This is my cousin Sandy, who was kind enough to look after us for much our time in South Africa. Her mother, Vi, is my mother’s younger sister and is still alive and thriving in the southern hemisphere. I could hardly believe as we stood on the Cape of Good Hope that most of Australia was north of us, in a lateral sort of way. In fact we were only about 4000 miles from the South Pole.

Which explained the penguins. They inhabited their own little beach close to Simonstown, on the shores of False Bay – still less than an hour from the centre of Cape Town, where we were staying. They’re called Jackass or African penguins, and they don’t seem concerned by the lack of icebergs.

While the journey to and from Cape Town was tiresome and tiring, the scenery once we were there was spectacular. Mountains out of Lord of the Rings, sea in technicolour. Of course there was the poverty of the townships too, and the uneasiness of living in not one but several strange cultures.