About today

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Right. A proper mess of weather over Cape Town today. Sunshine, wild winds, glowering clouds and heavy showers. And it looks like things are only going downhill this afternoon.

I’m catching up on jobs which have been waiting since we went away, and getting things ticked off the various lists, but I’m going to run out of time very shortly, and that means getting this post out now.

It’s all a bit rushed, and I feel quite out of touch with what’s going on in the world. But then, when I do hear about what’s going on in the world, that actually seems like quite a good way to be.

Running out of time because we’re going out to a posh dinner this evening (I actually have very little idea about just how posh the dinner thing is, and so I am only going by the price). A winery invited to a restaurant, and the chef of that restaurant cooking up a special pairing menu to go with the wines from the winery.
What’s not to like?

I’ve never heard of the winery or the restaurant before, but I have checked, and yes, both of them do exist – and the event is a sellout – so I’m sure it will be pretty good.

Yes, I may have to knock back a couple of Red Bulls or cheap local equivalents thereof in order to make it through to the starters, but once those kick in, I’ll be the life and soul of the party (T&Cs apply).

And there are calls for a lie-in tomorrow morning, which will surely assist in tomorrow night’s dinner (which I only know is “with friends”, not where or when) being an equally successful evening.
Should we braai? We might braai.

Anyway.

Right now, I’m on the dash home and then off to do the drop off at horse riding (not me) before I jump in the car down to the Deep South for tonight’s fun and games.

Give me a minute, please…

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Bit of catching up still to do after an amazing few days away.
Lots of great experiences. Lots of animals. Lots of birds. Lots of photos to share.

But…

A 20 hour day – which included a 4 o’clock start, a 4 hour game drive through Kruger Park, a 6 hour road drive through Mpumalanga and numerous encounters with its utterly mad drivers, and then a 2 hour flight back down to our little corner of Africa before we could get home – is still taking its toll.

A foolishly fast run this morning seemed like a good idea at the time, but probably wasn’t.

This hyena is me right now.

More tomorrow.

Unnecessary

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As our local internet took a bit of a dive earlier, I found myself looking at a story from Canada a couple of years back. And while I enjoy thorough journalism, I do think this was going a bit over the top:

I mean, honestly.
What’s his relationship status got to do with this?

Unnecessary.

Locals and Tourists

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I’m a bit of both this week, and that’s my rather tenuous link to this project which compares the location of images shared on social media by… well… locals and tourists.

The blue dots represent local people’s images and the red dots are pictures taken by tourists.

Here – for example – is Oxford:

Down at half past six is Abingdon and up at 11o’clock is Blenheim Palace. Off to to west is Witney, but no-one really goes there. It’s no surprise (especially if you’re familiar with Oxford) that all the tourist stuff is happening up the High Street and down Broad Street:

Pretty University buildings, innit? That sidearm heading off to east is the road out to Headington, with a nice bit of red around Oxford Brookes.

Oxford is a good example of how divided a city can be, both in real life and on these maps. London is bright red around Westminster, the West End, the river and its bridges.

But perhaps unsurprisingly, no-one goes to Croydon.

It’s worth looking through any cities you know. It’s amazing how many bridges are key tourist spots: see London above, Budapest and San Francisco, for examples.

My only gripe with this project is that it only makes it into Africa as for as the Pyramids, while places like Minsk still get a map. And no-one’s being Belarus-hing there lately.

I would love to see Cape Town’s version.

Birthday girl

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Yeah. Today’s the day. But unfortunately it’s not a happy birthday this time around.

But we choose to remember the joyful moments, not the sad times.

I know I’ve shared a similar image from the same day a few months ago, but this does just capture the free spirit and the happiness of the family beagle.

Gazing out into the fresh air, Lady of all that she surveys (most of the South Atlantic out towards South America), ears flapping, happy, sturdy. Loving life.

And that’s the dog we remember.

Happy Birthday, Beagle.