We arrived safely in Cape Town on Friday the 29th December. The flight over was not bad for a 11 hour flight !!Our house was lovely, Euge and I had our own ensuite room separate from the main house so we managed not to get woken up too early by a 3 and a half year old Michael Stringer. The house is on a small island overlooking Table Mountain and Lion’s Head. The house backed onto the beach, which was lovely, but boy as usual the water was very cold!!!

We had a great week and a half in Cape Town and managed to pack a lot in:

On the 29th Jacqui managed to get up Table Mountain on the cable car with the Stringer family. As usual the views from the top are stunning, you have views of the city, the harbor, the winelands and the white beaches of Cape Town.

On the 30th we headed off ¾ of an hour in to the wine region of the Cape to have lunch at a wine estate called Spiers. There are lots of things to do and see for children. Also good if you want to go tasting wine.

The 31st is Jacqui’s mum’s birthday so we spent the morning on the beach and then headed off into Cape Town to the Mount Nelson, a very posh hotel. Here we had a wonderful afternoon tea, which consisted of cucumber sandwiches, smoked salmon sandwiches and lots and lots of delicious cakes. It was a very nice afternoon. The night was a very quiet one with a nice roast lamb dinner for all.

The first day of 2007 was spent again on the beach. There was major sandcastle building, chasing the waves and big long walks down the beach. Ah what a life!

You guessed it we spent the morning of the 2nd on the beach.  Then headed off to the Victoria and Alfred Shopping centre for a bit of retail therapy. That night Jacqui, Euge, Bev and Mark headed off into Constantia to another rather posh hotel called Cellars Hughenot for a lovely dinner. The food was out of this world and not very expensive – which is always a bonus.

The 3rd and 4th January were spent milling around the beach, the pool at the complex we are staying at and braai (BBQ’s) in the evening.

On the 5th January we headed off to one of South Africa’s National parks called Kirstenbosch where we had a lovely picnic on the lawn. Again it had another view of Table Mountain but it has plants from all over the world and is good for exploring with a 3 and ½ year old. Oh yes by now the weather has been lovely averaging about 24-28 degree’s.

On the 6th January the heavens opened in Cape Town so we headed off on drive through Bainskloof Pass, which is over some rather large mountains. We had a picnic lunch at the top of the pass, which was very nice.

Sunday the 7th called for brunch with the Stringer clan so we headed off to another wine estate called Constantia Uitsig for a South African breakfast. The only difference is the sausage actually tastes of meat and the bacon is to die for!!  After that we headed off to a Pottery painting centre where Euge and I painted a plate to commemorate our tour and Michael painted a bowl and plate aided by Bev. We have to pick them up on our way back down to the Cape in a few weeks.

On the 8th January we headed off to Century City which is a huge shopping mall to have a mooch about. Jacqui tried to convince Euge that diamonds are cheaper here but he as having none of it!! Euge did however buy Jacqui a South African rugby top which doesn’t sparkle as much as a diamond!!! We then had lots of fun on the beach in the afternoon. Euge decided to have a run on the beach and kind of over did it – he has one very sore foot at the moment!!!