TravelStream™ news feed for member dawnandphill on TravelPod's free travel blogs service http://www.travelpod.com/syndication/rss/dawnandphill en-us Copyright ©2010 TravelPod.com Thu, 02 Apr 2009 07:26:14 -0400 http://www.travelpod.com http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/dawnandphill/1/1238498160/tpod.html http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/dawnandphill/1/1238498160/tpod.html#comments Travel Blogs http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/dawnandphill/1/1238498160/tpod.html Thu, 02 Apr 2009 07:26:14 -0400 Travels without a beard

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Heathrow, London, United Kingdom

After an 11-and-a-half hour flight back (overnight), which was fairly non-eventful (I managed to watch half of The Changeling before my inflight entertainment malfunctioned), we were met at the new Terminal 5 by Phill's mum and dad.

We've now been back a couple of days (it has taken me that long to clear a path to the computer), and are slowly settling back in.

We've enjoyed doing the blog, and are amazed at how many hits the site has had - still can't help thinking 99% of them are from my mum! Thank you to everyone who has commented on our trip along the way - it was always good to hear from friends and family. And thanks to everyone we met along our trip too - we have had the privilege of meeting some exceptional people, and of seeing the most amazing things. I shall end the blog with a slogan we saw on a billboard while drinking a cup of coffee (of course) on Long Street in Cape Town:

Live life well
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Cape Town, Western Cape, South Africa

After a quick cup of coffee at Vrede en Lust (the most amazing place to stay, if anyone is looking for accommodation ideas!), we arrived back at An African Villa just before midday. Our only plans left involve afternoon tea at the Mount Nelson, a quick bit of shopping at the V&A waterfront, lunch at the Africa Cafe and then the long overnight flight back to Heathrow tomorrow - we hear it's a bit cold at home (still!), yikes.

Update: we didn't manage tea at the Mount Nelson (fully booked), so had to settle for a glass of champagne on the terrace instead.... We did manage to do a last bit of souvenir shopping, but the Africa Cafe was closed for lunch - Stuart will have to cook us a sample menu from his cookbook instead!
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Franschhoek, Western Cape, South Africa

Coming over the Franschhoek Pass we had the most glorious view of Franschoek and the valley - it really is very picturesque. We decided to base ourselves in Franschhoek for three days rather than move on to Stellenbosch, and spent most of that time visiting wineries and eating very well. We had lunch at La Petite Ferme (a very good recommendation from RvR senior and Lisa) and a sundowner at Rickety Bridge. As we suspected, a lot of the very nice wine from South Africa never quite makes it to the UK - we bought a very nice bottle of shiraz, but we drank it last night!
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Simon's Town, Western Cape, South Africa

After an afternoon at Kirstenbosch Botanical Gardens (the scones were good but not as good as the mbe's), we arrived at Simon's Town late Sunday afternoon.

We did a fantastic walk from the Cape of Good Hope to Cape Point lighthouse, where it was a little windy - great views of the shark dive boats - and we saw lots of wildlife, including some antelope (we have yet to identify the exact type), baboons, a cape cobra (yikes), an ostrich and a stripey 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!
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Montagu, Western Cape, South Africa

We set off for Montagu and Route 62, calling in at the Olympia Cafe in Kalks Bay for a take-out coffee and a quick look at the harbour and the local fish. Then we hit roadworks for 30km.... Finally arrived in Montagu late afternoon, which is a beautiful little village set in a gorge. We found a very nice place to stay, wandered around a bit and then found a very nice place to eat dinner, in the courtyard of a Cape Dutch mansion under a 100-year-old pear tree.
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Cape Town, Western Cape, South Africa

First morning, not feeling too jet-lagged or too shattered from the 15 and a half hours flying the day before, we climbed up Table Mountain on the Platteklip Gorge path, which is largely vertically up (rock steps) - an excellent day for it though, with little wind and clear skies. We walked across to Macleays Beacon where there were few people and good views, then across to the upper cable car station, where there were lots more people but still excellent views.

Just booked on to a trip to Robben Island tomorrow, and about to spend the rest of the afternoon pottering around the area, checking out hairdressers and restaurants, oh and the plunge pool.
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Johannesburg, South Africa

For some reason our flight path took us right over the edge of Antarctica, and we had the most amazing view of the ice shelf, ice bergs and pack ice (we were a bit too high up to see any penguins or polar bears...) - made the 13 and a half hour flight just a touch more bearable!

We caught up on a few movies - we can recommend 'The curious case of Benjamin Button' and 'Revolutionary road' - and I passed a fair bit of time getting back in to Pink Floyd and The Dark Side of the Moon.

Fairly shattered on arrival at Johannesburg, we had four hours to kill transferring to our next flight - had a nice cup of rooibos tea - then a relatively short hop over to Cape Town, and we were tucked into our lovely bed by 11pm.
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Sydney, New South Wales, Australia

After a successful ferry trip to Balmain (ie no sickness on Phill's part) we took the ferry the next day out to Watson's Bay and walked back along the scenic coast to Double Bay, calling in at Shark Bay and Redleaf Pool so Phill could swim - both shark-netted, I was happy with a paddle.

Had a great few days in Sydney, wandering the streets and hills (it is quite hilly and reminded us a bit of Bristol) and were very sad to leave the continent.
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Adelaide, South Australia, Australia

The birthday girl got a trampoline and was very very excited - Uncle Phill followed the instructions on the assembly, RvR senior did the test run and Rose spent a fair part of the day bouncing around on it.

The party went well - sugar rush at times, lost helium balloons to the sky, and a fair bit of wine consumed by the party supervisors. All in all a good time was had by all.

Our last day in Adelaide involved lunch at The Victory pub followed by wine tasting at Primo Estate, where RvR senior works - not a bad spot to have to work in every day! (see photos)

Next stop Sydney.
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Sydney, New South Wales, Australia

We were very sad to leave family behind in Adelaide - it's never an easy farewell.

We arrived in Sydney on Monday afternoon, to clear blue skies, and walked to Circular Quay from Paddington, took the usual millions of photos of the opera house and bridge, and had dinner in a Japanese restaurant just round the corner from our B&B.

This morning we had breakfast in Bill's, which lived up to all our expectations, and now we are heading off to catch the ferry to Balmain for a bit of a Phill walking tour.
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