Category: 6000 recommends

Podcast Update

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A recent chat about podcasts reminded me that I should probably let you know where I am with my podcast selection.

Here’s what’s currently on the Podcast Addict front screen:

  • Frank Skinner on Absolute Radio [link]
  • Friday Night Comedy from BBC Radio 4 [link]
  • Guardian Football Weekly [link]
  • Justin Moorhouse About 30 Minutes Never More Than 45 [link]
  • Radcliffe & Maconie [link]
  • The Bugle [link]

Frank Skinner’s show is the ±75 minutes of talking from his Saturday morning radio show. He’s joined by Emily Dean and Alun Cochrane. It takes a while to get into their personalities and the clique of the whole thing, but once you’re there, it’s often amusing.
Friday Night Comedy alternates between the brilliant Now Show (Steve Punt, Hugh Dennis et al.) and the News Quiz with Sandy Toksviki and Jeremy Hardy. Always funny. As comedy should be. 30 minutes per week.
The Guardian Football Weekly with C4’s Football Italia guru Jame Richardson, has two 45 minute episodes each week. This season, they seem to have taken the decision to move to a more relaxed format, and it’s better for it. Very informative and enjoyable.
Justin Moorhouse is what I think of when I think ‘podcast’. It’s hugely informal: just him, a Northern comedian, going about his weekly business, chatting to friends and family. I think the title tells you how long each weekly episode is.
Radcliffe and Maconie’s BBC 6 Music show is condensed into 25 minutes a week: it’s interesting, but it’s too short and leaves you wanting more.
The Bugle is John Oliver and Andy Salzman’s online audio comedy vehicle. It’s very, very funny, very topical and often quite near the knuckle.

In addition to this, I’ve been downloading Nemone’s Electric Ladyland shows from BBC 6  Music. 2 hours of brilliant, brilliant electronica each Saturday night. It reminds me of recording off the radio onto your TDK C90s. Hashtag Old Skool.
It also stands as a reminder of just how bad music radio is in South Africa. Which isn’t so great.

Excluding the Nemone shows, that’s around 4 hours of podcasts each week, which is just about enough for my sitting in the traffic. All other audio moments are filled in with Nemone and/or music on the iPod. Anything to avoid 5fm and Cape Talk 567.

I’ve settled into a happy place with this now, but still, as ever, please share any recommendations below.

How to climb to Elephant’s Eye from Silvermine

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Subtitle: with two kids and a beagle puppy.

The Elephant’s Eye cave is situated high up on the Constantiaberg mountain, and has wonderful views over the Constantia Valley and Cape Flats.

It can be done, and it’s worth doing. You’ll need to do a little prep though.

For the kids:
Ours are 6 and 8. It’s quite a hike, so make it exciting: let them know that you’re going to go and see this amazing cave on the mountain. Tell them that it will be an adventure and that they need to be ready for a big expedition. Mention that there will be lollipops and a picnic in the cave.
For the beagle puppy:
You’ll need a dog walking permit. You could look at TMNP’s “Walking With Dogs” pamphlet, but only if you have a PhD in cartography and a deep telepathic understanding of how their dog policies work. Good luck with that.
The simple answer is that you need a Level 1 My Activity Permit. It’s R210 for first user, and you can sign up a second user for R75 at the same time. This allows you to walk two (2) dogs per permit holder within the TMNP for one year. To find where you can and can’t walk your dog, you’ll need to consult the pamphlet above, but suffice to say that the walk to Elephant’s Eye from Silvermine is one of those places that you can.
For you:
Check the weather forecast. There’s little point in heading up there on a miserable day. Equally, a scorching hot hike will be of limited fun as well. Also, you’ll need “a morning” for this (we used 4½ hours, all in).

What to take:

  • Sturdy trail walking shoes or boots. Flops won’t cut it here.
  • Dog leash. Legally, you have to have one with you. Your dog doesn’t actually have to be using it, but your beagle puppy may run off if it’s not securely attached.
  • Water. Loads and loads and loads of water. And a bowl for your beagle puppy’s water.
  • Picnic. Stuff to eat. It’s not hard. Don’t forget lollipops and dog treats.
  • Sensible clothing. Protection from the elements, whatever they might be on the day you choose.
  • Sunblock/Sunhat etc. Yep. I know. Still needs to be said.
  • Swimming stuff and towel. You’ll want a dip in the reservoir at the end (leave these in your car for hike).
  • Camera. Because views.
  • Aforementioned Level 1 Activity Card. If you have a beagle puppy.

Park up at Silvermine, via Gate 1, just off Ou Kaapse Weg. It (Gate 1) opens at 7am in summer and this is a walk best started early. It’ll cost you R40 per adult and R20 per child. Your beagle puppy will be allowed in free of charge. Irritatingly, no-one will ask to see your hugely expensive dog walking permit at any point during the hike [personal experience]. *also, see Rich’s comment below

The walk:
If you’ve climbed Lion’s Head, then you’ll recognise the terrain on this one. Some clear track, some rocky scrambles, some big steps, some big drops. Take care out there.
When you get the car park, you will see three well signposted paths. The one on the right is the one you want:

The middle path is the boardwalk to the dam (but no dogs are allowed up here) and on the right, behind the metal barrier, is the dog-friendly track up to the dog-friendly part of the dam. You’ll need this later.

The first part of the walk is through a narrow, shady, tree-lined path. It’s easy going. About 300m in, there are some loos and the path then opens out into a wide track, surrounded by fynbos like Mountain Dahlias. Watch your feet too: we saw dung beetles doing their thing here.
The track bends up to the right and comes to a t-junction, where you should turn left. This is just about the only bit of the walk where you share the path with mountain bikers, so watch out for mountain bikers.
The first proper climb begins at the 1km mark with the sign Shortcut to Elephant’s Eye. It’s short and steep, but once you’re up to the top, you bear right over the hill and are rewarded with the first of the truly astounding views.

The path runs along the back of the trees (enjoy the shade) and then crosses a small mountain stream where there are tadpoles to be caught. From there, the second big climb starts – gently at first towards the fire lookout – the views from which are well worth the steep but short diversion – and then zigzagging up the elephant’s trunk towards the cave. You’ll probably want to keep your beagle puppy (and your kids) on a short leash for the last 100 metres or so, as the drop on the right is “significant”. But then, suddenly, you’re at the HUGE cave, with its fern-lined ceiling and breathtaking views out across towards the Helderberg.

We saw the cave at its best and its worst – we had the privilege of  having the whole thing to ourselves for 5 minutes and not 10 minutes later, there were fifty people in there and it was chaotic. I liked it better when it was just us.

Going back down is, unsurprisingly, pretty much the upward journey in reverse. Just take care not to turn right down the hill too early as you approach the fire lookout – that’s the “alternative route” back – it’s longer and with fewer views. It is signposted as such, but it’s not necessarily clear as you approach from above.

Enjoy the sight of the reservoir as you head back over into the Silvermine Valley. And take care of your tired children and tireder beagle puppy down the large steps on the way down.

Once you’re back at the car park, pick up your swimmies and your towel and head up that left-hand track to the “far side” of the reservoir. Dogs are only allowed in the corner next to the dam wall, but that’s fine – all you want is some cool water and a nice relaxing swim. The water is exceedingly clean and exceedingly red/brown as well – it’s like swimming in (cold) rooibos.

Then, take your newly-refreshed kids back home. You’ll probably need to carry your beagle puppy back to the car because it will either be asleep or want to be asleep. This behaviour will continue all afternoon.

The stats:
Total distance: 7.33km
Time up: About 2 hours, (leisurely pace with plenty of water breaks and photo-ops).
Time down: About 1 hour 15 minutes, including tadpole hunting.
Total ascent: 380m
Max altitude: 674m
Photo album link

Hiking guides on 6000 miles…? Alfred Wainwright eat your heart out.

I used Wumdrop and it worked very well

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Not a sponsored post. Not even a “please will you let people know how it went for you if it went well for you” post.
Just to tell you that I used Wumdrop yesterday and it worked very well.

I’d describe Wumdrop as a short-range courier service based in Cape Town, shipping things all over the CBD and surrounding suburbs. They’d describe themselves as:

…an on demand courier service that lets you send anything to anyone over small distances in a small amount of time, for small money via mobile app, website, or ecommerce checkout.

I wasn’t far off, was I?

I don’t actually need to ship things all over the CBD very often, but yesterday, at short notice, I did. I could have driven in, but it was already 3.15, I had many things to do in the lab, and I didn’t want to sit in the infamous Cape Town traffic.
I’d be quite happy to pay someone else to do it for me though. Suffer, little children.

I signed up, logged in and booked the shipment online. It wasn’t difficult. Within about 45 minutes, Justin had arrived, bringing with him a friendly smile, a can-do attitude and loads of hair. He took the package from me and delivered it to the address in the CBD as I requested. I was kept informed via SMS the whole time.

Simples.

This shipment would have cost me the princely sum of R47, but I got it for free under their introductory “Swagtober” offer [nomenclature requires attention].
As I say, I don’t have to ship things around the CBD very often, but you might need to, and if you do, Wumdrop seem to be the go to service for that.

Wumdrop.com

Oh, and also, they’re launching in Sandton soon and Stellies soon after that.

Boomslanging

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All is going well Chez 6000. Mrs 6000 may be overseas, but we are perfectly capable of looking after ourselves and while she’s living the grand life, we’re going to have some fun too. This was going to be achieved by going on a trip to Kirstenbosch and having a go on the new treetop canopy walk – the Boomslang – until the older half of the children got invited out to the cinema.
Then, of course, the younger half of the children wanted to go to the cinema too. That was until it was pointed out to her that she could be the first of the family to go on the Boomslang. The younger half of the children is six and when you are six, being the first to do something is a Big Thing. The cinema was soon forgotten and suddenly every second word was Boomslang. I’ll be honest here, the pronunciation may have been a little iffy on each of those occasions.

Heading in to the bottom gate at Kirstenbosch leaves you quite a climb up to the walkway – you have to traverse the concert lawn, which is much emptier, but somehow also much steeper when there aren’t thousands of people sitting on it. And then, tucked away at the right hand side of the path, there it was: a rather unassuming entry onto the Boomslang.

14759418842_d6d5bdf7a3_zFirst on. (Not sure what the guy in the background is doing)

I wasn’t sure what to expect. I’d heard mixed reports from “spectacular” to “underwhelming”, so I guess I went in with an open mind. I was quite impressed though. It wasn’t too busy and while the views weren’t as good as they could have been (because of the weather), the way that the gardens open out beneath you is quite something. The name (meaning tree snake in Afrikaans for our forrun readership) is apt, as it does wind through the canopy like its namesake. It also moves. Quite a lot. Not up and down, but side to side. It’s difficult to say how much, but I’d guess at a few inches at most. Still, it’s an interesting sensation.

And, because I’ve already been asked twice, did we feel safe? Yes, completely. You’d have to work very hard (and be very foolish) to fall off it.

So, would I go to Kirstenbosch just to go on the Boomslang? No, I wouldn’t. As a standalone attraction, it’s just not “wow” enough to go just for that.
But it’s something I’m sure that I’ll do each time I visit and I think it’s a great addition to the gardens.

Some few photos here, tacked onto the end of the Aquarium tour we did on Saturday.

Aquarium Tour

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With the cat away (the cat is mostly in Budapest this week), the mice will head down to the Two Oceans Aquarium and learn about the progress of their new exhibit, before going on an excellent behind the scenes tour.

For a start, the passion of the staff is clearly evident. From the friendly greeting, through to the knowledgeable and infectious enthusiasm of Mike de Maine, the Technical Manager, everyone was keen to educate the visitors and answer any queries. Breakfast was served, my kids ate about seventy-four croissants each and we looked at technical plans and 3D renderings of the new section of the aquarium. Mike – who is project managing the work – showed us photos of the new build and shared some of the difficulties that they have experienced: from the unusually varied rock structure underneath the site through to the metalworkers’ strike, which is threatening to push the opening of the new tank back. We were given some startling numbers about cost, concrete and steelwork (I’ll have to look these up, but suffice to say that they were all very big). Also big are the stats on the new tank, from the huge, single-piece 350mm thick acrylic windows to the 10m long tunnel.

And then curator Michael Farquhar gave us a quick run down of the complex operation coming up when they will have to transfer the fish from the current tank to the new one and the challenges that they face in doing it. One of things I didn’t realise is that the old tanks (the Kelp Tank and the Predator Exhibit) are leaking and need repairs. There will need to be some shifting around of stock in order for these repairs to be done – all while the aquarium remains open and the public enjoy their visit.
Tough ask.

Finally, we headed backstage and had a look at the surprisingly shabby roof areas, including the top of the predator and kelp tanks – complete with penguins chilling out on the roof. Sadly, the light wasn’t great and my camera has gone to Hungary with the cat, so please excuse the photos.

This is the top of the I&J Predator Exhibit:

      
And part of the filter room, “something” in the lab and a kitchen shopping list.

You can see some more of my photos here, and some of Mike’s from the building site here.

All in all, a pretty cool and educational couple of hours, and if you are members at the aquarium (and if you’re in Cape Town and you have kids, you really should be) then get yourself along to the next members breakfast – really interesting stuff, nice people and a great way to spend a Saturday morning.