Sea Urchins

Saying goodbye to the beach, I don’t enjoy the humidity but I am fascinated by the small and wonderful creatures in the tidal pools. It was a massive storm last night and arriving at Rocky Bay to pick up the boys, I discovered that it was low tide, a perfect opportunity for me to scrounge on the rocks while Matthew wakes up and packs his stuff into the pickup. I was hoping to find a octopus or eel but came across a number of sea urchins instead.

From the coast, I had to pick up our latest addition to our family, one of Robbie’s puppies, a female cross Belgium Sheppard with a German Sheppard puppy called Pepper. Well we have until Monday to come up with its forever name as that is when it gets put into the official records.

With the sea behind us, the kilometres flew past and without any events, we arrived safely home, thank the Lord.

Beach Ice-cream

No visit to the beach can be without an ice cream and a wonderful lady at your side. To prove that I have both at the beach, my babe and ice-cream here is a selfie. This is our last day of our family seaside holiday at Uvongo. The weather has been great, the kids have enjoyed themselves and us well we are relaxed on the beach with our soft serve ice cream filled sugar cones with flake and dipped in caramel.

Being the Tourist

They say while in Rome, do what the Romans do, so even though I grew up here, the family didn’t so while on holiday at the lower South Coast, why not do the tourist thing. This is us being the tourists.

First on our agenda was the famous Waffle House in Ramsgate for a yummy waffle breakfast. The morning was slightly nippy as the sun still had to warm up so it was hot Mocca to start while Matthew had tea, of course while we waited for our waffles.

A visit to Ramsgate Beach was squeezed in between the waffles and our next tourist stop, the Butterfly World as it was now starting to get warmer. The wind had picked up and the sea a little choppy so we didn't stay long before we were off again.

Now the Butterfly World was a little of a disappointment as it seemed a little run down. Maybe it is supposed to look like a grotto but the decor did not get a huge thumbs up from me. As for the butterflies, well there were lots and lots of Golden Piper butterflies everywhere but not a lot of other species. But for our grand daughter they were the thing to see. Along with the butterflies Rebekah was also enthralled with the tiny tortoises.

By now it was way past Rebekah’s bedtime, so Marco, Robynne and Rebekah headed back to our holiday apartment while Lynda, Bradley, Matthew, and I headed inland to the Oribi Gorge. I spent many times up here at Murchison, Paddock, Oribi Flats, and of course the two gorges. So acting as the tour guide I showed my charges the spectacular Oribi Gorge. But as usual I didn't pay too much attention to the fuel as being a tourist guide was taking a lot out of me and by now my guests were getting tired. But even though we were a little low on fuel we did managed to get back to the coast on a whiff of a oil rag.

Beached Whales

Well the boys, Rob, Gary, and myself, decided that it is time to get off the beach and into the surf. Well we are not quite beached whales but we must have looked close. The weather down here on the lower south coast of Natal has been gorgeous all week. After a good splash in the surf, we joined the ladies who were already enjoying milkshakes at the Marina Beach cove.

Afterwards it was off to Mac Banana for lunch under the banana trees. Wow, there are so many ways that pancakes can be served from sweet to savoury. Forget whales, now I feel more like a walrus.

Lonely Footprints

I awoke early this morning with my dark passenger, a headache which inevitably comes when sleeping badly. So I headed for the beach for some me alone time and headed south down the coastline.

The sand was cold but the water warm and by the time the sun finally peeked above the horizon, I had left a lonely trail of footprints in the sand. Looking back it did look like I was all alone on that beach while the surge tried to erase my lonely existence.

Because We Can

I decided to start my holiday at San Lameer with an early start of a sunrise on the beach with a couple of whales frolicking off the backline. And the song "Because We Can" by Bon Jovi was playing on the radio. Just what I needed to start the renewing of my soul.

I don't wanna be another wave in the ocean
I am a rock not just another grain of sand
I wanna be the one you run to when you need a shoulder
I ain't a soldier but I'm here to take a stand
Because we can

Because I can

Hauling in the nets

We started our last day in the Western Cape with a tour of the Castle of Good Hope. It was built between 1666 and 1679 by the Vereenigde Oost-Indische Compagnie or in English the Dutch East India Company. In the afternoon Matthew took in his last swim at Fish Hoek and later when the locals started pulling in the nets, Matthew jumped straight in and gave them a hand. Oh course he was an eager beaver to see what was the catch.

New Blessings

As our holidays down in the Western Cape draws to an end I leave you this photograph of twilight over False Bay with the little villages of St James, Kalk Bay, Fish Hoek and Simon's Town and the Cape Peninsula in the background being attacked by fog. Although it is near the end of our holidays, it is the first day of this year and we look forward to this spanking New Year ahead. This is the year that Salted Lightly project will be born. With so much promising feedback on the idea, 2009 year of our Lord is the year of new blessings.

Through the Elephant’s Eye

Wow, we've have done many hikes while here on holiday in Cape Town. The last hike of the year was from the Silver Mine dam to the Elephant's Eye. If you look west from Tokai towards Constantia you'll see the mountains form the shape of an elephant. In the head part of the elephant is a cave. The opening is large, about 30m high and 20m wide but does not go more than 30m in. We could see the cave from Aunt Winnie's home yesterday evening. It was then that we planned to hike up to the cave. It is not a long hike with good views of the Cape Flats and ends with a refreshing dip in the Silver Mine dam. As we look into the future through the elephant's eye, I want the wish all my readers a blessed 2009.

Cape Point

Being a tourist is quite easy. Just dress casual, put on a hat and sunscreen and grab a camera. So off I went to Cape Point with Anthony, Alison and Matthew. Alison who is from Ontario said although she has never been in the northern parts of Canada, she has never seen such beautiful scenery. And from the sounds of it, she has travelled quite a bit. We spent nearly 7 hours exploring the Cape Point. The hike down to Dias Beach, in the cove in the background of today's photo, took quite some time though. In the evening we joined the Parows and Dickson for a family braai at Aunt Winnie's. It was a good finish of a wonderful day.

Naval Base

This morning went on a tour of the naval base at Simon's Town. Some of the ships in the today's photo are SAS Drakensberg A301, SAS Amatola F145, SAS Isandlwana F146, SAS Spioenkop F147, SAS Queen Modjadji I, two Daphne class submarines, some Minister FAC(M) without their missiles, some River Class coastal mine hunters, SAS Protea and RFA Black Rover A273. Afterwards we visited the Naval Museum were we bumped into an old friend from Durban, Rob. It was a surprise. Matthew braved the chilly waters of Fish Hoek in the afternoon. We had lekker snoek and chips from Kalk Bay for supper.

Shark Ahoy

The sirens blared and the bathers fled the water as the black flag was changed for a white one with a black shark on it. Yes, a Great White shark was seen in the water just beyond the bathers at Fish Hoek. They have a flag system here, a green flag means "Shark spotter on duty and no shark seen"; a black flag means "Shark spotter on duty but poor water visibility"; a white flag with a black shark on it means "Shark spotted in water" and a red flag means "Shark spotted in the water in the last 2 hours". Enter their world at your own peril. That put an end to any thoughts of the beach today. So we went penguin watching at Boulders Beach and whale watching near Miller's Point as a Humpback whale frolicked near the shore.

Christmas Eve

One day to go until we celebrate Jesus' birthday and it is still windy but the rain is gone. In the morning we explored Simon's Town, visiting the Museum and Historic buildings. The Naval Museum was closed so we hope to pop in next week again. After Simon's Town we went over the mountain along Red Hill to Kommetjie. In the afternoon Matthew and I hiked up to Elsies Peak to be awarded with stunning views of Kalk Bay, Fish Hoek, Glencairn and Simon's Town. Here is windswept Matthew at the top of Elsies Point with the Roman Rocks Lighthouse to his far right and Simon's Town to his left. In the mountains we met two grannies who were in their 70s and they said that they are in the mountains everyday. They had pruning shears and a saw with them to cut down alien plants. They had stopped at Elsies Point for some tea from a flask. They seem very fit. I think I am going to be stiff and sore tomorrow.

Fish Hoek

This is where we will be based for the next 12 days, Fish Hoek. It is a small coastal town between Kalk Bay and Simon's Town on the False Bay side of the Cape Peninsula. A cold front has come over bringing some windy cold weather but hopefully that won’t last too long.

Kaaimans River Bridge

Today is our last day at Victoria Bay so we made the most of it. A large group of us from Carmel took a walk along the narrow gauge railway line. The Choo-Tjoo steam train used to run between George and Knysna along the coast but has been closed due to landslides. The train now runs between George and Mossel Bay. The section we walked was on the closed section from Victoria Bay to Kaaimans River. and runs along the coast on the cliffs above the sea to a spectacular bridge across the Kaaimans River right at the mouth of the river. Sadly we crossed two land slide sections but the views of the sea below us were beautiful. Strangely there is a restaurant at the Kaaimans Bridge which was built into a cave. It was closed because the line was closed and two "bergies" were now squatting there.

Knysna

By basing ourselves in Victoria Bay, means that we are surrounded by indigenous forest, lakes, mountains and a stunning coastline. With so much beauty to choose from, we spent the day at Knysna. The photograph of the churning water is taken from the Knysna Heads. The Heads are two cliffs flanking a treacherous channel linking the Indian Ocean with the large lagoon of the Knysna River. Many ships have been lost on these rocks while trying to traverse the Heads. Matthew and I later walked along the rocks and tidal pools below the Heads. In the one pool Matthew had a fishing net and was trying to catch a small fish when a octopus came out from under a ledge to investigate the net. We were amazed.

St Elmos

2nd Beach Port St Johns

Trafalgar Beach

About to go under da sea

Thats me on the right second from the end