Climbing Chapman's Peak with Russell, Brandon and Lilly

 A wonderful hike with Russell, Brandon and Lilly (the very cute doggie Russell was looking after.)  Tiny Lilly had insatiable energy and climbed virtually the whole way on her own steam.  We hadn't intended to, but we ended up going all the way to the top.  Lots of wonderful conversation, especially reminiscing about nudity in movies !

Chapman's Peak picnic

With the rest of the family in Plett, Jo and I went to the vineyard in Noordhoek where there was a food market.  However, there were so many people there, we headed straight off to the relatively quiet retreat of Chapman's Peak.  On the way, we got some nice salads and pistachio biscuits (yum) from the local delhi.  We enjoyed our picnic with beautiful views of a sunset.  Very peaceful.

Hout Bay with Heather

I met up with Heather (Russell's lovely mum) at La Cuccina for a delicious lunch, followed by a lovely walk along the beach.  It was great to have a good chat.

Visiting Noordhoek and Chapman's Peak

A lovely outing with Jo. We got some delicious picnic goodies, then did some leaping on Noordhoek Beach.  Then a gorgeous drive over Chapman's Peak to a picnic spot with breathtaking views.  And then, to our delight, we discovered that Russell and his mum had had the same idea, so we joined them for a nice chat.  All in all, a great day out.

Hout Bay and Chapman's Peak with Russell

It's so wonderful that Russell is in Cape Town at the same time as me. Today, we were happily reunited after not seeing each other since he was in Sydney in 2010.

Russell is staying in Hout Bay with his mum.  It was lovely to see her again too, and I was amazed to find that Sally is still alive.  She is 18 I think!  She's slow and a bit hobbled but the Sally sparkle is still there.  I burst into tears when I saw her as it made me realise Mack is going to get old too one day.

Russell and I then went for ice-cream at my favourite Italian ice-cream place in Hout Bay followed by some geo-caching and leaping on the beautiful Chapman's Peak.

Sally, now 18 years old!!

My favourite ice cream place in just about the whole world.  I did my usual 4 scoops bonanza.

Views from Chapman's Peak

Russell and I doing what we do best.