I've resolved that this will be the last post in which I mention Tyger Falls. I thought that it would be fitting to end off with a photo of the waterfall of Tyger Falls.

Normally only slightly more than a stream, the rain has coaxed this waterfall to pound the rocks below. I keep wondering if the apartments to the left of the waterfall have those noise-reducing windows. Can you imagine trying to sleep with the sound of rushing water? I'd be too scared to drink anything at least six hours before bed time.

There's apparently going to be a temporary shortage of certain brands of beer until new stocks of imported glass arrive in South Africa in July. As you can imagine, this has disturbed quite a lot of men (and a few women too, I'm sure) - especially since we're in the middle of the rugby season, and most South African men cannot watch rugby without a good supply of beer and biltong (we'll tell you about biltong another time...). Personally, I couldn't care less, because I really don't like beer at all. :)

Peroni (pictured here) seems to be the fashionable thing to drink here at the moment - what's the drink of choice in your city?

We went for ice-cream to the V&A Waterfront in Cape Town last night. The air was icy cold and, alas, some of our party insisted that we sit outside.

Fortunately a large LP gas heater was in close proximity and the restaurant had kindly left a few small blankets on our chairs... for the ladies naturally - us guys are far too tough for blankets ;). Even though the restaurant sported this classical Coca Cola advert nobody would be drinking Coke that night.

Remember this post of construction work being done at Tyger Falls? For today's post I snapped some shots of guys, at the same site, erecting a crane.

The process was awesome to watch - especially in the notoriously windy and wet Cape Town weather. Can you imagine standing on the edge of this crane like the two men in the photo were doing? Even though I could see that they were wearing harnesses - I'm not sure that it's something I would do in windy Cape Town ;).

As you can see, the orange crane is assembled using a portable crane. I tracked the portable crane's owner down by virtue of their name printed on the rig. Take a peek at the gallery on Target Crane's website - they have some truly remarkable vehicles.

Click on the photo if you'd like to see a larger version.

Last night we spent an incredible 2 hours listening to Johnny Clegg and his band playing live at the Convention Centre, as part of his One Life tour. Paul managed to sneak this shot with his cellphone, from our excellent seats in the 4th row. :)

Johnny Clegg is often called the "White Zulu", and if you see him dancing, you'll understand why. He has the most incredible energy on stage, and his performance is even more impressive when you realise that he's just turned 54! Most of his songs are a mixture of Zulu and English, although last night he sang us his very first Afrikaans/Zulu song too. Seeing young people of all races dancing together in the aisles to his legendary songs made me realise once again that despite our different cultures and skin-colours, all of us who call this country home have something in common: Africa is in our blood.

I know that Johnny has performed in Europe and North America as well - have any of you been fortunate enough to go to one of his concerts?

After taking yesterday's photo, I took a few steps forward, and turned my camera to the left to take this one.

I remembered the boat in the foreground from the day we went to Robben Island - it left the harbour just before we did, and took a group of schoolchildren out to the island. They seemed to be part of some kind of orchestra, but we were rather disappointed that we didn't hear them playing anywhere on the island - no doubt they played a special concert for a few select VIPs. :)

It's hiding behind that thick grey cloud...

This is what the weather has been like for the last few days - very cold and grey, with plenty of much-needed rain. There has been some flooding in a few of the country towns, but it hasn't been too bad in the city - the traffic has been heavy though.

Remember this post? Well, today's photo is taken from almost the same angle, after I had lunch at the same restaurant. :) Can you spot the blue Victoria & Alfred Hotel on the other side of the harbour?

Wouldn't you love to have such a large swimming pool, especially one in such a beautiful setting? We found this home outside of the town of Paarl about half and hour before the sun set. The air was just starting to cool - it was one of those beautiful Cape Town winder days.

Building of new homes seems to have increased several-fold in the past few years. There's a continuous supply of new houses springing up where ever we look. As one gets closer to the city of Cape Town, the frequency of small, new homes increases dramatically.

Houses in these new areas look very similar and are smaller and more closely packed together. It's very refreshing when we get out into the country and see homes like these - though the building may be run down, the people who live in them live in an area far more beautiful than most.

This impressive 28-metre-wide artwork adorns the main foyer of the Cape Town International Convention Centre (Cape Town's main venue for hosting big exhibitions and conferences). It was based on the linocuts of a San artist, Tuoi Stefaans Samcuia, who sadly died of tuberculosis in 2003, before he could see his work displayed here. The linocuts were translated into metal relief sculptures by Brett Murray.

I rather like it - the colours and the simplicity of the shapes appeal to me. What about you? (You'll need to zoom in to see the artwork clearly, although of course it's far more impressive when you're actually standing in front of it...)

And on the other side of the road from yesterday's post, Paul spotted these cows (actually, the cows were spotted before he got there, but anyway...).

Jules asked yesterday whether the grass was really that green, and yes, it most certainly was! It was getting close to sunset, so the light was quite unusual and really emphasised the luminosity of the grass.

Paul likes cows as much as I like sheep, so perhaps we should consider having a dairy and wool farm one day. :)

Just past the flying club (in yesterday's post) we found the farm, Groot Phesantekraal, host to these sheep (Kerry-Anne's favourite animal).

In doing some writing work for the farm, Kerry-Anne's learned that the land was originally part of the land given to Oloff Bergh by Simon van der Stel, first Governor of the Cape of Good Hope in 1679 and the person after whom the town of Stellenbosch is named.

I believe that every boy, perhaps most men (and a few women), would love to be a fighter pilot... not to make war, no, but just to feel the power of the plane at your fingertips and, well yes, to blow things up :).

The Tygerberg Model Flying Club takes the few who can afford it closer to this dream. You'll find this club outside the town of Durbanville on the road to Klipheuwel and Malmesbury in the middle of a huge open field - and if you happen to be in the Cape Town area on 18 November, you'll find the sky full of little model aircraft at their annual airshow - I'll make sure that I'm there!

Oh, did you notice the windsock to the left of the building? Does anyone know what the origin of the windsock is? According to Wikipedia it was a Chinese/Japanese symbol for good luck and longevity.

Yesterday's post was from Du Toitskloof mountain pass. This photo was taken from one of the many viewing points on the pass. Can anyone spot Table Mountain in this photo? Yup, it's there in the distance.

The day was rather hazy and Table Mountain was sticking out from under a layer of low-lying clouds, so I'd forgive you for not finding it among all the other mountains. It's easy to forget how many mountains and hills are in the Cape Town and surrounding areas; but when I get the opportunity to view the landscape from a high point, I find it always strikes me how beautiful our country really is.

Baboons are one of the most common animals to be seen among the mountains surrounding Cape Town. Kerry-Anne and I stopped on Du Toitskloof mountain pass to take a photo of this mom carrying her baby. Click on the photo for a clearer view.

To get a closer shot would have entailed climbing out of the car, but with the rest of the troop in close proximity... I thought it not a good idea. However cute and human-like they may often seem it's wise to remain mindful that these beasts truly are beasts (and ones with huge fangs at that!).

Aloe ferox (also known as the Bitter Aloe, or Red Aloe) is indigenous to South Africa, and widely known for its medicinal and healing properties. Our shops stock many lovely pampering body products made from aloe extracts - this web site belongs to Alcare, one of the major producers of these products, and we've found their bath foams and body lotions in many a hotel room around the country.

By the way, many overseas tourists tend to get sunburnt when they visit South Africa (our secret is that we always wear sunblock...) - if this should happen to you, get hold of some aloe lotion; it's reputed to be great for soothing sunburn.

We're still at Goudini Spa today (on our blog, at least...); this view is at roughly 90 degrees to the view we showed yesterday. I love the combination of the mountains in the background, the neat crop rows on the farmlands in the middle, and the natural vegetation in the foreground.

By the way, the name "Goudini" is derived from a Khoisan phrase meaning “bitter honey”. The people who originally inhabited this area apparently found that the honey they made from the flowers of a particular local tree was bitter.

This is the view from one part of the Goudini Spa resort. We have other pictures without the barbed wire, but we both kind of liked the contrast of the harsh wire against the beautiful rolling landscape.

We live in a very security-conscious society - unfortunately, the reality is that we have a really high crime rate. So for us, it's not unusual to see security measures like this (though quite honestly, I think they're trying to keep out scavenging baboons rather than criminals here). I've seen a few pictures on other city blogs of spikes or broken glass on top of walls - how common are things like this where you live? Do you lock your doors at night? Do you have a burglar alarm system in your home?

We were in a hurry to get to Goudini Spa, so, as Kerry-Anne mentioned yesterday, we opted to take the toll road through the Du Toitskloof mountain.

Drilling and blasting of the 3.9km tunnel started from both directions in 1984. What I found astounding was that the opposing drilling heads met half way only 3mm out of alignment. The tunnel was finished in April 1988, four years after construction was started.

Whenever driving through this tunnel I feel a little like a Formula 1 driver speeding though the tunnel at Monaco - it's unfortunate that the speed limit is set at 90km/h :(.

We spent yesterday afternoon in the Boland Mountains at a holiday resort called Goudini Spa, which is about 100km from Cape Town. The weather was perfect, making the drive absolutely spectacular. On the way there, we went through the Huguenot Tunnel, which stretches for around 4km through the Dutoitskloof mountains. I took this photo as we stopped at the toll-booth (it cost us R19 to go through the tunnel - just under 2 Euros, or around $2.70).

Have you ever paid the toll for the car behind you as a random act of kindness? It's such fun to imagine what they might be thinking when the cashier tells them that someone's already paid for them. :)

Broadband Internet access is a contentious issue in South Africa. While prices have been coming down, ADSL, 3G, EDGE and HSDPA are still pretty expensive, and currently out of budget for most of those who would love to acquire broadband.

The poster that's being attached to the building by the Men in Red is an Afrikaans ad for one of our mobile phone networks, and translated it reads "get the best broadband for your Rand". It must be fun doing this kind of work, being out in the fresh air above such a beautiful city, abseiling, protecting the world from alien invasion [if you look carefully you'll see that Will Smith is the bloke at the left top corner ;)].

Winter has it's perks... morning breaks later. While on my way to work, fighting through heavy traffic, I stopped over at a high point of the area we live in to take a photo of the sunrise.

The mountain range in the distance is known as the Boland Mountains. "Boland" is an Afrikaans word meaning "land above". The Boland region is a area of the Western Cape, inland from the sea and thus higher in altitude than the more coastal regions. Some of the towns in the Boland are Wellington, Paarl, Robertson and Worcester.

I spent about 10 minutes taking different shots in the crisp morning air. By the time I was done and had headed down to the main road, the traffic had miraculously disappeared. It was a beautiful morning.

This interestingly-shaped apartment block is two buildings away from the hotel where we have our room, in Strand (just over the road from yesterday's photo). There's been a lot of development in Beach Road over the last couple of years, and most of the buildings going up are upmarket apartment blocks like this one, with ultra-modern styling. They have a fantastic view of the beach, ocean and distant mountains, although I imagine the view through those side windows must be a little unusual.

Kerry-Anne and I have decided to sell a hotel room that we bought a few years ago. We took a drive out to the Strand area this evening to snap a photo or two for advertisement purposes. While framing the hotel, the sun was setting behind me presenting this awesome panorama. It's winter here, so the air was crisp and only a hint of a sea-breeze was lapping at the water - I now have more photos of the sea than of the hotel ;).

False Bay was so named by early sailors who often confused it with Table Bay (which is on the other side of the Cape Peninsula to False Bay). This large bay is somewhat protected from the open ocean and sports some of the Western Cape's warmer waters. In the Strand area, bathers are able to walk out into the ocean for fifty to about a hundred metres (depending on the tide). These family beaches' waves are generally not too big, so surfers best give them a miss, but it's seriously fun for kids and their parents when it comes to body-surfing.

Today is World Biodiversity Day, so I thought it would be fitting to show you a little more of our own biodiversity - another member of the Protea family, and a busy little bee.

The focus of Biodiversity Day this year is the effect of climate change on our biological wealth - apparently two newly-extinct species of frog have already been identified as victims of climate change. It's a sobering thought that these photographs we take today may be the only way that future generations will get to see certain species.

South Africa doesn't yet have a very well-developed recycling culture (not like in Sydney, for example, where different garbage bins are provided for different types of waste), but we've started paying more attention to recycling and being less wasteful in our own household. It's difficult of course, when companies keep producing their products in "convenient" over-sized throwaway packaging. I think being mindful of your effect on the world is the first step.

P.S. Visit our friend Duncan's Engineer Simplicity blog for an informative post on energy-saving light-bulbs.

Good thing I brought my laundry in when I did... who would've expected rain this afternoon? The sun was shining beautifully in through the lounge windows, when suddenly I heard rain beating down on the roof at the back of the house. I rushed to grab my camera and managed to get a few shots of this monkey's wedding before it was all over.

There's something very magical about the rain falling while the sun's shining, and I suppose that's why this phenomenon has been given all sorts of folkloric names in many cultures. What is it called in your country?

There's a lot of construction activity going on at the Cape Town International Airport right now, mostly in preparation for the Soccer World Cup, which will be held in South Africa in 2010. Do any of you have experience of a major international event of this scale being hosted in your city or country? Tell us about the good and the bad - what can we expect?

There's been a lot of controversy here about whether or not our new stadiums and other infrastructure will be ready in time for 2010 - I'm an outright optimist though, so I already have my vuvuzela. :)

Today was a curl-up-under-the-duvet-and-read-a-good-book day - rainy, windy and cold. We didn't leave home, although Paul did venture outside late this afternoon during a break in the rain, and this is what he found: Snoopy, all kitted out in his winter gear, skiing down a very small slope on our driveway. I'm not sure where the snow came from though, because it doesn't snow in Cape Town. Perhaps he brought his own mobile ski slope along with him...

P.S. Congratulations to the Blue Bulls on being the first South African team to win the Super 14 rugby tournament. Bring on France 2007!

Since everyone in the northern hemisphere has been showing off their wisteria of late, I thought we should brag with a few more of our pretty flowers too. This is another protea (we first posted one here). I'm no horticulturist though, so unfortunately I can't tell you which species this is.

Hopefully if my brother stops by (who conveniently IS a horticulturist) he'll be able to shed a little light on the matter. :) Anybody else is welcome to take a guess too, of course...

This is not quite the famous "tablecloth" (although Paul suggested that it looked a little like the tablecloth had fallen off the edge of the table), but rather Table Mountain dressed up in her warm winter woollies...

I had to do some grocery shopping today, so I thought I might as well show you where I like to shop. The entrance is below the sign that says "Woolworths Foods", and yes, you guessed it, the store is Woolworths. There are many branches throughout Cape Town - some branches sell only food (like this one), some sell clothing as well, and some specialise in homeware. I've been to Woolworths in Australia, but despite the shared name, it's a very different store.

This post is for Mandi in Tel Aviv, who mentioned that she's suffering from Woolworths withdrawal symptoms, and for Abraham in Brookville, Ohio, who previously pondered what stores we might shop at down here.