Well that wine tasting certainly knocked me out for a day! Who knew 31 wine tastings would give me a pounding head?

As yesterday was such a washout I made the most of today by heading over to the Waterfront to catch a (finally running) ferry across to Robben Island. I managed to buy my ticket just before a gaggle of school children got in the queue, but unfortunately they still ended up on the same ferry as me.

As the ferry wasn't leaving for a while I had a look around the 'wellness centre,' and after spotting some Malachite earrings decided to purchase them - unfortunately when the toothless man picked them up to put them in a bag they broke! I picked out another pair and made him promise they wouldn't break too, but I couldn't quite make out his answer due to the lack of molars.

I sat inside the ferry on the way over, my pounding head wasn't quite ready for too much fresh air. There was a video about the Island on that portrayed its time as a 'leper colony' and showed it still had a 'leper cemetery', although the houses were burnt down so as to avoid any further contamination.

Murray's Harbour was my first port of call as the ferry pulled in, just to remind me of home! We all went on buses to the prison, wherein our guide Lonza took great joy in telling any English on board that South Africa had won the Tri-Nations. What gloaters those Springboks are! There was a familiar face on board too - a Canadian girl who'd been in the Jo'burg hostel. Small world.

We were shown around the prison by a former prisoner who'd spent as long as Mandela locked up, fortunately the tour didn't focus too much on Mandela, mentioning the plight of the many prisoners instead. He told us how letters were censored, and forged on wives' behalves to request divorces, all to make the men lose contact with the outside world, and for some of them their minds.

It amazed me how the guide could give tours on the place that confined him for so much of his life, but maybe he wants to ensure the stories are told correctly; who knows. It's hard to imagine that these men who were political prisoners were treated in such horrific ways, one story mentioned being buried alive to the brink of death, yet rapists and murderers today have TVs, phones, an allowance, and all the luxuries a hotel would offer, let alone a prison designed to detain. The mind boggles.