Tag Archives: Cape Town

Winter Morn

Just to show that we do have a few trees in Cape Town that lose their leaves and display this lovely wintry skyline.

Moon Over Miami

OK, so it isn’t really Miami! Did you guess?

And next thing you’ll be saying is, “What moon?”

Moon Over Miami 2

Blue Moon of course!

I love seeing the moon unexpectedly during the day; especially in a clear blue sky and over a mountain.

There used to be a TV series called ‘Moon Over Miami’, which I thought of when I saw this ‘Moon Over Craggy Mountains’ in Kirstenbosch, Cape Town.

The Ends of the Earth

Noordhoek Beach 1

A quiet day at the end of the Earth.

Noordhoek Beach 2

And the other end.

Noordhoek Beach 3

And the middle – of the end of the Earth!

And because some of you thought I was joking about the sharks, here’s a sign.

Noordhoek Beach 4

Sorry it’s not very clear; I was actually taking a picture of the ocean. Basically there are various flags that will be displayed informing you of shark activity, and how safe it is to enter the water.

Noordhoek Beach 5

The ocean is out there somewhere.

Now you know why this beach was used when filming some of the scenes in the 1970 movie ‘Ryan’s Daughter’.

People walking on Noordhoek Beach 6

Still, I felt it was a little crowded! Did you spot the people?

Surfers Noordhoek Beach 7

And these guys?

Ah well, can’t have everything!

Cannon

Weapon of mass destruction – in the old days!

This old cannon is on display at the Alphen Hotel. I’ve no idea what ‘gauge’ it is, or when it was last used.

However, there is a cannon still fired every day at noon from Signal Hill, in Cape Town. You can read more about it here, Noon Gun.

Power to the People

Give me the Moonlight

– or not!

– If you’re in SA at the moment!

Power cuts continue, under the name of ‘load shedding’. Why are we having them you ask? Good question. Power stations need maintenance and repairs and demand for electricity far outstrips supply.

The power cuts usually last 2 hours 20 minutes and are on a rolling schedule, so we take turns to have no power at inconvenient times. Our area has had power cuts during the dark of evening three times in the past week. You cannot boil a kettle or cook a meal as we have electric stoves. (Very very few people have gas cylinders to cook with.)

Even though it is becoming exceedingly tiresome, we still look on the bright said, albeit via candle light!

Chatting to someone the other day, they told me how the family enjoyed a candlelit dinner during the last evening’s power cut, and how they all talked to each other, instead of watching TV. (I listened to Thumper and said something nice instead of what I was thinking; which was that as a family I made sure we always ate our evening meal at the dining table and talked to each other!)

During the last power cut, I simply listened to Chopin’s first piano concerto, without having to do chores as well.

While sitting out on the stoep as dusk fell, we saw a few bats flit swiftly around the garden. I haven’t seen bats for ages.

Standing in the garden at night while my dogs LM and SL visit the bathroom before bedtime, I could clearly see a myriad of stars, since town and street lights from around the area were all off. There’s Orion’s belt and the Southern Cross and its pointers. (That’s about the limit of my star knowledge!!)

So it’s not all bad.

But if you can’t change something, then change how you feel about it, or laugh about it!

Here’s a fun SA advert that sort of sums up SA’s and how the rest of the world sees us. At least we can laugh at ourselves, if nothing else!

Load Shedding

I Live Here Also

Sea View

View from Muizenburg beach.

You just feel you can breathe there

on a windy day,

with your eyes resting easy

on the distant horizon.

For other photos from around Cape Town, see I Live Here and I Live Here Too

How to prepare for Winter in the Western Cape

1. Remove one of the three ice cube trays from the freezer

2. Nope – can’t think of anything else!

post script: It has been extremely warm lately. Hard to believe it is mid-April.

Time Out

Distant Horizons

There are places I go when I need Time Out.

This is one of them. Sitting on a bench and letting my thoughts drift with the clouds over the distant Elephant mountain.

Mountain View

This mountain view was taken at Suikerbosse at the end of last year, long before the fires of the other week.

I don’t know the name of this particular range, but most of the mountains have this sort of craggy look about them.

Slave Bell

Slave Bell The Alphen

There used to be slave bells in Cape Town. Obviously no longer rung, they remain in a few places, such as here at the Alphen Hotel, as an historical reminder.

I can’t find much info on slave bells at all. A possible link, if you want to read more, is this old newsarticle.

There was also one at my kids’ primary school, which was rung at the end of each term. They called it the Freedom Bell!