In South African we celebrate women on the 9 August every year.  This year the holiday fell on a Sunday, so Moday was a day off from work giving us an extended weekend. On Friday the day dawned cloudless and still, boding well for the rest of the weekend.  Jay and Joshua, our grandsons, were looking forward to joining us, but on Thursday Josh was invited to go to Shelly Point with his friend Daniel.  We therefore allowed Jay to invite a friend along.  Brad did not hesitate to accept the invitation!

Gus and Jacqui our travelling companions had a few delays and could not make it to our house by 2 o’clock so Earl and the boys went ahead in the Hilux with the boat hitched to the back.    As he was leaving Earl realised that Brad had just turned 12 and needed an angling licence.   I raced off to Sun Valley Post Office only to be told that the nearest P.O. issuing licences was Bergvliet.   I phoned Jacqui and fortunately, they were still close enough to Claringe to get one there.  Janine texted the I.D. number and within 20 minutes all was done and they were on their way to me.  With some clever manipulation, we managed to repack the car and fit all their fshing tackle, toys, bicycle and luggage into the Caravelle. We left Sun Valley at 4:25 and decided to take the coastal road to avoid the traffic through Somerset West and over Sir Lowrie’s.  We made one stop in Kleinmond to buy something to eat as we were getting peckish,.   As luck would have it there was a bottle store next to the cafe and I quickly popped in to buy some pink Champaign as it was Jacqui and Gus’s 10^th wedding anniversary and Jacqui had forgotten to get the champers which she loves.  Altogether, it was a pleasant trip and we arrived in Kleinbaai at 7:30.   Earl had taken four hours through the traffic and complained that he had cramp in his food from changing gears so much!

Jay nearly fell out of his upstairs bedroom window in his excitement to let me know what a brilliant house we had.  Then he raced down the stairs and pulled me from the car to see “The best house we’ve ever stayed in!”  And indeed, it was amazing.  The open plan living area is huge with enough seating for everybody in the lounge area, a well-equipped kitchen with oven, 2 microwaves, every possible appliance and a fridge to die for.   The dining area has a square black wood table that seats 12.   The boys claimed the upstairs room with its own en-suite bathroom, downstairs there are three further bedrooms the main with an en-suite, and there is a family bathroom too.  The house is right opposite the beach and the view is magnificent.  We are indeed in five star accommodation!

As the guys are both on the wagon Jacqui and I each had a glass or two of champers; and the men toasted with non-alcohol beer.   Gus said we should finish the bottle so that he and Earl could ‘take advantage’ of us!  Ha! Ha!

The alarm rang early and Earl was up and making breakfast when I remembered the camera and got up to give it to him before they left.  Wrong move!  I got roped in to making the sandwiches.  

I watched anxiously as Jay guided his grandfather out of the driveway but he did it expertly and Earl managed to manoeuvre the boat without landing on the beach!

Karla, Jacqui and I had hot cross buns for breakfast and then walked to OK grocer or rather Jacqui and I walked and Karla rode her tricycle.     We returned eating ice-cream and then spent the rest of the morning on the beach.  We met a young mom with two little boys and a baby girl and then a little later a pregnant mom with a little girl Karla’s age.  At first, the child was too shy to join Karla but it did not take long for her to warm up and the two played beautifully while we chatted to her mother.

In the meantime, the boys and men were having a successful time at sea.   They all caught their quotas.  Brad was a bit squeamish about holding his fish for a photograph.  Jay put his fingers in the fish’s mouth and they were bitten, which put him in bad humour but he soon got over it.

Gus and Earl took the fish to the shore to clean and hundreds of gulls swooped down to feast on the guts.   I took photographs of the boys with their fish and of the bird activity. 

We had fried fish and salad for supper followed by the granadilla fridge cake which I’d made earlier.

It was quarter to seven when Earl and I woke up this morning.  He made breakfast while I prepared the sandwiches for the boat. 

Karla only woke up after the guys had left and we sat down to scrambled eggs for breakfast.   I looked out to sea and realised that what I at first thought was seaweed bobbing in the breakers, was actually a school of dolphins.    We watched them frolicking and having a jolly time just beyond the barrier of sea-weed right in front of the house.   Many people were taking early morning walks and I pointed out the dolphins to them. Nobody had noticed them at all.   Kiora was just off shore and the dolphins came right up to the boat to see what they were up to.

We spent the morning at the rock pools with Karla making us join in her games.   We had to do exactly what she said.   One of the games was “hot potato” and we had to pretend that the smooth, round rocks she gave us were hot potatoes.   She gave us pieces of see-weed (gloves) with which to hold them.

The guys had a successful day at sea.  Brad was angler of the day and told me excitedly that he’s also caught dogfish sharks and a couple of baby great whites.    Jacky made flap jacks for tea and before supper the boys went to the rock pools near the house we stayed in during the school holidays.   Gus took Karla fishing off the rocks and after we’d prepared the vegetables and potato bake for supper Earl, Jacky and I went for a walk to find them.   Karla was excited about the harders and one of the "ooms" (uncles) held a fish in front of her so we could get a photograph.

Supper was a delicious braai.  We served Jacqui’s cheesecake for dessert.