Did I say yesterday that we’d be in for an active evening after the tameness of watching the Royal Wedding?  I did and I was right!

“Grandpa, please take us to the rock pools – we need to go fishing,” begged Jay at 5 o’clock.   The rain had gone but the air was chilly but this did not daunt them.  Earl and I dressed up warmly and took them half way to Agulhas where the rock pools are full of small fish and sometimes octopus.   What amazes me is that even though they have the experience of catching big ones at sea, the rock pools with the tiny sea creatures are still an attraction and a place where I suspect they have even more fun.   We parked and watched them for a while then while I was taking photos Earl called for me to tell the boys we needed to go somewhere and would pick them up later.

I left them trying to catch an octopus and went off with Earl who’d just received a cell phone call. Sean and Nicoline Baker and their kids who are our Kokstad daughter’s best friends had just arrived at their accommodation in Struisbaai only to find there was no bed linen. Fortunately we have old and worn, but clean sheets, pillowcases and duvets so we quickly dug them out and handed them over to Sean and Scott who were waiting for us.  It was by this time quite dark but when we returned to pick up the boys, only Joshua would come – so we left them and went to have a drink with The Bakers. They were supposed to go to a dinner at De Hoop Nature Reserve but it was already half past six and we told them that it was a long drive, partly on a dark dirt road, so they decided to ditch that idea.

Earl had just got up to fetch the other boys but as luck would have it they’d started to walk and were right outside The Baker’s place.  A minute later and he would have missed them!    We decided that pizzas would be our best bet for supper and Sean, Nicoline and their kids Scott and Robyn joined us.   Scott is nine and he thoroughly enjoyed the attention of five big boys while 6-year-old Robyn gave me the girlie attention that I was now badly craving.   The Baker kids and our Kokstad grandchildren are the same age and the best of friends too.  It was really great sharing the evening with these special people.

We hoped that it would be a fishing day today but although it dawned with brilliant sunshine there was a huge swell running and it was too dangerous to go to sea.  Instead we had a quick cereal breakfast, packed snacks, cameras and binoculars and headed for Arniston.  We birded on the way and found the usual blue crane, canaries, larks and pied starlings as well as the bird special to this area – the Denham’s Bustard.  But what an uncooperative model – whenever we stopped to one close enough for a decent portrait he flew off before I could click my camera.   The only ones I got were really too far away for good photography.  On the way back thought we had a good sighting of a jackal buzzard on prey.

The dune in Ariniston is the attraction and we dropped the boys there to play while Earl and I went to have coffee at the beautiful beach front hotel.

Of course we can never go anywhere without checking out the boat life and this one satisfied this need in my husband.

After the boys had had their fill of running down dunes and burying each other in sand we returned to Struisbaai for lunch and then dropped the boys at the rock pools.  When they’ve had enough they will walk the 2 or so kilometres home.