Oscar Pistorius met his girlfriend Reeva Steenkamp through a mutual friend on November 4, 2012, he told the High Court in Pretoria on Tuesday.

They met through a mutual friend, Justine Devaris, and "hit it off" over lunch.

Afterward she told Devaris that he had forgotten that he had RSVPd with a partner for the SA Sports Awards and Divaris suggested Steenkamp.

Pistorius said he did not think Steenkamp would be that "carefree" but he took Divaris's advice and she said yes and she would be ready in an hour and a half.

They went to the SA Sports Awards and later spoke until late. They were famously photographed at that event. He told Divaris "Reeva was a fantastic date".

The following day he asked her if she wanted to go for coffee and they saw each other every day for the next six days.

She went overseas after that and when she came back they took November and December getting to know each other.

"I asked her to come with me and she said she needed some time alone," he said of holiday plans he was making.

She wanted to spend time with a friend at Christmas but the friend cancelled plans and they spent Christmas together with his friends Darren Fresco and his girlfriend.

When he later went to Cape Town she asked if she could stay in his house in Pretoria.

At the end of January it was starting to "pick up".

"I think she was more into her than she was with me at times," he told the High Court in Pretoria, appearing more confident that on Monday.

The SA Sports Awards is when he "cheated" on his former girlfriend Samantha Taylor, according to Taylor's testimony earlier.

Pistorius is on trial for the murder of Steenkamp on Valentine's Day last year, and also faces charges under the Firearms Act.

He has pleaded not guilty to all charges.