Sea.&.Sky.

The view. I really have started taking the view for granted. I'm sitting here with a view on one side of the glorious sea & the view on the other of glorious mountains reaching well above the clouds but rather than contemplating their wonder I'm on my blaady laptop. What is this 21st century doing to me eh?

When I travel I'm a complete & utter culture vulture. Anything I can see & do, I'm on it like a rash. In Cape Town first things first - before the bizarre things to see & do, I had to seek out the main attraction - TABLE MOUNTAIN. Very aptly named, it quite frankly looks like a rather large table with a completely flat top for the Gods to munch their lunch off. Ideal. The mountain is visible from all over the city, rising 1,067m above sea level, it is just breathtaking.
1,067m high - I should climb it, right? Back in the day I was a bit of a climber. I went to an after school club called 'Challengers' where I learnt all kinds of outdoorsy business, from map reading to cooking pot noodles & ambrosia custard on a Trangia. Once a term I'd pop off with my fellow challengers to spend the weekend camping & putting our new custard heating skills into action. Oh & a bit of challenging things while we were at it - hiking, mountain biking, kayaking, climbing, abseiling & the like. We wore massive bright yellow & black waterproofs on these adventures to give the impression that a whole load of bumble bees were buzzing around on the Brekon Beacons.

Despite my previous life as Bear Grylls I decided not to climb Table Mountain when I heard about the rickety old cable car which could take me up the 1,067m in 10 minutes. Let's zoom up. I'm not going to chat too much about my incredible time at the top yet because I actually went back up yesterday so will write about it with my next lot of snappies.

Off now to contemplate the wonder of the view. So long modern technology.

The cable car was bloody amazing - glass all around & after the first few seconds the floor began to spin around! Panoramic views over Cape Town. Ooh la la.

Climbers! Oh ma gad, seeing them really gave me the willies.

After the height of the mountain, I cruised down to the low of the sea. The sun was setting & I chilled on a rock for some calm, technology free contemplation. 

The natural world is spectacular.

AND THEN SEALS! They were just having a little splish splash by the dock! A whole family - mum, dad, baby & perhaps an aunt (or uncle? Determining seal sex is not my forte, I must admit)

These seals appeared extemely jolly, twirling & floating in the water. A small fisherman chap threw them little fishes & they jumped out of the water to get their grub.

 

Happy little chappy. Ideal like a seal.