The mini bus soon drove into the suburbs and made its way up winding roads towards the cable car. We paid the one hundred Rand for our tickets and gazed upwards, following the line of the cable to the mountain summit. Wow this was going to be some ride. The cable car rotated 360 degrees throughout the climb to afford the tourists inside with the full panorama.

Once on the top the views were awesome. These type of views always seem slightly unreal to me. It's like looking down at a model and not the real thing at all. We set off to explore. The top seemed more undulating than I imagined and was covered in pockets of native plants and shrubs. Lisa was intrigued by Cape Starlings who looked so plain and black on the ground, but once in the air, displayed bright orange wing tips. We trekked towards Maclear's Beacon, which was lurking in the cloud. We watched the cloud spill over the edge, as foam runs over a glass of cold beer. It reached a certain point on its descent when it vaporised and disappeared. We turned back towards the cable car and at a viewpoint I requested a Japanese tourist, with the most camera gear around his neck, to take our photographs. As he lined up the photo we realised there was one of the cute little baby Rock Hyrax wandering around at our feet. We started to laugh and the Japanese tourist took this as the cue to snap our photos. More of the Rock Hyrax were all around and Lisa was delighted with them. We returned to the cable car and then taxied back to the Waterfront to grab a meal before going on the tour.

Our fellow Winelands tour compatriots were a dry old bunch. I made an effort to engage them in conversion to no avail. So, I took to half listening to the commentary provided by out guide Angelo  and gazing out of the mini bus window into the surrounding countryside. We were on our way to a vineyard called Villiera to sample some of the wines they produced. The landscape seemed very flat, greener than I imagined it would be and in the far distance I could see mountains that reminded me of the Lake District back in England. We passed areas of rich cultivation, with nectarines and other such fruit almost ready for picking. Large Eucalyptus trees gathered together in clumps and dominated the environment. Our guide was quick to tell us they were not indigenous and efforts were being made to clear them from populated areas due their combustible nature. The wine at Villiera was excellent and we purchased a bottle of Chenin Blanc at just over fourteen Rand a bottle.

We then drove onto Stellenbosch, which was a wealthy town with pretty Dutch architecture. I liked Stellenbosch. Its central streets had an air of elegant dignity that was complimented by the white buildings and baking sunshine. The next stop was Spears and the guide promised us that they had cheetahs in captivity which we would meet. Spears was a well oiled wine tour machine. We were all ushered into a room, with other tourists. We had 7 wine glasses each filled with a small quantity of various wines. Next to them was a dry biscuit; to clear the palate after tasting the white wine. The guide then gave us a treatise on each wine. As people tasted each wine the noise level increased more and more, even the people on our tour were becoming more chatty and friendly. I suggested more and more ridiculous descriptions of each wine and invited others to agree. They did - this was becoming fun. Soon we left the wine tasting, purchased a bottle of Cabernat Sauvignon, and headed off to see the Cheetahs. It was now late in the afternoon and the Cheetahs were all done in. A day of stroking by endless streams of tourist had finished them. This was the best bit of the tour for Lisa.

Soon we were of again heading back to the hotel. On the way, I witnessed from the motorway, a fire in the middle of the shacks we had seen on the first day. People were running around and standing on some of the roofs watching the huge flames. A great drama was unfolding as we sped by and I thought once again about the poor people who lived there.