Those who know me know just how petrified I am of man made structures.
I love heights and don’t have any fear standing at the top of a mountain or climbing into a huge oak tree but give me a piece of cold metal pop rivitted by some human who may not have had enough sleep or who can’t stand his boss and I’m already running for the hills.
I hate amusement park rides and my stomach churns at the idea of a roller coaster. I avoid escalators like the plague and travel by lift out of necessity.
But i ‘ve wanted to go on the Cape wheel for the last 4 years.
Bear at The Cape Wheel
So when we received 2 complimentary tickets at the Cape Town moms who blog event I was over the moon.
After all its on my bucket list and I love a good adventure.
Super excited this morning as we headed off to the V & A waterfront, I told bear how we were going to ride on the wheel.
Cape wheel
A small lump developed in my throat slowly working it’s way to a pit of anxiety in my stomach as I saw the large white wheel and I walked straight past to the watershed. All my courage dissolving into a little lump of wimpyness onto the cobbled path.
I’d develop some courage a little later on, I told myself as I headed towards the Watershed to find something else to do.
Well as luck would have it , the play centre I wanted to visit first with bear was having a slide installed and the glue they used was so strong I could smell it from a distant area from the place bear would play. This meant we couldn’t play here right now.
Not wanting to dissapoint him as he wasn’t able to play, I confidently headed towards the large white Cape Wheel.
I bravely handed my ticket to the friendly staff who helped with my pram, and we waited on the platform.
Bear was super excited and stood posing for my photos. He’s at such a nice age now as he’s begun talking and pointing out things that interest him. The wheel had him captivated as it slowly finished it’s revolutions from the previous ride.
Waiting for our ride
Finally , the great wheel stopped and it off loaded the previous passengers. I honestly lost my bravado and thought about leaving but bear was so excited !
“Nope! I’d see this through” I thought to myself.
Calling bear we made our way to the first empty carriage. He wanted to walk, as most independent toddlers do, and I watched as he fearlessly stepped into our waiting little cart.
Bear walks into the carriage
The porter explained where the aircon was and most importantly the HELP button. For some reason this had me wanting to rush straight out again. Why do you need a help button if the ride is safe ?
Before I could back out the door was closed, bear was grinning at me and the cart began moving.
Look at that excitement!
There was no going back now !!!!!
Slowly we started the first of four revolutions. This wasn’t too bad. It moved slowly and as I had my back to the view I couldn’t quite see how far up we were yet.
Bear was laughing and loving this. He kept shouting wow ! And pointing out something he found interesting or funny.
Look up mamma
He even found the best way to view the sight lying on his tummy and looking out the door.
Enjoying the view
I looked out the window …. the view was breath taking. Between watching bear, keeping him away from the doors and my irrational fear of them opening mid turn, I managed to snap a few really amazing photos of the view.
Table mountain
By now we had reached the top and I was feeling really proud of myself for not freaking out. I was loving bears reaction to this and before me was the stunning view of the harbour.
Harbour
Only now I realised, if the harbour was ahead of us that meant we were going to be descending and a whole new wave of panic attacked me. What if the decent was bumpy ? Or too fast? I held bear as he stood between my legs and waited…
We were going lower and I hadn’t felt the cart move beyond its slow rotation. As I saw the bottom of the ground I realised…
We did it !!!!!
We had survived the first rotation.
Only 3 more to go ….
The other 3 turns around seemed to go very slowly as I waited for the ride to end. Bear on the other hand would have stayed up there going around all day.
Sometimes you need to view the world from a toddlers eyes
At last the fourth cycle began and I sighed with relief. Almost time to get off, find my land legs and head off to a much safer activity.
Then out of the blue, without warning and for whatever reason, the cart stopped at the top.
It just stopped!!!!
Then it swayed.
It friggin swayed!!!!!! While I looked down and imagined bear and I stuck up in the air as people tried to get us down.
As I saw mini little Lego people below us and wondered if I needed to press that help button.
It swayed!
Somewhere amidst my neurotic ramblings of a mother wondering how the hell we would make it down and what was I thinking bringing bear up alone knowing I can’t do these things …
The cart began to move downwards again and I muttered a silent prayer of thanks.
Look mamma the cart is moving … yay !
Totally unaffected by our near death experience ( even if the only dangers were in my mind ) bear continued to enjoy his ride.
Finally the cart came to a stand still and I couldn’t wait to get out.
The porter opened and an overly excited, happy bear looked at me with pure delight , pointing at the carriages and said “up.up.wow” which is toddler for “let’s do that again mamma.”
Cape wheel
The delight on his face was enough to make me glad I’d faced my fears and taken him up.
Despite my irrational fears and anxious thoughts the ride was smooth and honestly that view is amazing.
Cape wheel
Would I do it again …. No ! But only because I’m not a fan of steel objects that move.
Would I recommend this … Yes! I’m so glad I went up. It’s something you should do at least once in your life. Even those who have a major fear of heights or rides .
Children under 4 ride free on the Cape Wheel
We had two tickets and as children under 4 ride free, I still had one ticket left.
Bear had loved the experience so much that later when papa came to fetch us I asked him to take bear for a second trip.
I wanted him to witness the wonder in bears voice as he pointed everything he saw out. I wanted him to hear the excitement in the toddler squeals of WOW! But most importantly, I wanted him to have this amazing opportunity to remember just how beautiful Cape Town is.
Signal hill
Did you know the Cape wheel has a birthday club that you can sign up to on their website and you will receive a ticket to ride free on your birthday.
