WORTH TOUR DAY 1 CITY ORIENTATION

WEDNESDAY 11 JULY

Weather:
Min: 10°C
Max: 16°C
Conditions: partly cloudy, 60% chance of rain by late afternoon




OK, so yesterday's sunshine didn't quite last long enough for a truly warm welcome...... but everyone's here safely.


WELCOME TO CAPE TOWN
In Cape Town, in winter, we’re always a bit dependent on the weather, so we had to postpone the trip up Table Mountain (high winds had closed down the cable car and the cloud was low and wet.)

Instead, we went on an orientation tour around the city, to try to get a sense of where you are, and how the city is laid out. The route took us, amongst other things, past Cape Town Castle (the oldest man-made structure still standing in South Africa and still a working army barracks), down Adderley Street (named in grateful thanks after the British politician who decided that Australia and not South Africa would be the final destination for Britain's convicts) and past the Slave Lodge, where South Africa’s slaves were housed before slavery was finally abolished in the 1800s.

ROUTE

Three Anchor Bay
Mouille Point (look out for Robben Island in the bay)
V&A Waterfront
Cape Town Convention Centre
Adderley Street
Cape Town Castle
City Hall
Slave Lodge
Parliament Buildings
Signal Hill

The city is actually much more beautiful from one floor up, since many of the old Dutch, French and English style buildings were converted into faceless shop fronts in the 50’s and 60’s. But if you look up, you can still see the beautiful old building designs - many of which have been carefully restored.

In the evening, we booked at St. Elmo’s (pizza, pasta etc.) in the V&A Waterfront. That’s the Victoria & Alfred Waterfront (yes, that is Alfred not Albert.) Alfred was Queen Victoria’s son, and he made an official visit to the Cape on behalf of the monarch when the Cape was a British colony. More usually known simply as the V&A, is a shopping and entertainment mecca which has revolutionised life for locals and tourists alike.