Hermanus

After a fairly painless flight (despite the plane being full of rather drunk Lions supporters and the fact I was flying economy of course daaaahlings…), I arrived at Cape Town International Airport which was (as seems to be the case wherever I go) a building site as they prepare for the 2010 World Cup soccer which is being hosted here. Pete was there to meet me and we headed off up to Hermanus, about an hour and a half north of Cape Town.

My rather camera-shy chauffeur...

For those of you who have travelled with me, or followed my travels before, you will know that I seem to have a habit of breaking the weather wherever I go (perhaps not ideal given that I have decided to travel for a living… Pete is quite scared!) well, South Africa is no different, and for the first two days here we have had howling gales and lashing rain! We attempted to go down to the beach to have a look (and for a chance to do a bit of 4 wheel driving of course), and ended up running back to the pick-up somewhat sand-blasted, having decided that if the wind was strong enough to allow Pete to lean into it at a 45 degree angle, it was a little too strong for a nice seaside walk! We did however get to see a herd of eland complete with massive bulls and a couple of cute little calves.

Sand-blasting!

Eland on the farm:

Yesterday we headed into the nearby town of Gandebaai to pick up some food and diesel fittings (as you do) and so I could get my first introduction to the beautiful language of Afrikaans... We spent ages watching the waves crashing over the sea wall and the surf rolling into the usually millpond-like harbour. It was quite a spectacle, and as we headed up to the perhaps aptly named “Danger Point”, the huge swells of the night before were evidenced by the piles of seaweed that had been cleared off the roads by bulldozers.

Danger Point lighthouse:

Waves crashing over the sea wall

More waves:

More crashing waves over the sea wall - the photos don't do it justice!

Churning seas:

We have been spending lots of time working on Odyssey stuff, planning the 2010 and 2011 Africa trips, and finalising the purchase of a second truck! We are flying to Nairobi on Wednesday next week to pick up the as-yet-unnamed “Truck 2”, and then driving it back to Cape Town through Kenya, Tanzania, Malawi, Mozambique and South Africa over a month with some of Pete’s friends on board. It will be a great introduction to Africa for me, and a very welcome return for Pete.

We are staying in an amazing house (which is fortunately still standing after the storms of the last couple of days!) and enjoying amazing meat, fruit and of course, the occasional drop of wine. The two dogs are lovely, and although we have a small problem insofar as Ambrose gets jealous and stands between Pete and myself when we are chatting (wouldn’t be such a problem if he didn’t weigh 70kgs and feet the size of dinner plates), it is lovely to have them around, and the best bit is that someone else feeds them!

Sleeping puppies! Unfortunately you can't quite get the scale of Ambrose on the left...

The house, nestled into the dunes: