Sunday visit to Arniston

2017-03-07 | puppy1952

Cara and Shaun cooked us a wonderful breakfast on Sunday morning and we discussed what everyone would like to do on their last day. Swimming and/or body surfing was on the list so we suggested packing cossies and heading off to Arniston where we could also include a visit to The Waenhuiskrans Cave. The Earl and I secretly hoped to stop to see a bird or two but time was of the essence so we didn’t stop for too many.

You can only get into the cave at low tide which Earl said would be at 14h00. We were a bit earlier than that so we explored the area a bit and then went for a swim.

Shaun and Cara with Casper

Be careful Cansu

Lolz and Cansu watching the surfers at Otter Beach

Casper also wanted to swim

Cold – but lovely once you’re in

Fun jumping the waves

Recovering from a dump!

The boys did some body surfing and the girls some tanning and then we dried off and set off to see if the cave was doable.

The last time I did it with friends it was spring low tide and looked like this.

Easy to make your way along these dry rocks

Not so easy when you have to wade through the tide that is not quite out yet

I decided not to risk slipping on the route to the cave just in case I fell and had to deal with weeks of recovery – not a good idea at my ripe old age. But the young ones being more sure-footed bravely went ahead.

Shaun the gallant gentleman giving Cansu a hand

The Earl watched from the top of the cliff and yelled out directions

To get to the cave you have to go through a smaller one and then crawl through a tunnel. The kids missed the way at first but Earl was watching from the cliff and gesticulated frantically until they caught on that they’d gone to far. Cara found the tunnel and in they went. As I wasn’t there I couldn’t take photos but these are some from a past trip.

Inside the cave

The opening to the sea

The crawl through tunnel

Was this Hayley? I called her name but she could not hear me above the crashing waves

She was a braver woman than I – It was indeed Hayley and we had a lovely catch- up when she returned.

Our adventurers returning

The young ones needed to get back to Cape Town so we decided not to have lunch at the motel which was busy and we would have had a long wait to be served.

On the return I had to yell for The Earl to stop as I spotted a Denham’s bustard – a bird I have to see when doing this drive!

IMG_4343-001

We saw very little else in the way of birds but it was still and most enjoyable excursion.

Struisbaai Holiday Day 9 – The Kids Arrive

2012-12-23 | puppy1952

I decided that the best thing for my aching back was a good walk down the beach. It was low tide at 6:00 am. and so we took advantage of not having towalk on soft sand. It worked. By the time we reached the Big B I had loosened up considerably. Earl decided not to swim but I took a quick dip and we were back home by 7:30. We’d picked up some freshly baked seed loaf – still hot from the over and Earl made a delicious breakfast.

Earl had a few chores to do and I gave the house a thorough clean before the influx of family. After lunch we listened to music, chilled with the newspaper and magazines until the kids arrived at 2:30. Lauren had not seen the changes we’d made to the house and her memories were only of how it looked when she was a child. Needless to say, she was hugely impressed at what we have done.

The kids couldn’t get enough of Grandpa and there was a tussle to see who could get closest to him.

We are so glad to see you Grandpa. Josh (14) Shannon (10) Jay (15) Simon (8)

Once everyone was unpacked and had eaten a snack we headed to the beach. It was once again a glorious day today.

The pictures tell it all.

Shannon the surfer girl

That was fun

Josh riding the wave

That was a good one

Josh floating on the board

Let’s do that again

Here comes a big one

Jay

Simon catches a good one

It was a problem dragging them out of the sea but at last we made it home for fresh water showers and a braai – fresh geelbek, butternut, sweet potatoes and salad.

Josh and Simon helping Grandpa at the braai

Everyone was weary from travelling and swimming and so it was early to bed tonight.

Struisbaai Day 5 – Fishing, Blisters and Sushimi

2012-12-19 | puppy1952

Today was a fishing day for Earl so once again he was up at the proverbial Sparrow’s F&*t. I lingered on in bed until 7 then went for a run on the road as the tide forbade a beach jog and running later would be too hot.. Well …. If I thought soft sand was difficult, I’d forgotten about uphill in new takkies! I started from the front door and jogged toward L’Agulhas feeling great as it was overcast and cool. There wasn’t much traffic on the road but when a car came toward me I had to hop onto the gravel side path and take care not to stumble over pebbles. After 15 minutes I turned around and then had the cool breeze in my face – lovely – but hey now it was the up run! The backs of my legs were aching slightly from the soft sand jog and this incline was not helping! But I soldiered on – I am at the stage of one foot in front of the other – just keep going – you can do it and not at the wow I could go on for ever, runner’s high stage – My body was not exactly yelling – hey stop this is enough now but there was a whisper of “what the hell are you doing, the legs are hating this”. Not until 10 minutes before reaching home, that it – when suddenly I became aware of a strange burning on the side of my right foot. Oh no – not a blister. Yes a blister – it’s ages since I’ve worn takkies. I always train bare foot at the gym and only use my takkies to go on gentle bird walks. These particular takkies are quite new too. I stopped and walked for a minute then thought no way – I’m just going to run through the burn. I’d started at 7:10 and got back home at 7:40 – exactly half an hour. Now I was huffing, puffing and sweating – so into my cossie and off to the beach I went – enjoyed a 15 minutes frolic in the waves then came back for a leisurely shower and breakfast – what a stunning way to start the day!

There were a few visitors to my garden this morning – some birds and this tortoise

A wild visitor to my garden

And this juvenile Cape Robin-chat

Where’s your mom, Rob?

On Earl’s boat, Kiora, this morning were Clive, Pierre, Bernard and young Kyron (14). They returned at about 11:30 with a lovely catch of yellowtail. Kyron got the biggest, about 4kg, on his spinning rod.

Cleaning Kiora

Kyron de Stadler with his 4kg Yellow-tail

The Heroes with their catch

I had an enjoyable afternoon shopping, reading and doing mind Fair Lady mind puzzles while Earl had an afternoon nap – after such an early start to the day it was necessary. He was not in the mood for a swim when he woke up so we just went for a walk before supper and watched how all the holiday makers were having fun. The weather today cleared into a bright sunny day with pleasantly warm temperatures. Struisbaai was a perfect picture of summer activities.

The boats gently bobbing in the harbour

Fishing from the jetty

Surfing the reef

Paddling

Earlier when the guys came home with yellow tail my first words were – Sushimi. And that is exactly what we had for supper tonight.

Fresh from the Sea

Struisbaai Holiday Day 4 Breakfast, Bredasdorp and Boogy Boarding

2012-12-18 | puppy1952

This morning we woke up to just the two of us – a rare thing in our marriage having got together after we’d both had children and then blended our two families. Of course that in itself was a wonderful thing – but when we have alone time we really appreciate it. Our first thought of what to do – was get to the beach before the crowds and have a swim so 7:30 found us wallowing in the waves and giggling like little kids. Earl seldom swims – he fishes – so it was specially nice to enjoy the sea with him in this way. I did not run as the tide was too high and my legs were still aching from yesterday’s soft sand jog! The air was a tad chilly because the wind was blowing but the sea was deliciously warm and we did not want to get out! The waves were pumping and we regretted not having boogy boards to surf. When we were too exhausted from jumping the waves – it was quite rough today – we reluctantly dragged ourselves out and went home to shower. Today was the day we’d earmarked for Bredasdorp shopping and we wanted to make an early start – who wants to be in town when you could be chilling in Struisbaai!

We decided to have breakfast there and were quite happy with what the Flame Grill had to offer. Then it was the serious business of shopping. We needed the following and eventually managed to get it all.

Christmas Tree
Christmas Decorations
Roast for Christmas Day
Christmas Pudding
Various items from a hardware store
Make-up for me
Skipping rope for me (I promised Steve I would train)
Boogy Boards – we’re stupid enough to think we’re still young enough for this – read on!

I found tree that I thought would suit at Checkers – just the right size and it included a transformer and lights. I was holding the box in my hand and contemplating the price when a woman came up to me and said, “I bought one of those last year and the tree started smoking and melting!” I decided that Providence had sent her and decided not to take that particular tree! Instead I got a cheaper one without fancy gadgets and bought some pretty baubles to decorate it. I didn’t want a tree (not much space) but thought the kids would never forgive me if I didn’t at least have a little one!

On our way to and from Bredasdorp we were fascinated to see a number of yellow-billed flying around. There were also a number of steppe and jackal buzzards perched on telephone poles. (Have to mention birds at least once in a holiday report)

Here is a regular visitor to our garden – specially when the sprinkler is on.

Female Cape Sugarbird on our lawn

Female Cape Sugarbird on the telephone wire

Struisbaai in the holidays has a market on a public open space next to the main road. On our return from Bredasdorp we stopped to see what we could find and bought mielies (corn on the cob) and spanspek (cantaloupe). We had the mielies for lunch – delicious. Still to try the spanspek .

After lunch Earl did all the chores he needed to do – light on the Milkwood tree, putting up more hooks and sorting fishing tackle. Clive dropped in and they organised fishing for tomorrow.

I cleaned house and set up the Christmas tree.

My promise to Steve had to be kept – I did not run this morning so conscious was pricking. I opened up my kettle bell boxes – and oh no – one of them was the wrong weight! I emailed and complained (politely) and had an immediate cell phone reply – huge apologies and yes my daughter could collect the correct one on her way up to Struis on Sunday and I could return the wrong one in January. Still I had one that was usable so I did a little circuit routine that Steve, I think would approve of. My usual warm up and then Skipping with my new fancy and very expensive rope, clean and press with the 6kg kettle bell, step ups on my stoep steps, swings with the 6kg kettle bell, and finishing with burpies. Then stretches to cool down. Tomorrow I intend including a run – on the beach or the road depending on whether I can catch the low tide or not!

Earl, while I was struggling through my routine on my own had gone to down to the harbour with Clive. When he got back we went to the beach – and took the new boogy boards! We were like kids at Christmas. The tide was high, the wind was blowing and the waves were hectic! But boy did we have fun — we caught the waves, were dunked several times and were totally exhausted when we finally decided enough was enough! Its so hard to remember that we are in our sixties – we can’t do these kid things at the same rate any more – but we’d rather die than not at least try!