Chill

With wall-to-wall sunshine, a fridge full of Milk Stout, a wine rack full of… well… wine, together with limited internet, it’s fairly easy to relax down here in Agulhas.

Yesterday was a day for one of those trips through to the Black Oystercatcher for great food and great wine, and a meandering journey through the National Park stopping to try and spot various wildlifes along the way. Most of the wildlifes were birds, including two new species for me – the Black Stork (Ciconia nigra) and a Denham’s Bustard (Neotis denhami). I don’t keep records of these things like some people do, but I like to know what I’m looking at, and it’s always interesting to see something different.

We thought that we’d try to add some flamingoes to the list on the local salt pan, but it was entirely devoid of any birdlife. Still, it did allow for some interesting photography opportunities.

I’ll upload more when I get back to just 6000 miles from civilisation…
(although if you can’t wait, there’s always Instagram).

Today is all about rockpools, beagle walks, fish ‘n’ chips, afternoon naps and beers by the braai.

Every ingredient for a perfectly chilled Monday.

Back down south

What with one thing or another (but mainly one thing), we haven’t been able to get down to Agulhas for too long. I remedied that today, by hitting first the R316 and then the R319.

Spring has sprung here and it’s good to be back.

We did lunch in our favourite pub, walked on our favourite beach, and collected bags and bags of our favourite plastic waste as our part of that Big Beach Cleanup thing that I can’t find a link to right now.

If the clouds stay away, I might even play with the camera after dark. Or alternatively I might play with some brandy.

Either way: it’s a winner.

Poor start

As I said, the plan was to be creative this long weekend, but it hasn’t started well. The fresh, open air of Agulhas is fantastic for flying the Mavic, but sadly, that fresh, open air is moving awfully fast right now (gusting to 60kph, nogal), and thus getting off the ground is a bit of a non-starter.

Equally, it’s even a bit breezy for long exposure photos. Not that the photons are getting blown around like the drone would be, but camera wobble is a problem. I was going to try somewhere a bit more sheltered last night, but the people renting the place next door decided that they needed to leave their outside light on all night because…  actually, I have no idea why. Anyway, those plans were also thwarted.

Flying is right off the menu. I might manage something on with the camera later, though. I’m not sure how right now, but I still have a few hours left to sort things out.

Watch (as ever) this space. It is, after all, the best space to watch.

Back to the dock

…and the flock on the rock.

We’re back in Cape Town for a few days, taking in the Mango Groove concert (full of aging white libertarians) at Kirstenbosch, dinner at a posh Constantia restaurant, a Nic Rabinowitz show and (obviously) the mountain:

image

Even though Agulhas was packed in Agulhas terms, there’s nothing quite like the hustle and bustle of the city, is there?
I may feel differently after a couple of hours of Christmas shopping tomorrow, of course.