Cape Town to the Cape of Good Hope

We set off at 8.30am today in beautiful sunny weather although it was fairly windy most of the day. Some days you so out sightseeing with expectations that are well and truly surpassed by the actual experience and today was one of those. There are some breathtaking scenes as you wind south from Cape Town and in places the road hugs the mountainside quite precariously. Most of the vegetation on the Capes peninsula is known locally as Fynbos or small leaf and is comprised of 3 main species, being Protea, Erica and Rescios. The pincushion protea was the main species in flower today but there were also substantial stands of wild daisies and pelargoniums (geraniums). We didn't see any baboons but there are numerous signs warning you not to offer them food or they will be likely to attack you for it. We did see wild ostriches however inside the Table Mountain National Park.

It is difficult to calculate the wind speed but as a conservative estimate there were gusts over 60km per hour so it was interesting viewing in some places, especially Cape Point where the Atlantic meets the Indian Ocean. For a geographer, it was great to be at such a point on the Earth's surface as it was to be at the Cape of Good Hope. The old seafarers were a tough lot and with wind like today you can understand why there are over 200 known shipwrecks along the western coast.

There are numerous people begging wherever we go and the huge influx of refugees from the north is exacerbating the situation. Many homes on the peninsula had electrified fences surrounding them with signs warning of armed response if they were breached. However, you can walk around Cape Town with as much confidence as you would in Sydney. Our last major stop was the penguin colony at the boulders in Simon's Town and there were substantial numbers sunning themselves on the rocks and beaches. It is the moulting season so they are generally inactive.

Granite tors are common throughout the peninsula and it is obvious that this geological activity was responsible for lifting the sedimentary rocks to form the well-layered mountains.

A great day all round and time to relax before going back to the waterfront for dinner.  31/10/2014