We were due to sail into Cape Town harbour at dawn. We got up well before that, not wanting to miss the photo opportunity of a lifetime. In the dark, faintly, Table Mountain appeared a shadow, minute by minute becoming sharper against the clear early morning sky. The wind was still howling as the lights of Cape Town defined Table Bay. The ship slowed and began to turn sketching out a large circle as dawn broke. How fantastic, we thought – he’s waiting till daybreak allowing pictures of this iconic scene from all angles.

Not so – the problem, announced at last by the captain, was simple. Big ship, little harbour entrance, strong winds. And so it was that we circled the bay for four hours, updated by the captain at intervals,  waiting for the winds to abate. We could be here all day, we thought – even longer! As it was, with the help of tugs we pushed our way safely into our berth. Where we were to stay for another night before disembarking.

We’d arranged to meet Cape Town friends that evening for dinner at the V&A Waterfront area, so were eager to see as much of the city first – and try to remember where Peter’s old office was! Mooching first around the vast waterfront area, we decided to take the easy option and boarded the open-top tour bus for a two-hour trip around the city and suburbs. We vaguely remembered the city streets, certainly their names, and unmistakably picked out historic buildings and old roads. Like any other city after such a long time away, much had changed. But not all for the better, for abutting one of Cape Town’s finest suburbs had grown a swathe of shanties, creeping up the back of Table Mountain like a patchwork quilt of tin shacks, serviced by an ugly network of electricity cables. The guide told us statistics then, about unemployment, education and housing – quite frightening for the future of this beautiful land.

That night we met up with our ex-Noosa friends for dinner before getting back on board the Queen Mary for our very last night and said our goodbyes to travelling companions.

The next morning, we hailed a taxi to take us and our luggage to pick up the hire car in which we were to drive  back up the coast over the next three weeks. Signing the paperwork we were given a pep-talk/lecture about what to do and what not to do. As in, ‘…remember to keep everything out of sight, don’t leave anything in the car overnight or when you stop… and if  they smash the windscreen, it’s just a diversion so that everything can be taken from the car whilst you’re in shock…!’

It was therefore with some trepidation that we hit the road and headed out of town to our first pied-a-terre, a very pretty seaside town called Hermanus, where we were to spend a week seeing old friends in the area and doing winery tours, scenic drives and sampling the best of the area’s restaurants.   Hmm…hot on the heels of a sixteen-day cruise, we do hope to eat sensibly…