Christmas Eve in Cape Town

Click on the photo for a better view of our party of friends last night. From left to right, Pieter Jolly, Pieter's sister, Clare Dillon (who both visited us in Inverness last year), Sherry, Breda McCrea, Tim and Billy McCrea. We met Breda and Billy at our favourite restaurant, The Wijnhuis recently. They are from Ireland and full of fun.

You can tell how romantic our sundowners were, beneath the patio trees, drinking bubbly, munching on snacks, wearing Santa hats Clare brought from London that sparkled Season's Greetings.

Clare decorated us all in glow bangles and glow necklaces, appropriately festive for dinner of gammon, ostrich balls, sauces, veggies and an aubergine salad.

Good wine, food and lots of laughs. Merry Christmas to all!



Two Christmas Eve baboon stories.

Billy and Breda told us that during the lead up to Christmas, to escape the shopping frenzy, they decided to be good Irish tourists and drive to the tip of the Peninsula, Cape Point, in the Cape of Good Hope Nature Reserve.

They parked in an advantageous position and rolled down the windows of their car to admire the broad canvas of fynbos and sea. Soon a baboon strolled up; "how adorable" they thought until it showed great determination to climb into the car through the open window.

Lots of scuffling and shoo-ing away ensued and finally the window was up, the excitement was over, and they were alone in the car. Or so they thought. A movement behind them caught their attention and would you believe: during the struggle with the young fellow at the window, an enormous baboon had calmly opened the back door and sat himself down in the middle of the back seat, patiently waiting for his turn to engage with these visitors to his domain. Breda was sure he was pleading with her in Irish, but Billy would have none of it and yelled some strong Irish verbiage, frightening it out of the car.

They were lucky they had no food in the car because the baboons would not have left if there had been anything to eat.

The second baboon story.

Pieter has a cottage in Smitswinkelsbaai, a tiny community near Cape Point that has no road access. The only way to get to your cottage is down a steep hill, carrying all your provisions. On this occasion Pieter was making his way back home, up the hill to his car. As he crested the rise he noticed a tourist bus returning to the city, 65 km away. On top of the bus, above the driver's cab, sat a huge baboon, hanging onto the slim railing, the air rushing past his fur, looking like a beautiful brunette in an open sports car, hair flying, mouth wide, lips bared, revealing the pleasure of being at one with the elements.

Pieter, weighed down by his rucksack, rushed forward to alert the driver, arms waving. The more vigorous Pieter's waves became, the more he aroused the attention of the Japanese tourists who waved back at him with great enthusiasm. Some stood up in the bus with cameras aimed. "What a nice friendly local, let's take him home with us!" The driver, oblivious to all the commotion, headed north, to Cape Town, along the False Bay coastline.

What, we wondered, happened to the baboon? Was this the regular way the baboon population caught a lift up the Peninsula hopping off at the first or second or third traffic light?

Gareth & Naz in chilly London

At Richmond Park last weekend,-2C.

From one room to too many

Our move last week was pretty uneventful, but finding comfort in our new home has been a little confusing. There are so many rooms and often we can be found wandering around, looking for that 'thing' that was just there a minute ago, but in which room?

Here are a couple of pics of the front part of the house at sundowner time. The house photo is from the front garden with the kitchen on the right and the sitting room, dining room to the left, and you can see where our sundowner table nestles in the corner of the veranda.


Tim writes:-

It's sunny and we are beginning to settle in, and SA is easing its way into the summer/Xmas holidays where everything shuts down, and it's wonderfully quiet around town. We're going to a music club tonight, which we hope may help replace Sunday evenings at the Station House, where I gather the Rowan brothers convene today Sorry to be missing that one!

We're just back from a hike in an area down the Peninsula called Silvermine. We reached the top of a peak with gorgeous views of the valley below and a long stretch of beach on the Atlantic Ocean side called Noordhoek beach, almost always deserted because the water is cold and the tides are dangerous. It looked picture perfect from above. Unfortunately I didn't take my camera to show you!

We got down from the mountain at 2pm and were hardly able to find a bite to eat - all the restaurants and deli's were packed. The economy really swells when folks are on holiday.

Like the rest of South Africa, the Stanford Centre is also preparing to slow down, at least between Christmas and New Year. The students begin arriving on January 2nd. Two weeks today!

Less than a week til Christmas - hoping for peace and good times for all.

Two weeks showering in our kitchen

We’re looking forward to moving to our rental cottage on Wednesday where we have two bathrooms leading off our bedroom. A ‘His’ and a ‘Hers'. Very fancy and different to these past two weeks.

Since landing in Cape Town on December 3rd we have closeted ourselves away at a very nice and friendly B&B. But our quarters are small; semi self catering with a lovely outdoor patio. The bathroom doubles as a kitchen, with shower, sink, large counter-top, fridge, microwave and a cupboard full of crockery.

At least we have a separate loo!

It’s felt like a lull, this stay. Time has stood pretty still, although for Tim that has not been the case as he dashes off to “the office” every day. He writes:

“I hit the ground running once we arrived in Cape Town, as there is a huge amount of work to do to be ready for the students' arrival on January 3. My staff is in place and they are doing a great job getting the office set up. I think we'll make it!”

I stay behind sitting in the patio of our sanctuary suite thinking about dinner. Could we bear to heat up another microwave meal, or should I book at our favourite restaurant? The restaurant option has won out for the most part since there’s not much joy eating over salted and over cooked pre-packaged meals.

Roll on Wednesday. That’s about all we can think of at this stage!

Well, we do walk on the mountain on most mornings and the reason we chose to stay in the suburb of Newlands is proximity to the nearby mountain trails that take us through indigenous fynbos and forest.

The other joy has been seeing how the grandchildren have grown. And catching up with my daughter Nan, and her husband, Daniel. Here are Ayanda and Nathaniel on their school swing.

Landing in the Southern Hemisphere

The first thing that hit me getting off the plane at Cape Town International airport yesterday was the sun. It was so high! Instead of squinting into a glaring orb that barely rises above the horizon, suddenly the light was above me, feeling so warm.

The second thing Tim and I couldn’t help but notice was the lovely long day. The suddenness of the northern hemisphere winter after reverting to Standard time always takes me by surprise. How dare the sun disappear around 5pm, and by Christmas, at 4pm?

Tonight we'll be enjoying a cool glass of wine on our warm patio on the eastern slopes of Table Mountain. There is no daylight saving in South Africa and at the moment, the sun rises at 5:30am and sets at 7:45pm.

Tim’s first day here was spent at the new Stanford Centre in Mowbray, getting connected with the people he has hired, and slowly working through the “to do” list for getting the centre up and running by the time the first students arrive and the quarter begins on January 4th.

I had a less complicated task. A walk to the shopping centre to get some groceries and a visit to our friend Pieter and the last of my Jack Russell terriers, Geronimo, who still recognizes me and jumps into my arms at age twelve and a half.

On the way to Cape Town I spent three nights in London with my son, Gareth and his girlfriend, Naz. We lunched with friends; Pieter's sister, Clare, on Sunday, joined by my nephew Will and his girlfriend, Jen. What a meal. Clare produced the most incredible Asian duck dish, with butternut squash and rice. Not to forget the fish starter and chocolate cake deluxe ending.

Monday Gareth took the day off and we had another super lunch with Anne and Steve James who live near Gareth in Wimbledon.

Tuesday I caught the tube to the Hyatt in Portman Square and had a very pleasant pub lunch with Mary Whitfield. Tim joined me off the San Francisco flight in the afternoon.

Another superb meal that evening with Gareth and Naz at the “Porte de las Indes” restaurant near the hotel. Rather sumptuous French/Indian food.

And a last day in London with Tim, walking in Hyde Park before the rain chased us under cover for a final pub lunch before heading to the airport.


Some of the Hyde Park wildlife!

A good start to our seven months away from home.