The Wheel of Excellence

I guess the fact that it’s stayed means that the V&A Waterfront, and the wheel’s owners are making a packet of money from the attraction.

A silent carousel at the V&A Waterfront

While the carousel looks awesome, we were very disappointed that it lacked that typical carousel music – well, it lacked music completely! Who would operate a carousel without music?!

So, even though it only costs R10 per person the absence of that enchanting music disappointed us so much that we decided to skip the ride.

The largest catamaran in Africa?

If you’re not sure what a catamaran is – well, it’s quite simple. A catamaran is a boat with more than one hull (generally two hulls). What makes this kind of boat perfect as ferries, or sunset cruises, is that the double-hull design makes this class of boat faster and far more stable than its single-hull sister.

Ocean cables

You may find it interesting to read a little more about the history of cables ships and the laying of the first transatlantic cable here.

Atlantic Adventure's high speed ride

I considered the trip (instead of the deathly-slow Steamboat Vicky trip) but we wanted to take our two nieces out on a ride and this one (while cheaper and longer than the Australian Thunder Jet) was more than we could spend on the trip.

Take a close look at the back of the boat – see the guy with his arms raised? Looks super-happy hey?

The World - the largest privately-owned yacht

Assuming that you have the cash, and the time to spend doing pretty much nothing at all, wouldn’t it be awesome to own a cabin aboard this beauty?

Steamboat Vicky

Steamboat Vicky eventually returned to the jetty empty. It appeared as though she’s dropped her passengers off elsewhere to lighten her load for the return trip to her home jetty. According to the skipper they were having trouble with the 100-year-plus steam engine’s water pump… and I guess you can imagine that a steamboat without a water pump is more of a boat, less of a steamboat.

We started the extremely slow trip around the harbour (according to the skipper the boat has two speeds, slow and stop). The trip lasted about half an hour – and in the next few posts I’ll share a few photos that I took of other boats in the Victoria and Alfred basins.

If you decide to take a trip on Steamboat Vicky, I’d advise against sitting in front. During the trip I nervously kept an eye on the uncomfortably-hot flames that were leaping out from under the boiler only 50cm away from my ankle. Also, don’t take a trip on a very windy day – the skipper had plenty of engine trouble trying to get old Vicky back to her jetty, and eventually dropped us off at a spot close to the Clock Tower.

Waterfront kerbstones

The V&A Waterfront's Robinson drydock

Dockyard cranes

The blue building to the right of the photo is the well-known Blue Shed craft market at the V&A Waterfront, and the brown structure that you’re able to see to the left of the photo is the Two Oceans Aquarium – which certainly should be included on any visitor’s V&A Waterfront excursion.

Coca-Cola's red-crate robot

I think the robot is pretty awesome, but can you imagine how much the company must be paying the V&A Waterfront to advertise their brand with such a huge 3D billboard?

Did you know that the Coca-Cola company is 125 years old and that soft-drink was originally sold as a medicine?! Isn’t that just crazy?!

Green 'n Gold Clock Tower

A fresh coat of paint for a rugby tournament? In case you were wondering, yes, we are a rugby-crazy nation.

I far prefer the red version of the clock tower, but one can’t deny that to paint the building in our national sporting colours is a great symbol of support for the national team. That said, I do hope that the tower returns to its traditional red colour after we win the World Cup, again.

A Shiny Metal Elephant

You’ll find this and many other artworks outside the African Trading Post at the V&A Waterfront.

No, I never actually knew that elephants were part of the Proboscidea family.

The Andromeda

South Africa has a fairly long coastline of 2798km, so isn’t it astounding that about 20% of our coastal areas have been declared MPAs (Marine Protected Areas) – stretches of cost where commercial fishing has been banned?

One day, but not right now, I’ll go to the effort of tracing all the areas on a proper map, but for now, here’s a link to a page on our government’s Marine and Coastal Management website – it contains a terribly-formatted list of all areas marked as MPAs. Sorry.

Clock Tower

Even though the restaurant was empty (on a Friday night) the service wasn’t very good. While expensive, the food was ok – but not particularly memorable. Also, it appeared as though the main meals were fairly different in size – leaving some of us still hungry after the meal.

Although the restaurant is beautiful inside, and has beautiful views, with the huge array of restaurants to choose from it’s probably not a restaurant that we’d return to in a great hurry.

Fishing boats at the V&A Waterfront

The water that you see in the bottom half of this photo is that of the Victoria Basin – the basin that stretches out alongside the V&A Waterfront shopping mall. The Collier Jetty, on the far end of the basin, is (as you can see) currently used as a spot to moor colourful fishing boats.

According to an industrial heritage white paper that I found, Cape Town harbour’s elevator complex (the metal structure extending the length of the jetty) had been used by the Farmer’s Co-operative since 1987 to load grain for export. I’m not sure whether or not it’s till in use by the FC since the article mentions that due to the increased length and draught of ships they were no longer able to use it (for exports).

Don’t you just love how the fishing boats are painted in similar fashion to the colourful houses of Bo-Kaap?

Road Cone

In addition to a couple of stairs on the opposite side of the pillar (on the right-side of the photo), this little ramp connects the first floor of V&A Waterfront mall with restaurants that overlook the amphitheatre, and (currently) the Wheel of Excellence.

Unless you know someone who uses a wheelchair, I guess you’re unlikely to realise how difficult the simplest of navigational tasks can be. I’ve never had to make use of one, but from what I can see, the V&A Waterfront is pretty wheelchair-friendly. Most folk use escalators to get to the upper level of the shopping centre, but there are also lifts that you could use if you’re reliant on a wheelchair. The Waterfront area has two or three major levels outside and each is accessible by wheelchair; although I can imagine that one may need some assistance to use the ramps as I imagine it’s pretty tiring to scoot yourself up the incline.

In case you’re traveling without a wheelchair, or for some reason require one when visiting, call 021 408 7500 (preferably a day in advance) to book one. Hire is free of charge, but requires a R50 refundable deposit.

Visit Accessible Cape Town for stacks of information that would help people with impaired mobility, vision and hearing.

White Christmas trees

Yes, of course Africa celebrates Christmas… but white Christmas trees? I have to say that the chance of having a White Christmas in Cape Town is pretty slim, especially with the incredibly hot days we’ve been having.

Every now and again I wish that we could send some of our warm weather over to Europe to alleviate some of pain that they’re feeling from the extreme cold spell that they’re (you’re) experiencing, but I very quickly take back these wishes as I remember our cold winter when I was practically counting down the days to summer!

Some day Kerry-Anne and I will visit the UK, France, or some similarly cold area over Christmas – just to see what a White Christmas is all about.

Amphitheatre at the Waterfront

Well, I guess “stumbled upon” isn’t quite accurate – in fact, I heard them all the way from the far end of the shopping mall! They were awesome, but then Highlander pipe bands always are; are they not?

The whole V&A area seemed to be abuzz with activity. Besides for the crowd that the pipe band drew, there were people walking about snapping photos of the gorgeous views; some were selfishly licking away at their Hagen Daaz ice-cream; and others were just sitting in the sun, taking in the festive atmosphere.

The Waterfront is hosting a myriad of free musical concerts over the next few weeks. From choirs singing Christmas carols and cheerful Christmas bands, to fabulous 5pm concerts with the likes of Verity, Southpaw, Chasing Friday and the beautiful Louise Day.

Tip: Get to the V&A Waterfront at about 6am some time this month. There are very few people around at that time of the morning and the peaceful atmosphere with the cool morning air and bright rising sun makes the harbour area the perfect place to be.

Ice rink

Kerry-Anne and I popped into the Waterfront on a small coffee and photo outing. She had coffee, while I wandered around the the area taking photos in the beautifully soft evening light.

On arrival I spotted a large white tent positioned outside of the Mugg & Bean entrance to the shopping mall. On closer investigation I confirmed my suspicion that the tent is actually the mobile ice rink that’s been set up for the holiday period. I took a look inside and although the ice surface isn’t huge, it looks like plenty of fun.

Skating costs R30 per hour between 10am and 7pm if you have your own skates, or R50 if you’d like to hire the bright orange ones you see in the photo. Between 7pm and 10pm the rink hosts themed evenings aimed at teenagers (at a cost of R50 per hour if you have your own skates, or R70 per hour if you don’t).

I don’t think it’s a coincidence that the three-hour themed evenings coincide so perfectly with the amount of time parents would need for dinner and a movie.

Foot Bridge

So if you’ve crossed this bridge you’ll also know that it’s a swinging bridge – which means that it detaches from the one side and swings open every so often to open the channel, thereby letting boats pass in and out of the yacht basin.

Now you may recall that in my previous post I mentioned that I’d been late and was rushing to meet Kerry-Anne here, near the Clock Tower. As I arrived this bridge had just closed and started to swing open to allow boats to pass. This would have been fine normally, but as I stood there this day I was on the one side and Kerry-Anne was on the other. I’m sure you can imagine how long the five minutes that the bridge was unavailable for felt as her mildly irritated eyes glared from across the channel.

The Cape Grace

Anyway, enough of that – have you stayed at The Cape Grace? If so, what did you think of it? Did it suck? Was it more than you expected it to be?

Sunset at the docks

The V&A Waterfront is built directly alongside Table Bay harbour – Cape Town’s fully functional commercial harbour. I guess this is part of the attraction and what makes the Waterfront so darn attractive. In one basin you’ll see sleek yachts, in the next small run-down fishing vessels and in the next large cargo ships.

One often finds old ships in desperate need of attention in this particular dock yard. You’ll often see large scaffolding surrounding the vessels with workmen clambering all over with large sanders, grinders and welding machines. It’s actually quite interesting to watch them work as you make your way along the footpath to the Clock Tower and the rest of the V&A Waterfront.

Coke's red robot

I watched for a while as a few workmen constructed this Coca-Cola robot at the V&A Waterfront. They’ve used red scaffolding and Coca-Cola crates to build the figure. I’m not sure what they plan to do with it, but it’s clearly part of their marketing campaign around the World Cup football.

The company has put such a huge marketing drive behind the football that I’m sure you’ve seen it, but on the off chance that you haven’t, here’s a short animated television ad that I think somehow must tie in with the robot.

Celebrating the first match

I left work at about lunchtime, collected Kerry-Anne from home and headed into Cape Town to join thousands of football fans at the V&A Waterfront to watch the 2010 Football World Cup opening ceremony.

The Waterfront was alive with people excitedly preparing to watch the ceremony and first match. We watched the ceremony at the amphitheatre, very proudly reflecting on what our little country at the tip of the large African continent has achieved in so little time. I don’t think any of us really comprehend the amount of effort, planning and expertise that went into organising every detail of this event. From the stadiums and the roadworks to the planning of dance routines, coaching of kids, and preparing to receive thousands of foreign visitors… it’s all been executed pretty darn awesomely!

From our restaurant table at Wang Thai, Kerry-Anne and I proudly watched our team, Bafana Bafana (ranked 83rd in the world), play a great game against Mexico (ranked 17th), drawing 1-1 after 93 minutes. We left the packed restaurant after the match, had some coffee at a nearby coffee shop, and then slowly walked over to the Cape Town Stadium for the match between France and Uruguay.

This was the first time that we’d visited the stadium, and I have to say to the team who put it together: wow, you did good! I didn’t realise that a stadium could be so beautiful!

Silhouette of a man

Looking at this one I can almost feel the cool morning air and warmer rays of orange light. This sure was a beautiful morning at the Waterfront. Wouldn’t you agree Beverley? (At the time she was shooting a similar photo slightly behind and to the right of me.)

A beautiful boat

Of all the things that you could do in Cape Town, chartering a yacht must be one of the most luxurious experiences. I guess something even more luxurious would be to charter a yacht overnight and invite a few friends for a party while moored off Clifton 4th beach.

I’m not sure of the name of the vessel in this photo, but while trying to find out, I discovered that the large boat in the photo in this previous post appears to be the Princess Emma, one of the most luxurious charters available at the Cape Town Waterfront.

Given the overnight rate of approximately R40 000, I assume that it would most often be companies that would charter the vessel to either treat their employees (most likely the directors ), or to impress prospective clients. Nevertheless, if you have a mere R40 000 to spend on a night’s entertainment, and if you’d like to be super-popular with your friends, this sure is the way to go.

Sushi at Sevruga

Sevruga (map) is one of the pristine restaurants of the V&A Waterfront. Their steak is good, their fish is great, and the sushi, well, darn near perfect. Visiting isn’t exactly a cheap outing, so when our impromptu sushi club caught wind of the half-price sushi afternoons (14h00 to 17h00), it was a no-brainer – Sevruga would be the venue to host our next meet-up.

The restaurant certainly didn’t disappoint… as I’m guessing you can see from the photo above. And, just before you think I made an absolute pig of myself – this was the plate that Kerry-Anne and I shared. I doubt many would actually fit this entire plate of sushi in for dinner!