Yes friends, we are alive, back in our respective countries, all without having become world cup crime statistics! Our travels took us through virtually every major South African city, most of the World Cup stadiums, through the care of many great friends(some new, some old), up to Zambia, and finally back home, and I think we all agree that it was the trip of a lifetime. Our final week was spent in and around Cape Town, which I'll chronicle here, and then in a few days we'll have a final few words to wrap up the trip and post some photos.
Last Monday we flew back into Cape Town, and despite the fact that our 1Time flight was delayed by a few hours, Caitlin was there to graciously pick us up at the airport again. We had hired rooms at Blue Mountain Backpackers this time, across the street from Carnival Court, and considering our slight excesses of the last time we stayed there, we figured it was a good idea to stay somewhere else. Caitlin took us to dinner at Pancho's, one of the better Mexican places in town, and even though I did my best to take Adam's thumb off by slamming it in the car door, it wasn't anything a few whiskeys couldn't solve.
The next day we did a little shopping on Long Street and spent time at one of Sally's favorite tea shops before heading over to Xanthe's apartment where she very graciously cooked us a lovely chicken dinner with red wine gravy, something I'd never tried before. The next day we checked out of Blue Mountain and took the bus down to the waterfront, where prices on official World Cup merchandize were still jacked way, way up. I picked up a couple of t-shirts and then we went to the vuvuzela store. I bought a whopping 10 vuvuzelas to bring back, which barely fit in my bag, and Adam picked up another 4 or 5, which he had to carry on board with him.
That night Tim took us out to his beach cottage at the very remote and beautiful Smitswinkel Bay. It's only about an hour's drive from the center of Cape Town but it is a very secluded and tiny beach community where there's no electricity or cell phone reception. Everything you bring you must carry, including all food, drinks, and toiletries, so Adam and I saddled up our packs for the dark walk down to the cottage. Despite the remote location, a flip through the guest book showed that Tim's family had had a remarkable number of adventures there over the years since they bought the place in the mid-80s, and it's a house that's seen a lot of good nights and I'm sure has many, many, many stories. Add that to the spectacular views and the virtually private beach and you have an amazing location.
Tim didn't have to work the next day so we spent most of it messing around on the beach and playing cricket, and when he went back Adam and I took control of the Braai and made our first homemade American-style hamburgers of the trip. The next day Tim and Xanthe came back with a few friends, and we had another good night in front of the fire.
After we cleaned up and moved out in the morning(Adam in particular had a tough time getting back up the hill) we drove into Simonstown, a small beach town just down the coast from Cape Town, and watched the rugby there. Unfortunately for everyone in the pub (except Adam), the Aussies came away with the win over the Boks in Brisbane, although Quade Cooper's suspension will be a small consolation for the next match. Our ride left us in Simonstown but we continued to explore the city for a little bit before taking the Metro back into town.
On our last night, Tim, Xanthe, Caitlin, and Jared took us all out to a place called Oblivion, where we danced until almost 2 am. In the morning we took Adam to the airport, said our (not so tearful) goodbyes, and then I left about 4 hours later. Adam flew from Cape Town to JoBurg to Singapore to Sydney, where he then stayed the night at a friend's house before spending 10 hours on a train to Armidale, where he's now staying with his girlfriend Sally. I flew Cape Town to JoBurg to Dakar to Washington, DC to Atlanta, a path that took considerably less time than when I flew out.
The great trip is now over, our respective governments have allowed us and all of our African goods back into our home countries, and we now have the real world to look forward to. Paul and I are recent university graduates and he'll be hitting the job market soon while I'm heading off to law school next month. Adam is heading back to uni for two more semesters in Canberra, and I'm sure replacing the crazy nights out and the long lazy days of drinking with 40 hour work weeks and rigorous academic schedules is not going to be easy. It was all worth it in the end however, and yes, preliminary planning is in place for Brazil 2014. Let's just hope either Australia or the USA gets the World Cup in 2022, just to make the travel a little easier.
Anyway, thanks so much to those who have helped us plan, put us up, and made our trip a blast, as well as everyone who followed online. Check back in a couple of days for a final trip summary and some more photos!
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I am glad that you all had a wonderful trip and that you are safe and sound back at home. It has been wonderful following your story, although I am sure that there is more to come. I feel quite sad that it has come to an end. Well done on looking after each other.
ReplyDeleteJill Simcoe