Vodka in South Africa

Is it even possible to make that statement? Perhaps not... but I feel pretty damn good this evening in any case! That's reason enough to blog isn't it?... I know I haven't in a while. I think it's just been a long time since i've had a really random weekend... or at least one that didn't end up in Tiger (or the Claremont surrounds).

Last night (Friday), we cheered our action cricket team with Heini's in hand as they annihilated their opponants. Even "Boom Boom" (usually a supporter) played... and showed great dedication as he landed face down after diving for a catch, showing the regulars that he has the stuff of legends. After that? Just a movie from the couch... Enemy at the Gates. That movie has just made it into my top 10 movies (did someone say sniper rifle?).

If you are ever in Cape Town, Planet Bar at the Mount Nelson is definately worth a visit if you're with a few friends and want to enjoy a good cocktail or three. The atmosphere is calm, sophisticated and chilled and it served the perfect place to have our warm up drinks for the this evenings contribution to the Cape Town Comedy Festival, cinema style. We watched a series of short films at the Labia in Town. Whilst some of the clips were rather "out there" for lack of a better phrase... they were mostly really funny. Hey... all I can say is... where else can you buy your Heini's at the cinema shop... and take them into the show with you!? It was definately something else:P

Boom Boom, Whiskey, and Heini in the cinema!!!

I finally have time to catch up on my blogging (with the cricket in the background... man we need help today - Australia require 18 runs off 21.4 overs - 0.8 runs per over).

I thought it would be fitting that I post on the most awesome weekend that I've had in a long time:P After a really good Thursday evening at toiger toiger (spent it in good company:P), I was definitely not in the mood for a large Friday. Come early Friday evening, Whiskey and Soda were determined to change that! With the threat of Green Fairy looming, I decided that it was best to stick to the proven medicine for a long night... need I even mention it's name... vodka! Of course this was all happening at a local watering hole known for making people oblivious to their surroundings (and yes, there is a dance pole... for drunkards who feel the need for public display). Anyway, we ended up at toiger later, which has been a common theme for me over the last few weeks, even tho all I wanted was my bed. I did gather a new respect for a friend who proved his metal as part of "The A List" by inventing new drinks. If u've heard of a suitcase (one shot jack, chased by one shot passion fruit), then try replacing the jack with jegar and the passion with tequila! Needless to say the evening turned out ok, as it usually does, and I fell into bed at around 2:30am.

Saturday was all about the mountain! I was up at 5am. Now it was very tempting to skip the mountain and just sleep (Thought it would be crazy to climb Table Mountain with a huge night and only 2 hrs sleep under my belt), but instead filled my camel back with ice and water, grabbed a sandwich, apples and a choc at a local service station and ended up at the parking lot below Platteklip Gorge at around 8:45am. By just after 9am we were heading up. Now usually climbing up Platteklip is just plain grueling because it's just straight up for an hour and a half, but we decided to have a little more fun this trip. On the way up, we ducked up some rock faces and across to some steep ledges (photos at the end:P). I couldn't believe how easy it is to slide off the edge of a cliff. The steep slopes are covered in sand that you just can't rely on for grip. I think the big fire last year has something to do with it and the vegetation probably hasn't got a proper footing yet.

The view up the mountain from the parking lot

It really surprised me that hardly any South Africans climb up the mountain. Almost everyone we met was a foreigner. Anyway, we eventually made it to the top and had lunch. Now I titled this "Maclear's Beacon... exposed!" because we were prepared for another 200m - 300m climb from there, and were rather disappointed when we found out that Platteklip sits at 1010m above sea level and Maclear's Beacon is only at 1087m, and like 3km away. This means that it was a rather flat walk from there. The view was amazing though! Legend has it that if ur climbing the mountain to Maclear you should take a rock with you to place at the beacon. I didn't know this till on top of the mountain, but I think I'll bear this in mind for next time. At Maclear's, we met Monica, a German girl who was in South Africa alone so she joined us on the trip down the mountain, and ended up going out with the others later that evening. The way up had been cloudy, which was great because it wasn't that hot, but the sun was out when we went down which meant I could finally get a bit of a tan:D Anyway, reaching the car at 2pm, I realised we had been on the mountain for 5 hrs... man that was fun.

Proof, we stood on top of Maclear's Beacon!

Saturday night ended up being a huuge night again. We started off with a fantastic birthday dinner were I got to meet a whole bunch of new people, exchange stories about the day's events as well as general chit chat, and experience an ostrich burger with cranberry sauce (pity the ostrich was kinda raw... ugh!). From there we went to... well... i think it was a pub... no a pool bar... no a hole in the wall!?!? Let's just say that we will be "faxing out" of dodgy places from here on out for a reason:P No it wasn't actually that bad, just the bathrooms... and paint job... and people need to be worked on. We had a couple games of pool... of which I was suitably useless. Next was toiger toiger... again, where there was much celebration, good music (well better than the previous night), djinking and a I even won a bet with a barlady:P

Exhausted and suitably sunburnt, Saturday night was loads of fun

Oh great... Australia just won the Cricket... by 7 wickets! Nice one team! So over it. Well it's Ausi and Sri-Lanka in the final now.

Anyway, Sunday was relax time, and apart from some hilarious cat tossing at a friends braai, was very chilled cos I got no sleep whatsoever the previous night!

Here are more mountain pics.