In 2005 I decided that this was going to be the year that I would finally plan to travel to Australia, it was a dream that I had held for over 15 years.
January 2nd 2006
The first leg of the journey went well-11 hours to San Francisco.
They have had terrible rain for days here and there has been flooding and landslides. Luckily things seem to have settled down now…however its still raining!
Had a look around San Francisco’s Fisherman’s Wharf area in the evening, very touristy but quite quaint. I’ve never seen so much seafood, massive crabs and lobsters on sale on every sidewalk and obviously the smell of fish everywhere!! Yuk!
The streets are all so steep and with the cable cars running it is almost like you have been transported back in time in some streets, then you turn a corner and see all the usual tack for sale, (those streets reminded me of Benidorm!) Still it is a place full of character, despite the torrential rain. Haven’t been able to see much of the Golden Gate Bridge yet as the cloud base is too low.
Talking of being transported back in time….We are staying in a Youth Hostel called Fort Mason which used to be an old army barracks and I don’t think they’ve done much to convert it from its original state. We’re in a 12 bedded dorm which is actually freezing with the wind whistling through ill fitting windows. The facilities are good though, and it is very central.
The hostel has internet access and I’m managing to piggyback off that free.
Jan 3rd 2006
Went and looked at the Golden Gate bridge-Glad I’ve seen it but it didn’t look that spectacular in the rain. I don’t like the feel of San Francisco as much as I have other US towns, it seems quite detached, but I suppose the weather doesn’t help to show it in its best light. I’ve always wanted to see Alcatraz, but I’m glad we’re only here a short while. Fisherman’s Wharf has a nice atmosphere. I’ll be pleased once we’ve got tomorrow and our 15 hour flight to Sydney over. I still find it hard to believe that I’m actually going to Australia.
I was surprised how close to the mainland Alcatraz prison appears to be. I’d always imagined the island was way out and quite large, but it is tiny. It is actually a mile and a quarter out and only 12 acres big. What a fascinating place though. It helped that it was so cold and wet today, as it contributed to the sense of how desperate inmates must have felt when they arrived here. The cells were really small about 6ft by 8ft and very bare. It was great though and worth coming to San Francisco.
4th /5th Jan 2006
What a bizarre day!
Left San Francisco at 0700 on the 4th and arrived in Sydney on the 5th at 2200. Where does that day go? You don’t get it back when you travel home. Up at 0330 again to get to airport for 0500 only to be told that our flight had gone tech! They managed to get us on another flight with a different airline so we didn’t miss the Sydney flight, but we nearly missed that flight due to the total OTT security measures in San Francisco. It was bad enough entering the US and getting finger printed and eye scanned, but leaving it was far worse. Nicky and I got selected for special security checks, supposedly at random, but if this was the case, why did we both get selected? I think it was because we were British. First we got lined up against a wall and scanned and photographed again, then put in a chamber and blasted with cold air to see if we had any chemicals or explosive residue on our clothes. I just went along with it, but Nic kept asking lots of questions and I thought she’s going to end up being body searched in a bit! Finally our bags got tipped out and everything gone through with a fine tooth comb and all electronics dusted. Of course being gadget girl, I thought this would take ages!! But a man next to me was arguing with the checker, refusing to give up his 5 cigarette lighters, he got aggressive and within seconds was led away at gunpoint. This deflected attention from us and we got off fairly lightly. We made the flight to LA with minutes to spare. 5 hour layover there, then finally on our 15 hour flight to Sydney. Qantas are an excellent airline, loads of leg room. Arrived at midnight Australia time, and got a bus to the hostel. It’s really weird because we have been on so many flights in the last few days and when you arrive some where at night you could be anywhere, when we got to the hostel, I thought we were in Vietnam!! There was no one to show us our beds, Nic and I ended up split up in separate 6 man rooms with no bedding or pillows. The mattress I had, had blood on it!! The place was full of Koreans and Vietnamese and it was quite horrifying, all the lights were on all night and the place was minging, with food and crap everywhere. But I was so tired after 27 hours of travelling, I just crashed in all my clothes, with my bag tied to me!
6th Jan 2006
As soon as it was light we hotfooted it out of the Korean cesspit and found our next hostel, Australian Backpackers in Bourke St in Wooloomooloo. This one is much better, cleaner and 4 bedded rooms. It is strange to have lost a whole day by travelling across the time zone. I wanted to see the opera house and the harbour bridge, as I still couldn’t believe that I was actually in Sydney, so that was our first port of call. It is fantastic to actually be here, though still hard to believe after waiting all these years. We did the botanical gardens which are huge and very beautiful, Darling harbour, loads of shops and loads of walking. Walked 6 miles today. Caught a river bus from Darling harbour to the Opera house, so we could do the obligatory view of the Opera house and Harbour Bridge. Was pretty good though, and bus only cost £2. Everything here is very cheap, particularly the food and excellent standards. Apparently this is one of the dearer places as well! Sydney city has a lovely feel to it, very clean and extremely friendly people. Temp today was 25 degrees-fantastic!!
Did the Australia Museum which is natural history, geology, skeletons and stuff. Was OK, good to see the spiders, I think its important to be able to recognise them. Nicky feels I’m over reacting. I’m not obsessed, just interested. Funnel web spiders are only found in New South Wales, and their fangs can pierce a toe nail. However, the last recorded death was 23 years ago. Australians will constantly minimise the dangers of their critters with one breath and then tell you a story of how someone nearly died next!! Everyone agrees that you should tap your boots out before you put them on though!!
7th Jan 2006
Went and saw the tropical glass houses in the botanical gardens, very beautiful, then walked around Sydney city again. Nic booked a day’s diving for when I’m going to the Blue mountains.
Found out that Jay walking is illegal with on the spot fines of $168. I must obey those lights! Also Australia only has 20 million inhabitants of whom 4.2 million live in Sydney, 3.7 million in Melbourne and 1.3 million in Perth.
8th Jan 2006
Flight to Hobart, Tasmania. Tasmania is quite a large island with no rail network and few buses, I thought this seemed strange until we got here and saw what its like. It’s very mountainous and incredibly isolated, most of the towns have less than 200 inhabitants and as we had a plan that involved quite spread out places, we decided to hire a car, as this was so much cheaper than doing organised tours. I felt very brave hiring a car and driving in a foreign country, but it was actually fine. We had one small problem before Nicky’s stint of driving when she activated the engine immobiliser and we couldn’t start the engine! She didn’t know what she had touched to do this but I managed to sort it out also without any knowledge of what I was doing but just trying everything (at this point we were in the middle of nowhere with no signs of life accept a goat in a field and no signal on the mobile).
We drove for over 3 hours, through mountain passes and grass plains before we hit any civilisation... which was this café called “The Hungry Wombat”…I joked to Nic that it was probably because when everyone arrived there they were hungry enough to actually eat a wombat, but they did serve wombat, as well as wallaby, ostrich, crocodile, emu and loads of other things. It was an excellent place I got a massive steak and salad for £3. We didn’t want to leave there and get back onto that empty road. We were headed for a place called Strahan on the West coast.
We found a fantastic hostel which is a log cabin in the woods and have our own room which is luxury in itself after dorms. I fancied visiting this small island called Sarah Island which was a prison in the early 1800’s and supposed to have been the harshest prison in Australia (Basically the whole of Tasmania was a penal colony for convicts). You could only reach it by a 2 ½ hour boat trip, but I wanted to make something of the long drive here so we booked it for tomorrow.
9th Jan
Had a great day. Sarah Island trip turned out to be excellent. Saw loads of dolphins up close following the boat, stopped off half way and walked through a rain forest then finished with the Island which was interesting. It only served as a prison from 1820-1833 but during that time over 10000 lashes were meted out to 240 prisoners, several of whom died during punishment. Drove back to Hobart in the evening..
10th Jan
Had a busy day, walked miles again. Saw Hobart’s Botanical gardens. Fantastic, very compact and full of colour. The Australians like their gardens, which is fine because I do too! Hobart has nothing else really to see, it is just a pretty seaside town with little else. I wouldn’t come back to Tasmania, I’ve enjoyed the 3 days here, but I’ve seen so many mountainous places that were far nicer. The pace of life is almost stationary also. I’ll be glad to get back to Sydney and civilisation again.
11th Jan 2006
Flight back to Sydney was delayed an hour so we didn’t get back until 1400. Checked into hostel, again in Wooloomooloo but nearer to city centre than last hostel and probably the best hostel yet we have stayed in. It is called Woodducks. It has a lift which is pure luxury after previously climbing at least 3 flights of stairs with all our heavy bags, and card keys, plus security locks on door. We walked miles again. I went to the aquarium which was good. Saw several bull sharks (supposed to be more dangerous than a great white) in their observation tunnel. Sharks feed predominantly at sunrise and sunset, in shallow murky water, Bull sharks are common in Sydney harbour Saw jellyfish in the harbour waters whilst waiting for Nicky. Jellyfish kill due to the pain of the sting being so severe that it causes cardiac arrest, not due to venom as I’d previously thought. Ice can help the pain and hopefully prevent arrest!!
Pottered around the shops and met Nicky in Darling Harbour for a meal. She wanted to see the harbour at night so we ended up hanging on to see that. It was ok, but I would rather have been back at the hostel. We got caught in a torrential rain storm and ended up back at the hostel looking like drowned rats!!
12th Jan
Caught ferry across bay to Toronga Zoo. Saw some koalas and a joey in a kangeroo’s pouch. Zoo was laid out beautifully and very spread out, but many of the animals had incredibly small spaces to live in. I thought with Australia having so much available space they would give them bigger homes, but I suppose visitors would complain then that the zoo was too big and they had too far to walk!! It started to rain again so after yesterday’s experience I decided to buy an umbrella I thought that would probably make the rain stop and of course it did. The sun came out about 2 hours later. Still it was worth it and all proceeds went towards the zoo. I can always use it as a sunshade!! Enjoyed the Zoo though found it quite tiring. Still quite dizzy on occasion but it is better than it was. Walked into city again, Nicky went shopping and I went up the observation tower. Terriffic 360 degree views all round. Loved it. Was raining again by the time I got down!! I knew that brolly would come in handy. It is strange to have rain when it is so hot.
13th Jan
Off to Blue Mountains, 90 mins out of Sydney, up at 6am to catch bus. Pouring with rain again, so umbrella has definitely been worth its weight in gold! Went to a wildlife park first, which I enjoyed more than the zoo yesterday. It was quite small but far more interactive, with large areas for animals which were roaming around freely. Got to stroke Kangeroos and Koalas and do the obligatory tourist photos. The Koala population went from 10 million at time of colonisation, to 10000 today due to extensive felling of the eucalyptus trees Kangeroos went from 20 million to 60 million due to them adapting to being able to eat grass, they currently stand at 30 million due to the recent extended drought. They can go at speeds of 65km/hr and jump 3M. A race horse has a top speed of 42km/hr in comparison. The females are always pregnant, they give birth in the morning and are pregnant again by the evening
I was on my own, as Nic had gone diving but still managed to get some good photos with my mini tripod… being a “little Miss prepared” for anything. The park turned out to be the best part of the day, as from then on didn’t see anything due to bad weather. Couldn’t do waterfalls and when we got to Echo Point, which is the lookout for the Seven Sisters, the cloud base was so low that I could see fuck all-a huge disappointment.
Saw the Olympic stadium and Olympic village. I was surprised how massive the complex was. Caught a katamaran back to Sydney, as this was quicker than the bus. For a woman who stipulated at the start of this holiday that “I don’t do boats”, I’ve done oodles of boat trips. It’s definitely the way to get around Sydney though.
14th Jan
Woke up to glorious sunshine and temps of 30 degrees. Typical, why couldn’t it of been like this yesterday? I might have actually seen the mountains and Nicky would have had a smooth dive. Oh well. Wondered around Sydney again (just for a change)!! I’m ready to move on now, I can’t buy anything else, as I can only just lift my bag now. Did the Crime and Police museum, quite interesting. Caught train to Melbourne at 2045
15th Jan 2006
Overnight train wasn’t as bad as I was expecting managed to get some good sleep. Arrived in Melbourne at 0800, short walk to hostel, All Nations in Spencer St, and managed to check in early which was great, gave us somewhere to leave our big bags. Unfortunately it is another dive, filthy dirty and quite rough, still we are only here literally to sleep as we have 2 full packed days ahead.
Walked into Melbourne for a potter, had the obligatory McDonalds, I’m getting quite sick of chips now!! Went to look at the Olympic stadium where Grandpa competed in 1956.
Melbourne is quite quaint but we didn’t get much chance to look around as we got the bus to Philip Island (a 16 mile long island, 1 ½ hrs south east of Melbourne) at 1100. Went to another wildlife park. This time got up close to Wombats. They are about 2ft long and have a hard bony plate over their backs, about 10 inches in diameter to protect them. The park is a wombat sanctuary and hand rears joeys that are orphaned when their mothers are killed on the roads.
Nothing can prepare you for the flies here. They are so persistent and land on you constantly, particularly on your face as they are going for the moisture of the mucous membranes. I had one land on my eyeball!! It’s strange because they are even around in high winds which you would think would send them away. The minute you stop to take a photo they are on you in swarms trying to crawl up your nose and in your ears.
Scenic drive along the coast to Philip Island, the highlight of which is a penguin parade, this is a natural phenomenon when 1000’s of fairy penguins come in from the sea at dusk and run up the beach on masse. Sat on the beach at 2000 to wait for them, they came in at 2120 and it was quite incredible, they walk right past you oblivious to all the people just intent on reaching their burrows. We were within 2 ft of them!!
Got back to hostel just after midnight and was asleep in minutes.
16th Jan
Bitten by mosquitos overnight!! We have promised ourselves better hostels in Perth.
Up at 0630 for bus to Great Ocean Road. This is 300 kms of sea views, rain forest and the famous 12 apostles, rock formations in the sea. Saw Bell’s Beach (the beach they talk about in Pointbreak, though they didn’t actually film here for financial reasons). Its supposed to have the highest waves for surfing in the world, and they hold numerous competitions here.
Walked through a rain forest, saw koalas in the wild, they are much smaller than in the zoo, obviously not as well fed, good to see them wild though. It is weird, Australia is quite similar to Britain in many ways, then seeing this reinforces that I am on the other side of the world.
Had lunch in Apollo Bay then back on bus to 12 apostles-worth waiting for, much bigger than I’d imagined from photos, quite thrilled to see them as they have been on my to do list for so long, and they certainly lived up to my expectations. Also saw Lord Ard Gorge and London Bridge, part of which fell down in the winter of 1990. Got back to Melbourne at 2230, very tired but happy.
17th Jan 2006
Firefly bus to Adelaide, good service just under 11 hours, crossed another time zone, only ½ hour back this time. Got to watch movies on the bus which was quite novel. Made the journey pass quicker though, as scenery not much to look at, just prairie for hours and hours. Much hotter in Adelaide, 40 degrees, great.
Have a fair hostel this time, Sunny’s Backpackers. 8 bedded dorm.
I’m quite looking forward to our 3 days in the bush, it will be so different from anything we’ve done already.
18th Jan
The start of our adventure in the wild. When we were picked up we were informed that there were only 4 of us on the trip with 2 guides, so a major gain, as there could have been 12 of us. We’ll get to see so much more with a smaller group!
Drove through fantastic scenery to Cape Jervis, the closest point to Kangeroo Island. Stopped in a place called Horseshoe Bay and did an hour’s snorkelling, quite cold water, but loads of fish. I did my usual trick of swallowing about a pint of salt water. Small charter boat crossing was very rough, 4 ft waves and requiring you to hold on for dear life with both hands, got soaked as well, but great fun!
Once on Kangeroo Island I really felt like I was in the wild, narrow dirt tracks, with kangaroos everywhere. KI is a 150km long and 60km wide island with only 4000 inhabitants and very little civilisation. The whole place is a wildlife haven. Stopped to collect firewood and saw a Huntsman spider about 3 inches long with very furry legs!! Set up camp 100 metres from the beach and got a fire going. We are miles from anywhere, haven’t seen another vehicle or house for hours. I quite surprised myself that I didn’t feel worried about sleeping out under the stars, we have a swag bag which is like a comfier version of a bivvy bag. I’ve slept out in the UK whilst on exercise, but then we were always freezing cold and not in a land that has venomous snakes and huge spiders. Not to mention tiny biting ants and other ants 1 inch long!! There are 170 types of snake in Australia, 30 of these live in the sea, all 170 produce venom, and of these, 10 land snakes and all 30 sea snakes can kill. Found out some useful info on snake bites. It is important not to wash the wound, as the hospital can swab it to see what type of snake it was, to enable them to give the anti venom, don’t use a tourniquet as this causes blood clots which then travel and can cause pulmonary emboli, even after the person has been successfully treated with anti venom. Use a compression bandage only.
Anyway when we finally bedded down I was quite excited and just astounded by how much brighter the stars and moon are. You could have read by the moonlight. It was fairly cold but I was fine in my sleeping bag and swag. Slept like a baby!!
19th Jan
Woke up very warm at 0645 as it was already 25 degrees. Back into the RTV and off to explore the island. The vehicles get such a hammering on the dirt tracks. Drove to a fantastic beach called Peninsula Bay which stretched for miles and we were the only people on it. Hiked up Prospect hill to be rewarded with incredible views of the whole island. Visited a Eucalyptus oil factory, which runs entirely on steam and solar power. It takes 1 ton of leaves to produce 20 litres of oil in summer and this only produces 5 litres in winter as the leaves are poorer quality. All the water we are drinking here is collected rain water and it all tastes minty due to the tea tree and eucalyptus trees it runs off.
More snorkelling for an hour then off to a sea lion colony. Got within 50 m of a 300kg Bull sea lion on the beach. You have to move across the beach all together in a huddle as a bull will charge a single person, whereas they don’t perceive a group of closely knit people as a threat. Had my first go at surfing, managed to get up on board on my knees by the end, but didn’t manage to stand up. Quite exerting paddling board against waves and trying to jump up on to it. Great fun though! Saw more wild koalas, then hiked through some huge sand dunes called Little Sahara. Back to camp for drinks around the fire. I held a huntsman spider. Felt incredibly brave!! Had a really cheeky possum that came up close to us trying to steal our food from the boxes. Bed at 2330 but didn’t sleep as dry storms continuously all night and extremely muggy. I was stuck to the inside of my sleeping bag. We sat up watching some amazing forked lightening, best I have ever seen, couldn’t sleep as thunder was too loud and our swags were overrun with possums. Rain started at 0300 which cooled us down but storm continued until 5am. Hardly slept at all.
20th Jan
Up at 0630 again to glorious sunshine. Peeled myself out of my sleeping bag. Visited Remarkable Rocks on the west of the island, stunning granite rock formations, then saw another colony this time of Australian and New Zealand fur seals. This colony was much larger than yesterdays at 700-1000 seals. I still haven’t lost the fascination of seeing so many animals in their natural habitat.
We then did a 4 mile hike through snake lagoon to the beach not particularly strenuous but hard in 40 degree heat and on about an hour’s sleep. Saw some massive lizards and caught a yabby (crustacean).
Much calmer crossing back to mainland. We have had a fantastic 3 days, full of activity and wildlife spotting, definitely been the highlight of our trip. Our guides were good fun and I learnt loads.
We decided that we’d earned a good hostel after 3 days of no showers, toilets or electricity and booked into the Adelaide YHA…What a difference, it is pristine and had air con, WOW!
21st Jan 2006
Flight to Perth, across another time zone, back 2 ½ hours, now only 8 hours ahead of UK. Arrived at hostel, Shiralee in Brisbane St…not the worst we have stayed in but not that good either. Only top bunks left in a 6 man dorm, I hate climbing up and down as they have no ladders. The hostel is full of roaches, caught 2 before going to bed. Horrible things, the way they scuttle everywhere and of cause being Australian they are twice the size of ours!! Full dorm, but nice girls. Walked around Perth. Doesn’t jump out at me yet. Very Korean/Japanese.
22nd Jan
On bus to Margaret River and beyond down to Augusta. Did a birds of prey place, good, but Hawk Conservancy is better! Did some amazing caves, full of stalagmites and stalactites made of limestone and finally down to Cape Leeuwin and a fascinating lighthouse on the most south western point of Australia, where the Indian ocean meets the Southern ocean. Climbed to the top of the lighthouse, very windy. It is now computerised and run on electricity since 1982, but when it was built it used kerosene and the lighthouse keeper had to climb up to the top with two 40kg jerry cans!
Did a total of 700km, long day, left at 7, back at 2200. Have booked a surfing lesson tomorrow whilst Nicky diving. I must be mad!
23rd Jan
Up at 0630, can’t seem to sleep past that time. Caught bus to Scarborough Beach. 40 minute journey and only £1.50. 35 degrees today but still very windy due to cyclone in the North. Consequently waves on beach are very big. Instructor said they’re normally only this high in the winter. Had a 15 minute lesson on the beach then it was into the water. Surfing is very hard work physically, I haven’t exerted myself that much in ages, plus you get bashed and battered an awful lot. Ended up with the fins hitting me in the neck and chest. Managed to stand up several times, exhilarating! Swallowed loads of water but superb fun. 2 hours later crawled up beach, knackered, covered in bruises, half drowned, but on a real high!! Bus trip back not particularly pleasant with lots of rough types. Adds to my overall impression of Perth. I like Perth the least of the places we have been, the people are definitely more abrupt and less friendly. The city seems quite cold and distant, with little character.
Nicky came back thrilled as she had had a great day diving down to 30M and went back out to do a night dive. Feel v tired after surfing. This place is infested with roaches, at least less get up to top bunk!! I have revised my initial thoughts on the hostel though, it is very friendly, has a lovely atmosphere and being small, everything is on the same level.
24th Jan
On my own, as Nic has gone diving again to try and complete her advanced rating. Long walk and 1000ft climb to Kings Park, not really worth it. Park was very green with loads of trees, but no flowers which I prefer. Treetop walk was disappointing, not that far off the ground and exactly as described, looking down on trees!! Views of Perth from park were pretty good though.
Rode the free hop on, hop off, bus around Perth. Saw the Bell’s Tower made of glass and housing several bells.
25th Jan
Our last full day in Australia.
Went to a medical museum in Subiaco, a short train journey south of Perth. Traced the history of Australian midwifery, anaesthetics, dentistry, army corps and Flying doctor service. Very interesting, only $2 entrance fee. Saw an original Entonox apparatus, loads of instruments and original artefacts.
Back to Perth, to pack. Surprisingly everything went back into bag remarkably well and only weighed 18 kg, less than when I came out, amazing!! I do feel quite sad to be leaving Australia, it is a wonderful country.
26th Jan
Nic up at 0400 for her flight, mine was slightly later so I got up at 0630.
Flight on time, flying with South Africa Airways to Johannesburg. Its strange hearing all the South African accents after 3 weeks of Australian.
27th Jan
0700 flight to Cape Town, very smooth. Was chatting to the person sitting next to me about things to do in Cape Town. He recommended Kirstenbosch Gardens and Simon’s Town and also advised against using shuttle buses from airport. Taxis cost £30. I think it would be cheaper to hire a car, also there are no buses to the gardens which are South of Cape Town, so this would involve taxis as well. He also informed me that Table Mountain was closed due to a massive fire yesterday, caused by a cigarette, and a British tourist had died. The mountain is still on fire today. This has made me revise my plans of what to do whilst here.
Hired a car from Hertz and was surprised when it was only £22 a day. I asked about whether the car had an immobiliser as I didn’t want to get stuck as we had in Tas, and the man looked at me as if I had 2 heads. When I got outside to the car I realised why as it was lucky it had mirrors, let alone anything else. It was a basic Corsa with numerous dents and scratches (which I made sure he marked down) and no radio, air con or POWER STEERING! How spoilt we have become in the UK with our cars. Still it all added to the adventure, as did trying to find my way first into Cape Town, and then out of Cape Town, to where I wanted to go, with the world’s worst map Hertz had provided. None of the road numbers were marked, it was most frustrating. Found my hotel by pure chance and remembered the route for later on. Asked the car park attendant for directions but we didn’t understand each other and he just kept lifting the barrier for me to enter car park. I decided I wasn’t going to be beaten in my quest to leave the city (I had decided to drive to The Cape of Good Hope, 120 miles round trip), and got back on the freeway to look for any place names which were going in that direction. The plan worked and soon I was on my way to Muizenberg on the coast and once there I followed the coast down. All this hassle and the general unhelpfulness of everyone I encountered was not helping me to develop a favourable impression of S. Africa. I hadn’t seen anything that changed this, even when I got to Simon’s Town, which came highly recommended by all the books and is halfway to Cape Point. Simon’s Town was a pretty seaside town in a Blackpool kind of way, with buildings with Victorian facades, but very dirty and run down. The coast line was beautiful, but crowded with lots of nearby developments spoiling it.
However, once through there, the scenery changed dramatically and was breathtaking. I was so glad I had persevered. It cost 450 rand (£4.50) to enter Cape Peninsula National Park, I’d expected more. The last part of the drive was fantastic, through scrubland, with beautiful wild flowers and great mountain views. Once at the Point it was a 15 minute walk up the hill to the lighthouse and my second time in a week at looking at 2 oceans! Great!
On the drive back through the park I saw wild baboons-incredible. There were about 10 of them just crossing the road, oblivious to the cars! Pleasant driving back, much easier now I knew the road. Visited Kirstenbosch Gardens, a 36 acre botanical garden situated on the side of a mountain. It was laid out beautifully and I had a great walk around it. It didn’t feel like a manufactured botanical garden, just natural.
Checked into the hotel on the V and A Waterfront at 1500. It is very posh. I have views of the waterfront. What a change from hostels!! Decided to go out exploring, even though I was quite tired. I’m surprised by how African everything is. That probably sounds stupid, but I suppose I thought it would be quite anglicised. There is loads of shops and stalls selling hand made African goods and everywhere you go you either hear African music playing or just people singing in the street as they’re walking along, men and women, not organised bands or anything just people going about their business.
There was an aquarium on the waterfront and I nearly didn’t go in as I’ve been to so many recently, but I did, being a sucker for them. I’m so glad that I did. It was the best one I’ve ever seen, particularly the shark exhibit and these giant crabs that were 2ft big.
28th Jan
Awake at 5am still jetlagged and unable to sleep anymore. Table Mountain is still closed. Only I could arrive in Cape Town the day of a massive fire. The cableway is often closed due to high winds, but today the mountain is closed to hikers as well as they’re still trying to get the fire under control, after 3 days!
So… after vowing not to do any more islands or prisons, I found myself booking a ferry and tour to Robben Island, where Nelson Mandela was incarcerated for 18 years from 1964-1982. The Island is 7.5 km off shore and only 2km x 4km big. It housed mainly political prisoners, but only black males, no white political prisoners. It was a horrific place of torture where prisoners were kept in cells 2.5m x 2m with no beds and only a mat and blanket. It closed to political prisoners in 1991 and criminal prisoners in 1994 and was opened as a museum in 1997. What made the tour especially moving was that it was conducted by former prisoners. Our guide was a man called Modese Phekonyone, who was there from 1977-1982. He was a student activist and arrived there when he was only 17. We also met another prisoner who had gone there age 13, in 1964, for a 20 year sentence. I found it incredible that these men can return to guide and tell their stories. It was so sad. I talked to him afterwards and he said that though he forgave his captors, he hated these tours and only did them so he could educate people. He was going to the UK soon to complete his Masters degree. How wicked their government was.
Robben Island is also a World Heritage site. Saw loads of springbok and antelope roaming, also some African penguins.
Flight to UK at 2100.
I’ve had an amazing, unforgettable 4 weeks and cant wait to continue my travels.
