What happened?

OK. Let me quickly fill you in a few details.

We abandoned Agulhas on Friday afternoon. There was no power, no internet, and little hope of either being restored anytime soon. We were lucky enough to have somewhere to go (home), the roads were open, and so we took the chance.

There was a lot of fire damage on the road back up to Bredasdorp, and the situation was too risky to pull over and take photos like we had done on the way down. But here’s an image from the car window of the same place that we got the second shot in this post.

So we’ve been home since about 7:30 pm on Friday evening, and the electricity was only restored to Agulhas at 6pm this evening: an outage of about 74 hours. That makes even loadshedding look like a minor inconvenience.

The fire is now contained:

Which is obviously great news for those who have had no power for three days, and for those whose property was threatened by the actual flames, rather than the lack of utilities.

As for us: a disappointing end to a few days away, but we’ll be back – hopefully for a less eventful visit – sometime soon.

Quota Walking Trail

We’ve done the Nuwejaars Wetlands before, and it was very special. And whenever we drive out that way from Agulhas, it’s always like a mini-safari even along the public roads.

The great news is that this week, the NWSMA have opened a new walking trail through the area: The African Marsh Harrier Trail. There’s a lot to see…

… and it looks like a really good day out.

The creation of the trail was funded by WWF South Africa, with the support of the Overberg District Municipality. 
The relaxed and unchallenging trail is ideal for walkers of any fitness level, including children. It takes around two to three hours to complete. And it’s meant to be enjoyed slowly while taking in the incredible wildlife that lives in the wetlands, especially the bird life. 

As mentioned above, just getting there is often educational enough, so I’m looking forward to some decent fun with the long lens next time we are down there.

Maintenance visit in progress

Unable to play footy tonight due to mild injury, I made the best of a bad situation and headed down to Agulhas to do a few jobs. A clean and tidy, sort out the electricity, meet the builder and get stuff ready for a proper family visit a bit later this month.

You don’t want to be faffing about making up beds and stuff when you arrive. You want to dive straight into the holiday frame of mind with a beer and some sunshine.

But it’s not all work, work, work. I went for a 4km wander along the beach in the chilly (14oC, feels like 8, apparently) Westerly breeze (32kph, gusting 40, apparently) and I saw… no-one. Not a soul. Amazing.

I’ve always been a fan of the off-season seaside resort (not quite what this place is, but it has the same sort of vibe), but it’s always a special privilege to have an entire beach to yourself.

Didn’t take the camera out today, so that’s a phone image above, but I’m very happy to report that Murphy’s Law did not come into play today, and so I didn’t miss that shot, because there was no that shot to be had anyway.

Phew.

And now it’s back to the cottage before the night really sets in, open a bottle of Roy Vane, and make a very small braai on which to place a bit of sirloin, which has been soaking up some Hendo’s since my arrival here.

Meat, bread, salad, wine. The four staples of a perfect, simple diet.

Early night, hoping for enough recovery to do a little jog in the morning in the new trail running shoes. If not: photo walk, I think.

But more of that if it happens. Right now, that steak needs cooking.

Bon appétit!

Another photographic triumph

Back out to the lagoon in search of a repeat performance from yesterday’s whales.

Sadly, they didn’t show up today. However, we did spot a Southern Giant Petrel (Macronectes giganteus), which was a first for me. Small wins.

This guy isn’t a Southern Giant Petrel (Macronectes giganteus). He’s a White-Breasted Cormorant (Phalacrocorax lucidus). Fairly common on the coast here.
But it takes a special sort of talent to catch him like this:

Perfect timing. Just lovely.
I thank you.

Local art

Yay. We’re heading down to Agulhas this week for the first time in a while. Looking forward to a bit of a break and some sea air. More from there when it happens. But also, I was reminded this morning of a local shop there which caters to the more… mmm… Afrikaans end of the tourist market.
What do I mean by that? I mean lots of Bible verses, lots of crosses, lots of every sort of item made from MDF and with an Afrikaans saying on them.

It’s like Live, Laugh, Love on steroids.

As jy weet, jy weet.

Amongst that is a selection of art, possibly done by the owner of the shop, we think? Now, I’m really not one to poke fun at other people’s creativity, so I’m going to just give three quick T&Cs for the rest of this blog post.
Firstly, you might not agree with my opinions on this. It’s not microbiology, after all. And indeed, this might be art that you like. And that’s fine.
Secondly, you put your stuff out there, you open it up for people to look at, judge and critique. Which I am doing.
And thirdly, it’s very difficult to not look at some of the stuff on offer and not giggle a bit. Because, well…

OK. I’m just going to limit it to two photos. Let’s be fair. Here’s the first:

That one is going for R850 and it’s entitled “You Gave Me Back My Joy”.

Presumably, this title is directed to the plastic surgery team. And guessing that we’re looking at the lady in question post surgical intervention, one can only imagine that it must have been a really bad accident and a tough job if this final outcome brings her joy. I’m guessing that the initial impact came from her right, and comprehensively stoved that side of her head in (as they say up in Newcastle).

Still, it’s great that she’s happy again, despite having to have a skin-coloured strut holding that side of the back of her head on for the rest of her life.

But of course, reconstructive surgery isn’t the only way of bringing joy.

Should you find yourself looking like a crossdressing Mick Jagger whilst in a strange, grey wasteland, then leapfrogging a young child whose head seems to be amongst some really, really tiny chickens, is clearly good for gettin’ you satisfaction.

And, in the unlikely event that you don’t have a surgical team or a young child nearby, you could always twiddle your nipple with your left hand, while giving a Nazi salute with your right… er… claw.

This last one is niche. Very niche. But it’s been depicted so perfectly clearly here that I really can’t imagine that the artist was trying to show us anything else. And presumably, someone will wander into the shop, spot this painting and think:

“It’s so me. I simply HAVE to have it.”

(But in Afrikaans.)

These images were taken a few months ago. But I’m very tempted to (carefully, now I’ve written this), pop back in and see if these have been sold (but if so, to whom?!?), and also see what other delights have been created in the intervening period.

Please watch out for my report over the coming days.