Herold's Bay to Cape Town

Thursday 14th February
We said a fond farewell to Aunt Honor and while Heather and Mike were packing up Ian and I walked down to the beach at Herold's Bay. The sea temperature  was very pleasant although quite a bit cooler than the sea off Durban.
Mike & Heather met us at the beach and we boarded the Wilson tour bus (an SUV really) and headed off to Cape Town. Our departure was silently witnessed by the Outeniqua and a little later, the Langeberg mountain range.
To give us an interesting drive, Mike left the main (N2) road just outside Riversonderend (river without end) and turned towards Hermanus and the picturesque atlantic coastal road. This took us longer of course but the spectacular scenery was well worth the diversion. We stopped in Hermanus  (a haven for whale watching between June and September) and ate our sandwiches overlooking the sea. It wasn't long before we found ourselves in the company of opportunist seagulls, bent on sharing our lunch.

The western Cape region is a winter rainfall region and so the nearer to Cape Town that we got, the drier and browner the vegetation became. The  climate here lends itself to grapes and forms part of is the famous South African wine region.
Leaving Hermanus behind, Mike turned towards Betty's Bay to take us along the whale route which is understandably the most scenic route. West of Hermanus between Gordon's bay and Betty's bay, is a nature reserve with the highest number of plant species in South Africa. We could only appreciate that from a distance as we still had a long way to go. Mike and Heather continued to point out places of interest as we drove towards Cape Town.

Ian had booked an apartment within walking distance from the V&A (Victoria and Albert) Waterfront while Heather and Mike were to stay with their offspring. Since we were to go our separate ways, we needed a car so after finding our new accommodation, we set off to pick up our hire car. We were dismayed to find that the hire company had no knowledge of our pre-paid arrangement but the rep was very helpful and soon had us on our way.
The day was rounded off with a superb meal provided by Paul and Hildegard (Mike and Heather's son and daughter-in-law) and their daughter Tracey popped over to join us all.