Plan B - A Bike Ride

If there are two things that you should never depend on for your own happiness then it is people and the weather. You are bound to be disappointed by one of them at some point. That's why you should always have a Plan B in your back pocket if you were looking forward to something that might add to your happiness and well-being.

After being bombarded by cold fronts for more than a week now, I have been dying to get out. When a hiking trip was unexpectedly cancelled I fortunately had a plan B...a bike trip to find waterfalls. After all the rain I was confident that the mountains around Cape Town were going to deliver some awesome falls and even though I was aware that they would be high up in the mountains, taking a ride and finding them was part of the fun. The only thing that might still stand in my way was the weather.

When I left my house at 8:15 the sun was struggling to push through the clouds which were the remains of the last two cold front that hit Cape Town the night before. I knew it was going to be a chilly ride, I was just not sure yet if it was going to be a wet one as well. Thirty minutes later I stopped at Klein Joostenberg Farm to have a breakfast and kill some time. I hoped that another hour would give me time to assess the weather, because in the direction of Paarl the clouds were hanging dangerously low on the mountains. 

When I left an hour later with a full stomach I have made up my mind, there is no way I was going home now. I was heading towards Du Toitskloof Pass despite my thermometer saying 8 degrees Celsius and the clouds still looming in the far distance. As I was ascending the mountain the only thing that was falling was the temperature, fortunately no rain. I was barely a few meters up when  I saw the first waterfall but could not stop. There was no place to pull over so I reluctantly pushed on. When I eventually stopped to take my first pictures I met up with a couple in a pick-up also on a mission to find waterfalls. We talked about how beautiful this country of ours is and met a couple of times along the way as we were pulling over from stop to stop to appreciate the views and take some pictures.

After I crossed the mountains the sun started breaking through, but it was still very cold. The temperature was fluctuating between 5 and 10 degrees but I was rather confident now that it was not going to rain. I took the Rawsonville road towards Slanghoek Valley. I was heading towards the Bainskloof Pass where I was expecting to find the best waterfalls. All along the way I could see that a lot of water must have flown over the past couple of days because "Flooding Ahead" warning signs were everywhere. Just after I turned off onto the Slanghoek Valley road I saw a sign saying that the bridge 17 kilometers ahead was flooded. Hmmm...do I turn around or do I go check it out?

On the 17 km stretch towards the flooded bridge I passed a couple of cars coming from the front. Maybe they were farmers going into town, or maybe they were fools like me who decided to ignore the warning sign. I would only get my answer about 15 minutes later. Bummer. The low level-bridge was in fact flooded and there was no way I was going to swim through that. I have seen enough "World's Craziest Fools" to even attempt that. I had to find another way to Bainskloof so it was back on the road I came from.

After doing a 48km detour via a short gravel road called the Goudini Road, I reached the start of the Bainskloof Pass about 40 minutes later. I was a bit worried that there might also be problems with flooded roads as there were quite a few low-level bridges before you actually start climbing the pass. If that was the case then I was in for an even longer and boring detour. While I was taking pictures of a small waterfall next to the road, I took the opportunity to ask a passing motorist if they had come from the other side of the mountain and if the road was open. A confirmation eased my mind and all I had to do now was enjoy the rest of the ride and soak up the scenery.

The Bains Kloof Pass is probably my favourite tarred-road pass. In summer this place is extremely hot and one should actually walk the whole pass with a camera and a few cold beers to get the best shots. The scenery is amazing and I wasn't disappointed today either. Waterfalls galore. What was a bit of a disappointment though was the outcome of my pictures. For some reason my iPhone did not capture the good pictures it usually does, and even though I had my SLR camera with me I found it a bit tedious to take out all the time. I will not make this mistake again to pack it away in a backpack. Next time it is back in my topbox with its easy access. I am not sure if it was the weather or if my lens was dirty, but the focus was horrible out. Unfortunately you only realize that after your trip.

When I reached Wellington I was a bit disappointed that my trip was soon going to be over. From Wellington home-bound it is rather a boring road through the farmlands. Usually not much to see. This time I was wrong. I stopped a few times to have a look at the hills and some other rivers that were also in flood. I am glad the weather gave me a break today, but I definitely have to go back and take proper photos. Besides, any excuse to get on the bike again.....

Breakfast Review - Gaslight Café

Today is Worker's Day and having a day off in the middle of the week is something our forefathers should have fought for as a right and not only left for public holidays to decide. A perfect opportunity to test a new restaurant and this time with a bit of pre-investigation. The idea was to spend the day at Muizenberg and incorporate it with another breakfast review. Checking the internet before venturing out makes it actually simpler than driving around and not knowing where to stop. I had three restaurants lined up in the area of Surfer's Corner, but the menu of two of those made me feel like I will be ripped off again, so I went for the Gaslight Café right on the beachfront situated in between the Surf Shack and Lifestyle Surf shops. 

What convinced on this restaurant was the fact that they had a breakfast called "Surfer's Choice" and the fact that they did not have a web site or pictures of their food on the internet. The pictures of the food from the other two restaurants were those typical arty-farty concoctions styles where you pay for what you see and not what you eat. Secondly it looked to be a very normal no-frills hangout for people with sandy feet and wet hair. My kind of place. The prices on the menu was also very reasonable. There are very few places in Cape Town where you can still find a coffee for under ten bucks and a Latté for thirteen bucks. Usually a Latté ranges from R18 to R25 and sometimes even up to R30. The menu I found on the internet was a bit outdated, but the prices were still acceptable. Anchovy Toast for R16 and the breakfast of my choice for the day, The Gaslight Breakfast, a mere R33. For this exact breakfast you will pay R45 bucks at the Wimpy. My wife pointed out that everything was served with chips, even the omelettes. That actually made me feel even more convinced that I was at the right place. To me that is in line with what I would like to see at a restaurant that I believe caters for surfers. After a good surf session you want a breakfast that can fill your stomach and not empty your pockets at the same time. The Gaslight Café seemed to be such a place where that is indeed not going to happen.

I always wonder how a restaurant situated on a prime spot keep its prices so low, but when you look at their interior decorations you might get a clue.  Basic and simple, nothing exorbitant or over the top. The restaurant has a smoking side with a bar and some couches which obviously makes more money than the other side where the table is. Obviously more money and time has been spend on the bar area, but when people come in with wet feet to grab a snack you don't want fancy chairs and expensive carpets. 

This will definitely be a regular breakfast spot for me in the future, seeing that I will have regular surfing weekends at Muizenberg. I will just try and do the surfing BEFORE the breakfast and not the other way around like I did on Worker's Day. In all fairness it was a rather flat day and did not take much effort to get onto the board, even after the huge meal...

Breakfast Review - Cocoa Oola

My initial plan on Sunday was to go paragliding at Sir Lowry's Pass, but when a friend called me to tell me it was already blown out I decided to take my family for what we normally do on weekends...breakfast. It was  quite a mission to find a place, we want to try a new spot every time and we eventually ended up in Kloof Street. There are quite a few restaurants in Kloof Street, so we took the nearest one to the fist parking we could find. 

I am always looking for a place that seems to have a nice relaxed atmosphere and preferably a good view. In Cape Town you have to pay for view so Kloof Street with not much view convinced me that we might get a good breakfast at a reasonable price. So what is a reasonable price? I don't know. How long is a string? To me it is value for my money and lately a place where I can have my kids run around without disturbing the other clients.

Cocoa Oola seemed to be a good start. My wife jumped out to go see if they serve breakfast and when she was waving that we can park I knew this was going to be our next breakfast . BTW, my wife is willing to pay much more for breakfasts than what I am, so I initially still had my doubts. The sign on the door that said "Sunrise Special - Breakfasts + Coffee Specials every day before 9am" put me at ease. I was quite impressed with their extensive breakfast menu. There is really everything you can think off and I didn't take a picture from the menu because "Breakfasts" covers three pages of the menu. I didn't want to look like spy. Their prices are all reasonable I would say and the food was presented rather well. I took scrambled eggs and bacon on toast which was R33. It looked and tasted pretty much the same as the breakfast I had at The Roundhouse which cost me 70 bucks. Only the tomatoes was prepared differently, but I don't even like tomatoes and usually leave it on my plate.

I read on the Internet that Cocoa group actually have four restaurants scattered across town. I might just visit one of the other sometime soon. Although my kids were running round I think that people sitting in a quiet spot early in the morning don't really want kids around. As the place got busier I felt more comfortable, although I still tries to keep my kids away from other customers. The place was not bad and I will definitely go there again.

Surfer's Corner

I don't surf at Muizenberg and the only reason for that probably is the distance from my house. Two weekends ago the Atlantic side was flat, but a friend on mine told me that she was surfing at Muizenburg on that same day. This weekend it was once again flat on the Atlantic side but I was in a desperate need to get into  the water so I decided to drive through to Muizenburg with the hope of finding a wave as per her claims.

In hindsight the drive to Muizenburg is not really that bad. Onto the N7, then the N1 and finally the M5 and I'm there. OK, it took me 45 minutes in Sunday traffic, but it is such a mellow drive and such a lame excuse to have never gone to Muizenburg for regular visits. Parking is a bit of a problem though. People seem to be arriving and leaving all the time and with a bit of patience a parking spot will soon become available. Unfortunately I wasn't born with much patience but I managed to find a spot not too far from where all the action seemed to be.

When I looked at the surf I was quite surprised. It looked like a public holiday on South Beach in Durban. In the water I counted more than 150 surfers, and I am not lying. In Muizenburg everyone in the water seems to be surfing or learning how to surf. From the age of 4 I guess up to over 70. If it can float and you have a reasonable chance of standing on it, you have an argument to be called a "surfer". When I saw the amount of people in the water I was a bit reluctant to go in at first. The word "crowded" pops up indiscriminately, but once you are in you realize that you can surf wherever you find a suitable wave breaking close to you. What was fantastic though was the temperature of the water. Although my friend told me that she recently bought booties for the cold I was rather pleased with the water which is probably 5 degrees warmer than on the Atlantic side where I do most of my surfing. 

After my hour and a half surf session I went out to get something to eat and hoping to enjoy the surf atmosphere you find at Surfer's Corner. Not difficult with so many surf shops and nice places to grab a surfer meal. In my case it was a coffee and two samoosas. 

I think I have missed out a lot in the past because of what I believed was "too far to drive". From now on I will make more frequent trips to Muizenburg.....

To Hout Bay and Back

After my breakfast at The Roundhouse Restaurant I decided to take the scenic route back home via Hout Bay and stopped for a picture or two....

Three beautiful subjects in one picture.....

 

A local fisherman threatening some Chinese tourists for not giving him money after taking pictures of 3 large seals that he was feeding....

Fishy, fishy.....

Fishing trawlers in the Hout Bay harbour....

Wonder if her name refers to Plettenberg Bay....

Hout bay's iconic Sentinel Mountain in the background....

Windy much!?

If you think this picture was taken at the ghost town of Kolmanskop in Namibia, think again. This is a building next to the beach at Hout Bay. This is what makes South Africa cling on to their status as a Third World Country. No-one seems to care about a building which slowly but surely gets engulfed by sand. This does not happen overnight, and this is not the only example of public buildings covered in sand along our coast. Just last week there was an article in the local newspaper on the ablution facilities at Kite Beach which is covered up to the roof, no-one would even know that there are toilet facilities there.

Breakfast Review - The Roundhouse Restaurant

If the price of the view is included in the food prices on the menu, then I guess it was rather reasonable. The reason I ended up at this restaurant for another breakfast was because a family member had breakfast here and suggested it. He did mention that the prices are a bit steep, but my wife was rather determined to try it out so I had no choice.

If you don't miss the slightly hidden turnoff down Kloof Road then the chances are good that you have found the restaurant nestled in the forest on the slopes of Lion's head. Better to reserve your table as the place is quite popular. When you get to the parking area where you find SUV's and fancy sport cars then you have to look for parking. Drive a little further where you find pick-ups and kombis then you have passed the Restaurant and headed for the Glen trail. The place is obviously catering for the upper class Capetonian, the ones probably also living on that said of the mountain.  The web site advertise that it is child friendly but there was nothing on the menu for kids and when I asked for a small juice I was told that the only juice is a Juice Box for R28. I am sure my son will not finish a quarter of it and even less appreciate what it costs, so he had to share an Appletizer with his sister. So apart from some really stiff upper lip "we-have-it-all" guest and the fact that nothing is cheap for a kid who never finishes his meal, the place is actually quite a pleasant experience.

On the day the weather was a bit overcast with a chilly wind in our backs, but that did not stop the regulars to come and have their weekly breakfast there, and it is not difficult to see why. The view to Camps Bay and The Twelve Apostles is magnificent and the food  is in the same class. I had Scrambled Eggs and Bacon with Roasted Tomatoes on Sourdough Toast for 70 bucks. Now to me that is too much for that meal, but let's look past the price and focus on the meals and the way they were presented. All meals were served on wooden boards and your table utensils are in a little picnic basket on the side of the table. My wife had Eggs Benedict with English Muffin, Bacon and Hollandaise which she shared with her mom who had French Toast and Roasted Bananas with Toasted Pecan Nuts. According to her the best Eggs Benedict she has ever had.

What I did notice on the menu was the section "From the bakery" which in future might be motivation to come back for a quick coffee and something sweet. The setting will be then be a bonus. If you want to feel "exclusive", you love to sit and mingle with the rich and talk about your race horses or your last vacation in Greece then you will find this is just the place for you.

Better Days Take 2

After I posted the first shortened version of the surf clip I made yesterday, I decided to see if it would make a difference if I create the movie being more patient. What usually happens when I input too much information my Sony Vegas Movie Studio Platinum 8 software hangs. Last nigh I waited for each processing step to finish before I clicked my next click, and somehow I managed to win the war.

What is a problem to me now (and I have consulted the Internet where I got many explanations and none that would really seems to be the right one) is that the quality of the video on YouTube is very poor compared top the crystal clear quality I see on my computer. There are many suggestions on what to do, but none of them seems to be the magic solution. Anyway, here is the initial clip I aborted after the umpteenth crash and eventually got right when I aplied a bit of patience. I guess better days are coming indeed....

Inspiration to Frustration

After being inspired by Jack Johnson video of his song "You and Your heart", I decided to go do a quick surf session and see if I can get a similar shot or two. I bought my Sony Vegas Vegas Movie Studio Platinum 8 some years ago when I got my Sony Handycam. Although I am not an expert on creating movies I did manage to make a few memorable videos of my son which he will probably one day be grateful for. The time  and effort that went into those videos know one will ever appreciate, because the amount of times that I had to start all over because the program crashed is enough to make anyone give up. I never knew if it was the software or if my system was just not fast enough to cope with large amount of video's and music files. Nevertheless, it was never a pleasure to make these movies, more a frustration.

When I got my GoPro I thought that it would give me better footage to make even better clips. What a disappointment in not only the fogged-up lens. Once I load more than two clips into the movie software, the whole program crashes and I have to start all over. I am sure that the quality of the clips are way too good for the Sony Vegas software to handle...or maybe my machine just cannot handle it. Not enough memory maybe? I went surfing today and although I got some nice clips, I only managed to make this short video. One extra clip and the software stops responding. A real frustration and maybe this time enough to quit my movie making career after all. The day's surfing was good though.....

Calm Before The Storm

Cape Town's climate is dominated by two opposite forces, the dry southeastern wind in summer and the wet northwestern wind in winter. What is quite interesting is the change of seasons in Cape Town. Although one can see the days getting shorter and some leaves turning orange, autumn does not appear slowly over a period of a couple of weeks or months. No, Cape Town has not been called the Cape of Storms for no reason. This transition period between summer and winter is more like a "Battle between the Winds". For a couple of days the southeastern will blow and eventually the wind will turn and the northeaster will push back. This pushing and shoving forward and back lasts until the northwestern finally takes over and it eventually becomes cold and wet for longer periods. That's when winter is here. What is fantastic about this struggle between the winds is the days in between the onslaughts of the two winds. There is usually a short period of calmness which can last anything from a couple of hours to a couple of days. Today is such a day, a day one would call a "Perfect Day in Cape Town"....until the next wind attacks....