Loving Cape Town! In a fab hostel and have met a load of really nice people. I've had 10 days before the start of my 6 week tour, and have been packing it all in!

Firstly I went whale watching in Hermanus, just a little way up the coast from Cape Town. Here the Southern Right Whales come all the way up to the coast, and so you don't have to go on a boat to see them, which was a bonus as the sea was looking pretty rough! We saw a mother whale with her calf at Hermanus and then went further up the coast and saw at least 4 more whales. They were really splashing about a lot and so we got some good views. That evening a few of us went out for dinner and I braved the South African Platter, which involved crocodile, warthog, springbok and ostrich. All was nice apart from the crocodile which was a bit chewy!

The next day a group of us climbed up table mountain as it was a really nice sunny day. It took about 1 1/2 hours to climb up, easier than I thought it was going to be. The cable car was having maintenance done and so wasn't running, and so we had no choice but to walk down as well. Unfortunately what we didn't realise was that all the restaurant, shop and toilets were also closed, and so we practically ran down because we were so thirsty/hungry/in need of loo! However, the views from the top were stunning, and so it was well worth it!

Sunday I went on a day tour to the Cape Peninsula and Cape of Good Hope, and luckily this was also a very sunny day! Firstly we went and saw the Jackass penguins at Boulders Beach which were adorable - there are many pictures of penguins! We also saw some baboons with their babies - they liked sitting in the middle of the road. We then made our way to the Cape Peninsula where we did about 30 minutes cycling, I got a puncture which was typical me, and then walked up to the lighthouse at the peninsula, followed by a walk around to the Cape of Good Hope. The views were amazing!

I met a woman also going on my trip, and so the next day we went down to the waterfront, which is the nicest bit of Cape Town. The weather was appalling and so we decided to go to the aquarium and saw lots of penguins, sharks, seals and stingrays. It was really good, and much better than being outside in the storms. That evening we had a random party in the hostel, centred around drinking red wine and coke (Spanish Alberto's concoction). It was very messy, and was not good as the next day I had to get up early and go on the wine tour! Here we went to Stellenbosch and 2 other wineries, had huge amounts of wine, a really good line (with wine in it), and generally had a very good time!

On Wednesday, Julia and I decided to have a chilled day and go to the Botanical Gardens. Luckily the weather had improved and so it was sunny and relaxing!