Our road trip has begun, Cape Town to Johannesburg in a rather new and rusty orange coloured Tata. Our first journey from Cape Town to Mossel Bay was a baptism of fire! A trip out to Robben Island delayed our collection of the car, meaning we weren't on our way until rush hour. After battling the traffic the sun began to go down as we tackled our first mountain pass. Apparently stunning views, I wouldn't know as I was concentrating hard to keep the car on the road through the numerous tight bends!Before long a thick fog had descended, it was dark and we were on the edge of a mountain, not the best way to spend our first trip in the car. Some 400km later we arrived exhausted but in one piece in Mossel Bay.

Mossel Bay is home to a seal colony just off shore and with the seals come Great White Sharks looking for a feed. Knowing this James decided it would be a good idea to put on a wetsuit, climb into a cage and go shark spotting. Another early morning and short boat ride took us out to sea, the cage was lowered into the rather chilly ocean and within a few minutes our first shark was spotted circling the boat. James along with a few other crazy people climbed in the cage for a better look. Within a couple of hours some 14 different Great Whites had paid us a visit, the largest a huge 3.3 meters. A few were rather frisky and breached out of the water, grabbing the bait and mouthing the cage. An amazing experience from the relative safety of the boat! James had an amazing time and I'm pleased to report still has all his limbs.

We're now in Oudtshoorn which is otherwise known as Ostrich country. A short drive inland, over yet more mountains brought us to the plains. Trundling along it was rather odd to see vast fields populated not with cows, sheep, goats, horses or any of the usual occupants but ostriches. A visit to Oudtshoorn is not complete without getting up close and personal with the ostriches, we are now rather more knowledgeable in the skill of riding these flightless birds and in James' case falling off them! Great fun and we think that James' childhood fears of Emus may have been cured!

Before we left we paid a visit to the Cango caves, a bit touristy but we certainly understood why. The limestone caves were vast with amazing stalactite and stalagmite formations with the first cave being large enough to house 2000 people for concerts and alike. Unfortunately the concerts are no longer allowed so we can only imagine how cool it would have been!