If you're visiting Cape Town, and if you're in the mood to escape the city buzz for a while, take an hour or two out of your programme to walk around on Signal Hill. It overlooks the city bowl and Table Mountain on one side, and Table Bay Harbour with the Atlantic Ocean on the other side. Be careful not to walk far though as it's easy to underestimate the size of the mountains and hills in and around Cape Town.

Tips that can save your life:

• Take at least a litre of water per person, as well as warm clothing - no matter how warm it feels when you set out. Cape Town's weather is notoriously changeable.
• Never walk alone on the mountains. Always plan your route with the aid of a map, or else a quick unplanned 1-hour walk could easily turn into a 24-hour sleepover on the mountain - it really is that big.
• Store the Metro Rescue telephone number on your cellphone, in case you encounter difficulty while on the mountain: 0027 21 948 9900 (international) or 021 948 9900 (local).

The High Angle Rescue Team is a team of volunteers organised by Dion Tromp of High Angle Rescue and Access. Chances are good that they'll be the ones to save your life when you end up precariously poised on a narrow ledge. When they do find you, be nice, they are volunteers and they've risked their lives to save yours.

We dragged a friend of ours along on a geocaching expedition to Zevenwacht wine farm, heading for a lookout point at, what I believe is, the highest hill on the farm.

Seeing a "no entry, trespassers will be prosecuted" sign on one of the gravel roads that we believed may have led to our destination we turned around to seek an alternative route. Kerry's Mini soon became a 4x4 Mini as we headed up a rather dubious-looking gravel and sand road. We eventually stopped the car, realising that it would take us no further, and set off on foot.

Huffing and puffing, we reached the top of the hill in what must have been 5 hours (actually only 15 minutes, but it seemed so much longer). The bus (presumably a tour bus) in this photo is seen leaving the hill down the gravel road with the "no entry, trespassers will be prosecuted" sign. Perhaps we should have ignored that sign. ;)

As with many villains, this one's know by several aliases, including "Argiope aurantia", "Black and Yellow Garden Spider" and "Writing Spider". Unlike many villains however, this one is completely harmless to humans. The worst that could happen is that Argiope aurantia could walk on you. Of course, this little nugget of information doesn't comfort Kerry-Anne at all, and is, in fact, precisely what she fears most.

"But it might crawl on me!", Kerry exclaimed with a look of horror creeping over her face.

So, when going for a walk in one of our many nature reserves, be on the lookout for Argiope - you should find at least one or two with which to horrify your partner. :)

Signal Hill overlooks Table Bay and the great Atlantic Ocean, making this spot the perfect place from which to watch the setting sun. We stumbled across this couple filling their glasses, presumably in celebration of the new year, a new career, their engagement or perhaps simply each other.

When visiting Cape Town you should make a point of visiting Signal Hill; the drive to the top of the hill is spectacular, showing off our city in all its glory.

Note to visitors: Whilst it is very safe during the day, as a local I would be cautious about visiting this remote hilltop at night. I'm sure our friends in the photo made their way to their vehicle and down the hill soon after the sun had set.

Each summer Kirstenbosch Botanical Gardens (located on the slopes of Table Mountain) host a series of "Summer Sunset Concerts". We joined a couple of friends for a picnic on the lawn while waiting for Shaun Morgan - lead singer of Seether - to make his appearance.

Seether, originally a South African heavy-metal band, moved to the United States a few years ago to take the next step in their musical career. Since then they have toured the world gathering thousands of fans along the way. This evening Seether returned to their place of birth for an open-air acoustic concert.

Shaun Morgan's performance was exceptional - his voice is well suited to acoustic renditions of their heavy-metal tracks. The rain that started halfway through the concert only added to the vibe and atmosphere. We were soaked and cold, but absolutely loving it.

I found one of their music videos on YouTube, so if you like guitars with raspy distortion click here and take a look.

If you'd been in our house today we would have dragged you along on a short hike in the Assegaaibosch nature reserve. Assegaaibosch is in the Jonkershoek valley, which is about 9km outside the famous town of Stellenbosch.

Assegaaibosch is filled with indigenous Cape plants (as well as a few 180-year-old British oak trees). We spent quite some time wandering the footpaths under the African sun, and finally rested for half an hour in an ice-cold stream we found running through the reserve.

If you're a keen day-hiker or even a mountain-biker then the Assegaaibosch and Jonkershoek nature reserves should definitely be added to your agenda. I can't believe that today was the first time I'd visited these reserves - they're so close to where I live!

Hermanus is a coastal town just over 100km from Cape Town, famous for its land-based whale-watching. We spent the day there, and were in fact lucky enough to see a whale splashing around very close to the shore.

I have wonderful memories of many holidays taken in Hermanus when I was a young girl - unfortunately the town has since become a little too commercialised for my liking. The tiny shell-shops and bookshops I remember from my childhood are gone, and have been replaced by chain-stores and restaurant franchises. (I did stumble upon an awesome second-hand bookstore, though, called Hemingway's. They stock a huge range of first-editions, Africana and out-of-print books; and I could have happily spent an entire month's salary there in just an hour or two.)

There are some beautiful beaches in and around Hermanus, and the Old Harbour is definitely worth a visit.

Each year on the second of January the Cape Minstrels put on a parade through the streets of Cape Town, as part of their annual competition. Dressed in colourful outfits, participants of all ages dance through the streets, playing musical instruments and singing with great bucketloads of enthusiasm.

This year saw the centenary of the parade, and almost any Capetonian's childhood memories will include the Kaapse Klopse, as they are known in Afrikaans. My mother was telling me that she recalls how, in earlier years, the minstrels used to parade through suburban streets, singing Christmas carols and ushering in the New Year.

The post title is Afrikaans for "second new year", and refers to a holiday that was celebrated in the Western Cape until a few years back. Actually, it's still celebrated, but it's not an official public holiday anymore. We Capetonians are rather fond of holidays, and don't relinquish them easily. :)

We visited Spier Wine Estate yesterday afternoon, where we discovered these golden sculptures of the nine muses, nestling on an embankment in front of the amphitheatre.

I thought they looked rather pretty in the late-afternoon sun, but it seems I might be in the minority - I read a few rather unflattering opinions of them on the web last night. It's hard to tell from a photo, I know, but what are your impressions of these larger-than-life ladies?

Click here to see the Wikimapia aerial photograph of Spier Estate.

We decided to catch the cable car up Table Mountain last night to watch the last sunset of 2007 from the summit. We were lucky enough to catch the last car up before the sun actually set, and although I've been in the cable car a few times, this was by far the most spectacular trip yet.

I hope to never forget the moment at which the cable car rose over the last rocky outcrop, revealing the setting sun and spilling magical orange light over us and the rocks below. What a fantastic end to 2007!

Happy New Year to all of you - we're looking forward to an awesome 2008, and trust that you are too.

Clockwise, from the top left: the sun setting over Camps Bay; the lights of the city, stretching out to Blouberg and beyond; looking north-east over the city bowl, just after the sun had set; three cable cars from years gone by, no longer in use.

Click here to see the Wikimapia aerial photograph.

Last week Kerry-Anne gave me a GPS as a birthday gift. Today we went on our first geocaching expedition and ended up here, on a part of the Vissershok road (leading from Durbanville to the N7) that I'd never driven on before.

In the short amount of time that we had we managed to find two caches and travelled several roads that I've never seen before. After all the fun I suddenly came to the realisation that I now have two women telling me where to go... ;)

Kerry-Anne and I really love Camps Bay and figured that a night out at Summerville (a trendy restaurant in Camps Bay) would be the perfect prelude to New Year's Eve tomorrow.

Summerville hosted a GeekDinner event a few months back and we liked it so much that we just had to share it with a few good friends. Isn't the view from inside spectacular? The restaurant overlooks the white sands of Camps Bay beach, and even though we weren't able to get seating on the deck outside, the good food and trendy vibe made for a really good evening out.

Click here to see Summerville from the air in WikiMapia.

Milnerton Lighthouse (located on Woodbridge Island) was commissioned in 1960 to help ships find their way into Table Bay. Apparently the small stretch of coastline between Green Point and Milnerton has seen more than 150 ships wrecked over the last few centuries - more than any other section of coastline in South Africa.

Cape Town's city lights make it difficult for navigators to distinguish the harbour lights, and so this lighthouse, together with those at Green Point and Robben Island, make it a whole lot easier to get into the harbour safely at night. (I can barely parallel park, so I'm rather in awe of those who steer ships, no matter how many lighthouses they have to help them.)

To celebrate Paul's birthday yesterday, we started our day with breakfast at Pastis Brasserie in Constantia. In addition to our pain au chocolat and coffee, I had a croque madame (toasted baguette with cheese, ham and egg) and Paul had pain perdu (French toast with banana, bacon and syrup).

Pastis is lovely and laid-back, surrounded by plenty of trees and filled with all things French. They also have free wi-fi, so I think I'll be heading there to do some work on a few of the hot afternoons we're expecting in January and February. :)

Although we didn't have a camera with us last night (very unusual behaviour!), and consequently don't have a photo to show you, I have to mention the outstanding dinner we had at Yum in Vredehoek. I had a beef rump risotto and Paul had a Jagermeister rump - and we both agreed that this was the best restaurant dinner we've had in a very long time. If you're in Cape Town now or some time in the future, put Yum on your list of places to visit. And we weren't paid, bribed or offered free food to say this. (Although that would be nice, of course. ;-) )

I took this photo at Boulders last week, which is where we saw this penguin and this penguin. Don't these coin-operated binoculars make you think of Marvin the Android from Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy?

It's Paul's birthday today, so I snuck out of bed early to do this quick post, and to ask you to leave birthday wishes for him in the comments... :)

"Feel the leaf, become one with the leaf, become the leaf, you are the leaf." thought Charlie.

Charlie the chameleon came out to smell the flowers today. Most South Africans with a reasonably green garden have at least two or three chameleons lurking. They're quite common to countries with warm climates, although I'm sure that some of you are quite unfamiliar with the chameleon.

Chameleons, with their long elastic-like-fly-catching tongues, are pretty difficult to find - they tend to adapt to the colour of the plant on which they happen to be resting and on top of that move really really slowly.

My mother-in-law is quite nervous of the little things. They're actually quite gentle and totally harmless - so whenever I find one I take it to show her, making as though I had no idea she doesn't like them. :D

After a fun filled day at family we took a drive to Camps Bay to walk along the beach. What's the chance that we would have spotted Santa's daughter towing her sleigh across the sand?

It appeared as though many people spent Christmas day at the beach and some had the same idea as we did, to take a walk along the beach in the vain hope of working off some of the food eaten earlier.

While Kerry-Anne prepared the duck for a Christmas Eve meal with the family, I took a drive to a local shopping mall where mayhem and chaos reigned. Okay, to be honest, it wasn't too bad, I never actually saw any pushing and shoving. Last minute shoppers were still arriving at this mall at 4pm today, Christmas Eve. I wonder how many of you were at the shop today... you're brave people is all I can say.

Anyway, here's wishing you folk who celebrate Christmas a very blessed and happy day tomorrow. For those who don't celebrate Christmas, I hope that you have as much of a happy and fun-filled day, now that the Christmas mayhem is over. ;)

The weather wasn't too great today. Yesterday was very hot but today was overcast and extremely windy. It was a good day to sleep in a little late - the week and last night's Johnny Clegg concert caught up with us so we slept until just before 11am. Terrible, I know. :)

So, today I'm posting a series of photos, taken a couple of days ago, of one poor penguin at Boulders in Simon's Town. The second wave caught him a little by surprise and he vanished, tumbling beneath the wave.

Ice-cream cones and the sea-side seem to go hand in hand. I'm not sure where these kid's parents were - they appeared to be on their own. A few moments after I spotted them a stranger walked up and handed over ice-cream cones bought from a local ice-cream vendor. The kids were obviously excited and devoured the treats within two or three minutes!

When going to the beach for the day most families take sandwiches along. It's pretty expensive for mom and dad to treat the family to lunch at a beach-side restaurant - especially when the kids NEED to be at the sea every day. :)

Kerry-Anne and I don't have kids so we most often have lunch at the closest restaurant that takes our fancy. Now, I guess for the sake of family peace I have to admit that we have two feline children, William and Elizabeth. But, William's in the dog-box at the moment... he pushed the Christmas tree over in the middle of the night. grrrr....

Chapman's Peak Drive (affectionately known as "Chappies" to us locals) is the 9km stretch of coastal road that links Noordhoek to Hout Bay.

Often thought of as the most scenic coastal road in the Cape peninsula, the drive from Noordhoek to Hout Bay is one recommended to anyone visiting Cape Town.

Note: Chapman's Peak Drive is a toll road costing a mere R24 to use - well worth the money I'd say. :)

"Sidney insisted on a diet of leaves and twigs before the Christmas feast."

Kerry-Anne and I took my mom and dad out for lunch in Simon's Town today. We stopped over at Boulders Beach to watch the African (aka Blackfooted, aka Jackass) Penguins for a while.

The conservation area, part of Table Mountain National Parks, charges a small fee to visit the 3000-strong penguin colony. If you have a half hour to spare then I'd say that the visit is absolutely worth your time.

Click here to see the conservation area on Wikimapia.

Primi Piatti is a restaurant renowned for hip and on-the-ball waitrons dressed in bright orange overalls. There are a few Primis scattered in and around Cape Town, our favourite being the one at Canal Walk shopping centre.

Kerry-Anne and I sometimes stop off at Primi for lunch, especially if we're in the mood for salad. They have a pretty good variety of absolutely awesome salads. But, be careful if you intend having salad as a starter. I think you may want to skip the main course - their portions are pretty large.

So, if you're tired of burgers and steak then perhaps consider stopping by Primi for a salad - it's pretty good value for money.

Disclaimer: The only salad that I wouldn't recommend is the Caesar salad. I ordered one a little while ago and was both surprised and disappointed. Apart from the portion being unusually small, it just lacked that usual Primi flair. :( - I was envious of the lovely salad Kerry-Anne was devouring.

The dams at the Magic Forest are beautifully serene and great to just sit next to and relax, especially if you have a picnic basket with a few snacks handy. You could even whip out your fishing rod to catch some fish for sushi - although, I'm pretty sure you'd not want to eat the muddy fish from this dam.

If you happen to take a walk along the path, under the dense trees, be on the lookout for mountain bikes speeding along the narrow footpath. They sometimes come upon one with little warning; either leading to a collision or the cyclist landing up off the path, through the thick bush, and into the water. Okay, I haven't actually seen this happen, but it would be amusing wouldn't it?

See The Magic Forest on WikiMapia.

I heard Father Christmas on the roof last night, and dashed outside (that's a little reindeer pun) to see if I could catch sight of him. I was a little surprised to see Paul already up on the roof, camera in hand. Excitedly I asked, "Did you get a picture of him?" He looked at me with a quizzical expression, and gestured vaguely toward the sky. That was when I realised, with a touch of disappointment, that the sound of big feet I'd heard on the roof had in fact been Paul rushing up there to get a shot of this cloud formation before it disappeared with the setting sun.

It's pretty, I guess. But Father Christmas would have been so much more exciting. ;-)

If you're in Cape Town and if you have any affinity towards birds, then one of the places you really should visit is World of Birds in Hout Bay. A sanctuary for injured birds and breeding ground for endangered species, World of Birds is the largest bird park in South Africa and indeed one of the largest in the world.

This photo of Olivia the ostrich was taken by Jacques Marneweck just before she blew him a kiss. Ostriches really are funny animals. Thanks, Jacques!

See World of Birds from the air on WikiMapia.

After taking yesterday's wide-angle shot I switched lenses to bring you this closeup of Table Mountain's cable station.

If you're checking this blog in preparation for your visit to our lovely city, then you're about to come across a small bargain. Until the end of January the cableway is offering half-price on return tickets to everyone ascending the mountain after 18h00. At the moment the sun sets at 19h53, so you'll be treated to a spectacle of note as the it sinks below the horizon.

On this special, the cost of a return ticket is R65 for adults and R34 for children (below the age of 18) - so visitors and locals alike, best you make a plan to get your tickets soon!

Please note that this special is not applicable from 24 December to 2 January. :(

See the cableway station from the air on WikiMapia.

I pulled off Round House Road to take this photo. Round House Road winds its way around Camps Bay's side of Lion's Head, descending to Clifton.

This particular road has an exquisite view of Camps Bay, Table Mountain and The Twelve Apostles. Don't you think it's a bit of a strange view of Table Mountain? This photo make it look a little like Table Peak... or Table Hill. :)

See Round House Road from the air on WikiMapia.

The promenade at Mouille Point (between Granger Bay and Three Anchor Bay) is a great place to go for a walk or an early-morning jog. Not only is the view beautiful, but the feel of the area is peaceful and thought provoking.

One of my most memorable times here is the evening that a friend and I walked along the promenade during a heavy storm. Huge waves smashed against the retaining wall with such force that water was thrown high into the air above us, crashing over the railings. It was both scary and loads of fun at the same time.