Well this clearly isn't going to become the multi-million pound, best-selling book (and subsequent film adaptation) I had in mind! They'd need a bit more substance for a start. It's weeks since I last wrote a blog entry, and I've also been neglecting my journal. Or at least, I was - until this week, when I finally got chance to catch up with myself. It's nice to now be writing about events that have only just happened, and not having to scrounge notes off more diligent diarists. Time I fixed this blog, too.

I'm not really sure where to begin. As my previous comments imply, a lot's been going on. Time for a list:

Surfing - This has to be top of the list, having had a fair few joint lessons at Muizenberg, with my buddy Becca (who has since gone back to England, to my dismay!) and our teacher, Leonard (the taxi dude). We had days when the waves beat us up, and days when the they were just the right size for us and gave us nice long rides - but we always came away smiling.

Robben Island - Along with the following two items, this took place during a weekend in Cape Town with Becca, Kate and Magda. The island is unarguably beautiful, but tainted by its sad and cruel history. The place highlights the experiences of not just Mandela, but so many other political prisoners who were locked up there. Helpfully, the long ferry ride back to the mainland, throughout which we sat on top deck under a clear blue sky, offered some time for reflection.

Mama Africa - The live music, tasty African food and fine wine served up at this Cape Town institution were a welcome relief from the feelings I took away from Robben Island. As the band played some funky beats, I ate fish, vegetables and rice, whilst Becca tucked into a variety of meats (South Africans LOVE their meat!!) - including ostrich, crocodile and springbok! To finish, I followed up a recommendation from a good friend and devoured the banana flambe with ice cream. If you're ever in Cape Town, I'd like to pass on that recommendation!

Yoga - I sought out an Ashtanga yoga class as I like to do in foreign countries, and it was well worth the hunting. A great teacher with lots of experience and knowledge of both yoga and anatomy, and some mighty fine adjustments. V good way to start a Sunday - set me up nicely for our return to Fish Hoek after lunch. Look up Shanti Yoga if you ever find yourself in the area.

Kate's birthday - At the end of a school week in late August, my housemates and I gathered in the sun, on the decked balcony at the back of our shared home, as Kate opened gifts and cards marking her 20th birthday. And later, we shared taxis in to town (via Chapman's Peak, a particularly stunning bit of the coastal road), for afternoon tea at the renowned Mount Nelson Hotel, where we stuffed ourselves silly on cakes and tarts and macaroons and scones and biscuits and......you get the idea! Oh, and tea - lots of it! It was like Willy Wonka meets Alice in Wonderland!

Kauai - A pleasing culinary discovery, which saw us right on a number of occasions. Whoever's at the top of the food chain ;) in the UK takeaway industry: get some of these going back at home - healthy, tasty fast food. No brainer.

Bluebird food and craft market - A couple of times we went to this Friday afternoon / evening event in Muizenberg, where local independent traders and craftspeople sell their wares from stalls set out around a load of benches filled with people eating and drinking things they've just bought. A really chilled place, where I could have easily bought lots of things I don't need!

Abseiling down Table Mountain - Not quite the hair-raising experience I'd hoped for, being a much shorter drop than I'd expected, but still good to be so close up to the face of the rock and a really nice walk back up to the top afterwards - all in the company of my nice friends, Becca and Magda.

Hiking up Lion's Head - Another really good walk, complete with ledges, ropes and chains! Despite the misgivings of a woman at the bottom, who told me and Becca to be careful ("People have died up there, you know..."!!), we made it to the top - along with countless other tourists - and enjoyed the view of Cape Town below and that of Table Mountain standing tall beside us.

Cape Peninsula with Jools - I was most pleased when a yoga friend from England arrived in Cape Town and dropped me a line. Jools had use of a car, too, so we took a trip to Simon's Town, where we ate lunch at a Tibetan cafe overlooking the Atlantic Ocean, before continuing around the coast and through Cape Point National Park - a journey rich in awesome views, which included a stop-off in Scarborough, of all places!

Observatory with Jools - Such a success was our first outing together that Jools and I met up again a few days later, this time in the small but perfectly formed Observatory, an area populated by lots of students, not far from the city centre. There, we found a quirky little cafe for lunch - and for pouring over the beautiful African fabrics we'd just acquired at a shop I'd spotted hidden away up the road. There's something about fabrics and prints that gets me and I sometimes wonder if I should pursue that instinct...

Anyway, that's what happened between the 11th and the 27th of August (in between trips to school, to work on the radio project, of course). It's funny looking back on all the things I've been doing (and I'll warn you now -there are lots more updates to come before I'm back up to speed!). I joked at the start of this blog entry, about it being made into a film. It doesn't need to be - it feels like being in a film anyway, with so many amazing things happening one after the other. I just don't know the ending yet...