Wine - denied.

I was supposed to be on a wine and cheese tour today. It was a 9am departure, so I dragged my carcass out of bed at eight to head down to the Nomad office to pay the balance of my trip. I was actually woken by what sounded like someone trying to tunnel into my room. When I ventured out to the bathroom, I walked into a ladder right outside my room, on top of which a guy was standing, chipping paint from the ceiling. Since, the previous morning, I'd been awoken by what I thought was someone trying to let myself into my room, but was actually Alex locking his room, which is just across from mine. I fully expect someone to be coming in through the window tomorrow morning.

Anyway, the wine tour was cancelled. Not enough people, apparently. It did mean, though, that I could nip down to Nomad to finalise the tour – their office is just around the corner. I have heard a lot about the crime levels around Cape Town and, while I haven't seen any, I think that's because I've been sensible (living in Brixton has provided great training). The signs are all around, though: Long Street has cameras all along it, and guys in day-glo vests with 'security' written on them. The local advice is not to go off Long Street after dark unless it's in a taxi. Nomad is on the corner of a market square. It's on the second and third floors of a small office, but the main door has a locked metal gate on it, with a security guard standing by it – essentially, to stop random locals wandering in.

So, the tour's all booked – I'm very excited about it now. It looks like the 'single supplement' got lost along the way but I'm not too stressed about it. Claire, the 'senior consultant', tells me it's a full trip – twenty-three people – and it's 'mostly girls'. I mention this purely because it means there's a good chance I'll get my own tent anyway. Happy days. So, I'm now killing time until around three o'clock, when I'm going to hike up from Kloof Neck to Lion's Head. Apparently, the sunset from there is fantastic. I'm taking a head-torch, too, as I'll be walking down in the dark. I'm hoping Kelly comes back from Robben Island in time, as I'd imagine she'll be keen to join me, but otherwise, I'm going to do it solo. The question, right now, is is 12:40pm too early for a beer? Clearly not.