14TRAVELSOUTH AFRICA
We did have a small period of no wind in the middle of the trip – about 10 days of on and off sailing . Not that we complained . It gave us a chance to recuperate , rest and explore the amazing city . There ’ s just so much to see and do . These days usually started with a surf at one of the beaches . My personal favourite was Derdesteen which was five mins drive up the coast . As an exceptionally average surfer I really enjoyed the chilled out beach breaks . If anything my surfing improved more than my windsurfing this trip !
South Africa is famous for wine , and wine tasting in the vineyards surrounding Cape Town is a must . One day we had a tour of a crocodile farm which yes , is as scary and amazing as it sounds , before heading to a vineyard and gorging on cheap vino and cheese , before ending with yet another Braai at a friend ’ s villa in the middle of one said vineyard . Not a bad day all in .
Wherever you are in Cape Town you can always see Table Mountain , one of the seven natural wonders of the world . It looms over you and takes up the frame of every picture you snap so it was essential that we climbed it . Instead of taking the usual hiking route , like every other normal person , we decided to go up the ‘ India Venster ’, signposted as only appropriate for experienced rock climbers . We felt it was something that had to be conquered . After three hours clambering up sheer rock faces , using chains and metal rungs in the midday sun , we were greeted by flat plains of the summit . The view was definitely worth the blood , sweat and tears and the rotating cable car on the way down was sick ! It sure beat walking down in the dark like the previous year .
It wouldn ’ t be a Club Vass trip without a few parties and Cape Town really delivered . We had a couple of sick nights at Shimmy ’ s Beach Club which is a massive outdoor club on the waterfront showcasing live DJs with a sand dancefloor . These always ended with a fair amount of chaos , the less said about this the better !
It was always typical the days after these nights were the windiest and whoever managed to make it out would always return home giving it the big one about how epic it was and how we had missed out . But it didn ’ t matter , because we knew that the mother city would deliver something just as epic the following day .
As I write I ’ m waiting to head back to Greece for another windy Club Vass season . With Cape Town but a memory I ’ m sure there ’ ll be more adventures over the coming months . If you ’ ve never visited Cape Town , or
Vassiliki , then I highly recommend both – you won ’ t be disappointed . uk
WIND SURFING