Having bought our little flat in Cape Town over a year ago it seemed about time we went and stayed in it. This was always going to be more than just a holiday - after all there was work to be done: checking over the flat, odd jobs to attend to, updating furnishings and then there was the banking to sort out. I'm not going to bore you rigid with the details, safe to say though this occupied some of our time.
In between however we caught up with family and friends and enjoyed the warmer weather of Autumn as we explored Hout Bay and the immediate area near our flat. We also visited many wine estates and spent a lovely night in Pringle Bay at Yvonne and Anthony's place. The view from their deck was the first of many panorama photos I took, which will follow this copy, if I can do them justice... and without you having to scroll back and forth to see them.
The location of our flat is a lot more convenient than I'd imagined. Out the gate, turn right, walk 50 metres turn down a short alleyway (fine in daylight, caution at night!), brings you into the main road across from the pub! Also, right there, are the shops and restaurants of all shapes and variety. Turn left and walk for less than 5 minutes and you're on the beach, surrounded by mountains. I've a panorama of this too.
We would discover many places nearby and with a bus to take you all the way into Cape Town you could easily get by without needing a car for all of your holiday.
The possibility of 'Load-shedding' (http://loadshedding.eskom.co.za/loadshedding/description) in South Africa was something we'd heard about but during the first week we only experienced once. But the second week these power 'black-outs' occurred quite often and the near miss of an ATM cash machine, shutting down before my eyes, just seconds after I'd completed the transaction was a close call to close for comfort. Also driving through busy intersections with all the traffic lights out was equally harrowing.
But we avoided any collisions, to drive on and visit more panoramas… (coming right up, be patient).
We definitely weren't ready to come home and look forward to our next trip. Hopping the seasons - into Autumn that seemed more like Summer and now back to Spring that feels more like Winter !
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| Pringle Bay view. |
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| Hout Bay beach |
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| Hout Bay from the harbour |
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| Simonsig Winery - Mum, Margaret, Jackie and Robert. NB: Photos of the flat can be found on our tales blog. http://mandbtales1.blogspot.co.uk |
