Seize the day

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I’m writing a quiz.

It’s a fundraising thing that I’m presenting next month, and while the best quiz experience is the one that you take part in (and win, probably), for obvious reasons, I’m not allowed to take part this time. And so I want to make this one right up there for all the people who can do it, and are spending their hard-earned money in this economy to help others out.

It’s been a while (like lockdown) since I have done a quiz (from the writing the questions point of view, at least), but it’s fun to be back.

Well, sort of.

I’ve actually been pussyfooting around for a couple of weeks, jotting down questions (and answers), since I managed to delete all the work that I had previously done (entirely my fault, rookie error, despite being far from a rookie). Since then, my stupidity has been irritating me each time I return to the project.

But today is the day to break the back of this thing and get all the hard yards done.

I know that some people who read the blog will be going along, so I’m not dropping any hints or tips for them, but who knows: maybe I’ll chuck a few questions or even a whole round out on here once the event has happened, so that you can all test your knowledge of [redacted] or even [redacted].

So I’m seizing the day right now, and I’m going to nail the specialist round.

And then I’m going to get a coffee.

Happy Rooster

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Our second visit to this spot in Muizenberg, and though it feels a little like I was cheating on Dias Tavern, this place absolutely holds its own when it comes to Portuguese cuisine. In fact, dare I say it…?

[Whispers] Maybe it’s actually better than Dias…

Anyway…

It’s literally in the Muizenberg Railway Station building, up on the first floor (no wheelchair access, sorry), and you can enjoy the Edwardian history of the Herbert Baker design as you walk up the wooden stairs with their tiled risers, and into the expansive space and amazing enclosed veranda. The sea view over False Bay and Surfer’s Corner is spectacular, and the food and service are equally impressive.

They’ve just released their new Winter menu:

The food is good, honest fare, cooked with care and pride, and powerful Portuguese flavour. And yes, there are a few things on there to cater for those who have just wandered over from the beach for a post-surf burger, but that doesn’t detract from the authenticity of the specialised dishes.

Complimentary caldo verde when we arrived, warmed us up nicely and got our taste buds ready for the main meal. But here’s the thing: as an unlicensed restaurant, you are not paying through the nose for beers and wines (you’re welcome to bring your own – no corkage fees are charged) and so you end up coming out of there feeling wholly satisfied, but with a wonderfully reasonable bill.

Dinner was R1300 (including a well-earned, decent tip) for four of us last night, including two starters and two desserts and several soft drinks.

Incredible value.

I can’t recommend this place enough: it scores highly on every metric.
Booking via WhatsApp on 067 901 0900.

Dirty Water

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The recent storm left a huge trail of destruction behind it, and clean up efforts are underway all over the Cape. Some bits will take longer than others.
There are roads washed away and there is farmland still underwater.

But all of that water has to go somewhere, and obviously, quite a lot of it ends up in the sea. Along with, it seems, quite a lot of the Western Cape:

That’s Table Bay, and Robben Island. And that is the outflow from Diep River, which drains from the Durbanville Hills and the West Coast suburbs of Cape Town.

If ever there was a plan to do some land reclamation in Table Bay, this is the time to start. It’s already half finished.

You can see the little plume of non-silt filled water popping out from the Black River, down south, but that’s nothing compared to the mess that’s been dumped from the north.

Anyone in Cape Town with a chainsaw and a bakkie has been doing snow angels in R100 notes all week. Seeing this, I suspect anyone with a dredging vessel (probably slightly more niche, I know) is probably doing the same.

China Power Pics

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Not a pro-China post. But also, yeah, a bit of a pro-China post.

China might be one of the world’s most polluting countries, but it’s also investing really heavily in wind and solar power, and the stats are nuts:

  • Last year China installed more than half of all wind and solar added globally. In May alone, it added enough renewable energy to power Poland, installing solar panels at a rate of roughly 100 every second.
  • As of late 2025, China leads the world in renewable energy, with total installed capacity exceeding 2,200 GW, making up 59.1% of its total power generation capacity.

2,200GW of renewables is huge. In comparison, South Africa has a TOTAL theoretical power output of 48.5GW. And that’s when it’s all working, which it never is, so we have an actual total power output of about 32GW.

Drop in the ocean stuff. But then – because this is the reason for this post – just look at the infrastructure that’s going into China’s renewable energy drive.

“From the ground, it’s hard to grasp the scale of these power plants,” said Chinese photographer Weimin Chu. “But when you rise into the air, you can see the geometry, the rhythm — and their relationship with the mountains, the desert, the sea.”

Chu has spent three years capturing the shift underway using drones to photograph power plants from overhead. His work, which draws from the visual language of traditional Chinese ink paintings, was featured last year in an award-winning exhibition, presented by Greenpeace.

Look, this can only be a good thing for the rest of the world’s air quality and attempts to slow down climate change. It might be less good for the global geopolitical situation in the future, but then things are looking pretty ropey on that front right now anyway.

More photos on that link above, and more information about China’s journey into the renewable energy space, here.

Cool story

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I’m not usually one for dramatised versions of true stories on the internet, but (if you ignore the third paragraph), this one doesn’t go over the top, and is an interesting account of the Koeberg bombing, with just enough whimsical input to give it that personal touch.

Some good insight into the way that MK and ANC operative worked in the Apartheid state, without too much detail bogging things down, and the personal story of Wilkinson – who is as far from James Bond as you could possibly imagine – gives it a very human edge.

The link?

Oh yes, here you go:
https://www.theguardian.com/world/2026/may/05/the-man-who-blew-up-a-nuclear-power-station-koeberg-south-africa

Definitely worth 5 (or more) minutes of your time.