Tag: struisbaai

Run

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After a fairly appalling night’s sleep, during which my little luxury memory foam pillow seemed to have forgotten all that my head had taught it, the Boy Wonder and I went for a bit of a run, ahead of a thing we have planned.

More on that real soon now.

We probably should have set off a little earlier though. It was FLIPPING ROASTING when we were finishing up. But a nice little 12km and we’re well on course for our planned event.

On a slightly more disappointing note, I imagine that tomorrow morning will bring a world of pain.

But before that seemingly inevitable horror: a quick lunch in Struisbaai, a gentle wander on the beach with the dog, an essential afternoon nap and an evening braai.

It’s all good.

Staying well away this weekend

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We’re apparently past our fifth wave peak in the Western Cape and South Africa, although my anecdotal radar is still tracking several or more local friends and acquaintances who have tested positive this week.

But that’s in Cape Town.

In Struisbaai (yes, also the Western Cape, I know) however, this on the community Whatsapp group:

The local doctors should know.

The Cape Agulhas folk weren’t great at wearing masks early on in the pandemic:

…resulting in stuff like this:

So let’s hope that they take a bit of notice this time around, even though Covid is sooo passé now.

For safety’s sake, however (and because we have a plethora of stuff to do in Cape Town), we’ll be staying well away this weekend.

Day 563 – Fire down south

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We weren’t in Agulhas this weekend, but since late this morning, we’ve been following the progress of a bushfire in Struisbaai, from afar.

Google Maps’ new wildfire layer isn’t active here yet (or anywhere else?), so this is from AFIS. And despite some of the blocks covering some of the houses, thanks to the work of the Overberg FPA and their firefighting pals, nothing of value has been damaged. Yet.

“Yet” because the fire is still not under control:

This fire has a high risk of further spread. Wind conditions are not favourable.

It’s likely to spread west, driven by the strong northeasterly wind that’s blowing down there at the moment. And that’s bad news for the Agulhas National Park and – potentially – for Suiderstrand (red dot):

…both of which which lie pretty much due west of Struisbaai.

I’ll be keeping a sharp eye on the official information channels over night, and hoping that the firefighters can get access to somewhere in front of the line and get a hold on the fire.

Safe out, guys.

Big fall

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A great weekend with friends in Agulhas. Braais, games, laughs, drinks, beaches, walks… all of the good stuff. The only thing that marred it slightly was me taking a heavy tumble on Struisbaai beach during a last-batsman rush to save the game of beach cricket.

You wouldn’t think that sand could be so hard.

I now have a large knee, a bruised shin and my dysesthesia is back with a vengeance. Walking is fine, running is a non-starter and I’m feeling rather foolish and more than a bit pissed off about the whole thing. And so we concentrate on the positives, which are plentiful and include:

1. The fact that I made the run, before retiring hurt and successfully avoiding vomiting in the Indian Ocean. Much like the contents of my stomach, I was not out.
2. The fact that otherwise, the weekend was a proper jol, and
3. The fact that we got back to Cape Town just in time to see this guy…

… brilliantly slot home the winner against Bournemouth.

I’ve always been a fan of his.

The Blades up to fifth, looking properly good, and the press now talking of Champions League footy at Bramall Lane next season. And for once, they don’t mean just on the big TV sets in the Blades’ Social Club.

I’m hoping that we’ve just about done enough to avoid relegation at this point and while the actual Premier League title seems just out of reach, I’d be very happy with any finish in the top half of the table. I’m not sure we have the depth of squad to take on the rest of Europe right now.

Still, that league position is fantastic (and actually, totally justified) and the attention is flattering (and actually, totally justified).