The year was 1852, 60 years before the Titanic made the 'Birkenhead Drill' even more famous.
It was a much more relaxed Roscoe that awoke and looked out of the hotel window to a calm and blue sky.
Today, the palms were standing upright, no longer bending at an alarming angle and the hotel flags were as limp as Liberace’s wrist. The last few days of excitement between our safari and the stress of learning the ship was not being allowed to dock because of the storm out to sea, was becoming a distant memory – helped enormously by the accessibility of some excellent South African wine.
After checking out of our hotel, we were picked up then deposited by the gangplank to our home away from home, just as the hull doors were opened and we were ensconced back on board before most of the other passengers had even risen from bed. Ahhh, the safety of the beautiful Queen Victoria… how lovingly I tapped her hull as we re-entered her hallowed halls and gave thanks for her safe arrival.
But now, what to do with a whole day to spend at leisure? The answer was the Hop-on-Hop-Off bus around Cape Town.
'Long Street' is like Cape Town's version of Bourbon Street in New Orleans. Full of bars and fabulously stylish old buildings – Dutch, Colonial and some even with a Victorian slant, made for an eye-catching view from the top deck of the Hop-On-Hop-Off bus as we sailed through. I had been warned about Cape Town and told not to venture out of the harbour area. However, from the safety of the top deck of the bus, we saw nothing but a lively and rich culture being lived to the fullest. People sitting outside with an espresso enjoying the sun, families walking along the street dressed in their finest and lively looking bars being prepared for the day and their anticipated patrons.
Ahead of us the vast expanse of Table Mountain loomed. The whole city is dominated by the incredible beauty of this vast rock which nurses a dangerous wind called 'The Katabatic'. A fierce tumbling wind that comes out of nowhere. It forms during certain weather conditions then flows dangerously down the mountain to the harbour. Last week, it blew a cruise ship into a cargo ship, causing an insurance headache. It can be completely calm in the harbour one minute, then treacherous the next.
We continued the 'Blue Route', passing the entrance to the famous Mount Nelson Hotel and further on towards the outer reaches of the city, past areas that had recently been cleared of shanty towns and slums. then up into the hills where mega mansions shelter behind vast fortified walls with patrolling security guards and high-tech surveillance.
Great estates with landscaped grounds, sparkling swimming pools and tennis courts situated beside simple concrete homes that were barely the size of a single garage. Vineyards, universities and public parks, where you need a permit to enter and back down to sea level and pristine beaches such as Hout Bay – the sand so white that you would swear from a distance that it was snow.
The blue sea stretching out from the rocky coastline with waves crashing against big boulders has caused the cataclysmic fate of many a ship and it was not far from here that the Maritime Rule of ‘women and children first' was first coined.
The HMS Birkenhead was built for the Royal Navy and, whilst conveying troops from Ireland, struck an uncharted rock just off ‘GansBaai'. Without enough lifeboats for the full ship’s complement, the soldiers all stood back allowing the women and children to board the available lifeboats and escape. Out of the 643 on board only 193 survived and the soldiers' bravery and heroism gave rise to the protocol of who goes first, should disaster strike.
The year was 1852, 60 years before the Titanic made the 'Birkenhead Drill' even more famous.
The two and a half hour bus route was over too soon. It showed me a different side of the city that I had not experienced before, where the city siders get on with life. Although I'm sure there are areas that are a 'no go’, we didn't see any. The ship was due to depart at 6pm and we sat and waited, only to discover that the Katabatic winds had returned, this time stranding us in Cape Town Harbour not able to leave. Finally, 12 hours later, the winds dropped long enough for us to escape before they closed the port again for another two days.
Once again for us on the lucky ship, the Queen Victoria, we were able to continue our Around the World adventure. (ROSS THORBY)
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