Rural son-in-law | Diary of an Adventurous Retiree

Stunning weather greeted us this morning. It was amazing to wake up without back ache – Thank you Steve! At 7:00 am we were once again enjoying an invigorating run down the beach and followed it with a rather chilly swim in the sea.

We found the baby lapwing on the way to the beach

A fisherman tried his luck

A border collie decided to visit and dig a hole and Simon buried himself in the sand while the family look on

A border collie decides to visit and dig a hole and Simon buries himself in the sand while the family look on

On our return Earl made a special birthday breakfast for Laurie – my precious girl is 33 today! We sang the birthday song to her and gave her presents and then she set off back to Cape Town where she will celebrate with her friends tonight.

Low tide was at 10ish today and we were to meet up with Monet’s family, visit the cave have a swim and collect Jay and bring him back to Struisbaai with us.

We travelled up in the Fortuner and Allan’s VW Polo. There is a dune road to be negotiated to the place where the climb down to the cave begins. We all squashed into the Fortuner so that we didn’t have to walk from beach parking lot. The kids shrieked when Grandpa pretended to skid and Shan said, Please don’t do that again Grandpa!

We negotiated the slippery rocks and met Monet’s family coming out as we went into the cave. Jay was clearly enjoying himself.

Making our way gingerly across the slippery wet rocks

Die Groot Grot

The Cave

Shannon emerging from the tunnel

When we came back we saw the two young people coming down from the dunes. Jay was covered in sand as he had rolled down – When you’re on the dune it is compulsory to roll down, he said. The two of them stood on the running board and hung on as we gave them a lift to the beach parking area. We are used to no crowds when we come out of season but at this time of the year finding a spot to park proved quite tricky. Of course the spring low tide brought lots of visitors to the cave too.

We joined Monet’s family on the beach and went in for a swim. The water was heavenly. The kids went in with boogy boards and had a brilliant time surfing the waves.

Jay and Monet taking a wave together

Josh, Monet, Jay

All too soon it was time to return to Struisbaai. We packed Jay’s bike into the back of the Fortuner and made our way home. Jay told us about his exciting two days. They had explored the Breede River area, taken bikes into De Hoop Nature reserve and enjoyed an 11 km bike trail and come close to eland, bontebok and zebra.

On route we had to stop for yet another shot of a pair of our beautiful national birds.

A Pair of Blue Crane

We stopped at the market to buy miellies and had them for lunch. Everybody was pretty whacked and an afternoon nap was called for. In the evening Allan cooked us a delicious beef stew.

Enjoying lunch

The rural son-in-law cooking my dinner

The early morning is the best part of the day – everybody says so yet not many make the effort to get themselves up and out there to enjoy it. Most of my family, I am proud to say, can be persuaded. Grandpa had Alan, Lauren, Jay and Simon up at the crack of dawn to get the boat out to sea and the fish on board. Low tide today was at 7ish so Shannon, Josh and I went to the beach for a run and a swim. We were horrified to find our usual parking area next to the caravan park almost full. Something’s happening I said when we saw a number of people in running gear heading onto the beach. And yes – a fun-run was about to begin. ‘Come on, kids,’ I said ‘Lets run before this lot start.’

Josh, my 14 year-old grandson, danced around me like a puppy dog on a leash. Obviously I was jogging too slowly for him. Run ahead boy – I’m going at Granny-pace – but he and 10 year- old Shannon stuck by me all the way to the Big B. Then Josh decided enough was enough – after all he is a pretty good cross-country runner – In primary school there was only one boy in his grade that could beat him – so he dashed ahead. I told Shan it would be fine if she went faster but she loyally stuck to my side.

We met the fun-runners coming toward us – hundreds of them. It’s a pity we didn’t have cash with us – we could have joined in just for the fun of it. Back at our starting point we went in for the most deliciously refreshing swim and none of wanted to get out. The breakers were tame so no boogy boarding but the swell lifted us gently over the waves and we wallowed and played. After 20 minutes we decided to get out and we found that the faster runners were already returning. Margaret, a friend of Lisa’s, we found out later did the 5km in 30 minutes. She told us she had seen us but we didn’t pick her out in the crowd.

Reluctantly we left the beach and returned to wake up Lisa for a scrambled egg, bacon and mushroom breakfast – yes, cooked by me. Then Josh, Shannon and I went to do a last minute Christmas shop for a gift for Lisa from her boys. Josh wanted to buy a necklace but couldn’t find one he thought she’d like. Instead, at a little gift shop, we spotted something quite novel and within their budget. Thrilled with this purchase we dashed home – who wants to be shopping Christmas Eve with all those last minute shoppers – yes even in Struisbaai! But when we checked the gift at home we found something wrong and had to return to have it sorted. Luckily for us because if we had not returned we would not have seen ……..The Helicopter! It hovered low and was obviously about to land. We dashed home for the camera and then raced to where it had landed on a public open field behind the long beach. Josh was in his element as his dream is to be a helicopter pilot. Go and talk to him, I urged. But he was too shy so I broke the ice by telling the pilot that Josh was very interested to see what they were up to. The pilot told him he would need at least R1m to train unless he was accepted into the air force which required 7 or 8 As for Matric…..Anything is possible Josh! The chopper was there to do sea rescue training and Josh was allowed to sit in the cockpit before they began.

The Helicopter

Josh chatting to the pilot while Shan looks on

Josh in the cockpit

In the air

Simulated Sea Rescue

Rescue Simulation

Safely on the beach

Thanks Pilot

Last Look

That was awesome

In the mean time the fishers were having a great time. Simon fed the fish but the seasick medication helped his parents. He still managed to get the most fish of everyone and Jay caught the biggest one. (Boat pictures taken by Lauren)

Another grandson following in Grandpa’s footsteps

Grandpa preparing the bait

Red Steenbras caught and released by Alan (Rural Son-in-law)

I’m the Man

Lauren and Simon with their catch

After lunch it was snooze time for some but Grandpa and I took Josh, Shan and Simon to the beach. Although a strong North Wester was blowing it was warm and the sea wonderfully warm. The kids stayed in the sea for over an hour.

Shan and Josh

Simon frolicking in the waves

Earl, Simon and Jay went octopus hunting before supper but were unsuccessful. We put on the Christmas lights and listened to Now That’s What I Call Christmas while we ate a supper of left over fish, seed loaf and salad.

We are still listening to the music and hoping that tonight Santa will find our house at the southern tip of Africa.