After a few sunny days we woke this morning to rain poring from the skies as though someone had shifted our home from its sunny spot to a less-ideal location beneath a giant waterfall. Fortunately there wasn't much wind to speak of, so it's not been that bad, and I'm guessing our crops and dams could do with the odd bucket of rain. :)

Taking a sharp right turn at the top of Kloof Nek road will lead you up, above the city, along the side of Signal Hill, and past Lion's Head (the peak visible in this photo).

There are a few short hiking trails in this area - and since you're so close to the city, it's quite difficult to get very lost. Take at least a litre of water along per person, a warm top, and a pair of closed shoes. Also, hike in groups of three or four... our nature borders on a city, after all.

Save, and keep handy, the Mountain Club of South Africa's number (+27 21 937 0300) as well as the number for crime-related incidents (+27 86 110 6417) on your mobile phone. Those numbers may come in super handy some day. There are a few other numbers here, but they seem to be two individual's personal mobile numbers, so I'll rather just link to the MSCA page.

I took this photo at the V&A Waterfront yesterday. What's significant about it is that, from the direction signs, I learned that the place I'll be visiting next month is 16690 kilometers from home! That's a seriously-long flight folks.

I at first never noticed it; probably because I'm used to seeing padlocks on chains. Then, for some reason, this one caught my eye - something wasn't making sense - there was something peculiar about this particular padlock.

My second look revealed what had caught my attention - the lock seemed not to fulfill a purpose. While subconsciously trying to work out what purpose it could possibly serve, I noticed the heart, etched with permanent marker. Stepping closer I saw the two names written on the back, and the date written on top. The lock served no physical purpose other than being a declaration of love.

Isn't that just awesome?

I took this shot standing on my tippy-toes, trying not to fall over, clasping the Protea bush in one hand and my camera in the other. So, even though it's a little fuzzy on the edges, I hope you agree that it still is beautiful - and (in fact) that Proteas are amoung the world's most beautiful flowers. I'm not sure about you; for me it's perhaps their ruggedness that I find so very appealing - beautiful, yet super hardcore. :)

The V&A Waterfront's pretty at night - and in some way I'm surprised that it's not more vibrant. I wonder if adding one (or probably rather two) dance clubs to the mix wouldn't spice things up a bit.

I'm not sure of its name, but what I do know is that this ship, moored outside of the Table Bay hotel at the V&A Waterfront, belongs to the British Navy. I couldn't see a name on her side, nor were those entering the access-control area willing to speak of her. Perhaps they're on a super-secret mission!

For some reason ships have such beautiful lines in photos - which I'd argue is why in English we refer to them in the feminine. ;)

The Bourbon Clear is a transport vessel, currently used to move cargo to and from oil rigs. Despite her name, I'm guessing that her main cargo doesn't comprise bottles of Jack Daniels. ;)

The front of the ship is absolutely huge, in comparison with the rear, which looks more like a flatbed lorry. For another perspective, take a look at this photo of a sister ship, the Bourbon Front.

Have you visited Julep? I've never been, so if you have, then please leave a comment and tell us about it.

From the poster, I guess it's clear that at times the stylish-looking bar (open Wednesday to Saturday, 7pm to 2am) has music orchestrated by various live DJs. So, if you're into that kinda thing, then visit and let me know what it was like, okay? :)

This is a sidewalk on the lower part of Kloof Nek road, in the City. As you can see, my friend and I weren't too concerned about walking around with our cameras at night. It's not exactly safe-safe, but there were enough people and car guards around to make it safe enough.

Two guys approached us shortly after taking this photo - asking for directions to some street I'd never heard of - Hofmeyer, I think it was. Anyway, perhaps it's an interesting testimony to modern city life that for some time after they first introduced themselves I kept a cautious distance, not completely sure that they weren't muggers.

As it turned out, their British accents were legit, and it seemed as though the were genuinely unable to find the party that they were searching for. We spent a few minutes trying to find Hofmeyer road on Google maps, but they eventually gave up and decided to phone a friend.

I took this photo from a balcony at Rafikis. Even though the breeze was cold on my back, I didn't mind, it was kinda cool having dinner while overlooking the city streets.

It was the first time I've eaten at Rafikis, and I have to say the pizza wasn't bad at all. The bases were thin and crispy, just how I like them, and the Inferno chili pizza that I ordered was pretty tasty and not quite as hot as I'd imagined it may be.

If you've seen the past few photos I've posted then you'll probably realise that I haven't been out much this week (which, in turn, is why I'm sharing another photo from my weekend visit to Three Anchor bay).

The street lights on the promenade were so orange that when I moderated the photo's hue the sky became this rich blue colour. But, I kinda liked it - which is why I'm sharing it with you. :)

I must have looked funny to those walking along the promenade as I crawled under the railing, camera in hand, and lay flat on my stomach on the edge of the high barrier wall. I could feel eyes boring into me while I precariously balanced my camera on the edge of the concrete slab, eye glued to the viewfinder.

It's a pretty little beach - the one at Three Anchor Bay. It's neatly tucked away from the open ocean, and cupped by the promenade's retaining wall.

Even though it looks nice and peaceful when the tide's low and the seas are calm - this little bay easily turns into a ball of raging fury. Take a look at the photo of the same bay posted here.

Doesn't this spot remind you a little of Dr Bruce Banner? :)

It was low tide, so I took a walk out onto the rocks at Three Anchor Bay. The light had already fallen off a lot, it was almost dark already, so I had to expose the photo for quite some time to get it even this bright.

After spending 10 minutes out on the rocks, amidst the peaceful lapping of the waves, I realised that it was probably time to return to the promenade before the light disappeared completely and I ended up in trampling over rocks and though puddles on all-fours trying to find dry land.

Winter, though chilly, can be very beautiful in Cape Town.

We arrived at Three Anchor Bay (next to Sea Point) about 20 minutes after sunset. Even though the day had been cold and miserable, the cool air and clouds made the sunset especially beautiful. Lovely, isn't it?

It doesn't have horns, not even stubs, and I can't spot an udder - so even though to me she looks like a cow, I'm guessing this is a bull. Do cows ever not have udders, and do bulls ever not have horns?

And no, I never said "she looks like a cow" to his face - that would have been mean (and, despite the barbed wire fence, I wasn't sure that he couldn't get to me). ;)

There's something nostalgic about driving in the country when it's raining and the clouds are hanging low over the fields. It was freezing cold and the car's heater was on full-throttle; the windows were misting up, and the wipers lazily whooshed backwards and forwards across the drizzled windscreen. It was beautiful.

The name of this title reminds me of an album released a long long time ago.

I was involved in a minor motor vehicle accident about two years ago. I'd stopped my car at a wet intersection. I started to pull away once the traffic lights turned green, and at the same time a driver (from the opposing side of the intersection) turned across my path. I planted my foot on brakes as quickly as I could, the car's anti-lock braking system kicked in, but the road was too slippery - I t-boned the other driver's car on their passenger-side door.

Given the relatively low-speed at which I hit the other vehicle, I was somewhat surprised at the impact of the accident, and the amount of damage both vehicles sustained. Fortunately nobody was seriously injured - probably because all involved had been wearing their seat-belts. But, the jolt from the impact made me realise how seriously-hard an immovable object must be when traveling at any speed over 20km/h.

The vineyards of Meerendal were particularly soggy and wet on Sunday. I jumped out of my car, into the cold wind and drizzle to take this photo. Once done, thoroughly cold and damp, I returned to a locked car containing three giggling occupants. Apparently I'd been locked out. Apparently it was funny. :)

The weather turns really quickly in Cape Town. It can be sunny and warmish on one day, and icy-cold, wet, and stormy the next.

It rained so much in Cape Town on Saturday and Sunday that the banks of the Liesbeek River burst leading to the M3 highway (near UCT) being knee-deep in water! Take a look at the photos, and read this article on IOL.

Do the roads around your city ever flood? Isn't it scary when your car hits water that's deeper than you expect it to be?!

Yup, that's right, even though it's actually aimed at young kids we took a ride or two on the Bushwacker roller coaster (at Ratanga Junction). The ride wasn't really fast enough, and finished way too quickly.

As mentioned, it is intended for young kids, so to be fair - it was fun-ish. Although, next time, if the queues at the Cobra, Monkey Falls, or Diamond Devil are short enough then I think we'll just spend our time alternating between those three. :)

From my previous photo you probably noticed that we visited Ratanga Junction, our local theme park. Kerry-Anne bought one of the Groupon deals that gave us 10 tickets to visit the theme park at a massive price reduction.

We voted this ride, Diamond Devil (the one in my previous photo) as the third best ride in the park. The number one position, naturally, went to the park's twisting-two-times-looping roller coaster, the Cobra (check this video), and the number two position most certainly always goes to Monkey Falls.

Click on the photo to see the large version. Lovely hey? :)

Some folk park way down here and walk a somewhat lengthy stretch of road (past many, many other cars), up the hill, to the lower cable station where they invariable queue to get their spot in the cable car.

I normally drive to the lower cable station, drop off my passengers, and continue past, where there's normally parking about 500 meters up the road.

One thing to bear in mind when you plan a trip up Table Mountain is to buy your tickets online from the official Table Mountain Aerial Cableway site. You'll get a 10% discount and get to skip the last part of the queue - just like the VIP you are. ;)

Have I mentioned that I really like taking photos of people? Some people like shooting animals, others of landscapes, and yet others enjoy macro photos of insects and inanimate objects. I find that for some reason photos that include people, be they models or unwitting subjects, seem to have a special characteristic that I find difficult to explain.

Here's a link to a collection of photos of people that I've published on Cape Town Daily Photo and my collection of modeling photos on my portfolio site. Enjoy! :)