Winter is back, en
force. The sun sets earlier and rises
later, it no longer carries as much warmth and as soon as it dips below the
mountain in the late afternoon the temperature drops. One thing about these Capetonians, they are a
crazy bunch, they surf, kite-surf, cycle and swim no matter what- geez. Our friend Tjaart swam from Robben Island to
Big Bay, Blouberg (around 7.5km’s) a couple of weeks ago, two of them, in
speedos (apparently wearing a wet suit for this is like doing the Argus cycle
race on a bicycle with a motor), one little rubber duck to support, around 2.5
hours in icy water being stung by jelly fish and blue bottles and at the end a
medal – nuts I tell you.
We were up in Pretoria for
two very short weeks, into which we squeezed visits, dinners, drinks and as
much laughter and good times as we could, thanks to all who managed to
rearrange their schedules to spend time with us. The main reason for our trip was Kylie’s 18th
birthday and Samantha and Marius Sunkel’s wedding. We had a fun dinner at John Dory’s – Kylie’s
choice – on her birthday, a bonus – the staff sing happy birthday at the table,
I am sure it is much more fun for little kids but we all had a laugh. 
The wedding was, as is quite
popular, at an all encompassing venue called Casamento in Modimolle (formally
Nylstroom). A very well managed, pretty
and natural venue surrounded by acres of unspoiled natural vegetation and the
striking Waterberg Mountain Range, the perfect setting for such a fun relaxed
wedding. 
Being that the venue is almost
2 hours drive from Pretoria where the majority of the guests are from, this was
the perfect opportunity for a combined camping jaunt and wedding, such a great
idea. “Home” became the second room of the
2-man tent Nicole and Henko generously allowed us to share (laugh a minute with
crazy neighbours),
at Klein Paradys, a neat holiday resort that provided well
maintained camping sites, a couple of chalets and a large house for the
non-campers, pools, restaurant and little shop, just perfect for a good
gathering.
Graeme and Michelle
generously supplied, to great enjoyment, a keg of Gilroy’s craft beer,
prompting a lot of competition in a great effort to ensure it was finished
before departure – success!!!  |
| Feeding the Pea-family |
Awesome memories are the
result of good times like this – friends and family all gathered around the
camp fire, the smell of smoke in your clothes and hair, clear skies full of
stars, the distant bark of baboons from the mountains, the skittish buck and
vervet monkeys that popped down from the mountains to find more interesting
food and the tame peacocks, peahens and peachicks (thank you Google) that came
for their daily bread.
The wedding was
perfect. The weather played along nicely,
the short cold spell that arrived two days before lifted and the sun shone
brightly. The Bride was radiant and
the Bridesmaids and little Crystal just beautiful. Together with Marius, who made a handsome
Groom, and his trusty Groomsmen, this fairytale was complete. Good food, company and a party and a really
fun time was had by all. Congratulations
to Mr and Mrs Marius and Samantha Sunkel (prounounced Zunkel!!!!) and to Graeme
and Michelle, thanks for all your effort in making sure the guests as well as
the bridal party were all happy and taken care of, cheers (in the words of
someone famous “up yours”).  |
| Janet's beautiful house |
Kevin and I made a round trip back to Pretoria, stopping for a couple of days in Nelspruit to visit good friend Janet in Nelspruit.
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| Mac Mac Pools |
Janet
promptly bunked work for 2 days and came to play tourist with us, such a
beautiful part of South Africa,
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| Pancakes @ Harries |
we did a whirlwind trip to Mac Mac Pools,
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| God's Window |
Gods
Window, from which, on a clear day, you can see Mozambique, not that day
unfortunately, pancakes at the famous Harries of course and an absolute must –
a beer at the Royal Hotel in Pilgrims Rest.
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| God's Window - Perfectly named |
Next day a jaunt through the Kruger Park for lunch, we were privileged
to see two leopards, many elephant, crocs, hippos, buffalo, impala, giraffe,
zebra, sadly though no rhino – a heartbreaking sign of the times L  |
| Someone spotted lions - not us!! |
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| Ready, set, start |
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| Fingers crossed |
Back
to Cape Town and the final connections were made on our motors (funny how when
the cat is away the mice don’t do much) and they started. A couple of water leaks were repaired and we
were ready for the Yanmar inspection – need them to sign off the installation
so that the warranty becomes effective.
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| Yanmar dude happy |
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| Skipper happy |
Once again, nothing happens quickly in Cape Town so a week later the
inspection was done, a short spin out into the harbor and we passed with flying
colours.
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| In order of appearance, Sungazer, Maxsccene (behind Myrtle of Bonnievale) then Universe II |
We then moved home, round to
“CAT corner” a shallower part of the marina, making it mainly accessible to
catamarans and into great company, now 3 Island Spirits in a row, Sungazer,
Maxscene and Universe II.
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| Anti-piracy display |
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| Capturing pirates |
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| Excited |
Simons
Town is the home of the South African Navy and once a year they open it up to
the public. Last year we were in Japan
but this year we were going. Kevin,
having served in the navy, is a very interesting source of information and it
was fun to hear him reminisce as we walked through the base. The show and displays were professional and
smart, the exciting anti-piracy display with its gunfire and flares and
helicopter and Namakuru’s showed training and discipline, a very interesting
day.  |
| White Ladies on the Trampoline- bliss |
We spent the night being spoiled with
such hospitality by Chrissy and Alan on Sundowner Rose, so nice to be on a boat
again and I discovered a new favourite drink – A White Lady
1
part Gin
1
part Cointreau
Tonic
Slices
of lime and orange
Very
yummy, very moorish and great for putting you to sleep zzzzzzz…..
Been
a month for new drinks, Thomas and Mari paid a quick visit to Cape Town, we met
them for lunch at Panama Jacks and were introduced to Oyster Shots, basically a
bloody Mary – vodka, tomato juice and tobasco in a shooter glass, with a fresh
oyster (minus the shell of course) plopped in, salt and pepper on top and down
the hatch – chewing is optional. REALLY
GOOD, in fact 3 of those could easily constitute a meal.
We
had the enjoyment of experiencing Cape Towns’ movie making prowess first
hand. The filming of an episode of the
British TV Series “Our Girl” took place on the beach outside the Wang Tai
restaurant just off our door step.
Temporary structures and fencing erected and for nearly two weeks we
were treated to a movie set and behind scenes scenario including British army
trucks, ambulance, actors in camouflage, gunfire, stretchers with patients (we
did wonder if these were all acting), we even braved gate crashing one day just
to see what they were doing, Cape Town never fails to entertain!
Mothers
day we had Chrissy, Alan and Craig over for lunch. Kevin cooked up a storm on the braai, the
mist rolled in and out and the sun paid brief visits, the sunset was worthy of
many photos and the red wine and whiskey, well what can I say, good friends,
good times, a day to remember indeed.
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| Thats where it goes |
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| New one ready to install |
We
have been doing some constructive work on Maxscene ourselves, we have replaced
the last 5 port lights, a job requiring its own set of monkeynastix skills,
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| Monkeynastix!!!! |
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| Removing sheeves, took some persuasion |
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| New sheeves installed |
replaced the steering sheeves and cables and installed new red/white cabin lights.
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| Red light above chart table |
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| Future wine cellar & freezer compartment |
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| Cutting out the old freezer |
Kevin and his irreplaceable multi-tool cut
the remains of the freezer out, creating a cavity that almost became a shower
but this idea has been cancelled, the cavity is an odd shape and not really big
enough and doing this would require a lot more work as we would have to modify
another cupboard to fit the freezer. We
do however have another idea for making the current shower space larger, a job
that will be tackled in time to come…
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| Selfie with little blue bird |
Chrissy
and I did the Wildlife in the Winelands photographic tour with Peter from Cape
Photographic Company. He has a winning
formula, offering what he calls “photographic tips trips” where he takes
tourists on trips all over the Cape and being a professional photographer he
offers photographic tips or training on your camera as you want. Our tour started at Villeria Wine Farm where
they have Zebra, Giraffe and a large quantity of buck including Black and White
Springbok, Kudu, Eland and Wildebeest on a picturesque Wine Farm. This was followed (next to the fire and accompanied
by wine tasting) by note taking and setting planning for the next stop –
Butterfly World.
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| Macro up close |
We left armed with
bottles of good red wine and off to learn more about Macro photography. Beautiful brightly coloured butterflies and
birds and amazing Bats were in abundance at Butterfly World, definitely a place
to revisit.
Then off to Drakenstein Lion
Park where we arrived in time to watch the build up to dinner time which
happens every 2nd day. Lions
and Lionesses of all ages, the eldest being an old lady of 21, rare White Lions
and Lionesses (and cubs) and Tigers.
Drakenstein Lion Park is a sanctuary for captive born lions that cannot
be rehabilitated into the wild. They do
not advocate nor allow petting of their lions and do not provide canned lion hunters
with prey. 
A number of their lions are
from circuses, one was kept as a pet in a concrete dungeon in Russia, some,
including the Tigers are from the Tygerberg Zoo that sadly closed. All the cats are homed in large, naturally
vegetated areas and are all here to live out their natural lives. Well worth a visit.
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| Dinner supplied "air-mail" |
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| Henry VIII & one of his wives |
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| Such a cool Monk |
This
weekend we had a little amusement, False Bay Yacht Club in Simons Town held a
Medieval Banquet, a great excuse to seek out costume hire shops and get with
the theme. A very well organized and
entertaining event, the food was great and there was plenty, the music and
Jester were brilliant and proceeds from the many fines went to NSRI, everyone
was a winner J
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| They even had stocks |
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| One Jester to another - fines |
Now
the countdown to the next haul out and final “messy” work begins. Really looking forward to getting finished
and being “boat people” again…
