A High Peak, a White Beach, Chips & Coffee

About 8 kms from us is Chapman's Peak Drive which goes from Noordhoek to Hout Bay along a winding road with a cliff on the left and overhanging rocks, and a cliff on the right which drops into the sea. Quite a scary ride and not for the vertigo sufferers and not to do on a windy day. It is a toll road and if you go right through to Hout Bay you have to pay, but if you go up to the toll and turn around and go back, then it's free. Quite a few people do that and they bring a picnic or do it just for the sheer beauty of it.

We went on a peaceful Sunday while the wind was quiet, as it had howled for two days running, and while it was sunny-skied and warm. We stopped at all the spots where one can 'park and look' and took in that marvelous scenery.  We decided that next time we would definitely bring our picnic chairs, sandwiches and coffee and just sit there and chill for a while longer.

It is so high it feels like you can see forever and quite frightening as it also feels like the sea and the height are almost luring you, gently whispering 'jump, jump'! Anyway, I didn't jump, nor did Tony as he was too busy looking through his binoculars at the little boats beyond, and I had my blog to write! Not a good day to jump.

 After that we decided to go for a walk to Noordhoek Beach which is just at the bottom of Chapman's Peak and stretches all the way from Noordhoek to Kommetjie. 

Many people come and ride their horses here as the beach is ideal to get a long gallop and to exercise the horses. We walked to the ocean which starts way down when the tide is out, leaving lots of shells and empty mussel shells lying all over the beach. That day there were many surfers in their wet suits enjoying the waves which were high after the strong winds the days before.

There are huge boulders on the beach and it is scary to think that they have probably fallen down from up high on the mountain above and when you see how small a person is compared to them, you hope that you are not at the bottom, on the beach and in the way of the next one that is about to fall. I had a bit of a sick thought wondering how many bodies were lying under that one ! ! !  

After our walk we were a bit peckish so we went to the Coffee Bean which is a little coffee shop in Noordhoek with lovely views, and sat and had a coffee and shared a plate of crispy hot chips. Yum, lovely. On days like this I want to stay out all day and not go home, it's such fun to be outside doing different lovely things, as compared to sitting in the flat in Jo'burg being bored to death with nothing to do, or doing the same things and going to the same places over and over again. We got home later on feeling full and contented and fell asleep that night with lovely views in our thoughts.

Our First Cape Holiday

When we were more or less settled in our flat, Tony and I booked a five-day holiday for all of us with our time share and we were looking forward to be going on our first holiday in our new area. The place we went to is called Port Owen Marina on the West Coast just past Langebaan. We had a beautiful chalet overlooking the marina, which is filled with luxury yachts proudly bobbing up and down as if to say 'look at me, look at me', and surrounded by huge weekend mansions saying more or less the same thing! Every evening we walked right around the marina looking and marveling at the abundance.

We found little shops selling bric-a-brac and coffee, and a few km away, a heavenly resort where you sign yourself in and put money in a 'trust' box and write out your own receipt, all organized neatly in a little hut. There is a large dam with many different types of birds and a few bird hides scattered around the dam where you can sit quietly and observe and especially listen. Cathy and I walked up a little road which suddenly opened out onto a pristine deserted beach which went on as far as the eye could see. It felt like we were the first ones to discover this marvelous spot. We stayed a short while, breathing it all in.

Right in front of our chalet there were two geese who kind of thought this was their home too, and they slept there at night and in the morning the ground was full of goose-poo, so Tony decided that he would scare them off once and for all. Of course, they hardly paid any attention to him at all and were back moments later honking and protesting loudly! 

 Joel could only join us on the Thursday and we went to Bokkum Laan which is a road filled with Bokkum hangars where these little fish are hung to dry and eaten dried and salted, like biltong. We saw pelicans and flamingos and found a little art gallery where Cathy bought a lovely painting of the area by the local artist.

I had bought two little paintings at the coffee shop earlier, painted by the people who worked in the shops around there, quite naive paintings but I loved them and they hang in our bedroom now reminding us of our first Cape holiday.

 We sat in a little restaurant at Bokkum Laan, overlooking the river, quiet and picturesque but particularly priced for tourists, and we decided that it was a bit of a rip-off, so Cathy and I had coffee and cold drinks but Joel wanted to try one of their dishes and was rather disappointed when he got a large plate with 6 small scallops in the middle for an exorbitant price. That riles me! 

On our way back home we stopped at a beautiful little fishing village called Pater Noster and watched the fishermen reeling in their nets filled with small fish. We had a lovely lunch there in a garden behind a shop in the main road. Lovely food prepared with care in a tranquil setting.

The view at night from our jetty was gorgeous. Each house around the marina has its own jetty and each bungalow at the resort as well, and at night each jetty is lit up with a blue light making the setting quite fairy-like. The sunsets were wonderful but the wind came up in the early afternoon most days making it sometimes impossible to sit on the veranda.

Cathy on the jetty, taking in the sun, pregnant, radiant, happy, contented and beautiful.

  

It has been done!

I can't believe it. we live in Fish Hoek, in the Cape, (in the wind), in a spacious flat, feeling healthier and stronger, Tony feeling better here than in Jo'burg, near Cathy, awaiting our grandchild. Wow. I am showered with blessings and I open my arms wide and give thanks. Some very wise saying informs us that there is a time for everything, a time to cry, a time to grieve, a time for sickness, a time to give, a time to receive, etc. etc. I feel that it is my time for receiving and I gratefully accept my gifts.

As I sit here at my desk, instead of looking at trees and birds (which I do miss a lot) I see a quiet street with houses and blocks of flats, then a mountain with houses, then an ever-changing sky from cloudy, to rainy, to bright blue, to downright black and foreboding. Now and then I see people walking, strolling, pushing prams, walking barefoot to the beach holding just a towel, old people with canes walking to the nearest shop, people really seem to 'live' here and are so much freer than we were in Jo'burg, less threatened, less violent crime, easier, friendlier. And the bonus...I can hear the sea from where I sit and from my bed at night.

Fish Hoek is in a valley and therefore I see mountains from all the windows in the flat, the clouds sometimes tumbling softly over them bringing a soft drizzle or being blown with incredible force across the sky, bringing days of incessant, gale-like wind.   We have just had a few days of beautiful weather, warm, no wind and last night the wind came up, fierce and cold and although today the sky is blue and the sun is hot, the wind is strong and cold. It's something to get used to but we both love it...thank heavens! otherwise we would really be in the wrong place as Fish Hoek and the far South Peninsula are renowned for wind.

The move went well but leaving was painful and sad. We spent our last night with Ig and Nina and made our way early the next morning with sobs and tears and hugs and promises to see each other soon. I kissed Oscar with sadness welling up inside me, as at that stage I was not sure if I would ever see him again.

For the first hour of our trip, we were sad and quiet, with me quietly sobbing but as we got further and further from the traffic and Jo'burg we forced ourselves to perk up and become aware of this huge adventure that we had begun, moving and starting a new life in a new place, in a new flat. Slowly we got more and more excited at the prospect and also at the prospect of stopping for breakfast, which we did, not too far down the track and after (for me) bacon and eggs and coffee, we felt better.

We stayed once again at Rooidam in the Karoo, a self catering cottage on a large sheep farm owned by lovely people. The moon was full and we went for a long walk accompanied by the farm dogs who recognized us from the last time in January and welcomed us and walked quietly with us under this glorious moon with the only noise breaking the deep silence being a few birds quietly finding their spot for the night.

We slept like logs and were off again next morning very early. There was snow on the mountains as we arrived closer to the Cape, what a beautiful sight. The drive was wonderful and it was wonderful to spend two days at Cath and Joel who made us feel welcome, wanted and loved. The movers brought everything two days later and it all went smoothly, nothing missing, nothing broken, just a lot of work and sore backs, unpacking 37 large boxes. But looking back, it was smooth and we are here and settled.