5 APRIL, 2015

Yes, dear reader, it is time to come home. Jenny and I have both been thinking that it would nice to be home, to see the kids, and of course to meet the new GrandCasper.

Casper aside, we have thoroughly enjoyed our time in Seth Efrika, so much like Australia in many ways, but in others so vastly different. Where we were staying was very much on the upscale side of the ledger. One thing about Cape Town is that it seems to be a very tidy place, at least in the city areas. I can’t recall seeing any graffiti or litter. The city authorities seem to draw on the large pool of black African population to keep the city orderly and neat. We drove into downtown city, and no sooner had I found a car space that a chap rushed up to sell us the parking ticket. When somebody else turned up further up the street he sprinted off to provide the ticket. Sort of like a mobile parking meter. There was one of these blokes on just about every city block.

Downtown Cape Town is much like downtown anywhere else, so we did not linger, but drove up to Signal Hill which overlooks the city and afford some wonderful 360 views.

The day before we took off for a drive to Cape Point – the very southern tip of Africa. There is some spectacular scenery as the road hugs the coast through Hout Bay (tastiest fish and chips), through Simonstown (penguins – to look at, not eat) and on to the cape, where we found many tourists. It is a longish hike up to the light house (so we took the funicular). While at the top I felt my pocket and realised my wallet was not there. I was sure I had probably left it in the car, but doubt creates all sorts of nightmare scenarios. Did I drop it getting out of the car etc? The more I thought about the more I felt was either sitting on the roof or on the gravel next to the car. After hurrying back I discovered it was in between – on the dash in front of the steering wheel.

On Thursday, apparently accompanied by the rest of the Cape Town population, we drove North, first to West Somerset where we stayed the night before coming across to Stellenbosch. Rather than using the highway, we took the coast road that runs alongside the beach. It is a wild-looking part of the coast – windswept with dunes edging up to the road and scrubby sand vegetation vainly trying to hold it all together… an occasional brave beach fisher trying his luck. Hidden among the dunes were mile after mile of shanty townships, barely visible from the road. We thought of the fabulous mansions and villas that line the shores around Cape Town, the high-walled security, the spiked and electrified fences, the Jags, Mercs and Beamers lining the streets. I guess every city has rich and poor, but this is pretty stark. The area around West Somerset is highly populated, but the numbers were certainly swelling for the Easter holiday. I was puzzled by the huge Girls’ Brigade sign etched into the mountainside at the far end of the bay, so we went to investigate. It is a very pretty area – again with large homes, flash cars, a densely populated marina. It was there we realised that the large anchor and GB on the mountain probably referred to Gordons Bay, not Girls’ Brigade, though the logo looked identical.

We have now headed to Stellenbosch, a university town and centre for the wine industry. It is a quite old city, first settled by Europeans in the 1680s, so a hundred years ahead of Australia. They were Dutch settlers, and the area seems to have this flavour in its architecture and language. The men all seem to look like Rugby forwards with big shoulders and thick necks.  We are staying at winery about 12 kilometres out of Stellenbosch. It is very pretty – rolling hills with neat rows of vines, olives and lemons; gum trees lining the roads to remind us of home. We have had a good sampling of the wines and they are very nice. Mainly reds here, though the Sauv Blanc is as good as I have tasted. That reminds me, I have a few wines to go to finish my tasting.

Our explorations have taken us to Paarl (it actually has a Paarl Mall) and to Franschoek, both wine areas. Franschoek in particular has some wonderful looking vineyards and wineries, galleries, cafes and markets which we enjoyed pottering around. Just looking at this stage, as our bags will be stuffed.

All is in readiness for our departure. Bags packed (well, just about to be), flights checked, and mentally we are good to go. Jenny is just soaking up some African sun in a bid to get a tan before we go home. We think we have found an English-speaking kirk to go to on Easter Day (United Church) and then off to the airport. We have to spend a night in Johannesburg and then fly CasperAir (aka Qantas) to Sydney then Brisbane, where we arrive on Tuesday.