We went out to Sea Point this afternoon to get a few shots of the ocean in full rage. As it turned out, we weren't the only ones who had that idea: visit Cape Town Daily Photo Extras to see more photos of the stormy seas, and of all the people who braved the cold to see Nature showing her spectacular power.

Green Point Stadium will be hosting five first-round matches, one second-round match, one quarter-final and one semi-final during the World Cup in 2010. If I can save up enough money, I'll be at all of them. :-)

It's been an exciting few days technology-wise in Cape Town - we've had quite a lot of visitors here during the last week, and a few special tech events have taken place, including Wordcamp SA and yet another 27Dinner.

This photo was taken at a little mini meet-up we had at Asoka on Monday evening. On the left is none other than Matt Mullenweg, founding developer of WordPress - Matt was in town for Wordcamp SA, which was held over the weekend. On the right is the publisher of one of my favourite South African blogs, Nic Haralambous, whom I met in real life for the first time this week (do visit his blog, SA Rocks, if you haven't already). And in the middle is me, of course - a lucky girl, some might say. :P

Hopefully this cold front will blow over quickly though, and we'll have more glorious blue-sky days to look forward to.

The views are absolutely incredible from here, and there are balconies all along the front of the villa to take advantage of this.

If you click through to Cape Town Daily Photo Extras, you'll see a whole lot of photos of the 2-acre indigenous garden. Seeing the wealth of colours and textures in the garden made me realise again just how diverse and beautiful the Cape Floral Kingdom is.

This is the last in our series of posts about Lyonesse Villa (see #1, #2 and #3, and visit Cape Town Daily Photo Extras for more photos of the house and garden). Thanks to our hosts, Ric and Robyn, for treating us to a superb weekend away!

Each room is furnished in its own particular style and colour scheme. This lounge is one of my favourite rooms in the house (probably because I'm rather partial to pink!), and I spent part of Saturday afternoon curled up on the corner couch with my book.

Visit Cape Town Daily Photo Extras to see photos of some of the other rooms, as well as a few close-up shots of the furniture and artworks that give the villa its character and style.

This is just one of the bedrooms in the 850m2 house; there are eight in total, as well as eight bathrooms. I've lost count of the number of TVs... and I've lost Paul several times too.

We had breakfast served to us at the 12-seater dining room table this morning; we spent the afternoon wandering around the 2-acre indigenous garden (photos of that will follow in the next day or two); and we spent the evening playing Wii Sport in the downstairs room. Apart from all the bedrooms and bathrooms, there's a fully stocked bar, an extensive library, a huge swimming pool, and a kitchen full of Gaggenau appliances.

I can't wait to show you the rest of the house, but it's taking Paul some time to resize and watermark all the photos we've been taking, so you and I will have to be patient, I'm afraid.

I spent the evening with a group of bright, enthusiastic and creative women at Origin Roasting in De Waterkant. It was my first time at Origin, but it won't be the last - the atmosphere was great, the staff were friendly, and the coffee was absolutely awesome.

If you're on Facebook, have a look at their group, and if you're in the Green Point area, do yourself a favour and pop in for a cup of coffee.

If you think they're worthy, do vote for them!

The Perdeberg winery, which is located in Paarl, was only established in 1941, making it relatively young by Cape standards. Perdeberg have been fairly innovative in their online promotions lately - if you're keen to win a few bottles of wine, have a look at their Clink to Win competition.

Although the weather has been a little perkier this week, and there are signs of spring's approach all over, the nights are still very chilly and I suspect there's still a fair bit of rain on the way. My strategy for dealing with the winter nights that lie ahead involves little comforts like Irish coffee, dark chocolate, butternut soup and macaroni cheese. What are your favourite winter indulgences?

There are at least nine wine cellars around Durbanville, most of which are run by families who have been farming the land here for many generations. The area is best known for its Sauvignon Blanc, Merlot and Shiraz.

We were all a little taken aback when we spotted the cause of the hold-up. It turned out to be this rather large plane, being transported up the West Coast by truck. We toddled along behind it for several kilometres, as only a few cars were being allowed past every so often. Eventually we got close enough to get a few photos, and you can see the rest of them on the Cape Town Daily Photo Extras blog. Anyone know what kind of plane this is?

If anyone has any information on what became of this little shop, please leave a comment!

I got the distinct feeling that the greater majority of people in the restaurant were supporting Germany. There were quite a few glum faces when the game ended, but mine was certainly not one of them. I was beaming from ear to ear, in fact, and the feeling hasn't entirely worn off yet. I'm really looking forward to seeing La Furia Roja playing on South African soil in next year's Confederations Cup. Although my first loyalty will always be to my country, I certainly won't be sorry to see Spain win that tournament too. :)

About 5 years ago, the price of property along this part of the beachfront began to increase dramatically. Apartments that were on the market for around R120,000 when we were considering buying, are now priced well over the million-rand mark. But hindsight is 20/20, isn't it? ;-)

I took this shot on Beach Road in Sea Point at around 10.30am. As you can see, we've been having some decidedly wintry weather. Of course, it's the winter solstice in the southern hemisphere today, so technically we're now heading for summer again. And not a moment too soon...

We used to live near a water reservoir in Durbanville, and I would watch in the mornings as the members of the resident flock of guineafowl flapped up onto the reservoir one by one, lined up along the ledge, and then took it in turns to jump off again. Some of them were more hesitant than others though, and I could imagine their feathery buddies at the bottom egging them on to "just jump already, would you?!" These silly big birds never fail to amuse me.

There are few luxuries I crave quite as much or as often as a guilt-free afternoon of reading - there always seem to be so many other things that need to be done, must be done, can't be ignored. I'm certain I'm not the only one who feels this way...

At the request of the fishing community, a harbour was built in Gordon's Bay in the 1930s; eventually, in the 1950s, permission was given for yachts to be moored here as well. The buildings in the background of this shot are part of the South African Naval College, which was formally established in 1966.

Should I turn around and take another road instead? Not practical, no. Should I keep a lookout to my right, watching for large boulders rushing down the mountainside, so that I can take evasive action into the sea? Tricky and potentially dangerous - I might mistake a mountain goat for a boulder for instance, and plunge to an unnecessary watery death in my haste to get away from it.

Maybe they're actually just cruel, and really mean for me to drive this stretch of road with paralysing fear as my navigator. What do you think?

I spent some time chatting to the volunteers to find out what is needed most right now. If you have the means and the inclination, whether you live in South Africa or not, please consider helping in one of the following ways:

If you are in Cape Town
The items they need most right now are toothpaste, toothbrushes, soap, baby formula, and of course, more pillows and blankets. For the time being they have enough tinned food, toilet paper and sanitary towels - but that can change in a matter of hours, so if you're unsure it might be best to give the TAC office a call on 021 422 1490 before heading to the warehouse.

The warehouse is situated at 50 Canterbury Street (just off Roeland Street in Zonnebloem), and is open from around 8.30am to 10pm. They need volunteers to help with the sorting of donated goods, and also people with cars or bakkies to transport supplies to where they are needed.

The TAC office (4th floor, Westminster House, 122 Longmarket Street) is open 24 hours a day, and they are constantly in need of volunteers to help with phoning around, and doing admin and computer work.

If you are NOT in Cape Town
Please consider donating cash, either to TAC (which stands for Treatment Action Campaign: they are an HIV lobby and advocacy group, who have turned their hand to disaster relief - very effectively, I might add) or the Red Cross. There are a number of ways to donate to TAC, depending on where you live. Get more information here. You can donate to the Red Cross online here.

I subscribe to an interesting service called Fact-a-Day, which reported a little while ago that, in terms of formal employment, the construction sector had the highest annual growth rate (11.5%) of all sectors from 2001 to 2006. I wouldn't be at all surprised if this sector is still continuing to grow faster than any other - there seems to be building work going on wherever I look.

Whether here legally or illegally, these are human beings; what is being done to them is entirely inhuman. For the first time since I was a schoolgirl and apartheid was still in existence, I feel saddened and heartsore beyond words for my country.

I have met some wonderfully warm and kind people from other African countries working as car guards or selling their craftwork around Cape Town, and it breaks my heart to think that they might end up as victims of someone else's rage.

We are fortunate in the Western Cape that this level of violence has not yet erupted here. I hope with all my heart that it doesn't, and I hope that a solution is found soon to restore calm to the streets of Gauteng's townships.

Nando's have become famous for their off-the-wall advertising over the years; and their in-store signage is pretty clever too, usually combining some sort of poultry theme with whatever's currently in the news.

A number of companies - such as the Virgin Active chain of gyms - have taken definite steps to lower their electricity consumption; maybe it's time that others followed suit.

The recreational permit imposes daily fishing limits (as far as quantity is concerned) and limits fishers to certain periods of the year. This ruling was put in place to protect the marine life during breeding periods as well as limit conflict between commercial and recreational fishing.

If you're planning a fishing trip to Cape Town, just take note that there are areas where fishing is prohibited. I'm not familiar with the specific areas, but I know (for example) that the Boulders area in False Bay forms part of a conservation area where even thinking of fishing is subject to a hefty fine. ;)