I am back in Struisbaai!   I came back on Sunday afternoon and Earlie couldn’t wait till Tuesday and returned on Monday morning.

We have Andrew staying with us. He is the radio ham looking after the communications for the Marlin competition that is supposed to take place this week in Struisbaai. Unfortunately the wind is not playing fair and we have not yet had a fishing day!  Maybe I will be able to blog about this later in the week when the wind drops.

My exercise programme is back on track. While  in Cape Town I went to my personal trainer at least three times and he  got me back  into a good routine.   Even with the horrid South Easter blowing I have finished my training off with a swim in the sea!  I just love it but coming out this morning was not pleasant with the sand stinging my legs while trying to dry off!   Swimming daily in Struisbaai is wonderful but I am usually the only one in the water in the mornings. Unlike Fish Hoek where I had made friends with the regulars. My cousin, Maria took a photo of me splashing about in False Bay.

On Monday night we had a surprise invitation to a birthday party.  We have only met these friends once but hit it off with them immediately so it was really great to be included in Judy’s birthday celebrations.  What a stunning evening it was with their very interesting friends.

Judy and Martin live on a farm near Struisbaai and on the way there we were delighted to find the Denham’s Bustard and Jackal Buzzard.  We also captured a rainbow over Struisbaai harbour.

On Tuesday we had lunch it was great to meet up with an old school friend and we had a wonderful fish lunch at the fish shop in Agulhas.   Silly me forgot to take photographs!

Today – Wednesday – Andrew wanted to meet up with a fisherman in Gansbaai so we took a drive via the Elim Road only to find that he’d already left for Gordon’s Bay!   Nevermind – we enjoyed the drive and were thrilled to find Greater and Lesser Flamingos on one of the dams.   Lesser Flamingos are not seen as often as the greater so it was really cool to find them so close by.

We enjoyed the drive and decided to stop at The Black Oystercatcher near Elim for lunch.   What a stunning venue and the food, though a bit on the expensive side, was excellent.  I had a salmon salad, Earl had a chicken salad and Andrew and Dave had burgers.

So – yes – it has been a lovely welcome back home this week.   Hopefully the wind will die down and the competition prove to be successful. If not, it will still have been, for the visiting fishermen, a pleasant visit the the most southern tip of Africa.