Oldies On Tour

Friday 12th December 2025

0415hrs urgh!!!  The alarm went off, 30-minutes to get out and into the car then a 15-minute drive to the start of our Meerkat tour.  We were given a piece of paper with instructions on how to drive to the start but it was dark, the map gave no idea as to distances and being a dirt road, the dust.   As we pulled out of the lodge someone followed us and the way he drove suggested he knew how to get there, so let him overtake us.  Good in a way “if” he was going to the tour, but bad as the dust he kicked up meant we had to stay well back and double guess; all rather concerning but once we hit a Mettled road we could catch him up and follow easily;   Good call as he knew exactly where to go.   When we arrived we asked him if he had been there before as he was so confident about the route, that’s when we knew we had been somewhat stupid, he’d used Sat Nav, why hadn’t we?????

After a talk and by now it was getting light we were split into two groups and given a fold up chair and our group was asked to follow our guide.   The other group drove of somewhere!!   After walking 200/300 meters the guide spread our chairs in an arc watching a few mounds of soil with burrows in; the meerkats underground housing complex and we waited.   Our guide was very informative and kept talking and promising that they will appear when they are ready; we still waited.   By now it was daylight but very overcast, no clear sky or sun and this meant the Meerkats weren’t in any hurry to come out, so we waited.   Having sat down in the early morning with no activity we were getting cold, as we waited.   The guide kept talking all things related to Meerkats and said many times they “will” appear when they are ready, so we waited.   Apparently though their burrows are very deep they still get cold at night, and the first thing they have to do is get their muscles working and on a sunny morning they are eager to get going, this morning it was overcast no sun so no hurry to come out; we still waited.   Amongst all the Meerkat information the guide gave us is they only have two missions in life; the first is to keep eating, from dawn to dust and the second to re-produce from dust to dawn!!!!!    We still waited and by now many of us were fidgeting and shivering whilst we still waited.

At the lodge we were told the tour lasted no more than two hours and then we return for breakfast.  By now our two hours was nearly up when out of the blue one popped its head up to survey the situation.   According to our Meerkat Expert, they are extremely nervous animals and at the slightest shuffling sound they disappear, but talking, shouting or laughing is no problem and he proved this.   He shouted loudly, nothing happened, he shuffled his shoe on the ground and the Meerkat quickly disappeared, but re-emerged once he/she realised there was no danger.

We stayed and observed them cleaning out their burrows and standing tall trying to get some heat into their bodies to get them moving.   Eventually they slowly started to move away but by now we were both cold and hungry, so a number of us started the trek back to the lodge.  

After breakfast we headed out; our destination was Knysna for two nights but our target is to get to “George”, stopping at several “lookout” points along the way to take in some stunning views.   Arriving in George was a bit disappointing, it is a big town with the usual traffic etc., so finding somewhere to get a coffee wasn’t going to work so continued onto “Wilderness” along the “Garden Route”.   Our first priority was to find a beach, Christine was feeling “hard done by” as not had “sea therapy” for so long!!!   We found a beach; (tick-in-the-box), parked and went for a paddle, but B….y H..l it was cold👹👹.  We had hoped that as we arrived into the Indian Ocean the sea would have been a little warmer, but no!!   Now we discovered there were no bars or anything for a drink or coffee so left in disgust.

Driving along the N2 we came across a big service area so out of desperation pulled in.   Though it was busy etc., we were asked to sit at a table when a waitress would come and take our order; “what at a service station???”; it was very good service too.  

Back on the road we continued on the Garden Route until we reached our hotel, this time for two nights.

Our hotel: “Hotel Knysna Log Inn” is an all-wood construction made mainly out of the trunks of “Yellowwood”  and other indigenous trees from the forests that were about this area.

Once settled we headed down to the waterfront, an area similar to the Cape Town waterfront, but about 25% of that area.   There were a number of restaurants  predominantly fish and sushi so we were very happy and chose one where we could get a seat overlooking the sea.

After another excellent meal we headed back to the hotel, a 10 minute walk, but unfortunately it was drizzling and neither of us had our raincoats; well. it is what it is!!!   We are having an early night as we were up at 0415hrs!!!!

Thursday 11th December 2025

We’ve probably had our best nights sleep this holiday, the cool room, very quiet, a very comfortable bed, large enough for 4-adults!!!, and of course an excellent meal last night that satisfied us without being too heavy to go to bed on.

To describe the “Schoone Oordt Country House” would take up too much time but this link will take anybody interested to there site (https://www.schooneoordt.co.za/pages/our-story) well worth a view, and should we ever be back here again, we will certainly stay here at this family run boutique hotel.   Our breakfast, like last night’s dinner was food with a difference.  To start we had freshly squeezed orange to drink then a 4-course breakfast, quite different to anything we’ve experienced before.

The big party in the hotel which made the owners up-grade our room, were all travel agents from around Germany on a fact-finding trip, (or more likely an all expenses paid jolly to South Africa!!!!).  Still they were very friendly and enjoying them selves.

Last night when talking about the old Austin Devon car with Allison (the owners wife), she said it was her husbands first car and he looked “cool” driving it, I did query that statement at the time, but this morning she told me it was his other car he had at that time, (and still owns), this is when he looked “cool”, an AC Cobra: that’s better!!!!

Reluctantly we said our goodbyes and headed about 100-meters down the road to look inside a Methodist Church Margaret had suggested we visit.   We circumnavigated this lovely crisp white building, admiring the immaculate gardens with assorted gravestone’s, beautifully tended before finding the entrance door.  Once inside we noticed the pews were like an amphitheater over looking the alter instead of the stage.  The other point of difference was the shape of the seating position, it was comfortable, the backs had a rake not like normal wooden pews, straight up!!   Thank you again Margaret for this gem of a visit, we would have completely passed it by.

Now we headed for a small village called “Barrydale”, a suggested place for a coffee stop, but when we got there and left the main road and headed into the village, we couldn’t find a coffee shop also we thought there were too many unsavoury looking characters about, so headed on our way eventually stopping in a small town called “Ladysmith”.   Naturally I thought of the “seize of Ladysmith”, a 4-month un-savoury incident that took place in between 1899 x 1900 during the Boer War; I got quite excited to have a look around only to have my, hopes dashed, in was not this Ladysmith, it is another further north😡😡.   Hopefully we will find out more about it during our “battlefield” tours later in the trip.   Anyway we did find a nice old place to enjoy a break.

Our day wouldn’t have been complete without a visit to a winery and again, Margaret had marked the specific vineyard to visit, the “De Krans Wine Cellar” in Calitzdorp, and like all obedient children, did as we were told!!!   It was a lovely hot day and sitting under the canopy of vines was quite refreshing, it was one of those moments that nearly caught us out and got “stuck-in”, we ordered two glasses of the wine Margaret recommended and it went down a treat, but had to prize ourselves away just in case!!

We now headed to today’s final destination, the “De Zeekoe Guest Farm River Cabin”, a Meerkats destination, but that’s for tomorrow.   Again another beautiful place with a superb bedroom, en-suite and balcony over looking “nature” but completely out in the sticks, even the road to it is a dirt track!!!  So with nowhere to go they had a captive audience for their restaurant, so were forced to eat in.(https://www.dezeekoe.co.za)

We had to pre order our food, no problem as they had “Ostrich Fillet steak” on the menu, decision made.  Again the restaurant was overlooking their very green gardens, no water shortage around here!!!   Apart from Meerkats, there is also an Ostrich Safari further up the road, we are in Ostrich territory.

We thoroughly enjoyed our meal and then headed off for an early night as we have to get up at 0415hrs, and drive 15-mins to the Meerkat tour starting at 0500hrs, I hope it’s worth it!!!

Wednesday 10th December 2025

After 8-days in CPT it was time to move on, we have had a really good time here and visited many sights, not all, so may have to return!!, but enough to get a good appreciation of the city and surrounding area.

Once checked out and Margaret had arrived we got going but we were still unhappy with the car’s locking mechanism so our first stop was the Europcar rental office.   Once they explained the idiosyncrasies of the Japanese car, we were on our way, this time fairly confident we could lock it🤞🤞.

Margaret very kindly volunteered to take us part of the way to our night stop in Swellendam to show us some places of interest, and also take us the longer way, but more scenic through the mountains; Waze would have taken us the boring, direct route on the N2.

Our first ”proper” stop was the second oldest town in SA, Stellenbosch; a very big university town, and today just happened to be the day their degrees were handed out.  All around the Campus were the proud parents with their off-spring, dressed in their gowns clutching their scrolls, and all “scrubbed up”; no wonder parking was difficult!!!

Eventually we managed to park then had a good stroll around.   Stellenbosch is in South Africa’s Western Cape province and is surrounded by the vineyards of the Cape Winelands and the mountainous nature reserves of Jonkershoek and Simonsberg. The town’s oak-shaded streets are lined with cafes, boutiques and art galleries. The architecture gives a sense of South Africa’s Dutch colonial history, as do the Museum’s in period houses, and gardens.   All the oak trees lining the streets are protected and cannot be removed apparently.

After enjoying a coffee stop in a pavement cafe we head out, our next stop is a winery, the Delaire Graf Estate owned by a diamond dealer, naturally!!   

Upon arrival we were very impressed by the gardens leading up to, and the building in particular, very swanky.    Time was not on our side so bypassed the diamond shop 😁and headed straight to the tasting area and just ordered 3-of their Chardonnays.   Naturally that wasn’t quite what the winery wanted so sent a very nice, intelligent and knowledgeable young lady to “soft sell” us 6-bottles that can be sent to U.K. for only €12 or if we ordered now, a special introductory deal at €2!!!   To be fair, the wine we tasted wasn’t worth the money they were charging, but hey, it was a super place to visit.

Our next stop was in the town of Franschhoek.   Franschhoek is a town also in South Africa’s Western Cape with centuries-old vineyards and Cape Dutch architecture.   Here there is the Huguenot Memorial Museum and neighbouring monument to honour the area’s French settlers, (https://huguenotsociety.org.za/history-of-the-huguenots/)   who arrived in the 17th and 18th century, escaping persecution for being Protestants in a Catholic country, ie France.  We had already parked the car, but in this town there are many “Tuk-Tuks” so naturally Margaret “spontaneously” booked one to take us up to the monument.   I asked the driver if they are built in SA, no they’re imported straight from India he said.

Whilst in this area, Margaret suggested we “popped” into a local winery, the “Haut Cabriere Cellar”, for a quick one!!!   Well the quick one took a little longer as we shared a platter of cheese and hams, delicious.    Another superb estate sporting good “Quaffable” wines; but I was driving!!!!  Because this area was predominantly French a century or more ago, its roots still linger and food here is more French than other parts of SA,

Back on route, following the twisty but wide road through the Franschouek Pass until we reached “Houw Hoek Farm”, another winery of course where Margaret had arranged to meet her sister for a lift back to “hers”.  We left her clutching a glass whilst we headed to the car but just then her sister and husband arrived with their dog.   We chatted for a bit before being ushered away by Margaret as we still had a couple of hours to drive.   Again another big “thank you” to Margaret for her expert knowledge of this and the surrounding area.

We now hot-footed to our overnight stop, Swellendam, a boutique hotel, formerly someone’s home set in magnificent gardens.   Upon arrival we were told that there was a big party staying and that we had been up-graded, well wow, we had the suite or family room which included a second bedroom with 4-bunk beds in and our bed was massive!!!    What was nice, upon arrival we were taken straight into the bar for a drink and then we did the checking in procedure, very civilised.

Originally we were going to head to town for dinner but changed our minds and ate in.   I have to say the food was very tasty but a rather unusual menu, still we didn’t need anything else that evening and had our best nights sleep so far.

In their parking lot there was a garage and I spotted a “project” car so naturally had to see what it was and it turned out to be an old Austin A40 Devon.  These were built between 1947 – 1952 and according to the hotel, it was the owners first car!!! 

Not the actual car but same model.

Tuesday 9th December 2025

Our car arrived nearly at the appointed hour, the driver had been sent to the wrong hotel, Margaret on the other hand arrived as planned!!!   Yes Margaret very kindly offered to join us and “guide” us around the peninsula ‘cos without her we would have missed things.  

We headed out of town making for Muizenberg, on the Eastern side of the peninsula, a surfers paradise, one of the main surfing beaches and all along the sea front, surf shops of one kind or another.   Parking was difficult and just as we were about to give up we spotted a car coming out and we didn’t hesitate, we were in his space!!!  We had a Quick Look around the beach and waves but didn’t hang around as the sky looked full of rain, yes rain!!! So back in the car and headed to Simon’s Town, a place I remember hearing a lot of when I was in my early Teens; the “Simon’s Town Agreement” in particular, but had no idea what it was about back then, so today I was going to find out!!!!!

Simon’s Town, situated in the Western Cape province is a town and more importantly a naval base, It is located on the eastern side of the Cape Peninsula, on False Bay*, 25 miles south of Cape Town, Named after the  Dutch Governor “Simon van der Stel”, and was a Dutch naval anchorage from 1741, and Its sheltered harbour served as a refuge for merchant ships and whalers.   Things changed in 1814 when it became the Royal Navy’s headquarters for the “British South Atlantic Naval Squadron”, but in 1957 the jurisdiction of the naval facilities was transferred to South Africa but the Royal Navy still used them, hence the “Agreement” I remember .The port’s operations were considerably expanded in the 1970s, after the RN had left. This is now South Africa’s principal naval base. An adjacent surveillance and communications centre (opened in 1973) tracks much of the South Atlantic and South Indian oceans.

Simon’s Town is compressed between mountains and the sea. Its historical landmarks include the original naval cemetery, the Admiral’s Residency, Admiralty House built in 1776, and St. Francis of Assisi’s Church, built in 1814 and rebuilt in 1834 is the first English church in South Africa.

When we parked the car, the rain came down so “hid” in a cafe ‘till it passed.   The  other issue we had was locking the car, it just didn’t want to lock.  When you walk away with the key it should lock and as you return, unlock, but no this car’s system had a mind of its own; each time we left the car we had no idea if it was locked or not; sometimes it did, sometimes it didn’t, how frustrating👹👹👹

Once the rain had stopped we had a walk around but insufficient time to do the historical museums unfortunately and of course the naval base was securely guarded.

Back on the road, we headed to Boulders Beach to see all the penguins.  Once parked we had to walk along a road before reaching the a turnstile to pay the admittance fee and once in the enclosure, we followed a specially constructed wooden walkway that wove itself through the trees and up-n-down until we reached the beach.  My-my, the size of this colony of African Penguins, seeing so many makes you wonder why they are critically endangered!!!  Still it was a magnificent sight, well worth the walk and fee.

Our next stop was the cape itself, this is also a national reserve that attracts an admittance fee.   This Park is about 30-sq miles of rugged terrain but home to indigenous flora and fauna and numerous animals such as Ostrich, Baboons, Zebra, Buck and Springboks etc., and that there is a very good chance of seeing some, so we kept our eyes open!  We did the cape, naturally had a ‘photo shoot then went round to the Old Cape Point Lighthouse, caught the funicular railway to nearly the top where at this point it is a hike up lots of steps, I declined but Christine and Margaret did the climb; full marks to them.   I must add, at this point we hadn’t seen any animals, so back in the car and headed towards the exit but en-route headed down some of the “other” roads heading in all directions to look for some wildlife, oh yes we did spot two “buck” in the far distance but not a herd!!!    Poor Margaret took some stick as she had built our hopes up, now only to be dashed🥵.

Leaving the “game reserve” ha ha, we headed north up the western side of the peninsula for a rather late lunch.   

After leaving the reserve, would you believe it, we came across a family of Baboons strolling across the road, not a care in the world, it looked like Mum & Dad and a few young ones; a family outing!!!

Once we had passed the Baboons, Margaret recommended we went to an old resort called “Monkey Valley Resort”, a wooden building set high above a beach and nestled amongst the trees with superb views.   We couldn’t decide if we were having a late lunch or an early dinner but certainly enjoyed what we ate and two bottles of local South African wine later, set off again and headed back to Cape Town but not on the usual main road, no along a 9-km 114-corner toll road, “Chapmans Peak Drive”, (https://www.chapmanspeakdrive.co.za/the-drive/history.html) that clings to the side of the mountain following all the contours.   This iconic winding coastal road connects Hout Bay to Noordhoek on the west side of the peninsula.   It is known as one of the world’s most spectacular marine drives as it offers breathtaking views of the Atlantic, rugged cliffs and ‘I was told” opportunities to see wild life such as Baboons!!!

By now it was getting late so we had time for a sundowner at the Winchester hotel before our last bit of the journey back to our hotel after a thoroughly enjoyable day thanks to our good friend and guide, Margaret.    Back at our hotel we gave the keys to the valet, said our goodbyes and headed off to pack, we leave tomorrow on the next leg of our adventure.

• False Bay, called this due to ships heading westwards towards the Atlantic, and seeing the land and rocks protruding into the sea though they had reached the actual Cape and turned northwards, only to head into this big bay, hence its 

Monday 8th December 2025

Another hot day I expect, judging by the clear blue sky with no wind as we walk out of our hotel and head down through the car park to the lower road where the red bus terminal is situated.   Our main objective is to join their “blue line” route then change to another bus for a wine route tour where we can stop at two vineyards🤪🤪.     Our timing was perfect, we bought our tickets then stepped straight onto a bus, no waiting around, that makes a change!!!

Whilst we’ve been here we have wondered several times why this area is called the “Victoria and Alfred” and not “Albert” being her husband.  As the bus pulled out they gave us the reason (???) it was because Alfred, her second son laid the foundation stone. 

Our route winds its way through the old city centre then out of town, first passing the hospital that Professor Christian Barnard carried out the very first heart transplant, then passing the Cecil Rhodes Memorial high on the mountain side over looking CPT.    This well known historical person who made his fortune in the diamond mines and founded De Beers, also created Rhodesia, (now Zimbabwe) and died at the age of 48. At the age of 27 (1881) he entered Parliament and became Prime Minister of Cape Colony as it was know then between 1890 – 1896 but resigned after the Jameson Raid* .   Students here have already ripped down his statute in CPT, but for some unknown reason left his imposing memorial alone. The students at Oriel college Oxford also voted to take Cecil’s stature down but I don’t think it happened!!! We carried on towards Newlands.   Newlands is an affluent leafy suburb in Cape Town’s southern suburbs, famous for its lush greenery, proximity to Table Mountain, and the heart of South African rugby and cricket and home to the iconic Newlands stadium**, though it is not now used.  This area is  bordered by Kirstenbosch Botanical Garden gardens (we did this last week)  and Newlands Forest.  Known as Cape Town’s “greenest” area due to high rainfall, it offers hiking and outdoor activities, and is a sought-after residential area to live where to buy properties here one needs extremely “fat” wallets, it is attracting both wealthy locals, and wealthy international visitors such as Charles Spencer, (9th Earl Spencer), family home Althorp but spends much of his time here. Just past the botanical gardens we swapped buses, we wanted the detour bus through this wine growing region.     This wealthy area is also “plagued” with Baboons, if they get in to a house they reap havoc and neither walls or fences keep them out so many families employ security guards, not for burglars but to keep the Baboons out!!!!!

Our first winery stop was at Groot Constantia, part of an estate owned by a Dutchman who started to grow grapes for wine in 1685.   The bus dropped us in the car park and a short walk towards the main part of the property where it was evident the original buildings were in beautiful condition and the area and gardens around them were kept to a very high standard.  The first thing we encountered was their cafe with tables and chairs shaded by some very big and old trees lining the driveway to the main house.  After short coffee break we were pointed to a large old barn where the museum is and the wine tasting takes place.   Between the back of the main house and the old barn was a huge courtyard with a artificial stream and a bridge with a lot of white ducks swimming about.  We got to the museum then asked for our ticket, nobody mentioned we need a ticket!!!  He pointed to the wine tasting bar area.   When we got there we were informed we had to buy a tasting package which included a museum entry but needed to return to the front of the house.   We then headed back to the car park to get the bus!!!

The next stop was at “Beau Constantia”, part of the original estate but now a “Boutique winery”.   This was a much longer walk through beautifully kept gardens with a “very, very” short steep hill; going down was ok but not looking forward to walking up it later!!   Once we had got down this hill and turned the corner, then we were faced with a lot of steps, ouch, 🤞🤞it’s worth the trouble!!!

We arrived at the top passing the toilet block halfway up with a sign saying “a loo with a view”.   When we arrived at the restaurant at the top we immediately knew we had made the right decision.  The other place was too commercialised, this was a family run establishment.   They gave us a front line table over looking the their “amphitheater” and the hills and valley covered with ‘wall-to-wall” grape vines; what a view.    

We enjoyed a package of four wines to taste; 2-white and 2-red,  with some cold meat, cheese and fresh bread to help it go down.  Firstly as I said this is a family owned vineyard and the wines we tasted were all named after a family member.   First we tried “Pierre”, (the owner) a 2025 Sauvignon & Semillon white and rather nice, next we tried

“Cecily”, (the owner’s wife) a 2025 Viognier white wine, this one was very nice, next it was

“lucca”, (Owner’s daughter) a 2022 Merlot & Cabernet Franc red wine, didn’t like this,

“Aidan” (owners son) a 2019 Shiraz, Petit Verdot & Cabernet Sauvignon red wine that would have been excellent with a steak in the evening, in the day with the sun on you, it wasn’t good.   I then ordered another glass of Cecily, it was the nicest, but resisted the temptation to buy any bottles😩😩. 

Eventually we had to leave; it was one of those places you can just settle into and forget all time, but we had a bust to catch so said our good byes and headed down the steps, calling into the loos before leaving to catch this “loo with a view”, and it was a great view!!!

The short sharp steep hill did take sometime to climb but once up, it was downhill all the way to the bus stop.

Back on the bus we left this wine growing area and carried on driving through the forest passing a very large township high on the opposite hill until we came to the small fishing port of Hout Bay.   Here we got off and had a wander round and watched a chap with three black labradors; he threw a rather long stick into the harbour and all three leaped into the water, a drop of about 2-meters from the quayside.  They then swan back to some rocks where they could climb out, we carried on ‘till the end of the quay and watched 3-seals frolicking in the harbour entrance before returning to catch the next bus.

The twelve Appostles

Our route back to town followed the coast with some lovely sea views on our left, and some spectacular rock formations on our right.  They call these formations the 12-Apostles due to their shape.   We passed another small haven down by the sea with a nice looking beach called after the town of “Llandudno” in north Wales, unfortunately there is no access for buses so we couldn’t stop.   The sun was still shining and no wind, remarkable!!!  We passed through Camp Bay again and into town finishing at the bottom of the hill below our hotel.   

Back in our room we set about a few chores and crashed after another enjoyable day.  Tomorrow we gat our car.

* Jameson Raid.  (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jameson_Raid)

** Newlands Stadium:   Apparently this has been empty for years and is ripe for development, but the cost of knocking it down and disposing of all the rubble makes un-economic so it stands, empty and un-loved🥵

Saturday 6th & Sunday 7thOne of “my” agenda items was to incorporate the CPT rugby sevens, part of the world-wide, 9-destination tournament, into this holiday and by some “quirk” of fate we’ve arrived!!!!  Also, another stroke of good fortune is that the stadium is only a 10-minute walk from our hotel, even better so no need to rush this morning.

The tournament takes place in the DHL multi-function Stadium specifically built for the 2010 FIFA World Cup; a magnificent building with a seating capacity in its standard form of 55,000, though for the 2010 football World Cup, it was increased with temporary seating to over 64,000.  I have to say it was probably the best stadium I’ve visited; all the seats are fixed and there was lots of legroom to allow people to walk through.

This 7’s tournament is for both men and women’s teams, played over the two days with the first day all about the pool matches.  Of course pool matches have anomalies were a number of one sided games take place, but that didn’t matter as they were exciting to watch in their own ways.   Outside the actual stadium building, but still inside the complex there were other activities including a stunt bike rider jumping on and off structures up to about 20-meters high and quite impressive, his run up was very short!!!  Naturally there were drink and food trucks of every description everywhere and merchandise outlets around the perimeter. Alcohol was controlled, only two plastic glasses of beer per person, no other alcoholic drinks for sale, unless you were in a VIP suite!!!

All day we had been enjoying the games in the sun, fortunately Christine had the foresight to bring sun cream but towards the late afternoon the wind arrived, and by-heck, it was a cold wind🥶🥶

The first day ended after the last pool game had finished about 7.30pm and then  there was a mass exodus as 55,000 left the stadium in one go, but I have to say it was very orderly and on the outside the local police had everything well under control. Unfortunately for us, this control included herding us (nicely) along a fenced-in route that by-passed the road down to our hotel, we ended up down by the waterfront👹👹👹.     By now being dark, and the wind still blowing it was cold so we made straight for our hotel but instead of the 10-minutes we planned, the return was over half an hour and no, I hadn’t learned my lesson, no extra jumper!!!!!   During the day we enjoyed some Indonesian food, made a change from burgers and hot dogs etc., so not too hungry and therefore didn’t venture out again that evening.

The second day at the sevens promised to be closer, it was knockout day and the rugby seemed more spectacular and faster with many exciting chases after making line breaks.   Yesterday “seemed” to be more about defence but today it was all about attack, so some spectacular tries were scored.  I’m sure the last time I did a HSBC tour, England played as did Scotland and Wales but no, now it is a combined GB team and I am sad to say they performed miserably, both the men and the women👹👹👹.   Today we also met up with Margaret, unfortunately she had her ticket in another section of the stadium however much of the time we all sat together.   The only time every seat was actually taken was when South Africa was playing and when they were playing, the noise levels went right up, and when they scored, the excitement made the stand vibrate as they all jumped up-n-down for joy!!!

At lunchtime the three of us enjoyed another Indonesian meal from the “truck”, it was tasty but more importantly it was cooked to order, good but the downside is, you had to wait whilst it was cooked so there were basically two queues, but well worth it.

By the early afternoon the games were really getting exciting with the semi finals in full swing; end to end stuff.  We then had the women’s final, this was between New Zealand and Australia and promised to be a thrilling match, a “hot contest”  between these two rivals but unfortunately it finished as a “damp squid”; the final score New Zealand 12 : 26 Australia; a reversal of the last final in Dubai where New Zealand took the honours.

By now the stadium was “heaving” as South Africa took on Argentina in the men’s final.  The South African national anthem, sung by a “choir” of the best part of c.50,000 people must have been heard clearly at the top of table mountain, the atmosphere was tense and full of expectation of a one sided whitewash as last time out in Dubai Argentina finished 5th/6th.   So stage set, crowd expectant, whistle went and within a minute 7 points on the board, the crowd went wild.  Re set, whistle went and within a minute another 7- points but this time to Argentina, the crowd went silent and this is how the whole match went, neither side taking control and as the game headed into the final minute, with Argentina ahead by 5-points, the crowd were screaming and suddenly SA broke through and scored into the corner, a tied score and a very difficult kick to claim the extra 2–points successfully executed.   About 20-seconds left, all SA had to do was start with a safe drop kick, win the ball back, and by then the hooter would have gone so kick it out of play, job done, but no, they screwed up the kicking the ball straight into touch out on the full which gave Argentina the one final chance to get a score as they had a penalty on the half way line.  A tap and go kick, pass the ball, and wait for a space to appear to break through, just as they had done all game.   The crowd were pulling their “metaphorical” hair out at the stupid kick-off mistake, but the Argentinian’s must have panicked and made a miss-pass that caused a knock on; game over, South Africa 21 : 19 Argentina, one big sigh of relief from the crowd!!!!!   What an exciting final, well worth waiting for.   We stayed to watch the presentation but being the wrong end of the stadium, couldn’t see much so finally decided to head off to meet up with Margaret again who was beaming from ear-to-ear; a “Bock” naturally!!   The whole tournament produced just under 200-tries, everyone hard fought for, a very exciting 2-days at a rugby festival.   Note to self, go to another venue; having done Hong Kong, Dubai and now Cape Town, maybe a European one next time🤔🤔.

As agreed after all the excitement we met outside the disabled “loos”, an easy place to get to.   As per last night we were all herded (nicely) along the corridor created by mobile fencing towards the waterfront, but to-night there was no wind but I did bring a warm woolly cardigan!!!   Halfway along, at the next junction we peeled off, Margaret was taking us to a club by the water off the “hard”, somewhere one wouldn’t find in a month of Sundays unless you were in the know.   According to Margaret one can buy drinks etc., but not use their facilities unless you’re a member; facilities hmmmm, yes there was a pool, very small and a bar-b-q and as far as we could see, nothing else!!!!  But the good news, apparently it’s the cheapest place in town to get alcohol.  
After enjoying some more excellent South African wine, we headed to the Grand Africa Collection, the opposite end of the spectrum where it was the place to be seen etc., etc.  it was now getting dark and cold (glad we brought jumpers) so sat in and enjoyed an “interesting” mix of Pizzas and of course more local wine.   Eventually we booked and shared another “Uber” and left.

Two great days of rugby sevens, well I thought so🤭🤭; now back to sightseeing. Tomorrow.