Harley's and High Tea in Cape Town

Part three of 30 South African bucket list experiences worthy of your tick – from a rainbow cheesecake to a two fat lady tour of the Cape Town coastline.

20. Tour Cape Town in a sidecar
Cape Town is one of the most beautiful cities in the world. It is blessed either side, with Table Mountain assuming the high point and pristine beaches assuming the low point. Like a seesaw you will need to experience both beautiful sides. Sandwiched in between are restaurants and people that enhance the beauty further. For an Australian comparison, Cape Town's blue on white coast and minimalistic style evokes Bondi's iconic shores, while its manageable size, ease of travel and strong winds are reminiscent of Hobart.

On this coastal sidecar tour you won't make it up the mountain but you will see it from every angle. Starting in the city centre, passengers are given a leather biker jacket, a bandanna, an old-fashioned helmet and a blanket to counter the cold. Then you can simply sit back as the vintage Harley Davidson's roar you through the many highlights of Cape Town.

19. Ride the Blue Train
The romance of train travel lives on in the vintage luxury of South Africa's Blue Train which travels from Cape Town to Pretoria. For a start, you have your own butler, who serves what you fancy from a silver tray held by white gloves. The suites come with goose down bedding and marble and gold bathrooms, some even with a bath. High tea is served every afternoon in the dining cart, elegant dress is a prerequisite for dinner, while in the club cart, cognac comes as standard. The trip takes 28 hours; but you'll be wishing it were longer.

Africa Safari Co. offers Blue Train journeys from $1365 with one free night pre or post trip at a five-star property if booked before the end of the year

18. Raft a wild river
But not just any river – this is the longest river in South Africa. The Orange River in the Northern Cape is built for rafting, with a combination of small and challenging rapids. Drifting or plummeting past the Richtersveld, a desert landscape, will leave you feeling very small and far removed from the daily grind. As one of the largest mountain deserts in the world, 50% of the flora here is native, and the rocks expose two million years of incredible geology. With rafting expeditions that go from one to six days in length, this wilderness adventure can combine rafting, hiking and camping. Bird watchers are also in for a treat as the river is an avian hotspot.

17. Take high tea in Cape Town
The Table Bay Hotel is almost like finding London's Ritz in Cape Town's Victoria and Albert Waterfront. If you don't stay at the five-star hotel, you should at least stop in for the high tea. This English ritual is pulled off with panache while still managing to incorporate South Africa's unique colour and culture, through the magnificent medium of dessert. A harpist plays soothing music as you sit down to tea served in matching Wedgwood finery on deep Chesterfield lounges covered with English upholstery. A long table with an elaborate centrepiece of Proteas holds around 20 cakes on multi-tiered stands under glass domes. It's impossible to choose just one, but the rainbow cheesecake is something you cannot leave without trying.

16. Flourish among fields of wildflowers
Ever had the hippie fantasy of wanting to walk through uninterrupted fields of wildflowers, stretching as far as the eye can see (and not trampling them underfoot, of course)? Well, you can live it in the Northern Cape, namely at Namaqua National Park. Come springtime and for a short period, white and orange daisies as well as countless other species bloom out of what was a previously arid landscape. These blossoms are endangered, rare and native species that number 3000. The flower route is even popular enough among locals to warrant a hotline outlining the best locations. Like a sunbather, the desert flowers follow the sun and have a preference for the hours from 11am to 4pm. For those who want to see the finest blooms, your best bet is to head as far north as possible. The floral fields are all the more stunning thanks to the surrounding topography, with red soil plains, valleys and mountains framing the blooms like a bouquet.

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