Carlsberg don't run backpacker hostels, but if they did...

You won't believe this...

I went downstairs this morning to have a chat with Alex, the manager, about what to do. He and Chrissie were both behind the bar (I haven't yet worked out which is in charge). Deciding arriving at any destination should be celebrated with a beer, I ordered one. This turned out to be the very best and the very worst thing I could have done, as Alex and Chrissie immediatey warmed to me, deciding I had to do a 'welcome drink' with them. I mentioned 'sambucca' off the top of my head, and I have a nasty feeling that is 'my' drink from now on. So we were just chatting about wine tours and whether today would be a good day to climb table mountain when – and I swear I'm not making this up – a young blonde Norwegian girl stuck her head round the door and asked the best way to get to table mountain, because 'she and her three friends are going to climb it today...'. Ten minutes later, myself and four gap year Norwegian girls are in a taxi, bound for Table Mountain. I could get used to this backpacking lark.

So we hiked, we climbed, we sweated, we rested. I was the only one who'd brought water, and they were all dressed in skinny jeans and trainers or plimsoles(!) They also all seem to have had a cold or flu in the last week, so I guess that's me ill for the forseeable... We struck it lucky with the weather, too. After a bit of cloud, it cleared, and was gloriously sunny at the top. They're a good crew, actually. Dry sense of humour, as 'skandys' seem to have, they're all around twenty years old, taking a gap year before university. They've been travelling for four months, and they head to London in three days before home. We larked around for a few hours, took photos, then took the rotating cablecar down to the bottom and back to the backpackers. I was greeted with another couple of shots and a beer. I have a nasty feeling I'm being sucked into something that I may pay for later.

Anyway, I've just returned from the supermarket. There's a brai (or bbq, if you like) at the backpacker's today. The deal is they provide the fire, and we bring all our own food. So, I've just fetched up some springbok steak and 'rugby boerworste'. Should be interesting. I'm feeilng a bit out of water again right now, since I'm reminded I have no-one to retreat to. I've also discovered my phone's screen has malfunctioned. So, I know I have messages, and I even managed to call my parents by remembering the sequence of keys needed to unlock it. I have no way of reading messages or responding, though, so please mail me if you've called or messaged me since Friday evening.

Okay, to brave the bbq, then....