Although we leave Melbourne on the 4th of August, this page is just the time between our departure and the evening of the 5th of August.
Syd and Sharon have left from Sydney flying direct to Johannesburg and on to Cape Town. The rest of our group left from Melbourne flying to Perth for a 2 hour lay over before a 12 hour flight into Johannesburg where we spend 4 hours waiting for our 2 hour flight into Cape Town; a total of 18 hours in the sky. All flights were very smooth except for a couple of minutes while coming into Perth and the landing at Perth was a little jerky on touch down. We had dinner on the flight out of Melbourne and then again out of Perth (that was 3:00am Melbourne time) and from then on, the cabin staff kept us ‘in the dark’ until we had breakfast just prior to our 5:00am Johannesburg landing.
12 in the group have travelled on tours with us before so there is less ‘initiation’ to go through this time. Someone commented about the way South Africa handles crowds; we almost started to “bahaaa” and “moooo” as we went through many ‘races’ towards immigration, customs and security points. Lots of walking around airports from domestic to international keeps you fit too.
Johannesburg airport was quite busy at 6:00am but definitely not like Dubai. We chose a quite spot to rest and get to know our new travel companions that we hadn’t travelled with before. There was very little success for anyone to get on ‘FREE Wifi’ and so relatives and friends back home have remained unaware of our travel adventure until our arrival into Cape Town. The sky was clear all the way into Cape Town which enabled us to see the rugged landscape surrounding this interesting bustling city. The final approach takes us over many shanty houses as we land, and then do some more walking to collect our baggage. We are met by 3 drivers and taken to our accommodation on the Cape Town foreshore near the stadium where the World Cup Soccer tournament was held in 2012.
As we walk into Radisson Blu Waterfront, someone says, “you’ve done it again – Lyn. The best accommodation one could expect.” The butlers and attendants look impeccable and smart and are very well mannered. Our rooms are not ready for occupancy just yet but we need to experience lunch on the foreshore of Cape Town’s ocean view. The afternoon is spent getting adjusted to the time variation and, for Lyn and I, changing from a smokers room to one much more pleasant with the afternoon sun beaming in.
We meet for dinner (not more food) and some are missing, presumed in bed catching up on some shut-eye. The idea of an early night is a good one and voted and approved by all.
Seniors Moment/s
One has left all her USD cash at home.
Another turned up for dinner with their vest inside out.
Travel Agent arrives in Cape Town without doing up her seat belt for landing.