Curtains on The Cape (for us)

Still on the flight from Cape Town to Dubai, I'm on a roll.  We land in Dubai at half past midnight and our connecting flight to Kuala Lumpur is at 3am or so.  It's the worst connection we have on the entire trip, and so I might as well use this flight to write my last post on the South Africa portion of our journey.  I certainly won't want to be typing on the next leg.

Our last 2 days in The Cape were mixed - for me at least.  We did fantastic things, but I'll admit right now to the fact that my back has been giving me trouble on and off since we got here. It was horrible after our flight from London, then improved and generally, has been OK.  But on Sunday that changed.  We woke up early to a glorious day, with a plan to do a second hike in the Mont Rochelle National Park, and hopefully get those views that we didn't get 2 days ago in the thick cloud.  Off we set, with all the kit, including walking poles.  Beautiful sunshine, with clouds gently rolling in from the other side of the pass, but likely to burn off in the heat.  A gorgeous scene.  Hiking up the trail we'd come down on Friday, we had about 11km round trip, up to a different view point, down and up to the top of the ridge where we follow it all the way back, looking down over the Franschhoek Valley.

Franschhoek from the top of Mont Rochelle Park

Barely 1km from the car park, I could feel the nerves down my right leg aching.  Knowing it was my back, I did lots of stretches and kept going. It wasn't that bad, and honestly it was such a beautiful hike I didn't want to stop. And once you've committed to a trail, it doesn't necessarily make sense to turn back. Anyway, it was probably about the half way point when I realised that the pain was really really bad.  Nothing much we could do but keep going.  But I was slow, and in pain.  And more than that, became very worried that if this doesn't get fixed, how will I do all the hikes we've planned in Borneo and New Zealand?  Pretty miserable thoughts accompanied me for the 1.5 hours it took to get down. Duncan was great - encouraging me and doing what he could to help. Finally we got back - in one piece but totally shattered and teary.

Peter and Paula were back at the cottage when we arrived.  Peter had come 3rd in class in the triathlon (yea!); plainly he and I had had very different athletic experiences today. :)  And the good news is that a) I slept all afternoon and b) Paula got me an appointment with her chiropractor in Cape Town tomorrow morning.  Can we fix this? I jolly well hope so!

We all drove back to Camps Bay later in the afternoon.  Goodbye Franschhoek!  See you again soon I hope...

Monday.  Our last day in South Africa.  We'd all gone to bed early last night and I was up with Paula to follow her to the chiropractor at 7.15am. Paula did her regular weekly 15 minutes before work, then it was my turn.  Julie was very matter of fact, got some incredibly exciting/frightening noises out of my neck and pulled and pushed until she was satisfied my legs were the same length (apparently they weren't when I arrived).  She also gave me a nifty seat pad - a cushion shaped like a wedge of cheese - to use for the 16 hours of flights we have tomorrow.  And which I'm sitting on as I type, and can vouch that it's doing a grand job supporting both my back and my Cape-enlarged derrière.

Hout Bay

Back in Camps Bay, Lee-Anne (new friend from the Bushmans' Kloof weekend) had arrived to take Duncan and I on a drive down to Cape Point, the most southerly point on the continent. Her late father was a much admired marine biologist and she grew up in the area, her dad taking her to Cape Point Nature Reserve at weekends.  The coast road is an experience in itself. Hugging the cliff face, with endless views of the beautiful bays of Hout, False and many more beaches.  We stopped along the way to take pictures - it's almost impossible to take a bad one of the crashing waves, dramatic rocks and wide sandy deserted beaches (it was a Monday...)

Things got a little sketchy once we reached the entrance to the park: a very South African experience delayed us (In brief, we didn't have cash and the mobile card reader couldn't get a signal, so they simply refused us entry, causing the queue to back up to around 100 cars while we suggested that the best way forward would be to just let us in, free of charge.  But that was a bit too much more than their job's worth for them to consider.) High tourist season starts next month, but the park is already busy with cars and coaches.  We stopped at some different points which Lee-Anne particularly loves.  All stunning and places you could sit for hours, just looking and watching.  One highlight on the fauna front: A mummy and daddy ostrich with 5 babies.  Sweet!

Spot the little ones...

Cape Point and Dias Beach

We funiculared up to the Cape Point lookout (didn't want to risk my back by walking up) and took the obligatory photos. Nothing but ocean behind us - down to the South Pole.

A late lunch of the most delicious fish and chips EVER at Simons Town, we sped back to Camps Bay for a last supper with Paula and Peter. I have to say, that it was the most beautiful and rounded 'last day' we could have had here.

That's it.  South Africa is done.  It's been a glorious, stunning, friendly, joyous, fattening, and hangover-inducing two and a half weeks. And I can't wait to come back.