The blog to end all blogs

I won't blog everyday. In fact if I never blog again I won't care. Indeed if we have to come home tomorrow the holiday will have been worthwhile. If I die tomorrow...... no that's overstating it a bit I think. What, I hear you ask, must have happened? Well, read on and ye shall learn.

We wandered Cape Town today. The weather looked poor to start the day but by the time we sat on some steps to eat the food we had bought from the street market for lunch, the sun was shining and the day was another goodun. But things took a turn as I sat myself down and swung my bag off my back, just catching the big, besuited black guy sitting next to me on said step. Of course I apologised and he assured me it was no bother. As we ate a guy passed and, amongst the clearly good natured banter between him and my neighbour, I gleaned that this fellow was to be seen on TV. Once the exchange was over I turned and asked if, by chance, I found myself sitting next to someone famous. Not at all, he assured me. He was an MP (the national parliament is in Cape Town and not the capital, as if you didn't know). Needless to say I engaged this charming man in a conversation about the workings of parliament, the rules of the democracy, etc, and then we finished our lunch before he moved off, thanking me for our conversation.

The man sitting next to Heather asked if we knew who I had been speaking to and informed me that it was none other than Nelson Mandela's grandson. I confess to feeling star struck in a big way.

But to cap it all he came back with an ice cream and sat beside me again. I'm not proud! and asked if he was indeed the grandson of the great man himself. I failed miserably to hide or contain my absolute joy at meeting him, shook him by the hand and told him I was genuinely honoured to meet the grandson of one of the greatest, most humble men to have walked this planet. Heather took a picture 

and his identity has been confirmed by the waitress in the cafe where we had a drink to calm me!!!  Your comments on this are a requirement but please be assured I will not be charging for autographs on my return. 

What a start

Could there have been a better start to our trip. Thańks to John and Coral we arrived at Heathrow in good time but took off a little late. We slept fitfully through the night but Virgin came up trumps with both the food and the bottle of very nice champagne as compensation for Heather's seat disintegrating before her eyes and both our seat-back screens being pretty ropey. Did we really care? Not a lot. And a lot less after they sent us off with the bottle of bubbly!

We were greeted by our Avis chauffeur to be driven to our amazing apartment in Camps Bay, just outside Cape Town, where the delightful receptionist with whom I'd exchanged emails last week had indeed upgraded us to a larger apartment in recognition of Heather's birthday on Friday.

Taking the advice we had had from several people we sussed the weather and decided to head for Table Mountain, about a five minute cab ride from the apartment. The sky was brilliant blue, the cloud nonexistent, the temperature in the twenties and the cable car bloody scary!

This was taken through the window of the car going up. Not quite sharp because of the knees shaking, the car rotating (I kid you not) and Heather squeezing any available part of my anatomy in her heroic determination to keep her eyes open.

But it's worth it. Some apparently come to Cape Town and miss the mountain because of the weather but we were blessed - much like our luck in Hong Kong - and the views of Cape Town below are fabulous.

It was the perfect end to a day which could easily have been nothing but travel and could not have got the trip off to a better start.

South Africa here we come

Jabs done, tablets acquired for the malaria area (!) and odds and ends gathered ready for packing, we head for Heathrow on the 27th.