Call the ambulance(s)

“Forewarned is forearmed.”
“Be prepared.”
“Being ready isn’t enough; you have to be prepared.”
“To be prepared is half the victory.”
And all that.

Hi, I’m here to help.
Let me explain.

New Year on Struisbaai beach is an experience. The combination of several thousand drunk Afrikaners playing with several hundred thousand Rands worth of amateur fireworks in the dark, with the Indian Ocean on one side and some flammable grassy dunes on the other makes for an exciting combination. If anyone bothered to do a risk assessment on this annual event, it would rank alongside swimming with hungry sharks, poking a puff adder or tickling a sleeping dragon for sheer stupidity

I love it and I can’t wait til this evening. Oh – and it’s all perfectly legal, too:

Vuurwerke

Die afvuur van vuurwerke/klappers op enige plek, datum of tyd is onwettig. Gemeenskap Polisie Forum, Buurtwag, Suid Afrikaanse Polisie Dienste en Kaap Agulhas Munisipaliteit Beskermingsdienste – het besluit dat vuurwerke vanjaar tydens ou-/nuwejaarsvieringe slegs tussen die Struisbaai Hawe en die Hoofstrand afgevuur mag word vanaf 20:00 op 31 Desember 2018 tot 02:00 op 1 Januarie 2019.

Boom – quite literally.

The only real variable in the heady mix described above is how much beach is available. The spacing out of holidaymakers and fireworks is key to the reduction in the level of danger on this one given night. And so I had a quick look at the tide tables for this year’s event.

It’s… it’s not looking good.

The last high tide for 2018 in Struisbaai is going to be at 23:58 this evening. This means that there will be very little beach available. But there will still be several thousand drunk Afrikaners playing with several hundred thousand Rands worth of amateur fireworks in the dark, with the Indian Ocean on one side and some flammable grassy dunes on the other.

Can I suggest the the powers that be organise several (or more) ambulances in advance of this evening’s festivities? And perhaps also that anyone going along takes an umbrella. A thick one that can stop falling fireworks.

Whatever your plans for this evening, have a safe one. Enjoy.

House prices

This is not a comment on the crazy prices for property in Cape Town. Even with ‘semigration’, the Mountain, those beaches, dem winelands and the fact that it’s not in Gauteng, those property prices in Cape Town are crazy.

But, like I said, that’s not what this post is about.

This is a post about me wondering how the people who come up with those house prices, come up with those house prices. And here’s the property that prompted it, sent to me earlier this morning.

Now, before we go any further, I know that once this house is sold, it will disappear from the internet. So here’s a screenshot, in case you’re reading this in 2022 or something.

Again, I’m not commenting on whether the price quoted makes this a great deal or a complete rip-off. How much do you charge for interior features like “House Levels”, anyway?

No. I’m commenting on the selling price.

How did they arrive at that figure? (It’s about $235,000 or £178,000 for you uitlanders, by the way.)

It’s basically got to be a disagreement between the houseowner and the agent, hasn’t it?

The estate agent felt that R3,250,000 would be a reasonable place to start, only to be told by an indignant owner that they wanted it on the market for R3,400,000 “and not a penny less!”.

How would that conversation have panned out? Well, the estate agent will have surely have pushed back…

“But no-one will look at it if we put it on at R3,400,000. It’s too high. Believe me, I’m an expert in this property market.”

“No-one will look at it?!?! It’s got 5 bedrooms, 4 bathrooms, a kitchenette which could easily be converted to a full kitchen on the lower level and a well appointed kitchen and scullery on the upper level. That’s 1½ kitchens, mate. One. And. A. Half. Kitchens. R3,400,000.”

“Hmm. The kitchen thing is good, yes. How about R3,300,000 then?”

“OK. I’ll meet you halfway. R3,350,000. Not a penny less!”

“Well, a lot of people on our website actually search for properties which are less than R3,333,333, because they simply can’t be arsed to move their finger from the 3 key once it’s there. Marketed at R3,350,000, your property won’t be in those searches. And fewer views means less chance of selling. How about R3,325,000?”

“How about R3,330,000?”

“How about R3,327,500?”

“Well… OK then. But it’d better sell quickly.”

“I’m sure it will, it’s a great property.”

“R3,328,000.”

“I’m sorry, what?”

 

I don’t want to buy this house. It’s ugly and it has too much kitchen space.
And it’s got a weird price tag.

Dead Fish

I’m running behind. I wanted to have sunset pictures here for you today (proper ones), but we spent much longer on the beach today that any of us expected, and thus everything is running a couple (or more) hours late.

Meanwhile, I have got some Mavic photos up from the weekend: here.

Here’s one of my favourites…

The boy was frantically gesturing at something. But I had no idea what he was trying to point out. It was only when I flew overhead that it suddenly became clear what it was… 🙂

It’s off the hook!

Struisbaai is known as the party capital of Cape Agulhas, and no more so than at this festive time of year. Later today, there’s a Langarm Kompetisie up at the new nightclub in the industrial estate, but I fear that even that won’t match up to the excitement of yesterday’s Sasco promotion at the the local ‘OK’ supermarket (named thus to avoid trade descriptions issues with their original choice of ‘Really Good’):

This man bought a loaf of Sasko bread at ‘OK’, and got to spin the mystery wheel of fortune outside the store.

You’ll never believe what he won:

SOME BREAD ROLLS! Jeez. Times are tough, eh?

Please note Sasko (bakery company) c.f. Sasco – revolutionary student movement.
It should also be noted that only one of these is offering the chance to win R10 worth of products outside the Struisbaai ‘OK’.

But still, BREAD ROLLS!!!!!

DAMN! STRUISBAAI REALLY ARE OFF THE HOOK THIS HOLIDAYS!

Saturday excuses

Often, when we’re heading down to Agulhas, I prepare posts in advance so that if I forget to blog, I’m covered. Sadly, I forgot to do that this time around (thanks to my four day weekend), so I have had to remember to post this.

img_9125

I’ve had a chilled day with an excellent lunch at the Black Oystercatcher before heading back to Struisbaai and watching the local fishing fleet coming in. And that above is last night’s sunset. Hashtag no filter.

Tomorrow promises more relaxation and a walk along the beach before a long meander home on Monday.