Wind

It’s Sunday, and I may still be around. I’m not 100% sure, because I’m writing this on Saturday and there’s a rather large storm headed towards Agulhas this evening. We’re talking 90kph winds and plenty (or more) of rain.

It’s already breezy, but I like this sort of weather, and I’m not the only one:

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We watched this guy having fun in the surf near the Mees Suidelike Punt. I suspect that tomorrow’s (er… that’s now today’s) forecast wind may be a bit much for kiteboarding. It may actually be a bit much for anything other than red wine and a roaring fire, but fortunately, we have those bases well covered.

Promise fulfilled

Yesterday, tired and emotional, I promised that I would upload photos from the weekend onto Flickr. Well, now I have. I’m nothing if not reliable.

As I explained earlier, the weather was nothing if not variable, with a gloriously sunny Saturday (above), followed by a moody and grey Sunday (below). I quite liked both.


My walk was just to explore a bit of coastline I hadn’t managed to get to before. Any beach walk with the kids typically has to end at or nearby the cottage at Piet se Punt, which is 2km from our place. Add the 2km back, the fact that it’s beach walking, and the detours to see rock pools, sand dunes and the like, and you’re going to run out of time, youthful energy, or both.

Thus, I chose to go alone when I set off to see a bit further around the corner (ironically the first bay you come to is Hoek se Baai). And when I got back, I had done 16km in 3 hours. I’d love to share tales of towering cliffs, rocky inlets, smugglers’ caves and possibly, aliens. But the truth is that this bit of coast is actually rather non-descript in geological (and extraterrestrial) terms. Dotted with seemingly abandoned buildings all the way to Die Walle (apparently, a really good fishing spot), I got almost as far west as the end of Brandfontein beach (you may remember that from here or here). And there, I found a handful of really modern lodges which looked like self catering places, and which I guess must be part of the Brian Mansergh Private Nature Reserve, but which I can’t find anywhere online, or on Google Earth. Recent build then, but poorly publicised too, and that’s a shame, because they look fantastic.

My aim was to get a photo of a Black Oystercatcher to enter into a competition from a local vineyard (bet you can’t guess which one), and I got several, including finding a chick in the weed on the beach. However, other pictures may also have been taken.

You can see these much promised and discussed images here.

Foam

It’s been a bright, blustery day in Agulhas today. It’s also been calm and sunny, and then at times it was also wild, wet and windy as well. A mixed bag then.

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After an early morning bike ride with the boy, I set off around the corner from Suiderstrand. It’s a walk we’ve often done, but then turned around and come back. This time, free from the responsibilities of kids and beagle (and wide, I suppose) I walked for about 8 km along the coast, almost as far as Brandfontein. Of course, I then had to walk back too, and with that cycle ride and that weather playing its part, I’m pretty tired this evening. (Photos to follow via Cape Town ADSL.)

The foam, above, was spotted on the way back from Struisbaai later in the day, where we had just been turned away from a restaurant, as it was closed – a status that the waitress greeting us had to check with her boss. How could you not know if the business you’re working at is open or not?

Anyway, we ended up at the mees Suidelike pub van Afrika as an alternative, and not only were they open, they also served beer as well.
A double bonus to end the day.

The Journey

The journey to (or from) Agulhas used to take 2 hours and 40 minutes. Every time. Exactly. You could set your watch by it.
Those days are gone now. Yesterday was close on 4 hours as the outrageous slings and arrows of roadworks, accidents and traffic made life about 1 hour and 20 minutes more difficult than it needed to be.

Once down past Napier though, it’s a whole new world. Open roads, open fields, and wildlife galore. Ostriches, including chicks, storks, baboons, grysbok and even a speedy caracal racing across the road in front of us. And the large evening light, bathing everything in watery primrose yellow.

I should have stopped so we could see and share these things (the caracal was long gone though, sorry), but every time, the destination takes precedent over the trip down here. It’s sad, because I think we miss a lot that way, but we either want to get here, or we don’t want to leave here, meaning that we have limited time to get back: stopping is not a favourable option.

Thus, what’s needed is a week here, and a planned slow drive down. Taking 8 hours to get here when you have fewer than 48 hours before you’re due home – ready to resume normal, stressful life – seems ridiculously wasteful. But 8 hours of different experiences to begin a week of relaxation seems to make complete sense.

So now all I need is a week off work. One that I’m not spending elsewhere, doing other exciting things, that is.

Sadly, that’s not happening anytime soon, but hey, we shouldn’t complain about such #FirstWorldProblems, right?