Monthly Archives: May 2012

Fire trucks and water pumps

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Fire trucks and water pumps
Eight years ago today our firefighter friend passed away in a freak road accident. We spent many fun days with him and Chanel - we went on holiday together, hiked together, played in a band together, and did far too many silly things (and I do mean silly!).

This old Bedford fire truck reminded me of the time he invited Kerry-Anne and I over to the fire station - so that we could practice abseiling from the rafters in the garage area (where the trucks park).

After tiring of climbing up and down ropes, he pulled one of the fire trucks from the garage, hooked it up to the water mains, and taught us how to use a fire hose. (No, the Fire Chief wasn't in at the time, in case you were wondering. ;) )

Later that evening, once it was dark, we decided to record footage for a music video by strapping a camcorder to the front of a rescue vehicle and racing around on a nearby dirt road as if on call to an emergency.

We somehow managed not to break anything that night. It was an awesome evening - likely never to be forgotten.

Rusted old cars at the Wijnland Auto Museum

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Rusted old cars
In September 2009 I shared a photo of a car in the Wijnland Auto Museum and vowed that I'd return with a group to take a plethora of photos. It's taken until now, but indeed, I returned with a group of photographers and had a spectacular few hours shooting pics to my heart's content.

As mentioned in that article, the museum is open to the public from 10am to 4pm each day, and entrance still costs R50. The owner is very friendly and happy to leave you to do your thing or (if you prefer) explain the history of almost every car on his property. He really has an astounding collection - and it's really worth visiting.

Rich, perhaps famous, on Clifton beach

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Rich, perhaps famous, on Clifton beach
I don't know if the people who own these homes on Clifton beach are famous, but they certainly have to be rich (or at least know someone who is!). I took yesterday's photo in exactly the opposite direction to this one, so imagine the view that people living in these homes have each day. Isn't it just insane? Wouldn't you love a house right on Clifton beach?

If you live here, or even if you just stayed here for a few days, we'd love to know who you are. I've always been curious, so leave a comment and tell us a little about what's awesome (and what's not so awesome) about living above Clifton's beaches. Also, settle my mind, don't you worry about tsunamis?! :)

Which is your favourite beach?

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Misty morning on Clifton 2nd Beach
Clifton is truly my favourite beach in Cape Town. Truth be told, its fine white sand, large round boulders, lack of kelp, absence of wind, and beautiful scenery make it my favourite of all the beaches I've ever visited.

Leave a comment and share the location of your favourite beach. Include a link to a photo and/or a Google map, as well as a short description of why it's your favourite. If you've been unfortunate enough to never have set foot on a beach - leave a comment also, we'll commiserate your great misfortune! :)

ZU-JVZ – Jabiru J400 overhead

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ZU-JVZ - Jabiru J400 overhead
I may look really smart for knowing this plane is a Jabiru J400, but in truth it's amazing what you're able to find using Google. :) I spotted this plane puttering across the Durbanville farmlands - fairly low I might add! To give you an idea of how low, this was taken at 70mm zoom - so not much zoom at all.

Stormwater tunnel

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Stormwater tunnel
Besides for people with leaky houses, the problem with the first heavy rains of the season is that stormwater drains and tunnels often collect lots dry grass, leaves, branches, and other rubbish.

When the first heavy rains hit you often find water being forced out of blocked drains into streets - which in turn is both fun to race your car though, and dangerous if you don't notice the water and drive into a deep puddle unexpectedly.

We had a fair amount of rain in Cape Town yesterday and today. Also a fair number of car accidents - which is typical on rainy Cape days. It seems as though Winter truly has arrived!

Sowing the seeds of love

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Sowing the seeds of love
I can't work out what kind of plant this is, but it's clear from the photo that it once contained seeds that have now been dispersed into the passing air currents and carried from only one or two meters to perhaps hundreds of kilometers away.

I found a really old-looking, yet interesting, website that has some good information and photos about various seeds and the ways in which they travel. If you follow the link then you'll see what I mean by "old-looking". But, do excuse that, the first article on Waynes Word appears to be from 1994!

Please leave a comment if you know the name of this plant. At the time I asked, so I know her name is Nicole, but the name of her species, that's still unknown to me. :)

Cows come to look

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Cows come to look
Will you believe that I had to ask my niece, bless her, what breed these cows are? I thought they were Freezeland cows (it was not my fault, I blame my grade 5 teacher), apparently they're Friesians (also known as Holstein cattle).

Anyway, breeds aside, don't you love how, when you approach a herd, they gather closer to see what's happenin' and then when you raise your camera and walk closer they scurry away to the far corner of the field? Strange animals. :)

The Cape Quarter cyclist

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The Cape Quarter cyclist
I took this photos earlier in the year and never got around to posting it, so do excuse me for posting a photo taken so terribly long ago (just before the Argus Cycle Tour, in fact)!

I saw the cyclist approaching, and tried to quickly take the shot before he obscured my view. I at first thought "Darn, I wasn't quick enough.", but on reviewing the photo later I discovered that I really liked the fact that I caught him cycling into the frame. It's funny how sometimes things that you expect would ruin something actually make them better.

Tugboat that tugged the trawler

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Tugboat that tugged the trawler
The tugboat to the left is the Smit Amandla, the boat that freed that Japanese trawler from Clifton's beachfront last Friday.

Unless you're South African, you may not appreciate the tugboat's name. The first part of the name is a common South African surname (similar to Smith), and the second part (Amandla) is a Xhosa and Zulu word meaning Power. So together, they mean Smit Power. Awesome name for a tugboat hey?! :)

What's especially memorable about the word amandla is that it's part of a war cry (of sorts) adopted by members of the ANC during the apartheid times. Back then, and now sometimes also, the leader of a group of people would shout out "Amandla!" and the crowd would respond with "Awethu!", which together mean "Power to the people!".

No need for shutters

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No need for shutters

I remember thinking earlier this year how great it would be to have shutters on our windows. No matter how thick our curtains are, or what kind of reflective blinds we have, the heat still penetrates the glass making our home rather uncomfortable in summer. Shutters effectively prevent the sun's rays from reaching the glass, helping to keep our rooms cool.

Today I'm sitting in our lounge working on a website for Kerry-Anne - and it's absolutely freezing cold. Well, not exactly freezing (as in 0°C) - the latest reading at 17h34 shows that it's 14°C, which is really really cold for us here in Africa.

Fig preserve and cheese – a perfect snack

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Fresh figs on cheese
Clearly these are fresh, they're not preserved figs - but they are lying beautifully positioned on a large round cheese, which reminded me of how much I really do love sticky-gooey-sweet green fig preserve on cheese; especially camembert cheese!

It's just before 12am in the evening, and posting this photo has compelled me to prepare for a midnight snack - I do believe I have fig preserve and camembert cheese in the fridge. :)

Angry lions

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Angry lions
While some things are debatable, you definitely don't want to encounter one of these bad boys out in the open veld.

At home, we have our own fierce feline that roams the plains of our back yard. While most often very sweet, when I or brother have been particularly irritating, she transforms into a clawing beast that no man would want to tussle with!

Rococoa: For the love of chocolate

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Chocolate fountain cone
Mini chocolate cones cost only R5 - and, believe me, they're well worth the money! On market days at The Palms Terraces in Woodstock, Rococoao (a small bakery, chocolatier, and coffee shop) set up a small stall outside their shop, laden with all kinds of chocolates, including this machine filled with molten chocolate. (I'm sure they stole it from Charlie's chocolate factory, btw.)

If you decide to visit, then here's an insider tip - besides for the chocolate cones, you have to try their hot chocolate drink. They basically walk over to this machine, pour a magnitude of chocolate into the cup, add hot milk, and serve. It's divine. At R25 it's slightly more expensive than ordinary hot chocolate, but like the cone, most definitely worth it!

Mixed herbs and other leafy things

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Mixed herbs and other leafy things
Kerry-Anne's brother, the family horticulturist, started a business growing herbs and other leafy salad things from their little farm in Langebaan a little while back. I visited the Market at the Palms (a bi-monthly market in Woodstock, where he sells some of his produce) on Saturday to touch base with the family and (I have to admit) indulge in chocolate from the chocolate fountain operated by Rococoa, the most insanely-awesome chocolatier I've ever visited. If you have a chocolate addiction, then be warned, I'll share those photos tomorrow!

But for now, if you're interested in doing the healthy thing and buying seedlings to start your own herb-and-salad-leaf garden, visit the Mixed Herbs Facebook page and leave a message on the wall, or email John directly for more info.

A ship stranded on Clifton beach

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A ship stranded on Clifton beach
Yesterday morning Cape Town woke up to dense fog, and a Japanese fishing trawler perched on Clifton beach. The NSRI report tells the story in some detail, so forgive if I don't repeat what they've already said. :)

I visited Clifton 2nd beach at about 4pm yesterday afternoon to see a large tug stationed a couple of hundred meters from the ship with one (or two, I think) cables connecting it to the Japanese trawler. A smaller tug was making regular trips to the large tug, and a small rubber boat was used between the tiny tug and trawler. I'm guessing they were dropping off supplies and equipment.

High tide was due at 21h00 yesterday evening, at which time the large tug was due to give an almighty tug (pun and all, yes) and hopefully free the vessel from the beach before its structure gave way to the relentless battle between ocean currents and fixed land. I'm not yet sure if the rescue team managed to free the ship - I'm sure we'll hear how the operation fared once the sun comes up in the morning. I am holding both thumbs fairly tightly though.

Click here to see our full gallery of photos from Clifton 2nd beach.

Electricity pylons

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Electricity pylons
These electricity pylons reminded me of how dependent we are on those billions of electrons that flow across wires to our homes. We had a short power failure at work earlier in the week - and though I was lucky (I was working on a laptop and had UPS power for my other monitors) several others in our office building could simply not continue with their work. Now, while that may sound appealing, it's not ideal when you really have work that you have to get finished.

About two or three weeks ago I bought 18 kilograms of LPG (liquid petroleum gas), and a two-plate portable gas hob - in case we have unforeseen power shortages this winter. There's no way I'm risking having to wake up without a cup of hot coffee!

Farmlands and hills

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Farmlands and hills
These, dear friends, are the farmlands and hills outside of Durbanville, the little suburb in which we live. This specific photo was taken from the farmlands that (I believe) belong to Fair Cape dairies. Click on the photo to see the large version - isn't it pretty out there?

This map shows pretty much exactly where I was standing when taking this photo. :)

Padlocked door

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A padlocked door
What's with us humans that we absolutely have to know what lies behind any locked door. Well okay, perhaps it's unfair to paint us all with the same brush, but tell me that looking at this lock doesn't make you wonder what's behind the door. Well? :)

Peacock and Peahen – a first date

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Peacock and Peahen - a first date
We of course don't know for sure that these two were on a first date, but the peacock on the left was the only one (of about 10 peafowls) that followed the peahen onto the roof of this pergola. He seemed to be eyeballing her intently.

What you can't see in the photo is that there was a bush fire burning in the vicinity, billowing smoke into the clear sky, causing the light to change from its ordinary mid-day bright white into a soft orange hue. Normally a peahen's feathers are pretty dull, lacking colour, but on this day the filtered light transformed her plumage to be the golden brown colour that it is in this photo. Click the photo to see the large version. Isn't she beautiful?

An alternate theory, to a "first date", is her alleged suitor wasn't actually a suitor at all... perhaps he was simply in awe of (and probably jealous of) her unusually-pretty plumage!

Sculptures at Saronsberg

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Sculptures at Saronsberg
I find there's something terrifying about this statue - don't you? We discovered this sculpture (which I recall stood taller than I!), the sculptures below, and many more in the wine-tasting room at the Saronsberg estate. Kerry-Anne and I took quite some time to browse the various works of art, which (I have to admit) was due to my obsession to photograph every sculpture from almost every angle possible. :)

The estate is certainly worth a visit, even if only to visit the exhibition. Take care though, even though the estate known as Saronsberg, it's on the opposite side of the Winterhoek mountain range to the small town of Saron. Browse Saronsberg's website, they have a map that shows exactly where the estate is located.

Chapel among the vines

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Church among the vines
Isn't this scene, with the little church and green vines, just beautiful? The afternoon's soft autumn light, falling across the vineyard, was absolutely captivating.

We took a quick drive into Montpellier, and given what we saw (how beautiful the place is) I'm fairly certain that hiring this venue for a wedding would cost a pretty penny... however, it really is very pretty - and probably perfect if you'd love to get married out in the country.

Perhaps you know that the city of Montpellier is in southern france. Do distinguish this estate, its full name is "Montpellier De Tulbagh" (or "Montpellier Du Cap", as noted at their front gates).

Old, very old, wine bottles

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Old, very old, wine bottles

Imagine how long these bottles have been stacked here for! We found these below De Oude Drostdy, in the cellar-area where prisoners awaiting trial by the magistrate were kept.

You may recall that I posted a few photos from our visit to the Van Ryn's brandy distillery in December. Distel, a Stellenbosch-based company that produces wine, spirits, and ciders owns several properties all over the Cape, including the Van Ryn's brandy distillery and De Oude Drostdy.

Now, I completely understand why they hang on to Van Ryn's, but as for De Oude Drostdy - besides for historical and investment purposes, I'm unsure as to why Distel keep her. It's not like they make a great deal of money from the R10 museum entrance fee! Do you perhaps know?

Edison gold moulded records

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Edison gold moulded records
Unless you're well-informed about old music players, or were around in the late 1800s, perhaps you wouldn't recognise this cylinder as being a record for a phonograph. The phonograph was invented by Thomas Edison in 1877 and is different to a gramophone in that its records are (as you can see) cylinders whereas gramophone records are round vinyl disks. Remember those?

Anyway, I found this record in the De Oude Drostdy building that I mentioned in yesterday's article. Below are four more photos that I took in one of the De Oude Drostdy's rooms - the first is of an actual Edison phonogram (awesome hey), then a gramophone needle, followed by two gramophones.

Tulbagh’s beautiful landscape

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Mountains, blue sky and green grass
April must be the best time of year to visit little towns that surround Cape Town - but, it's really important to first strike up a good bargain with those who decide the weather. It's an absolute pleasure driving around the countryside when the temperature is moderate, wind is at bay, and the skies are blue - it's not quite as much fun to do so on cold, wet and windy days (like it's been today, I might add)!

I took this photo from the steps of De Oude Drostdy, the old magistrate's building on the outskirts of Tulbagh. Imagine waking up to this every morning!

Surrounded by mountains

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Surrounded by mountains

Most of the Tulbagh area's beauty comes from its terrain. While there's a great deal of wide open space (which is good for clearing one's mind), the area is completely surrounded by mountains - which are in some way very comforting. I, like all Capetonians, get a bit weirded-out if all I'm able to see is barren flatness with no mountains in sight. It's difficult to explain really. :)

Take a few moments to browse this satellite image - you'll see what I mean by surrounded!

Church Street in Tulbagh

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Church Street in Tulbagh
Church Street is really, as far as we could tell, the prettiest place in the town of Tulbagh. The rest of the town is a little run down, but Church Street has plenty of quaint Cape Dutch houses, beautiful gardens, and several restaurants and coffee shops along its length.

On our first night in Tulbagh we tried a small Belgian restaurant, the name of which I can't quite recall now - but no-matter, it's easy to find. :) The restaurant is operated by what appears to be a retired gentleman and his charming wife (whom I believe is the chef), and is about the closest thing to fine-dining that I believe you'll find in a rural town like Tulbagh. It's certainly worth a visit, so if you overnight in the town, do give them a try.