Thursday 19 April a lesser dream was realised when I made my first visit since 1970, to the City of Cape Town.
I was born in Cape Town and lived there until the age of 4years old. During part of 1964 I visited the city whilst attending a College near Somerset West. During 1970 I paid a visit to my sister who lived in Cape Town.
Normally I tend to get lost in an alien environment but in The “New Cape Town” I got lost so badly I thought it was normal. My daughter and her hubby showed us around the peninsula and it was a breathtaking experience from the N 7 to Cape Point. And all the way around the mountain. One of the stops was Kalk Bay and just don’t say”Kalk” the greater population usually say Cork Bay. The massive expansion of Fish Hoek was out of this world, even had a chance to see the much argued about toll system at Chapmans Peak. This, from an outsider, is a national and natural tragedy. It is unthinkable that this pristine area of magnificent natural beauty will be destroyed to some extent and only in the interests of money.
The impressive birds eye view and the rocky area from the Lighthouse level at Cape Point is something out of this world. |What was not so funny at the Cape Point café was the price of a tin of coke R15-00 and a small packet of chips goes for R8-00. This must be the most expensive coke and chips on the continent of southern Africa.
Simons Town had grown since I left in 1954 yet the colonial splendour still remains. I drove up the Dido Valley road and the row of houses brought back feelings of loss and nostalgia. I used to live in one of those houses. The unforgettable coffee on a redone railway coach was a highlight. Sorry forgot the station but somewhere near Muizenberg. What I did not take to was the small white lie, for commercial purposes is Cape Point is seen as the most Southern tip of the African continent while, in fact, Cape Agullas is 54 km further south than Cape Point.
William Wordsworth I do declare to London town I’ve never been
Nor the city from Westminster seen.
But earth has something to show more fair
The mountain seen from Blouberg strand.
Majestic rising from the sea
And Cape Town nestling in its lee.
A sight so touching, a sight so grand
Standing out in stark relief
Naked to the world and sky
Or, Clad in diaphanous silver leaf
And pleasing to the eye.
A lofty estate for the devils fief
On pipe-smoking days under a cloth it lies;
Table Mountain.
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