Log

Charley Boorman Log- Day 46

In which Charley and the team end their epic adventure…

The sky clears overnight and as the sun rises, the morning view from the hotel over the vineyard stuns me. A small lake abuts the hotel and above it, ordered lines of grape bushes stretch up the hill to the still cloud-tipped mountains beyond. The comfort of the surroundings is a stark contrast to some of the places our adventure has taken us and I’m reminded again that we’re almost at the end, that this feels like a reward for some of the hardships we’ve put ourselves through.

Just one more thing lies ahead. As with all of our journeys to date, I’m ending this with a convoy to our finish line – in this case, Signal Hill near the Lion’s Head mountain that overlooks Cape town and Table Bay. The starting point will be the Meerlust Winery (once again, their kindness has been so moving) but it has a long, palm tree-lined drive into the main car park and as we arrive it looks suspiciously empty. I’m sure we’re all familiar with that fear – that we’ll invite people but no-one will turn up. The further I get down that empty driveway, the worse the fear got.

But then I turned the last bend in the drive and… There everyone was! At least Two Hundred bikes and their riders, all welcoming us to the end! A quick speech, a few photographs and a lump in the throat later, and we were off. Driving the final, scenic 40km or so into Cape Town, passing Muizenberg Beach where we filmed one of the first parts of the show, surfing with Cass Collier all those weeks ago.

Climbing up to Signal Hill, I look back to see the convoy stretched out behind me, filling the long road around the mountains for as far as I can see. I pull into the final car park and the end of our journey and it takes a full twenty minutes for everyone who’s been so kind to join me to pull in. I’m filled with a mixture of elation, sadness and pride as I thank as many people as I can for helping me marking the end of this adventure. In the warm sunshine, I look out over the city to the glittering sea beyond. We’re barely finished here, but over that horizon the next adventure may yet be waiting…