When it rains...it is bloody cold and quite irritating actually

Yesterday was a complete washout. We crawled along the N2 towards Stellenbosch, past seemingly endless townships with tarpaulin roofs providing little respite from the downpour. We stopped briefly at a tourist information centre and I sprinted in through golf ball sized raindrops to get a map. When I returned we sat in the car to look at the maps and a second later a stream or river nearby burst it's banks, rocks and undergrowth hurtled towards the car on a torrent of brown slurry and Mike had to pull a wheelspin to get out of there, and fast. I was already starting to imagine the headlines 'Ill equipped and wreckless tourists from Great Britain washed to sea during the worst storms in 50 years'. While I let my imagination run wild, Mike concentrated on getting us there safely.

Today however, the sun shone again and we set off with "Tiritiri", the world's most offbeat tour guide on a wine tour. To be honest, my wine education has not really improved. I vaguely remember something useful about Pinotage this morning before the best of the wine region disappeared in a blur of singalong guns'n'roses and endless quaffing. This was wine tasting South African style - no spit bucket, just "swallow and follow" and on to the next one. There was also a lot of cheese. Mike took the same approach to the cheese tasting as he does to a hotel buffet breakfast. He had to be forcibly removed.

We're now sitting in the youth hostel bar deciding what to do next.....drinking on seems to be the best option. Toodle pip.