20. Cederberg Day 2

On the second day of our trip to the Cederberg, we went wine tasting at Cederberg Wine Farm. We cycled from the campground to the farm. First we went on a tour to the vineyard, they told us how wine was made and they also told us about their sales. Then, we went to the farmhouse to try some wine. It was really nice.

After the wine tasting, we cycled back to the campground. We were going abseiling that afternoon. We had to gather our stuff and hiked to the top of the cliff. The abseiling was quite scary and it was about 30 meters high. We had to wait really long before we could do the actual abseiling, as the ropes still had to be set up. After all it was really cool doing the abseiling! :)

That night, we were going to do our solo's, meaning that you had to spend a night on your own. We were being dropped with our sleeping bag and mattresses, we all got a gas stove, pan, and pasta. We sat in the back of a closed pick-up truck and we were dropped by Mr Court, one by one. I was dropped last and my spot was a little sandy beach next to a small stream. I set up my mattress, sleeping bag, and gas stove and started cooking my pasta. It was very windy, cloudy, and cold that night. After I had eaten my failed pasta, I listened to some music in my sleeping bag. Eventually, I fell asleep under the dark night skies. I woke up at midnight as it was drizzling. I was really cold and a bit hungry, so I ate a double Snickers bar. I woke up again at three in the morning, the clouds had gone away and the stars were out. So I gazed the stars for about an hour. I saw fifteen shooting stars and one satellite. This was the best part of my solo. I fell asleep again and woke up at six in the morning, I made my way back to the campground, which was about a half an hour walk. 

Once at the campground we shared our solo-stories. One of us had gone back to the campground in the middle of the night, as she had heard baboons in the bushes next to her sleeping spot.

The Farmhouse 

Cederberg Vineyard 

 

 

Abseiling

My solo spot

19. Cederberg Day 1

On Monday, all the exchangees went on a camp to Cederberg, the camp is called the Post-Matric mini EPIC. Cederberg is a mountainous area to the north of Cape Town. All the post-matrics and exchangees gathered on Monday morning in front of Bishops' chapel. We drove to Cederberg in two small school buses. It was a three-hour drive to Cederberg and we stopped halfway through at a petrol station with a small shop where we bought food. The last hour of our drive was over dirt roads through the mountains. 

We finally arrived on top of a mountain. We were told that we had to cycle the final 23 kilometers to our campsite. We all got on our mountain bikes and took loads of water as it was really hot. The cycle took us about an hour. When we arrived at the Sanddrif Campsite, we set up our tents.

Then, we all got into our swimming costumes and we walked to Maalgat, where you could jump off cliffs. The highest cliff was about 15 meters high. It was really cool to jump off that one, though it was also quite scary. 

That evening we had chicken with vegetables for dinner. We sat around the bonfire and it was really cool. 

18. Sickness, Cricket, Chapman's Peak Drive, and tomorrow: Cederberg!

Last week, I was sick. Again. I missed the entire week of school and the only thing I did was sleeping and watching some TV. So I also missed out on the Table Mountain hike... :( On Friday, I went to the doctor who prescribed antibiotics and by now I'm feeling much better already! 

Yesterday we (Matthew, Domas, and I) went to the Newlands Cricket Stadium for a cricket match. South Africa was playing against Pakistan. I didn't know any of the rules, but luckily Matthew tried to explain it to me. They were handing out free SA flags! :) It was much fun and it was cool seeing everyone waving their flags. 

Today, we had a really nice lunch with my host's family at a restaurant in Noordhoek. The restaurant had a view over Noordhoek Beach which is really beautiful. From the beach you could see all the way to Kommetjie Lighthouse.

After lunch we took a scenic route home. The route was called Chapman's Peak Drive and is really cool. The road goes along the cliffs from Noordhoek to Hout Bay. At some points, the road is even carved into the rocks. Along the route we had some stunning views.

Tomorrow, we'll be leaving for the Cederberg (mountain range to the north of Cape Town). This will be a great experience together with the exchange group (Herschel + Bishops) and the post-matrics.

Here are some pictures:

Noordhoek Beach

View from the restaurant

Chapman's Peak Drive

View from Chapman's Peak Drive

Chapman's Peak Drive

17. Seal Island

On Sunday we went to Seal Island. We were driven to Hout Bay, where we bought boat tickets. It wasn't warm at all, it was only 20 degrees and out on sea it was even colder. It was very misty. The boat sailed to Seal Island, which is more like a rock. There were lots of seals on the island and they smelled really bad!

After the boat trip we had lunch in Hout Bay at a restaurant called Dunes. We were fetched by Annick's hostmom and we swam and braaied at her house.

Here are some photos:

16. Sports day

On Saturday, it was sports day at Bishops. We had to be at Birt House at 7.15 in the morning. At Birt we walked with the entire house to the sports field. Birt House has a tractor with a trailer and only the  matrics could stand on the trailer, it looked really funny. 

Sports day was a rainy day and it was only 20 degrees. In the end, everyone was freezing and soaked but it was still nice to be there and see everyone cheering for their houses. 

Sports day ended at 13.00 and we had a nice birthday braai (Afrikaans for BBQ) at 14.00. 

15. Red Hot Chili Peppers

Tuesday night, we went to the Red Hot Chili Peppers concert in Greenpoint Stadium. Greenpoint Stadium is Cape Town's world cup stadium. It's huge! There were about 60 000 people! The concert was really cool! :D

Here are some RHCP songs:

    Californication

    Snow

    By The Way

    Look Around

And some photos:

Greenpoint Stadium

14. Robben Island

On Tuesday, the 5th of February, we went to Robben Island with our exchange group (Herschel girls + Bishops boys). We gathered at Bishops at 7.30 in the morning and luckily we could wear civvies again! :) We drove in a small school bus to the Waterfront, where the boats to Robben Island leave. As we were half an hour early, we could have some coffee at the Waterfront before getting on the boat. At first we wanted to sit outside on the boat but it was full. During the half an hour boat trip, a video presentation was showed about Robben Island. 

Once we arrived in the Robben Island harbor, we got on to a bus. The bus drove us around the island, while a tour guide was telling us about what we saw. We drove past the lime quarry, where the prisoners had to work, we drove to the south part of the island, from where you had a great view of Cape Town and Table Mountain. After the bus tour, we were guided through the Robben Island maximum security prison, where Nelson Mandela was kept for 18 years. We could also see Mandela's prison cell. Our guide was an ex-prisoner at Robben Island.

When we returned to the Waterfront, we got some free time to have lunch and after lunch we went back to school.

Lime quarry

View of Table Mountain from Robben Island

Mandela's prison cell

13. Ratanga Junction and Canal Walk

Yesterday we went to Ratanga Junction. Ratanga is an amusement park. We arrived at Ratanga at 10.45 and we bought our tickets. We went strait away to the Cobra which is one of the coolest rides. The lines weren't long at all! :) The coolest ride in the park is the Slingshot, it's basically a super high swing. We were all planning to go on the Slingshot but unfortunately it was closed because of the wind. 

After we did all the rides we went to Canal Walk for lunch. Canal Walk is a huge mall next to Ratanga Junction. The food court in Canal Walk is huge and it kind of reminded me of Times Square in New York. We had lunch at Steers which is a South African version of Burger King. The burger was really good and I had a delicious Cinnabon cinnamon roll for dessert. After lunch we all went home.

In the evening, there was a nice birthday braai (BBQ) at one of the host's house.

Slingshot

Cobra

Canal Walk food court

12. Relay sports and Birt safari

On Thursday afternoon, after our lessons, there was relay sports. It started at four at the sports field. Relay sports is kind of like a sports day. During relay sports, the houses battle each other with running, shot-put, and javelin-throwing. Bishops' has eight houses: Ogilvie, Birt, Mallett, White, School, Founders, Kidd, and Gray. The entire school was watching. We sat in the sun all afternoon so we had to put lots of sunscreen on. Everyone was cheering for their houses and it was really cool! :) In the end, White house won relay sports. 

On Friday, at four in the afternoon, we went to Clifton 4th Beach with the entire Birt House. Birt House does this every year and the event is called Birt Safari. It basically is a Birt House bonding afternoon on the beach where the grade eights (new boys) are being introduced to the house. During Birt Safari, the grade eights have to do lots of funny things. 
We were driven to Clifton in two big buses. It was great fun at the beach and we played some touch rugby which I never played before and was really cool! Pizzas were delivered on the beach at six and we could enjoy a beautiful sunset on the beach. We were driven back to Bishops at nine in the evening.

Here are some pictures of relay sports, I'll add the Birt Safari photos later.

11. Herschel and museums

Today we went on an outing with all the exchangees from Herschel and Bishops and the Herschel exchange coordinator. We had to be at Herschel at eight in the morning. When I arrived at Herschel we had to go to prefects assembly, it was funny seeing all the girls in their blue uniforms. The assembly was quite funny as the matrics were presenting their clubs and societies.

After the assembly, we walked to Claremont train station and took the train to Cape Town Station. The train was quite an experience on its own, the train was full of graffiti and you had to push the doors apart by yourself. On the doors was a note advising you not to open the doors while the train was moving as this apparently happens all the time.

We arrived in central Cape Town and walked to Green Market Square, we went into an old museum with lots of old Dutch and Flemish paintings. Fortunately, we didn't stay there for long. After that, we went to the National Gallery which had a lot of modern 'art'. Then we went to the Holocaust Museum which was impressive.

We had lunch in a place called the Eastern Bazaar. You could choose your food from a wide range of Asian dishes. After lunch we went back on the train and walked to Herschel.

Some pictures:

Green Market Square

Museum at Green Market Square 

Presidential residence

Houses of parliament