Chapman's Peak Drive

I have decided to dedicate a post to Chapman's Peak and not to make it Part Five of My Day Trip Around The Peninsula. It is such a spectacular and beautiful pass that I think it deserves its own post. I am also not going to say much about the pass, just a couple of photos with some comments. You can decide for yourself if you think the place is remarkable or not. You can read more about the pass and find even better pictures than mine at http://www.chapmanspeakdrive.co.za/index.php

As you come around the first bend of the pass, you see the bay of Hout Bay. Sometimes the water is crystal clear, making it obviously easier for Sipho to spot the sharks.

Some of the fences that was erected to catch some of the falling debris. These ones are just smaller versions of other fences and structures that was put in place to catch larger rocks. Vehicles and people have been injured by falling rocks before, so it is wise to look up every now and then, the sky might be falling, you'll never know.

Here you can see why I say it is easier for bikes to stop anywhere for pictures and sightseeing. Try parking an SUV between that little rock wall and the yellow line. This is also one of the classic "bike pictures". You will see on all biker blogs there is always a bloody motorcycle in the picture. I have been trying hard to keep my motorcycle out of my pictures, but this one just came "naturally". Sorry for that.

It might look like a wave breaking, or maybe a good half pipe for some skateboarding action, but it shows how the road had to be carved into the rocks not only to protect it from falling rocks, but to protect the actual road from slipping down into the ocean.

Just to give you some perspective of what is resting above that little roof covering the road. You have to be very optimistic if you believe that the roof will carry the weight of the mountain behind it. But what would life be without a risk here and there..?

More pillars keeping another roof from callapsing on to the traffic. I am not very impressed with the architectual design, but at least it keeps the falling rocks at bay...or so we all want to believe.

Getting closer to the town of Hout bay. In the background one can see The Sentinal protruding out into the ocean. Deeper into the ocean behind the sentinel is Dungeons, a surf spot where Big Wave competitions are held during the winter months. Today there was not even a ripple on the ocean. The Sentinal was up for sale a few years ago. Read this interesting story here.

Another classic view of The Sentinel with Hout Bay town on the right. As you can see there was still a few clouds drifting in from the sea, hence my "misty" foreground.

As you get closer to Hout Bay town you see this bronze leopard covered in gwano staring out over the ocean. Aparently it was erected in 1963 as a memorial for the number of wild animals that roamed free here before we came with our thunder sticks and reduced that number to basically zero. Apparently the last leopard here was seen in the 30's. I can just imagine what this place must've looked liked before the humans invaded it. Paradise for sure.

Looking back towards Chapman's Peak Drive.

That was Chapman's Peak in a nutshell. If you ever visit the Cape, do make an effort to visit Hout Bay and Chapman's Peak. Actually you won't go wrong is you visit the whole Peninsula....

Malfunction! Emergency, Emergency!

Year ago go when I was still a skydiver hoping to achieve a thousand jumps, we once watched a few students doing their training for their first jump. The biggest part of the training consists of the emergency procedure when you have a malfunction. When you jump from a plane for the first time your body is in completely unfamiliar territory. If something should go wrong you won't be in the right state of mind to figure out what your next step should be, you will try and find a place to stand and there will be one, so drilling in the correct "emergency procedure" is of utmost importance. You want your reactions to be spontaneous and the only way to do that is to do the drill while peforming the cut-away process and shouting the steps out as loud as possible..."ARCH, LOOK, RIGHT, LEFT, ARCH!" ("Right, Left" does not mean looking right and left for traffic or someone to help you, it means you grab the cut-away handle on the right and then the reserve handle on the left and you pull as hard as you can). So you get hung in a harness (or nutcracker as it is sometimes refered to) while you do all the exit moves until the jumpmaster/trainer starts pulling you around shouting that you have a malfunction. You then immediately have to do the emergency procedure, cut away your chute and deploy your reserve. This one student (I still don't know how he made it through the course) was pulled around by the trainer and in stead of executing the emergency procedure he started shouting "Malfunction! Emergency! Emergency!" at the top of his voice.  I don't think shouting "Emergency! Emerency!" is going to help you much when you are 1000 ft in the air and coming down very fast to collide with Mother Earth, but it sure gave us a good laugh.

Well, today I was in a very similar situation. My kitesurfing equipment failed on me and I guess one could call it a "malfunction" in kiting terms. Although I don't believe that my life was in danger at all, my equipment failed and had it been a parachute (or a paraglider) I would've been in serious trouble. The hook on my spreader bar onto which the kite is hooked broke off just as I was negotiating a sharp turn. The kite pulled away at full force and dragged me through the water while I was trying to keep it under control. Because I couldn't bring it closer and hook it back on to the harness, it was just relentlessly dragging me along. Fortunately for me I reached shallow water and I could get my feet on the sand, giving me enough anchor to keep it still. On the beach a cute girl (she's from Johannesburg she told me later) was taking pictures while I was in the process of having my name getting dragged through the mud (or is that the ocean?), but all I could think of at that time was shouting "Malfunction! Emergency, Emergency!". Some guys on the beach came to my rescue, grabbed the kite and put it down safely on the beach. If this had happened in deeper water I would'be been in real trouble, but luck was yet again on my side today I guess.



Spreader bar with hook intact



After I managed to get everything under control I walked up to the cute girl on the beach and asked her kindly to delete the pictures. She solemnly swore that she didn't take any pictures of me and showed me one of her classic Table Mountain pictures hoping to convince me that she was taking pictures of the scenery and not of a man who just uncontrollably got dragged through the surf. Maybe I should've asked her to send me the pictures for my blog instead, but I still want to believe that there is no evidence of what happened with me today floating around on social websites for the general public to see.

Update:
Cabrinha at Eden on the Bay was kind enough to replace the spreader bar free of charge. Thanks Cabrinha.

Day Trip Around The Peninsula - Part Four

I have not even finished my story about my day trip around the Peninsula and someone has already criticized me for not going down to Cape Point:

"I cannot believe that you embarked on a trip to see the Cape of Good Hope and then turned west 15km before you got there!! The Point is spectacular… you can stand on the knife edge with cliff dropping down to the west into the churning ocean, and steep sided slopes down in the edge of False Bay, with Bellows Rocks being pounded by the ocean out to the south… and Diaz beach, another wonder beach of the Peninsula! You missed out… please make it another trip at some stage. Have a late breakfast at the Two Oceans restaurant looking over False Bay."

Wow, I wish I could use this guy for writing the decriptions to my photos. What I missed out on was described so poetically that I definitely feel the need to go back. That is fortunately the privilege of living in Cape Town, I can go back whenever I want to. I have found out that going places with the bike to see and capture new things is not aways that simple. When you do a longer trip you basically don't have time to see everything, so you just snap what you see and move on. The other option is to go to one place and spend some time there and take in whatever there is to take in...at a slow pace. You obviously get a better experience and better shots when you do the latter. I will do the Cape Point slow visit when I have more time for sure. I will make it a family outing or something and do the "Two Oceans Restaurant" as well, but now I have a few kilometers still to cover so let me not waste any more time...

So, to get back to my Peninsula trip. When I left Kommetjie I went through Noordhoek and straight onto Chapman's Peak Drive. I believe that Noordhoek is also a place where one can spend a whole weekend and discover new things, but I was heading on to Chapman's Peak and thinking that Noordhoek is also a "family" destination. Chapman's Peak has been in the news quite a lot recently. The reason being that it was closed for many years because of falling rocks. Chapman's Peak also hosted the Two Oceans Marathon and the Argus Cycling Tour. The closure of the pass forced organisers to make use of different routes. The pass was re-opened in 2003 and a toll gate was added to obviously raise money in order to keep it "safe". I will write more about the Chapman's Peak road in Part Five.

Just as you start climbing the pass on Noordhoek side, you get a spectacular view of Long Beach and Noordhoek. Here I stopped to take some pictures. I wanted to do one of those panoramic views where you take two or more pictures and "glue" them together. I even packed my tripod to make sure that I have a "steady hand". Stopping there and getting off with all my camera gear put a lot of attention on me. This is obviously a popular spot for tourists too. It's funny how some tourists stare at you when they see you are a local from South Africa,  especially if you are on a bike. I don't know if they just admire you for being South African or being a biker, but it seems as if there are no bikes where they come from. Maybe they get confused between us and the local baboons that is so common around here and just want to make sure they are not feeding the wrong species. So I got off, took out my tripod like I was going to capture the best picture for some international travel magazine only to find out that the little clip that screws onto the camera was still at home screwed onto my camrecorder. So I was screwed too. With the tourists still interested in me rigging up an "outdoor photo studio", I had to hang around pretending that I was first taking handheld shots to warm up my camera and my index finger hoping that they would get into their car and leave. Fortunately they did, so I sheepishly strapped my tripod back to the bike and tried a manual panoramic shot. I didn't have the time to perfect the three pictures, but here they are connected but "unedited".

 Long Beach with Noordhoek on the left.

Long Beach is not only famous because for its natural beauty, it is a popular surfing beach as well. The outside at Long Beach ("Inner Kom") provides the perfect wave for the young, less experienced surfers while "Outer Kom" and Sunset Reef is perfect for the big wave fanatics. Long Beach provides for the entire range of surfers and there is so much space that you can find your own spot on most days, if you like to surf on your own in between some "greyish locals" of course. If you want to suntan you have the beach to yourself. You might want to take a GPS with for directions back to your vehicle. If the wind picks up this beach can turn into a Sahara sand storm. Oh, and do take a wetsuit along, the water temperature ranges from 9 to 12 degrees Celcius in summer.

Talking about "greyish locals". Just around the corner I came across a guy that was sitting under an umbrella with binoculars in his hands. Unlike the perverts at Sandy Bay (I will get to Sandy Bay, Cape Town's only nudist beach in part five), this guy was actually doing something worthwile with his eyes and hands. His name is Sipho and he is a shark watcher. Yes, in South Africa we have a few lookout points manned by very patient people with a sharp eye looking out for the greyish locals, or Great Whites as they are more commonly known as. All this for a very small pay check every week. It is a pity though. I had a chat with Sipho and asked him about his working conditions. It was such a beautiful day and I commented on the "best view anyone could have from his office". What I wasn't thinking about was the sand in your eyes and wind burn on days when the wind is hammering the "Cape of Storms" at 55 km/h. Sipho told me that he enjoys his work and that it was just yesterday that he saw a 3 meter Great White exploring the reefs behind a couple of inattentive surfers. He obviously raises alarm then and raises a flag so that the surfers can "get the hell out". I don't think anyone stays in the water after Sipho starts waving his arms jumping up and down and shouting "Get your arses out of the water...NOW!" I wonder if he realizes that he might've saved a surfer or two from becoming a shark snack before and if he really knows how much his work is appreciated by the surfers? But for Sipho this is all in a days work and if anyone could build him a better shelter to protect him against the elements, I am sure he would be able to protect the surfers even better against the other "elements" out there. "Thank you Sipho and all the other shark watchers. Now can we perhaps swop offices please...!?"

The view from Sipho's "office".

Sipho "nit-combing" the Atlantic for unwelcome intruders

After I left Sipho behind so that he could get on with his work, I was basically on Chapman's Peak Drive and ready to get a "good" shot of the pass. By now the sun was shining and I was very pleased for the fact that with a bike you can stop almost anywhere on the side of the road to take pictures and to enjoy the view. But more on that, Hout Bay and the infamous Sandy Bay in Part Five....

End of Part Four...

Part One

Part Two

Part Three

Part Five

Day Trip Around The Peninsula - Part Three

I think I visit the Atlantic side of the Peninsula more frequent than the eastern side. But I usually only go down to Hout Bay. If you want to go further down, then you have to pay toll at Chapman's Peak Drive. So, usually Hout Bay is the last stop before I return to my side of Cape Town. Today I was approaching the Atlantic side from Cape Point, so to me this area is also a "new" discovery. Scarborough and Kommetjie to me sounds like these faraway places where only the privileged stays. It is far away from the other busy settlements closer to Cape Town, and according to their size it must be a much more rural atmosphere then what is found in the other villages along the coast.

SCARBOROUGH

According to Wikipedia Scarborough is a "town [that] was designated as a conservation village in April 1996, defined as "a residential area of limited extent, surrounded by a conserved natural landscape, committed to reverse past environmental damage and to avoid future environmental impacts." What I saw was pretty much that. I stopped at the beach and took a picture. There were only two ladies sitting at the beach, for the rest it looked forsaken. I think that everyone in this little town knows all the other people living there. Not that I would particulary like that, but I can just imagine what it must be like to wake up and not hear any traffic or have any minibus taxis stopping in front of you with no warning. Heaven.

Just past Scarborough there is another village, even smaller and more exclusive than its neighbour. Misty Cliffs. I had a look on the Internet to see what the plots in that little town would cost. For a plot approximately 500 sq m you would pay anything from R2.2 million up to R3.5 million. There are not many left, so you better jump if you still want to get a nice beach stand.

I wonder where Misty Cliffs got its name from

KOMMETJIE

Just past Misty Cliffs one reaches Kommetjie, a little bit more alive than the previous two towns. At first I thought Kommetjie was also very small, but when I drove into town and realized that there was a more on "the other side", the thought of having breakfast all of a sudden also entered my mind. I have a friend living in Kommetjie and I thought I might give him a call and ask for any suggestions. Unfortunately he was on vacation and I didn't want to disturb him, so I drove through the town looking for a place to do a quick "breakfast review". I think I must've missed the town completely because I was out on the other side before I could even say "bacon". Needless to say, I left the idea of breakfast somewhere in Kommetjie and moved on.

I was much more impressed with Kommetjie though than with Misty Cliffs or Scarborough. I took a picture of the Slangkop Lighthouse and the small basin which was the reason for Kommetjie's name ("kommetjie" is the Afrikaans name for "small basin"). The only thing I didn't like about this basin (when I got closer), was a terrible smell that was hanging in the air. I was not sure if it came from the basin itself, but I actually left as soon as I could to get fresh air. At this point I also noticed that most of the clouds were disappearing and that I might get some sunshine from there on. There were still a few loose clouds moving in, but I was sure now that changing direction this morning wasn't such a bad idea after all. I wanted to get to Chapman's Peak Drive and was really hoping for sunshine. So that's were I went.....

I was told that you will find the most spectacular sunsets at the Slangkop Lighthouse. I think I might have to return one day to see for myself. I only took this picture from distance but I am sure one could get beautiful pictures here is one has a bit of time and patience.

Kommetjie with the basin on the left.

End of Part Three

Part One

Part Two

Part Four

Part Five

One still missing....

One would like to believe that the ANC has by now changed ALL the street names that in any way might refer to the "old regime" (like Verwoerd Raod, Jan Smuts Drive, Progress Street) to names more relevant to the "current regime", (like Freedom Road, Juju Street, Corruption Avenue). I found one which were obviously overlooked by them, but I will not say where it is... ;-)

Day Trip Around the Peninsula - Part Two

My friends from Bulgaria mentioned that they wanted to visit The Cape Of Good Hope. "The Cape Of Good Hope?", I asked very surprized. I never knew there was a place called the Cape Of Good Hope. Didn't one of the first settlers call this whole area the Cape of Good Hope before they wandered deeper into the interior of the country only to be met by hostile cattle thieves? Certainly no "good hope" in that prospect. Maybe these seafarers arrived on a good sunny day, because not long before it was named the Cape of Good Hope it was actually referred to as the Cape of Storms by Bartholomeu Dias and his crew. Anyway, I don't want to go into the history of the name, but I wanted to go see where and what the Cape of Good Hope was. A place that my expat-friends wanted to see again after leaving Cape Town some years ago for another work assignment elsewhere.

The road to Cape Point seen through my lens.

So, from Muizenberg I went further south past James Beach where I previously took the colourful pictures of the beach huts all the way down to Simons Town and Boulders Beach where the penguins sleep. I only stopped once to put my bike jacket on again after taking it off in Muizenberg. For a moment I was thinking that this cloud cover might be more than just fog and that it might be a weak cold front. After Simons Town the road became narrower and from there on I was actually on a road that I've only been on more than ten years ago. Needless to say the road along with the cliffs are spectacular, but I was not really impressed as much as I am with other places on the South African coastline. Apart from the Swartkops Mountain on the right and False Bay on the left, there was not much to look at. The place is rather uninhabited and I am pleased that the tranquility of this world known peninsula had been preserved in some way. The only place where some activity was spotted was a little settlement called Smitswinkel Bay. In 2006 a foreigner living in South Africa bought the last 40 hectares piece of undeveloped land at Smitswinkel bay for R7.73 million. This was supposed to become a World Heritage Site, but the Table Mountain National Park couldn't afford to buy the land and incorporate it with the neighbouring park in order to let that happen. Yet again a wealthy foreigner comes and buy a piece of our country for millions just because he can. The only other inhabitants here that are frequently seen here are baboons. I didn't take pictures of Smitwinkel Bay, but here are one or two taken on a more sunny day by someone else.

The name Smitswinkel (‘the blacksmith’s shop’) was given to this pretty little bay because of two rocks that jut out of the sea which resemble an anvil and a bellows. The little settlement is on the right hand side of the photo.

Once past Smitwinkel Bay, the road actually turns west across the peninsula toward the Atlantic side, not continuing down to Cape Point as one would expect. Cape Point is inside the Table Mountain National Park and obviously one cannot see this without paying to enter. Some people wrongly believe that Cape Point is Africa's furthest southern point. This privilege actually belongs to Cape Agulhas, 150km to the southeast. I wasn't planning on entering the Nature Reserve on such a cloudy day, and because I still haven't found the Cape of Good Hope, I quickly looked on Wikipedia to see if it actually exists. This is what I found:

The Cape of Good Hope is a rocky headland on the Atlantic coast of the Cape Peninsula, South Africa. The term Cape of Good Hope is also used in three other ways:

• It is a section of the Table Mountain National Park, within which the cape with the same name, as well as Cape Point, falls. Prior to its incorporation into the national park this section constituted the Cape Point Nature Reserve;
• It was the name of the early Cape Colony established in 1652, in the vicinity of the Cape Peninsula.
• Just prior to the formation of the Union of South Africa, the term referred to the entire region that in 1910 was to become the Cape of Good Hope Province (usually shortened to the Cape Province).

I guess I was close enough. Not feeling the least bit disappointed or ashamed that I did not discover it on my own like the early seafarers did, I "passed the start, collected my R200" and headed straight for the Atlantic side of the Peninsula, much more excited about seeing places like Kommetjie, Long Beach and Chapman's Peak Drive....

End of Part Two.....

Part One

Part Three
Part Four
Part Five

Breakfast Review - Fabulous Baker Boys

OK, I have removed the "budget" from my breakfast reviews. After doing a couple of places already I realized that for budget there is only one place to go. Besides, so many good places do breakfasts, but they are usually not aimed at poor surfer dudes like me. So from now on I will just call it "Breakfast reviews", and maybe try something other than bacon and eggs as well. I know there are some vegetarians that don't really appreciate my love for meat, but like someone once said, "I didn't fight my way up along the food chain just to become a vegetarian." But, I might just have a look at other options as well, depending on how I feel on the day.

So, my last breakfast was at the Fabulous Baker Boys in Milnerton. The place, despite facing the busy Koeberg Road is not easy to spot, a little hidden away behind the security fence, but I saw it while looking for the Garmin shop and decided to do my next breakfast there. OK, let me just get straight to the point. I didn't like the place and will never return. There weren't many people there, and I get the impression that this is much more a drinking place for men who prefer to take a few shots before they can face their wives after a hard day's work. The bar section looks a bit more thought through than the dining area. The interior design looks like a stage setup for a school play, and although the single waitress was friendly, when we left she wasn't left with much of a tip for her "great service". So, I had bacon and eggs, what else? I was a bit hungry, so I opted for the Baker Boys Special at R34.50. Had I known what I was about to receive, I would've gone for the Morning Delight at R24.50 and skipped the bacon. Or headed straight for Carlucci's. There was nothing wrong with the food, but if I think that I can get the same for R20 at Carlucci's, then I wasted my money. If you need a place to take a beer after work and don't really care much about the interior design, then this is the place for you. For breakfast I suggest you keep on driving and find a better place. It gets a 4. Not very "fabulous" if you ask me. Oh, and the coffee tasted horrible.

Fabulous Baker Boys: 4

Caveau: 8

CaffeNeo: 8

Porter Estate Produce Market: 8

BICCCS: 4

BigBlu: 10

Farmyard Farmstall: 6

Chaplans: 8

Mugg & Bean: 7

Wimpy: 7

Carlucci's: 9

Calamari Run

We all know about breakfast runs, but have you ever done the Calamari Run? A friend of mine suggested an afternoon bike ride to Hout Bay to go get a beer and to enjoy the beautiful weather and scenery. The fact that I was in Hout Bay just the day before didn't deter me from heading that way again. We invited another bike buddy to join us and at around 15:45 we headed for Hout Bay. We rode through Camps Bay that was as usual cooking with beach goers and other filthy rich people sipping cocktails in fancy overpriced restaurants. The summer vibe is just awesome there, but we didn't stop to smell the suntan lotion and after negotiating the Camps Bay traffic we were on our way past Landudno towards Hout Bay. At Hout Bay we wanted to have a beer, but when we stopped at Mariner's Wharf the smell of calamari and chips was just too much to resist. We settled for two portion of calamari and a large chips...and of course an ice cold beer each. Yeah, we only had one beer each. I have noticed that after more than one beer my bike automatically veers to the left, just like a car with faulty wheel alignment. Needless to say this could have detrimental consequences if not controlled properly. The traffic between Hout Bay and Sea Point is rather hectic on weekends, but we decided to take that same route back just because we don't have get stuck behind Cape Town's open top bus that stops every 2 minutes to drop and/or collect tourist. We parted ways at around 6:55, each one heading back home where our lovely wives were waiting and happy for us that we could have so much fun with so little effort. Next time we will take them along on the "Calamari Run". Any volunteers to babysit 5 boys...?

Our 3 GSs standing in front of Mariner's Wharf.

Three bikes enjoying the view over the bay of Hout Bay.

A post card scene from Hout Bay harbour.

Day Trip Around the Peninsula - Part One

Cloud bank over Cape Town

After a discussion with friends from Bulgaria I realized that in the ten years that I have been living in Cape Town, I have never really gone to Cape Point. I have been there before, but that was even before we've moved to Cape Town. So, I took a day off and at 7 am I was ready for my day trip around the Peninsula. But, as fate would have it, after 3 weeks of solid sunshine my morning started out rather disappointing when I woke up and saw that it was totally overcast. I didn't want to go for a long bike ride, just a short one with my camera. According to WeatherSA there were only 3 towns with sunshine predicted for the day, and the closest one of them was Worcester. At 8:40 I made up my mind and decided that I would do a trip in that direction hoping to find sunshine. When I left the house the sun was winking at me through holes in the clouds, but I knew she was just flirting and had no intentions of going all the way with me today. But, my luck turned when I reached Durbanville and saw blue skies. I was already getting hot in my bike jacket. I looked around and saw the cloud bank that was rolling in from the Atlantic that was causing the overcast conditions in Cape Town. I was really not in the mood for a 300km trip and decided to turn around and go do the "Day trip around the Peninsula" as I had initially planned, whether there were sunshine for nice pictures or not.

After a detour of about 50 kilometres I reached the M5 again heading towards Muizenburg. That would be my first stop for the day.

MUIZENBERG

When I reached Muizenberg, I was basically back underneath the cloud cover. The sun was occasionally breaking through and I tried to get a few pictures of Surfer's Corner. I have never surfed at surfer's corner before, and even though I am pretty much aware of "the best surf spot in False Bay" for beginners and pros alike, I have never actually felt the need to drive this far to go surf there. The water was crowded, I counted over 70 surfers and was told that this was a "quiet" day. I was watching the guys and girls (mainly longboarders) doing there stuff and didn't see any interference by anyone on another's wave. There is just so much space. The waves were small, but what convinced me to come back was the awesome surfing vibe the place has. I think I saw about 7 surf shops in a radius of one kilometer. It reminded me so much of Durban. I think what Kite beach is for the kitesurfers, surfer's corner is for the surfers. The water here is slightly warmer than on the Atlantic, but they have one huge problem there. SHARKS!

Surfer's Corner in the background.

One of the many surf shops at Surfer's corner.

Crowded? You decide.

A longboarder getting ready to join his mates for a morning session. I have to admit, the waves seemed to favour longboard riding. Definitely the best place to learn to surf...if you are not afraid of sharks of course.

Another cosy restaurant with a surf theme. If I wasn't still stuffed from the previous night's braai, I would've stopped here for another breakfast review. It was still early do I decided to head further southwards. The sun was showing signs of conquering the fog, but at this stage I was still getting cold on the bike.

End of Part One......

Part Two

Part Three

Part Four

Part Five

What a day....!

It is not often that I have my own photographer at the beach when I am having one of my most enjoyful sessions in the water. My wife was there this time and even though she missed my best jump yet, she did get some other shots in that allowed me to make this little kitesurfing collection.

It's Friday, let's go BRAAI...!

Do it just because you can

Have you ever done something just because you can? Not that you have a need or anything to do it, but just because you are in a position to do it. Like kicking the dog for no reason. Ok, maybe not the best example. What about finishing your desert before your main meal just because no-one can really tell you at 43 what do anymore? Well, today I did something just because I could. I had to go to town to deliver my passport for yet another visa application. Instead of heading straight back, I decided to do it via a scenic route. Not that I had the need to do it, I did it just because I could. I had time on my hand, had no issues with traffic on my bike, the weather was great...and most of all, I found myself in Cape Town. So, I took a ride back via Camps Bay. What an awesome day it is out there. I didn't have any of my cameras with me, just my cell phone, but I managed to get one of two relatively descent pictures of Camps Bay. Sometimes we need to aknowledge the fact that we have so many privileges and just make use of them because we can. I did today and wow, what a feeling....

Wish it was my story....

A friend of mine from Cape Town just recently bought a F800GS in Johannesburg and had to ride it down to Cape Town. I volunteered to go fetch the bike for him, but knowing that I wouldv'e prefered to ride my own bike down to Cape Town I didn't feel much offended at all when he told me he already made plans to fly up to Johannesburg. On his way down he send some pictures with short comments. I am sure he will have no problem if I publish some of his pictures. I am sure he will comment and give us an update of where he was, what he saw...and how he survived all the thunderstorms along the way. I wish it was my story to tell.....

Stopping at the Vaal River that is in flood at the moment

 

Rain pouring down in Kimberley

Local transport across the Orange River





Apparently the best place to buy "vellies", Clanwilliam



Irrigation canals, have no idea where but the place could do with some water



Nieuwoudt Pass? I thought it was a gravel pass?



Calvinia, not a big town

My favourite picture...thunder storm approaching!

Welcome home, Self!

I knew when I arrived in Cape Town last night that I had to get a descent braai in this weekend to reward myself for surviving two weeks in Luanda. I had a braai there last week, but believe me "medium-rare" was not a term that the braaier was particularly familiar with. There you take what you get and you only say grace when you have actually managed to chew and swallow it. But, this afternoon I decided to pull out that soft and tender rump steak with marinade and make myself feel welcome with a "medium-rare" on the fire. I added the traditional "braaibroodjies" (on white bread of course) and my wife added some mushroom sauce to round it off. What a great way to welcome myself back into the most awesome country I have lived in so far.....

Bird's Eye View

 

From far the picture on the left might look like some angel opening her wings or a base jumper with these flying squirrel suits, but it is in fact the camera view from the back tail of the Airbus 340-600. If you have not flown in one before, then you might not have seen this or be aware of the fun of having this view in front of you. The camera is situated on the back vertical wing of the aircraft and the image can be seen on the entertainment screen in front of each passenger. What is nice about this is that you can watch all the activity going on outside while everyone else is still boarding and be the first to know once the cargo door has been closed and/or when they remove the staircase. This means that you are very close to departing. Unless you see the cargo door open again and a few guys going inside to search for the luggage of yet another passenger that has checked in but never managed to find the departure gates. It is also very interesting to see the take-off and when the wheels are pulled in. Even in the air you can see oncoming planes and other UFOs approaching from the front at sound barrier breaking speed. Fortunately I have never seen that one before. Then of course when coming in for the landing you can get some idea of how hard the landing is going to be...or in a worse case scenario whether the captain had indeed remembered to let out the wheels or not. On shorter runways it could be quite exhilarating to see the end of the runway approaching very fast while the aircraft is still moving at around 200 km per hour. This might give you a second or two head start to get into the brace position before the captain shouts over the intercom for everyone else to do so. Flying can be fun, you just need to know where to find it on your aircraft. On the Airbus 340-600 it is right in front of you. Bon voyage. 

It's Friday, let's go BRAAI...!

Sunset on the Ilha

I was invited for dinner at the Ilha in Luanda and happened to be on the beach while the sun was setting. I only have my little point-and-shoot camera with me and knowing my history of bad sunsets with this little camera I thought that I might make it a bit more interesting if I placed my beer on a rock and making it look like a real laid-back scene. I should've taken pictures without the beer as well, because I have to admit that this beer without foam and bubbles might as well have been an urine sample in a glass. So, sorry for spoiling the picture with that thought, but that was the first thought that entered my mind when I saw the picture on my laptop. Angola also has beautiful sunsets, but you need a good camera to capture it...and make sure your props look like the real thing if you want to spice up the setting a little.

Toyota -- moving forward

After Toyota had a few recalls because of the faulty brake pedals, someone came up with a few new slogans for Toyota...

Toyota, moving forward -- 'cause the pedals stuck.

Toyota, moving forward -- like a projectile.
Toyota, moving forward -- slowly towards acknowledging it's our fault.
Toyota, moving forward -- in reverse.
Toyota, moving forward -- and it won't stop!
Toyota, moving forward -- against my will!





Left hand seat



Right hand seat

The company that I work for has a Toyota Coaster 15-seater bus in Luanda which takes us to work and back every day. A 5 kilometer trip that can take anything from 15 minutes to 2 hours depending on the degree of traffic chaos that day. Through the potholes one suffers greatly from "turbulance", but I have to say that the bus itself does well to survive the up and downs of Luanda's roads. There is  just one thing about the bus that really puts me off. Not that I am planning on buying a 15-seater for my own personal use, but it does make me wonder why someone would pay for a 15-seater bus when in actual fact it only has 13 seats. Or let me rather put it this way, 13 seats that are relatively comfortable to sit in. I don't know who the gentleman or team from Toyota was who designed the bus, but at some point one of them had to say:" Boys, we have a little problem here! The two seats right opposite the back wheels do not have any legroom!". I don't know what the response would've been, but if I was in that team I probably would've agreed. "Boss, we have a problem. We want to put in 15 seats and sell it as a 15-seater, but two seats don't have space for the passengers' legs". Maybe this conversation did take place in the designing room of Toyota when they designed the Coaster, but I am more interested in hearing what the boss's answer might've been. "Oh wtf, let's hope that nobody notices!" Or maybe... "Listen (insert any Japanese name here) , just put in the two seats and keep quite, the customers will only find out when it is too late." Apart from the fact that the two passengers that are unfortunate enough to get the two seats over the back wheels are already sitting with their heads between their legs in the "brace" position, their arses are dangerously close to the wheels that are turning at around 1000 rpm at 120kmh (if my calculations are correct). Ok, the bus will never reach that speed in Luanda, but it is still uncomfortably close to a wheel that keeps hitting the bodywork because of the potholes. Getting stuck in two hours of traffic with nowhere to put your legs is NOT what I would call a comfortable ride. I wonder which slogan would fit this little design flaw...?

Toyota, moving forward -- your body, not your legs
Toyota, moving forward -- with your arse on the tyres
Toyota, moving forward -- with your head between your legs