So the only place to start with my first full week in South Africa has got to be the reason I'm in Cape Town, the volunteer coaching at Observatory Junior School. The whole week me and Derek coached the younger years, from the ages of 5-9 so we knew it was going to be a handful. Rather than coaching sessions it was more like PE lessons. The main problem being that in the past they have had no structure to this side of their education, and so we used agility ladders and running games with cones to help shape the sessions a bit better. Only a couple of classes out of the whole week were a real problem with the rest being responsive, enthusiastic, energetic and above all enjoying themselves and having a smile on their face. Most of the time I took the girls who never really play football but they couldn't stop laughing when I went down the line getting them to head, chest, thigh and pass the ball. We both really enjoyed the week but were ready for some beers by the time Friday rolled around! Perhaps the funniest/ most surreal moment was when one of the little kids ran up to the field for a match, stopped, dropped his pants and peed on the field! I was so stunned (as they usually ask to go to the toilet) I didn't say anything or discipline him haha.

All the teachers at the school were incredibly welcoming and inclusive with us with some real characters amongst them, especially Linde who loved to sing, dance and make rude jokes in the staff room. Indeed they taught us the national South Africa football dance the 'Diskie dance' in the staff room which was great fun. In fact I went for some afternoon drinks Friday with some of the women in a local bar Scrumpy Jacks, they were very mad and loud, it was like being in the middle of Loose Women! Anyway later that evening we all went to the opening of a new hostel up the road which had free red wine which was always leathel (particularly for a guy in my room Jason who had already had a bottle before we arrived). There was live music and a good atmosphere but the afternoon beer had done for me and so I had to bail early to be ok for a full weekend.

Saturday I headed to Robin Island with Derek, which is the infamous apartheid prison and where Nelson Mandela was held for 18 years so a historic day ahead. Well the weather was glorious which meant amazing views of Table Mountain and Cape Town from the boat. On the island we had a guide for the island itself who was informative and hilarious, my favourite line being when we drove past the church on the island, "I have booked my wedding for next year here (cue 'aaawwww's from the passenegers)…I just need to find a woman to get married to!" In the maximum security prison section a former political inmate of the prison itself called Parkes took us around which was a humbling experience. What the prisoners went through, the conditions they suffered and the oppression simply on the basis of skin colour was just incomprehensible today. But the power of redemption is incredible as at the end of the tour he told us that he had made peace with the people who had mistreated him and indeed lived on the island now along with other former inmates. Amazing.

I was not planning to go out that night as I was due to go shark cage diving with pick up at 6:15am the next morning but I got chatting to Jason, Clare, the Dutch girls Ellen and Stephanie, George a guy from the States, Michael who bummed around at the hostel but was local who said they were heading down to an Irish bar at the legendary Long St in the city centre and so predictably I couldn't resist joining and I tell you I'm bloody glad I did. Well the place was packed with a feel good atmosphere and we danced the night away to the rocking covers band who were on. George was an odd one as he kept wandering off randomly to stand on the stairs and just stare down into the crowd like a pervert, and then just come back to the group and be normal...hmmmm. Anyway we got back to the district where we were staying and there was a hotdog seller but as it was 4am he only had one left and it was broken in half, so he said we could have it for free, great we thought...until he just put the half sausage in paper bag with no bun, sauce or anything!

Well before we went to bed I set my alarm for the shark dive, which meant about an hour's sleep but I thought an hour would be better than nothing...wake up, look at phone, 6:45! Rush outside the dorm and speak to the night porter, "Have the shark people been?", "Yes", "Are they still here?", "No", "Did you think to knock on my door and wake me up?!", "Yes but I got the wrong room."...brilliant. So straight away I rang the shark office, "Hi this is Kevin Carpenter I'm booked on the trip today", "Yes are you on the bus?"...well obviously not otherwise I wouldnt be ringing would I!? Good lord! Anyway I re-booked it for thursday so fingers crossed.

After heading back to bed for a while I decided I wasn't going to waste my day so headed to Simonstown which is a picturesque coastal town a hour by train from Cape Town. Well the coastline was stunning and it was nice and quiet, perfect for a sunday. But the main attraction there was 30 mins walk away from the town at Boulders Bay where they have a colony of specially protected African penguins. Well its difficult to put into words just how cute and funny they were, but also how many of them they were in a small stretch of coastline. Apparently about 3000! So not a wasted day afterall, in fact a nice realxing day ready for school again in the morning and the last 3 days of term before breaking up for the World Cup.