this is south africa

Spookdraai

Posted on August 10, 2013

Sitting in front of the fire after a long long day, which began at about 0520, thanks to the kids.

We made the most of the weather, heading out for some productive rockpooling before lunch and then later, up the Spookdraai Hiking Trail, where there were proteas, sugarbirds and amazing views over the most westerly bit of the Indian Ocean.

And then to possibly the worst restaurant in South Africa: dodgy clientele, horrendous food, dirty linen and just plain nasty. My advice is to avoid the optimistically named ‘Bistro on Main’ in Struisbaai. Lots.

It appears that we survived the ordeal though and I’m planning on killing anything I picked up there with the antiseptic qualities of some decent brandy.

Aware

Posted on August 9, 2013

It’s been a lovely public holiday.

But I’m aware that I haven’t blogged today.

Sorry for that. Tomorrow, beer and rugby. What could possibly go wrong with that?

Mended…

Posted on August 7, 2013

Sterling work by Charl from Telkom and Aldo from Afrihost has re-established the internet connection at 6000 Towers and, in addition, re-established it at some decent speed.

Suddenly:

Now all I have to do is decide if we can actually afford and justify the hefty price for reasonably quick, reasonably stable internet in South Africa.

Surf…

Posted on August 6, 2013August 6, 2013

Cape Town has gone a bit iffy today, grey, cool, drizzly: the precursor for the big storm coming through this evening and tomorrow.

But Cape Town hasn’t always been this way. This weekend, for example, Cape Town was lovely. Warm, sunny, pleasant. And, according to many of my surfing friends and contacts, “Dungeons was firing!”. I had to go and look this up, because the obtuse reference to a castle prison and some odd hat tip to The Apprentice didn’t make much sense at first.

But they meant the Dungeons surfing spot just around the corner from Hout Bay. And they meant that there were some good waves to surf there. The Guardian had also done some translating and gave us a couple of lovely images to visually indicate what was going on.
Here are they:

Gorgeous, ne? Just look at that wall of water. Wow.

You wouldn’t find me playing in waves that big, but that’s not to say that you can’t pop out and have a bit of fun if you want to. Just make sure you have some decent medical insurance and a reasonable funeral plan in place first though, ok?

Photo credit: Nic Bothma via The Guardian

Not jealous

Posted on August 4, 2013August 5, 2013

The following are photos sent to me this week by my parents.
The first depicts the Isle Of Man Steam Packet Company ferry, Manannan, while second seems to indicate the kind of holiday they ate currently enjoying. Note the subtle inclusion of the sunglasses.
Ok, ok. We get it.

Of course, it hasn’t been half bad here either. After a breakfast of note, I took the kids to Maynardville Park, where roundabouts were ridden and slides were slidden. The City has installed one of those outdoor gyms there, but it was being used more as an extension of the playground than for any serious adult exercise.
We’re all eleven different sorts of tired now though. So it’s going to be an early night, and early to sleep, perchance to dream of ADSL reconnection in the morning.
Hold thumbs.