This article is going to be slightly different. When I started this I wanted to document the entire journey, new revelations have meant a significant person has entered my life and I will continue to do as I intended…. Document it.
When I left Australia, I never thought I would end up meeting anyone let alone falling in love. Even tho that thought did cross my mind, I never thought it would happen in the first country at the very start of this adventure. Having sat in Knysna for a few weeks, I got talking to this amazing girl in Cape Town named Dantelle. She lived near a place called Durbanville, a 30-minute drive from Catching Up!’s berth at the V&A Waterfront. After countless back and forth messages between us, I struck up the courage to ask her to be my tour guide in Cape Town and show me the sights when I arrived. She of course said yes and the plans were set.
Pulling into Cape Town a few days later, I asked if she wanted to meet up before going on the tour. She came down to the Waterfront and we took a stroll through the area. We decided to go to a Greek Restaurant in the area before ending the night with a ride on The Cape Wheel. The wheel was completely barren and the wind was howling, however it did nothing to take away from the beauty of Cape Town at night. The night ended there and soon enough we were messaging each other again. Dantelle was competing in a tournament in the area the next day and offered to come past and see me again. Once again, we took a lovely walk through the waterfront where I was challenged to a game of Chess on the oversized public chessboard. For those that don’t know, Dantelle is a National Chess champion so it was safe to say I was publically annihilated in the shortest game of chess I’ve ever played. We returned to the yacht and spent the rest of the evening relaxing on the deck of Catching Up! looking at Table Mountain.
During the boat show preparations, I decided I needed a break from the chaos down in the marina and Dantelle was kind enough to take me up on my request to show me Cape Town. We got all set and hopped on the Cape Town Red Bus Tour right outside the Aquarium at the V&A. The first stop was Down Town Cape Town where we had a small layover before hopping on the Blue Route. Soon we were back in motion… right into the chaos of Cape Town traffic. It gave me the chance to carry on talking and spending time with this girl who was quickly becoming my favourite person to spend time with. Soon we left the confines of Cape Town City on route to Devils Peak and the lovely drive through the Kirstenbosch botanical gardens. Our first hop off point was the Constantia Nek Winery where we had a beautiful view of the Cape. We returned to the bus with a long beautiful drive down to Hout Bay. It still sticks with me how vast and diverse the Cape area is. Hout Bay is completely different from the forests of Kirstenbosch and the wineries near Constantia Nek. After an amazing local fish lunch it was back on the bus where we decided to hop off at Camps Bay and walk along the coast to Bantry Bay.
All was going amazing until two lovely individuals decided we looked like nice targets to try mug. Unfortunately for these two less intelligent individuals, we noticed their not so smooth plan quick enough to spook the guys making them leave. Being rattled and shaken we decided to quickly walk to Clifton’s first beach to calm down before getting an UBER to the next pickup point. We hopped on the bus and finished back up shortly after at the V&A. To finish the afternoon on a high I pulled the portable speaker and a blanket out and set everything up to watch the light fade away from Table Mountain. Despite the two fine idiots who tried pulling a knife on us, I couldn’t ask for a better tour of the Cape area.
The days with Dantelle continued to become more frequent as we grew closer to each other. Dantelle spent multiple days with me at the boat show, breaking up the repetition and adding some fun to the long drawn out days. It was this growing connection and bond that made me ask her if she wanted to join me on the trip to Namibia and onwards. I am happy to say she has accepted and decided to join me on this amazing adventure as we sail around the world. The time in Cape Town has been amazing and most if not all of my fun in this amazing city can be attributed to this incredible person. She has helped me grow a new love for this City and its people. I can’t wait for what’s to come as we continue to build and grow closer to each other.
SV Catching üP! 