Cheriton Guest House B&B Simon's Town

... the wind is pretty strong and it was fairly cold. My legs were killing me not because I had walked all day but this is what happened when you are scared of heights - It was very unpleasant!

The view is just breathtaking, you can see the whole of the Cape Peninsula including Robben Island - it is just absolutely amazing. I did not stay there were long because the height was too
much for me.

I had an early night as I was absolutely shattered!

... mouse. We ended the day at Boulders, where Phill had a swim with the African penguins, who are much more sociable than the fairy penguins - they hang around the beach for most of the day, tolerating the tourists. Today we are heading up to Clifton, Camps Bay and Chapmans Point, before departing for the winelands tomorrow.... Update: we had the most awesome carrot cake at The Grand, Camps Bay and a very quick paddle - the water was icy!

... through the sand. Mobile snails are fun to watch. Then we had to catch the train. Travis repeatedly told me that the ride to Simon's Town is one of the greatest urban train journeys in the world. I can't think of another urban train journey that's pretty, so I'll go with it. The train literally runs along the shore, and at high tide the water is at the edge of the tracks. If the weather's bad in winter they sometimes have to stop the train because ...

... stop was Hout Bay were we had the opportunity to do a boat trip out to see a Cape Fur Seal colony. The boat trip was a little hairy as the sea was a little rough but the captain knew what he was doing and we eased through the crashing waves. The trip to the seal colony took about 15 mins and we spent about the same time bobbing about getting photos of the seals. Most were sitting huddled together keeping warm, with a few splashing in and ...

Complaint #1. yesterday i was eating a quick lunch on the steps in front of Jameson Hall. Suddenly one of the shiny african birds swoops in and snatches a piece of my falafel!! it then had the audacity to land a yard from my feet and eat what it had stolen from me. (obviously i ate the rest of it while glaring at the petty thief) Complaint #2. another bird **** on my shoulder. seriously ...

... WORRY! I'm being vigilant and learning to adjust. P.S. - all of the "adjustments" I mention pertain to walking at night...it's pretty safe during the day. And, I'm a dude, which helps me some. Moving on. If I didn't already mention it, the UCT campus is absolutely incredible. I cannot stress enough how unbelievable this setting is. Today we had a braai at the Liesbeeck Gardens (pool near the dorms, or Res). Sitting in the pool ...

... but the were too busy fishing to answer and then he called The Freesia but they were of the view that it was too late and that the nets were already fouled. Sure enough a few minutes later the small ski-boat was in trouble with a huge ball of tangled nets stuck to their propeller. The men on the trawler did not look pleased and within a very short time the surface of the ocean was covered with thousands of dead hake that were spilling from the nets. Somehow the small boat ...

... Ntlantla and when he saw me come in he handed Ntlantla to me so that I could have him :) Before we left I had to make sure that we had all of tools for suctioning and the extra trach tube just incase of emergency. Once we got to the Nazareth Chapel where the service was held we all took seats and the service began. Towards the middle of the service I started to get very emotional thinking about the little innocent life that had been taken so ...

... Unfortunately, the morning ocean was still a bit "rough" and hang-overs were still fresh so we decided not to dive Hout Bay and instead drove to another site in Camps Bay that was absolutely gorgeous. This was a shore dive, so we didn't need a boat and we just stepped off some rocks into the ocean. There were lots of cool rocks to swim around and through and we did some navigation skills using a compass and taking turns swimming a square. In between our turns ...

... it as the cable car wasnt running due to windy conditions and we are too bloody lazy to walk) is quite an imposing bit of scenery and back drop to Cape Town. The city itself is quite funky and seems pretty friendly but otherwise much like any other city. The V&A waterfront is just being done up and is incredibly posh, yachts etc but its going to look impressive in a few years when it is ...