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.

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....

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.

Fish & Chips

My weekend didn't start out well. Friday afternoon I was thinking of going camping, but the weather just didn't play along. Saturday was better, but soft drizzle prevented me from doing anything either, especially on my bike. Sunday came and what a glorious day. I thought the only place for me to go on such a "short notice" was to Hout Bay to have some fish & chips. The closest route from where I live to Houtbay is through Milnerton and Camps' Bay over the Suikerbossie pass straight into Hout Bay. The popular hang-out spots along the way were filled with people soaking up some of the rays from the last winter sun, and along the way quite a number of motorcyclists had the same thing in mind as I did...get out and ride! Hout Bay is a small town situated about 20 km south of Cape Town's city centre. I did not take any pictures of Hout Bay because the mist that was driven in from the Atlantice was giving the whole picture a hazy look which does not really compliment the scenery. Hout Bay is not only famous for the Chapman's Peak Drive, one of the most beautiful roads in South Africa, but also for its fish & chips.

I passed Mariner's Wharf, my first option of having fish & chips and went straight down towards the end of the harbour area. Althought situated at a very nice spot next to the small fishing harbour, Mariner's Wharf is more frequented by tourist, a little bit more expensive and usually very overcrowded. So I headed straight down the road to Fish on the Rocks. I always buy my fish and chips here because I like the setting more than the one at Mariner's Warf and although usually crowded as well, you can still get your meal very quickly and go sit on the rocks if you cannot find an empty table. Although there are more than just fish on the menu, I stick to what I like, hake and chips. For R35-00 you get hake and for R32-00 snoek. Both are well worth trying.

My plan was to go from here, sit somewhere where I could find a good view of Hout Bay and read a book. Just when I wanted to leave the restaurant I realized that I don't have my mobile phone with me. This could only mean one of two things. Either I left it at home or it fell from my pocket. Now this thought really dampened my mood, so I thought reading a book not knowing where my phone is is not a relaxing way to spend the rest of the day, so I decided to skip the book and go straight home. I still enjoyed the ride back home, especially the twisties between Llandudno and Camp's Bay. When I arrived home I was relieved to find my mobile phone where I left it while looking for my bike's spare key. Oh, that was another story, but let's not go there... Anyway, finding my phone didn't really make up for the fact that my whole day was already ruined. Unfortunately not a weekend to remember. But, like they say, the sun will shine again...and who knows what next weekend has in store....