Saturday April 18

I haven't been able to get my photos off the SD card but I know they are there because I can see them in the camera so I don't have any from yesterday or today.

Yesterday we took the Vine Hopper Wine Tour and visited six wineries and tasted a lot of wine. The highlight for the day was the Delheim Winery where we had lunch on the terrace starting with their champagne style wine (which I bought two bottles to celebrate 20 years of CoastGIS here in Cape Town). We had amazing food, Sheila had fish, I had duck (two ways) that were spectacularly plated with many eye and palate appealing touches.

We meet some interesting people, two couples from England, two couples from Germany and a couple from Thailand.

The last winery the Marianne was up the side of Simonsberg with citrus orchards as well as vineyards. The sun was starting to go down and you could see the valley laid out below you from their deck. By then we were wined out so we didn't taste.

Getting back to our hotel, we went out for a simple supper again by candlelight. Their card machines were not working so I had to walk a couple of blocks in the dark to get cash out of the ATM.

This morning (Saturday) we checked out of the Bonne Esperance with regret because we had been treated so well and Mathieu picked us up and drove us into Cape Town. We are now ensconced (not detained) in a former prison where we met up with other people here for the conference. We ate supper with them on the waterfront. Imagine the waterfront piers in Halifax, only three times the size, with hundreds of shops and many restaurants all with table by the water, that is the Victoria Wharf Shopping Centre.

Tomorrow I start working and Sheila will be a tourist on her own. Maybe tomorrow more photos.