The Happy Labby Blog

Today was warm and calm so we decided on a little boat trip on the Mirage –

There were 7 passengers and 4 crew members!!! Not short of space!!

Navigation point – Sorry, I think it’s called the helm –

And some real attention to detail –

A view of Table Mountain from the Bay –

And a couple of paragliders –

Theses are some of the vessels we passed. 

The Spirit of Victoria –

The Leopard –

The Polonia from Morovia –

These are an example of Doloses which make up a lot of the sea defences- 

Dolos (plural dolosse- livestock knuckle bones used as toy oxen; Afrikaans with approximate pronunciation “dawl-awe-suh”) is a concrete block in a complex geometric shape weighing up to 20 tons, used in great numbers to protect harbour walls from the erosive force of ocean waves. They were developed in East London, a port city in South Africa, in 1963. Thank you Wikipedia! –

A lovely old lighthouse amongst all the modern buildings –

Jet skiers having a good time –

And that’s about it for today. Just one last photo –

Table mountain with the lions head and signal hill. 

A very splendid day out. 

Today got off to a rather embarrassing start as I had to get the hire car removed from the pond we landed in last night –

When that was sorted we drove up to –

It is one of the top golf courses in South Africa and lived upto it’s name. Situated on the edge of Botrivier Lagoon the views are stunning –

This bunker has 13 rakes it’s so big –

For those of you who may be interested I had 2 birdies on par 3’s. And for those of you who are not – THAT IS VERY GOOD.

Little bit of information on the course – 

This is the national flower of South Africa – the Strelitzia – flowering quite late in the year –

To finish – a view of part of the hotel –

Fabulous day out. 

Back in Cape Town now where it must be gusting to 40-50mph easily. Let’s see what tomorrow brings. 

Today we head off for Hermannus to stay overnight. We stopped at a winery – Benguela Cove – for lunch –

Good food. Good wine. Sun and warmth. Things are repeating themselves. 

Moved into Hermannus to check into our B&B for the night. Whale lodge retreat. What a paradise –

So perfectly colonial –

The solar heated pool was awesome –

Then took a walk into town along the coastline path where you can watch whales later in the year –

Passed this little Hyrax (and a few of his friends) –

Then met Hermanas’s answer to The Angel of the North –

Went out for tea and then back to the honesty bar at the B&B.

Today we went to play –

At –

Then went out for a –

Meal. Lovely. Off to visit Hermanus for an overnight stay tomorrow. 

Visit down to –

For a stroll around the indoor market –

With their bright craft shops –

Even old rust buckets look good in the sun –

It’s still very much a working area –

This is a statue of Oscar the seal named after a man who fished off the end of the pier and fed him daily –

Now, around the base are little plaques to commemorate famous people who have stayed in the hotel behind –

When did Denis become an American? –

Chilled out seals –

Need a little help reaching the top shelf? –

Is this some sort of play on words? Hardly 2 buoys when there’s a boat full –

Life sized souvenirs –

Lunch –

Then back to our cottage for a swim and then a very delicious BBQ.

This school sports day started at 6.30AM!!!! I could hear the loudspeaker from our cottage and it’s quite a distance away. It was all packed up and cleared away by 8.30am! –

The rest of today’s blog is short as I am sure you are tired of seeing beautiful golf courses with a back drop of mountains. The sun out. Being told how warm it is etc, etc, etc. –

This was the view from our patio just after sunset –

See you all tomorrow. 

The day dawned bright and sunny so we had a wander down to the beach after breakfast to ponder the vista –

 

Some people very active –

Others preparing for a day in the sun –

Now these notices are put up for a reason!!! If you want to stare into someone’s garden when you shouldn’t then don’t lean on the fence – IT HURTS.

After lunch we went off to Kirstenbosch for the afternoon and tried to find a couple of different things to photograph – 

Lovely King Protea –

Then an interesting statue –

Couldn’t get away without a couple of birds photos. Sugar bird –

And a lovely flycatcher ( Just waiting for official identification Dusky or Spotted) –

Ok. Golf tomorrow. Going to get the Braai (BBQ) going tonight for the first time. Lovely. 

Well the day started with thunderstorms and torrential rain and continued in much the same vane until late afternoon. 

Rain bouncing off the wall opposite –

We decided on a visit to the fabulous aquarium in Cape Town. As before the displays are impressive. 

A massive Moray Eel –

Then lots of Nemos –

This is a back lit picture of a shark’s purse and it actually has a tiny baby shark in it –

These tanks are massive –

The divers come in to feed the fish and Bob the turtle –

These rockhopper penguins were getting a good lunch as well –

This chap isn’t very pretty –

A moment to think –

Then we walked down to the waterfront past the clock tower –

And along to see the Queen Mary 2 who was in port for a couple of days –

I thought this photo was interesting over the ship repair yard. The working area in the foreground and then some very expensive apartments behind –

Just liked the look of these windows on a new build –

Ok. The sun’s come out and off for a swim. 

We had a lovely day out moving inland to near Stellenbosch to play golf at the Devonvale Wine and Golf Estate. There was a light breeze and the temperature was in the upper 20’sC. Course dry but in good condition and we got round in good time. 

The tee markers were rather different –

Again a wonderful setting with the mountains as a backdrop. (Today you could look in any direction and it was pretty) –

Quite a number of Springbocks on the course –

A duck house in dry dock –

It’s surprising how many trees and shrubs have flowers in bloom along with their fruits –

And to finish for today, a picture of a common sandpiper –

The weather for cast for tomorrow is looking fairly horrendous – thunder and rain so let’s see what that brings!!!

The male southern double collared sunbird dropped into the yard after breakfast –

Wash day –

Dried in no time in the heat!!!!

Went to visit Table View nature reserve   So named with her cloth on today –

The lake was full of water and people were enjoying the windsurfing –

The reserve side was very dry indeed. These flamingos were miles away feeding on the only damp patch left –

Snapped a cheeky shot of a white throated swallow in action – 

And then this guy looking out of someone’s conservatory –

Decided to go out for tea. We tried walking down but returned to get the car as it was SO windy. 

Golf day tomorrow.