Fish Hoek, over Elsie's Peak to Welcome Glen

Today marks the 2 week count down to our epic adventure... on the 4th of Feb we fly to Tanzania and make our way to Kilimanjaro - the climb starts on the 6th (Friday)

So of course I had a mild panic attack - one of those "What the hell are we doing???" moments. "Are we ready???" Marco seems to think so - but my internal monologue voice is screaming: WE NEED MORE TIME!!

With that in mind (literally!) when Marco decided to do the Fish Hoek (the bottom of 2nd Avenue) up the mountain, over Elsie's Peak and to Welcome Glen, I thought: Uh-oh! This one looked pretty tough when we did the reverse the other day - but what the hell, we need to get fit!

We pushed it pretty hard and managed to do the entire trip in 1h30 (which is a whole 20 mins quicker than just 3 days ago!) And this was supposed to be the more difficult one. I think we're just so damn tired of hiking now that the pace has picked up considerably. You know the logic: push harder, but walk for less time!

I have to say, even though my back pack weighs quite a lot, hauling it around with me all over the place I've become so used to it, I barely notice it's there anymore. I must be getting fit!

PS: The photo is taken on Elsie's Peak overlooking Simon's Town. The yachts you can see in the Bay are there for the weekly  Wednesday keel boat regattas held by the False Bay Yacht Club

Welcome Glen to Fish Hoek, via Elsies Peak

This walk took us just under 2 hours to complete. We walked from Welcome Glen over to Glencairn Heights. From the top we headed into the mountain to Elsies Peak.

From there we followed the Ravine Steps path down into Fish Hoek. Nipped down between steep stairs all the way down to the valley, where I had earlier left my car.

This was quite a nice hike - next time around Marco wants to do the reverse; start in FH and end in Welcome Glen. It seems as though that will be way steeper (I seem to recall a lot of downhill on this one!).

After the hike we got some Indian take aways from the new restaurant that has opened on Fish Hoek main road (Bihara). Let me just say that their food is divine! 

When we got home, we realised that they'd forgot to add the rice to our take-away. Exhausted and hungry after our hike I called them up and within 15 mins they had driven out to our house with not only the missing rice,  but included some veggie rolls as a bonus - thanks for the effort! Great food and great service!