it. Guess who ends up stuck at the bottom? Kieran. Guess who has to go and pull his quad bike out of it? Me!
We did get our first injury of the trip today, a minor skatebording accident along the beach front. Only a graze and trickle of blood though and nothing worth worring about. I told Kieran, we are on a udget, Band aids are for when it's gushing only.
A great day and the perfect finish. We watched the sun go down witht he waves crashing over the rocks on the beach in front of the hotel then found a great little resteraunt right next to where we are staing where we feasted on Kudo Potjie and Ostrich meat balls.
Today, we are going Jet Boating, then will go visit Robben Island. I'll tell you about that tomorrow.
Monday, July 27, 2009
Cape Town. Part 2. Abseiling from the top of Table Mountain.
The climb up to it's peak was exhausting and took just over 3 hours. This is the hardest thing I have climbed, Kieran of course was like a little goat, leaping effortlessly from rock to rock and took great pride in the fact that he made it to the top first whilst Dan and I struggled behind him with all the luggage. Take something warm we were told. It will be chilly. Lesson number one. when an African says it will be chilly, his definition of the word 'chilly' is slightly different to mine. 26C is not chilly, and lugging a bag with 3 heavy fleeces up a rock 1080m high is definitely not chilly!
Once at the top though it was worth it and the views were breathtaking. From the surrounding mountains, the bays below and of Cape Town, wherever we looked it was just simply stunning.
We pretty much abseiled straight away. Our abseiling guides were Natalie, Mickey and Nico and we put our lives in their hands for the next 45 minutes or so.
Kieran and I went down first. I think my vertigo is pretty much cured now, though I got that real sick feeling when Kieran (with harness) just casually walked to the edge of the drop and on tiptoes leaned forward to peer over at the 1000+m drop below. This is 3 times the height of the Eiffel Tower and K is peering over as if deciding to step off the side of the pool, whilst I am quietly soiling myself and hair turning greyer by the minute!
We soon were both harnassed up and were on the very edge, leaning backwards and ready to step off. There is a surprise waiting for you we were told. I didn't know what the surprise was, aside making it down safely and gently collapsing into the arms of the very gorgeous Natalie, but all thoughts of surprises and of her were soon gone as I started lowering myself down. K shot down quite quickly and I had no chance of catching him up I thought, that was until our ropes got tangled. Yup tangled at a 1000metres. What actually happened was his ropes knocked into me and manged to clip themselves to my belt. I soon unclipped him, but there was a horrible feeling at one point that I was unclipping the wrong things and no amount of double checking made me feel any easier, but unclipped from me he became and we both went down without further incident.
The surprise was about half way down. After about 60 metres the wall suddenly ended. Shame as I was doing some nice big jumps. Suddenly there is no wall, just a sheer drop where we are suspended in midair, approx 950 feet off the ground. Guess what expletive shot out of my mouth!. Still it was a nice view as we lowered ourselves down to the ledge where we ended. And where the lovely Natalie was waiting for us to unhook us and give us congratulatory hugs.
It was simply awesome and probably one of the biggest adrenaline rushes I have had. I think even bigger than the parachute jump as when you are just suspended at that height, you have the time to take it all in.
Next came Dan, who as always takes it all in his stride and as we waited for him at the bottom we suddenly heard a loud groan when he reached the end of the wall, followed by a 'Now what do I do?' before he too enjoyed the feeling of being suspended for the remaining 60metres. He made it safely down quickly followed by Barry, a guy we met on the trip. There were 12 of us in total abseiling, mostly English and a couple of Americans and we became quite friendly with a few of them.
That being done, we now had to climb back up the 120metres that we abseiled, I guess technically we have climbed Table Mountain 1.1 times now.
Of course after reaching the top again we now had that climb back down which we were not looking forward to. Unfortunately the cable cars were closed for maintenance, which in a way was a good thing as it was fairly quiet at the top, as having to climb up and down puts a lot of people doing it. I do like having these 'wonders' to myself, and not inundated with tourists.
The climb down was a real hard slog. The 3 of us set off first and we got down probably about a third of it when I seriously thought I was going to have a cardiac arrest. We found a little rock in the sun and decided to just have a good long rest which was the best idea I have had in a long time. I think we sat there for about 45 minutes, just chilling out and chatting when some of the others caught us up. We then all set off together and I have to say, the final trek down was really easy.
So that was yesterdays adventure. And we can now add to the list of places seen and things done abseiling from the top of Table Mountain. Today we went sandboarding and quad biking and I shall write about that later.
Once at the top though it was worth it and the views were breathtaking. From the surrounding mountains, the bays below and of Cape Town, wherever we looked it was just simply stunning.
We pretty much abseiled straight away. Our abseiling guides were Natalie, Mickey and Nico and we put our lives in their hands for the next 45 minutes or so.
Kieran and I went down first. I think my vertigo is pretty much cured now, though I got that real sick feeling when Kieran (with harness) just casually walked to the edge of the drop and on tiptoes leaned forward to peer over at the 1000+m drop below. This is 3 times the height of the Eiffel Tower and K is peering over as if deciding to step off the side of the pool, whilst I am quietly soiling myself and hair turning greyer by the minute!
We soon were both harnassed up and were on the very edge, leaning backwards and ready to step off. There is a surprise waiting for you we were told. I didn't know what the surprise was, aside making it down safely and gently collapsing into the arms of the very gorgeous Natalie, but all thoughts of surprises and of her were soon gone as I started lowering myself down. K shot down quite quickly and I had no chance of catching him up I thought, that was until our ropes got tangled. Yup tangled at a 1000metres. What actually happened was his ropes knocked into me and manged to clip themselves to my belt. I soon unclipped him, but there was a horrible feeling at one point that I was unclipping the wrong things and no amount of double checking made me feel any easier, but unclipped from me he became and we both went down without further incident.
The surprise was about half way down. After about 60 metres the wall suddenly ended. Shame as I was doing some nice big jumps. Suddenly there is no wall, just a sheer drop where we are suspended in midair, approx 950 feet off the ground. Guess what expletive shot out of my mouth!. Still it was a nice view as we lowered ourselves down to the ledge where we ended. And where the lovely Natalie was waiting for us to unhook us and give us congratulatory hugs.
It was simply awesome and probably one of the biggest adrenaline rushes I have had. I think even bigger than the parachute jump as when you are just suspended at that height, you have the time to take it all in.
Next came Dan, who as always takes it all in his stride and as we waited for him at the bottom we suddenly heard a loud groan when he reached the end of the wall, followed by a 'Now what do I do?' before he too enjoyed the feeling of being suspended for the remaining 60metres. He made it safely down quickly followed by Barry, a guy we met on the trip. There were 12 of us in total abseiling, mostly English and a couple of Americans and we became quite friendly with a few of them.
That being done, we now had to climb back up the 120metres that we abseiled, I guess technically we have climbed Table Mountain 1.1 times now.
Of course after reaching the top again we now had that climb back down which we were not looking forward to. Unfortunately the cable cars were closed for maintenance, which in a way was a good thing as it was fairly quiet at the top, as having to climb up and down puts a lot of people doing it. I do like having these 'wonders' to myself, and not inundated with tourists.
The climb down was a real hard slog. The 3 of us set off first and we got down probably about a third of it when I seriously thought I was going to have a cardiac arrest. We found a little rock in the sun and decided to just have a good long rest which was the best idea I have had in a long time. I think we sat there for about 45 minutes, just chilling out and chatting when some of the others caught us up. We then all set off together and I have to say, the final trek down was really easy.
So that was yesterdays adventure. And we can now add to the list of places seen and things done abseiling from the top of Table Mountain. Today we went sandboarding and quad biking and I shall write about that later.
Terminal Boredom, Sushi, A Sore Arse And A Bloody Great Mountain!
So, we have arrived. After a very long day at Heathrow Airport, broken up by thrashings of chess and frequent visits to the sushi bar, we boarded our flight for an equally very long and boring flight to Johannasberg. I must say, as much as everyone raves about Virgin, and the service is great, they have to have the most uncomfortable seats in the world. Alright for Kieran who promptly lays across the 3 of us and goes to sleep for the duration, but try crammimg my 6 ft 6 frame into a space where even sardines would struggle. No amount of movie selection will compensate. Especially when you can't see the screen anyway as my head towers at least 3 ft above the damn thing! I do like flying really! oh, we were fine with luggage too, though for future reference, skateboards are not permitted as hand luggage as they can be used as a weapon. Guitars on the other hand are. I am sure Osama Bin Laden will be sitting in his cave right now preparing to burn his skate board surplus and googling ebay for cheap acoustic guitars to purchase!
Arrival into Johannasberg and switching flights to Cape Town was a very stress free, and Jo berg has, without a shadow of doubt the shiniest airport floor I have ever set my sweaty flip flops upon. Positively gleaming! A couple more hours flight time to Cape Town then excitement really set in as we flew past Table Mountain and our introduction proper to South Africa was this magnificent land mark.
When driving from the airport into Cape Town itself the main focal point is Table Mountain and the 3 of us sat in the taxi quite awestruck. Our Hotel is OK. the Ritz, but the Ritz it aint! But is has 3 clean beds, a half decent bathroom and magnificent views over the bay and to the other side, Signal Hll. We are on the 10th floor, the swimming pool is on the 1st and we must have looked a right trio of muppets as we dived into it's icy cold water in full view of everyone wrapped up in woollens from the restaraunt. It is winter here, still warmer than Jersey though!
We took a stroll along the front on our first evening and walked down to the waterfront for a bite to eat. The part of Cape Town we are staying in for the next 5 days is Sea Point. It is here that one of the stadiums is being built for next years world cup and the half finished building dominates the skyline, with Table Mountain in the background. In fact, wherever you look up the view is quite incredible and we all fell in love with Cape Town immediately.
Yesterday was the start of our first adventure and by 9:00am we have made our way to 'Abseil Africa's' office on Long Street where we met another 9 nervous travelers and we all crammed into the back of a beaten up old minibus for a bumpy ride to the foot of Table Mountain. I have to say we are truly blessed with the weather as there is not a cloud in the sky and the mountain just stands there with a perfect blue backdrop. I am trying to organize some cloud for the Thursday so we can see it shrouded in it's famous tablecloth, but for today, blue skies were fine.
OK, just been summoned to breakfast so will finish this story this evening.
Arrival into Johannasberg and switching flights to Cape Town was a very stress free, and Jo berg has, without a shadow of doubt the shiniest airport floor I have ever set my sweaty flip flops upon. Positively gleaming! A couple more hours flight time to Cape Town then excitement really set in as we flew past Table Mountain and our introduction proper to South Africa was this magnificent land mark.
When driving from the airport into Cape Town itself the main focal point is Table Mountain and the 3 of us sat in the taxi quite awestruck. Our Hotel is OK. the Ritz, but the Ritz it aint! But is has 3 clean beds, a half decent bathroom and magnificent views over the bay and to the other side, Signal Hll. We are on the 10th floor, the swimming pool is on the 1st and we must have looked a right trio of muppets as we dived into it's icy cold water in full view of everyone wrapped up in woollens from the restaraunt. It is winter here, still warmer than Jersey though!
We took a stroll along the front on our first evening and walked down to the waterfront for a bite to eat. The part of Cape Town we are staying in for the next 5 days is Sea Point. It is here that one of the stadiums is being built for next years world cup and the half finished building dominates the skyline, with Table Mountain in the background. In fact, wherever you look up the view is quite incredible and we all fell in love with Cape Town immediately.
Yesterday was the start of our first adventure and by 9:00am we have made our way to 'Abseil Africa's' office on Long Street where we met another 9 nervous travelers and we all crammed into the back of a beaten up old minibus for a bumpy ride to the foot of Table Mountain. I have to say we are truly blessed with the weather as there is not a cloud in the sky and the mountain just stands there with a perfect blue backdrop. I am trying to organize some cloud for the Thursday so we can see it shrouded in it's famous tablecloth, but for today, blue skies were fine.
OK, just been summoned to breakfast so will finish this story this evening.
Thursday, July 23, 2009
One More Sleep.
So, tomorrow is the big day. Everything prepared, we're all ready. And excited of course. If we have forgotteon to pack something now, then it's too late, it gets left behind cos I ain't going near those bags again until I have too!
By the way, when did packing become so stressful? I remember the good old days when you could turn up to the airport with a bag the size of a house, no-one cared about weight and it was all happy days. Different story now. Mum / Nette & Michelle got stung at the airport last friday for £40 because one of their bags was over weight, despite the fact they were travelling as a group who were all checking in together and the other bags were under the allowance. I bet it was Michelle's that was the heaviest bag!
So, I called British Airways to check and apparantly now they don't combine the weight of the luggage for people in your party, each bag is weighed seperately, so much of today was spent distributing weight evenly over 3 bags to make sure they were all under 23kg.
Whoever came up with that idea needs to go on a common sense course! Maybe they could get an autistic teenager to re write their policy. (For those reading and who don't live in Jersey - you will have no idea what that means!)
Yesterday we went abseiling. I thought if we are going to lower ourselves from the top of Table Mountain on Sunday, probably best to get a little practise in. We abseiled of the rock face at St Catherines and it was great fun.
Kieran has been really excited all week and has been providing a consistent countdown of days and checking to make sure I have packed his favourite shorts/t-shirts etc. Of the 3 of us he is the only one that has been to SA before albeit he was a toddler when he went last time, but he swears he remembers. We are all quite used to travelling to Africa though; we had a count up the other day, this will be Kieran's 7th trip to the continent, Dan's 9th, and my 23rd time.
Of course Dan is so laid back, I thought I had better remind him that we're actually going tomorrow. Just incase he had forgotten!
Early nights for us all tonight as we need to be at the airport by 6:00am. Zoltan, if you are checking in, don't forget to pick up my car for me tomorrow!
Cheers all, next time I add to this we should be in Cape Town
By the way, when did packing become so stressful? I remember the good old days when you could turn up to the airport with a bag the size of a house, no-one cared about weight and it was all happy days. Different story now. Mum / Nette & Michelle got stung at the airport last friday for £40 because one of their bags was over weight, despite the fact they were travelling as a group who were all checking in together and the other bags were under the allowance. I bet it was Michelle's that was the heaviest bag!
So, I called British Airways to check and apparantly now they don't combine the weight of the luggage for people in your party, each bag is weighed seperately, so much of today was spent distributing weight evenly over 3 bags to make sure they were all under 23kg.
Whoever came up with that idea needs to go on a common sense course! Maybe they could get an autistic teenager to re write their policy. (For those reading and who don't live in Jersey - you will have no idea what that means!)
Yesterday we went abseiling. I thought if we are going to lower ourselves from the top of Table Mountain on Sunday, probably best to get a little practise in. We abseiled of the rock face at St Catherines and it was great fun.
Kieran has been really excited all week and has been providing a consistent countdown of days and checking to make sure I have packed his favourite shorts/t-shirts etc. Of the 3 of us he is the only one that has been to SA before albeit he was a toddler when he went last time, but he swears he remembers. We are all quite used to travelling to Africa though; we had a count up the other day, this will be Kieran's 7th trip to the continent, Dan's 9th, and my 23rd time.
Of course Dan is so laid back, I thought I had better remind him that we're actually going tomorrow. Just incase he had forgotten!
Early nights for us all tonight as we need to be at the airport by 6:00am. Zoltan, if you are checking in, don't forget to pick up my car for me tomorrow!
Cheers all, next time I add to this we should be in Cape Town
Friday, July 17, 2009
Welcome
I have set this blog up for us to keep a record of our trip over the next 6 weeks. I've always kept journals of the trips I have done but very rarely does anyone get to read them, which is OK as they are more for me to remember things anyway.
But, we thought it would also be nice to share some of our adventures and stories as we go, and it would be great to read people's comments about the things we are doing as we go.
Hopefully we will meet and make new friends along the way and it will be great to get messages from all those people too.
Not sure how this blogging thing will work out as it is the first time I have attempted to do this, but hopefully it will be a bit of fun, and I hope you enjoy reading it as much we will enjoy writing it.
But, we thought it would also be nice to share some of our adventures and stories as we go, and it would be great to read people's comments about the things we are doing as we go.
Hopefully we will meet and make new friends along the way and it will be great to get messages from all those people too.
Not sure how this blogging thing will work out as it is the first time I have attempted to do this, but hopefully it will be a bit of fun, and I hope you enjoy reading it as much we will enjoy writing it.
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