Guiding light

The lighthouse at the end of the breakwater at the entrance to Kalk Bay Harbour - almost 100 years old. I suppose its more a beacon than a lighthouse but I imagine it has guided many a fishing boat into the harbour in its time.

Puffed up

Washed up on Fish Hoek Beach this morning: a small, round, puffed up little fish called a 'blaasop', which is Afrikaans for "puffed up". It is a Birdbeak Burrfish (Cyclichthys orbiculatis) that normally lives in the open ocean (Indian and Pacific). Juveniles are often washed up on Cape beaches. Its spines are modified scales.

A taste of Heaven

Last Friday we lunched at Jason's Hill Bistro on the wine estate of the same name in the Slanghoek Valley near Worcester. It was a really hot day and we sat on the balcony under the umbrellas - the most spectacular view spread out below us. The food was good - particularly the creme brulee - and we thought the price of the wines was per glass but it turned out that it was per bottle! We had the Viognier, described as "an elegant wine with spice, orange peel, citrus and honey flavours complemented by four month French Oak maturation", and it was divine.
The only thing that brought us down to Earth again was when the neighbouring table lit up and started fouling the air with cigarette smoke. They should have been told to stop, but we had nearly finished and did not want to create a fuss.
So we went downstairs and bought a few cases of the award winning wines, and took them away to enjoy in the Cederberg where we were headed.

Who will buy?

A fruit seller enjoying the shade at the Constantia Nek traffic circle. A box of the most delicious hanepoot grapes costs R75. A bargain!

Seeing red

Red seems to be the main colour of February. We hiked up onto Table Mountain to see the Red Disas - and saw these Red Crassulas and red Sunshine Conebushes too. You can see Lion's Head in the distance - and the upper cable station of Table Mountain on the right.

Love is ...

... remembering when it all started.

This window display in Parfums de France, Constantia Village Shopping Centre, transported me back to the seventies when I used to collect the "Love is ... " cartoons by Kim (Kim Casali from New Zealand) in the daily newspaper. Seems they are still going strong. Happy Valentines Day!

In the bush on the beach

Olifantsbos guest cottage in the Cape Point section of the Table Mountain National Park is yours for the night if you can afford R2640 (self catering). Admittedly that is for six people, and you can fit more in too, for a smaller fee per head. But what a fabulous, isolated spot. A word of warning though - it does get rather wild and windy in the summer.

Kung-Fu Shakespeare

This year's Shakespeare at the open air theatre at Maynardville is A Comedy of Errors. Always clever and creative, these productions are great fun. The stage is surrounded by trees, all lit up and mysterious, and the atmosphere is magical. This year the set looked like it was built out of giant children's blocks, and the whole play was done with a Kung-Fu theme. With bubbles.

Beyond the garden

Crassula perfoliata var coccinea growing on a retaining wall in the Kirstenbosch Collections Nursery - where most of the gorgeous plants that you see in the garden start out. In the distance is Grahan Duncan's office. Graham is a world authority on bulbs with a super-magic touch for cultivating them.