The Cape of Good Hope

 Decades ago I learned about the early explorers and of their voyages around the Cape of Good Hope and/or Cape Horn.  Later in life, whilst researching the three Metropolitan police officers who established the Hong Kong Police back in 1845 I realised that they also had sailed round the Cape of Good Hope on their epic voyage out to the Far East.  The more I researched one of these men, Thomas Smithers from the East End of London, the more I admired his courage in volunteering for the Hong Kong posting.  And so the opportunity arose for me to travel around The Cape - admittedly on a modern day cruise liner rather than a sail boat, but still an opportunity not to be missed.

Aurora's original itinerary meant that we would pass The Cape in the middle of the night - a big disappoinment to me.  But sometimes things just have a way of working themselves out.  Readers of my blog will have seen that due to high winds our day in Port Elizabeth was cancelled which meant heading straight for Cape Town - AND passing The Cape at dawn.  Wonderful!

The night proved as rough as I was expecting with Aurora encountering 6 metre high swells in the Indian Ocean.  So it was a matter of find the anti-seasick wristbands and pray!  But in the midst of the night as we crossed from the Indian to the Atlantic Ocean everything in the cabin stopped shaking and rattling and the bed returned to a gentle rock rather than the violent pitching motion.  Excitment reigned supreme and I was up and out on deck at 5.30am.  The crescent moon looked stunning.
 

As dawn began to break The Cape emerged from the darkness with its lighthouse beacon warning of the dangers of coming too close to shore.  I was mesmerised.

As we glided up the Cape Peninsular the mountain range known as The Twelve Apostles came into view - and there at the end of the range was Table Mountain.  All I could think of was that Thomas would have seen this same range, these same mountains, back in 1844.

                                          And then Cape Town appeared out of the mist

                                                 On deck an artist sketched the scene.

The Green Point Lighthouse in Cape Town was established in 1824 so here was something else to link my visit to that of Thomas.

On this once in a lifetime trip I was also fortunate in being able to visit The Cape of Good Hope via land. 

The old lighthouse at the top of The Cape is reached by funicular railway followed by a steep climb.

The winds at the top were ferocious and I had to push myself against the wall of the lighthouse and snake my way around in order not to be swept away.  My prescription sunglasses were not so fortunate as one particularly violent squall whipped them from my head and they were gone forever!! 

                             Oh well a small price to pay for such an exhilarating experience.