11 May, 2001
We did not do too much today - had a slow lazy start and headed over to the main house of our B&B for breakfast. The weather was so nice that we could sit out on the terrace, which had fantastic views of the waterfront and of Table Mountain.
After breakfast, Jacqui took some time planning out her day - she wanted to go and spoil herself. After speaking with the keeper of the B&B, we headed out. First we dropped off our laundry and then got a bite to eat. Then Jacqui started to spoil herself by finding a hairdresser and spa where she could get the works. Lars left her to it. He went to go get a haircut and to then walk along the waterfront back to the hotel.
We meet again in the late afternoon and have some cheese and crackers in our cottage, followed by drinks at the main building. We have a quiet evening out for dinner and stroll around the waterfront.
12 May, 2001
We have agreed to meet with Paolo this morning to go and visit Table Mountain. It is not clear whether the cable car will be operating - it has been out for service (and there was some problem with a lightening strike). After an early breakfast at the B&B, we catch a taxi to the base of Table Mountain, where we meet Paolo. The cable car is not working, so we decide to reach the top the hard way - walking.
After being given some guidance from one of the workers there, we head off up. It turns out to be quite a challenging climb as it is -well very steep. Other than one patch where you traverse across the side of the mountain, it is straight up the edge of the mountain. While the air is cool, it is very hot in the sun. As we walk up we begin to work up a sweat.
Half way up Paolo needs to turn back as it is taking us longer than expected (we had bad information on how long it would take), as he has to meet up with some people going to a rugby game. We continue on our way up - we have reached gorge where the climb feels like it is going straight up. But we cannot slow down as we ourselves will be late for meeting Lars' parents if we do not get back by noon.
After many breaks and huffing and puffing, we finally reach the top. Now we need to walk along the top of the mountain to reach the point where the cable car reaches the top, from where we can get a good view of Cape Town. Once we reach there, we are so thirsty - we had one bottle of water with us and we were told that we could re-fill it at the top. We are devastated when we find the toilets locked and there is not water. Finally we are able to find a cable car worker who is kind enough to fill our bottle from inside the building - he even re-fills it a few times as we let other people drink from our bottle.
After a quick walk around the top, we head back down. We go as fast as we can, but we have to be careful as the trail is steep and there are lots of loose rocks. We race along the traverse and Lars goes ahead to find a taxi. Once Jacqui makes it down to the bottom, we zoom off in the taxi back to our hotel. We definitely need a shower before we meet up with Lars' parents - we are covered in a thin coating of salt from all the dried sweat.
We have a quick shower and head over to the Commodore hotel, where we meet up with Lars' parents. We spend the afternoon wandering around and catching up with each others life over the last seven months. It is a wonderful re-union.
That evening we go out for dinner, meeting up with Paolo, at Kennedy's. It is an excellent restaurant and we have a feast of drinks, wine and good food. We dig into dishes like gemsbok, steak and fish. Very tasty.