I amble along a white sand beach, turquoise blue waves crashing at my feet, and cradled by spectacular mountains – the famous Lion's Head on one side, the majestic 12 Apostles on the other. The sun is caressing my skin, there's not a cloud in the sky. If you took away the strip of restaurants that line the Camps Bay beach you would be forgiven for thinking you were on a remote, palm-fringed island, not in South Africa's second most populous city.
In the UK, if we had a beach like this and a day like this you wouldn't be able to find a square metre of sand to put your towel down, but here in Cape Town we have the beach virtually to ourselves. With a beach for every season, the inhabitants of this outdoor paradise certainly are spoilt for choice and it's little wonder that it came second in the Lonely Planet's world's 10 best beach cities, behind Barcelona and ahead of Sydney, Rio and Miami.
I love beach holidays and have so much still to discover: the surfing beaches of False Bay, the remote beaches of the South Peninsula, fashionable Clifton and the sundowner-haven of Llandudno. I will have to come back, with my grandchildren next time, and dedicate an entire holiday just to exploring the beaches.
I am excited about our next adventure, a short and scenic drive to the Cape Winelands. This is what really sets Cape Town apart – not only does it have an abundance of attractions within the city, but just an hour away are valleys of wonderful wine farms, stunning scenery and some of South Africa's best restaurants.
I am amazed by the beauty and diversity of it all. Driving into L'Ormarins wine estate, just outside Franschhoek, is like arriving at the Garden of Eden. There are flowers everywhere: some cultivated, hundreds more growing wild. I fall in love with the buildings: whitewashed and thatched, with distinctive rounded gables that seem to mirror the undulating landscape. It's a style that I am told developed in the Cape between the 17th-19th century called Cape Dutch architecture.
South African wines are very popular back home, but it's a treat to have the opportunity to taste the wines on the very farms where they are made. We are taken into an underground tasting room, known as the "dungeon", where the air is the perfect temperature for storing wines. It's a fitting venue for what proves to be an education in what goes into making these delicious wines and what to look out for when tasting them, from Granny Smith apples to prunes.
Our trip to Cape Town has certainly not been unkind on the palate. Every meal has been one to be savoured. For me, food is a very important element of a holiday. It's not just about the meal. It's about the whole experience, the taste, the presentation, the setting and the people that serve it.
Our culinary journey started in the Bo-Kaap, the Cape Malay quarter of Cape Town, with its distinctive colourful houses that cling to the slopes of Signal Hill. Here we had the privilege of sharing a meal in a local's home. Zainie gave me the best possible introduction to the food and the people of Cape Town. I felt as if I had known her for years and the Malay food she cooked was fresh and delicious.
The delights haven't stopped coming, from world-class cuisine at the Cape Grace at the V&A Waterfront to creatively prepared fresh fish in Camps Bay. Today's treat is the Huguenot Fine Chocolates shop in delightful Franschhoek, where we not only get the chance to indulge in the sweet delight of the handcrafted chocolates but also get to see how the praline chocolates are made. I can't resist taking some home with me.
