cape of good hope

I never did finish the South Arica trip. We had made it down to Cape Agulhas, from there it was on to  Cape Town and its surrounds.

Stellenbosch, nestled in the Hottentot Holland mountains, with the Cape Dutch architecture. A university town, but also home to great wines, restaurants, golf courses, olives, strawberries... the list goes on.

Just south of Stellenbosch, and along the coast, as one heads around False Bay towards The Point is a huge expanse of beach, ending in Muizenberg. The sets roll in gently. This is where the South Africans won back the record from Brazil for the most surfers on a single wave. In the distance is Simon's Town and on the left of the land mass in the photo is the Cape Point.

Looking back to Muizenberg from Simon's Town across a few yachts. Simon's Town port was an important naval base, nowadays the odd bulky grey tub can be seen, but methinks it is mostly administrative. This was home to Just Nuisance, a Great Dane and able seaman in Her Majesty's Navy... quite some amusing tales.

A couple of baboons were having a go at each other on the road near Cape Point Nature Reserve. Quite vicious... please I wasn't on the receiving end of this large males wrath.

Late afternoon on Camps Bay beach, backed by the twelve apostles. A great place to be.

Then back out near Stellenbosch, but this time it is the Franschhoek valley. A lovely small town, where oddly enough, they still celebrate 14 July.

Some Cape Town blogging wouldn't be complete without a table mountain photo. OK so end of winter isn't a great time to stroll on Blouberg beach, and some tub decided to beach itself and threaten to spew oil. Nevertheless, still a beautiful view.

So if you want to use the soccer world cup as an excuse, go for it. Don't forget to take some time out from the hooliganism to see the beautiful Cape.