And there it is, gone….no not the series the weather! Cape Town has blessed us all with the knowledge that Wimbledon is on and we have all been entertained to the Centre Court sans roof here in the Western Cape!
Our arrival in Cape Town was greeted with a Christchurch like downpour which has continued to make us all re-adjust our sights on some of the activities we all had planned for the Cape. I have heard a couple of rumours based around Shark diving here in the Cape this week, the first is that there may be no dives leaving shore till Saturday which conveniently means most of us Lions Fans will be at the match, the second is that there has been a massive sea swell off the coast, along with extraordinarily high tides, which has been reported to come from the huge sigh of relief from the Great Whites – perhaps our supporters reputation goes before us following our superb showing in Durban but we all know there is so much still to do.
Talking of things to do, my pre–tour Internet ego almost got the better of me and Dave (my travelling companion, he’s a bit like Shep but moults less). Yesterdays attempts to throw ourselves from a perfectly good mountain on a rope, and if we survived suffer 4 hours of downhill mountain bike terror, were thwarted by a Tablecloth (Nickname for the cloud that shrouds the mountain here in Cape)…not a little white cotton thing but a true dampener not only to our “Kewl” activities but also the game at Newlands.
I’m not sure if its the ‘Tablecloth’ or a combination of travel, late nights, and a few cheeky beers, but Tuesday in the Cape certainly showed the doldrums that can occasionally wash over a touring set of people, players, and fans alike. Cures are available and the both begin with W…read on.
Newlands is probably one of the most unusual big stadiums I have ever visited, seemingly plopped in the middle of “Ramsey Street” (Tour overheard, but pretty accurate description for all you Neighbours fans) with very little facilities we, as Northern Hemisphere fans might expect for International level rugby, and yet I think this is the just a taste of what we can expect in regards to the reality of what is still yet to be achieved. The reason I say this is not a pop at Newlands, but a big up to all the fans that go there week in and week out because they love the game. They even supported an Emerging Boks team that never really play in the wet as most were from the Highveld. Respect to you Western Province supporters.
Tuesday was a cold wet night, with a hard journey to a stadium which holds the spirits of many legends before. We need to realise our force as a red wedge this weekend. Lions!, Lions!, Lions!, is the start but we all need to sing together in Loftus, because believe me, every Bok is at home dreading the comeback yet hungrily desiring the kill.
Back track a couple of paragraphs and you will see I promised to put the doldrums right. Well my tour party did today with a trip to a vineyard. So the first W was Wine…very happy banter bus on the way back which might explain the rambling report too , and secondly a Win. We are used to it. In fact it’s becoming a habit here in SA…so boys pull away the Tablecloth and leave us all ready for the next course…Lions, Lions, Lions, Lions…..
Did I tell you the one about the…….
