Welcome to 2026!
No fireworks in Struisbaai, because of ongoing Fun Sponge activity.
I’m writing this last year (always dangerous), so who knows how this one started, but I think that we can all agree that 2026 can’t actually be worse than 2025, right?
Whatever you have planned for the next 365 days, whether it be big or small, I hope it goes well for you and yours.
Happy New Year, readers.
Twice the famous lemon and lime soft drink.
Fourteen years of (at least) a post a day, as mentioned here.
And there are no signs of stopping [audience groans].
Obviously, that’s far too many posts to go through individually, but we have had:
Some football
Some lockdown exercise
An occasional view
Some menacing trains
A bit of physics
Much parenting stuff, and
That Chinese restaurant
Stick with us (it’s actually just me, sorry) for much, much more. Probably.
Here’s to the next fourteen years.
Every day is a beach day down here in Agulhas.
And every night is a beach night.
And next week, when we are back home in Cape Town, it will still be a beach week.
Because honestly, never has a more accurate cartoon been drawn:
Sand. Sand everywhere.
We arrived yesterday afternoon after a leisurely drive down and a stop at the infamous Moerse Padstal in Napier. I am now able to totally recommend their roosterkoeke and their friendly welcome. It’s been a few years since we stopped there, but what a friendly place.
And now there’s just sunshine and blue skies and (almost) nothing to do. The wind is blowing, but it keeps the temperature manageable and the flies at bay.
As expected, the extra strain of all the visitors on the cell tower here means crawlingly slow internet, but there are other things to do: books to read, braais to enjoy, naps to plan.
We’ll be ok.
Oh, and if there was a good omen for this week or so away, surely it was the sight of a Black Harrier (Circus maurus) on the dirt road on the way in.
Nice start.
I think I’m going to like it here.
What date is it?
What day is it, even?
The post-Christmas limbo period is a real thing. The rush and excitement of “the big day” over and done with, but still with that holiday feeling in the air, and summer in full swing.
What do you do?
Well, we are going to go to Cape Agulhas. Yes, it’ll be jam-packed with Vaalies…
But there are over 30,000 tourists visiting throughout Christmas and New Year. They don’t care about the water restrictions, because their GP-registered
ChelseaRandburg tractor is near the sea, and will rust overnight if they don’t hose it down each evening. And so we literally run out of water some days.But remember that if you are a tourist, the place you’re visiting is completely yours and only yours for the duration of your stay. Never mind the other people visiting, and certainly don’t worry about the local residents – they’re just there for you to use and abuse as you wish.
…but it will still be Cape Agulhas.
And a short break away from the madness of Cape Town and deep into the madness of Cape Agulhas will do very nicely, thank you very much.
Because it is all relative. A frustrating traffic jam in Cape Town is 5km and an hour long. In Agulhas, it’s just a bit irritating to be behind someone else at a stop street.
I still prefer it in winter, when there’s just us and a roaring fire.
So I’ll do it all again then.