Friday brought our
final opportunity to take in African wildlife.
Today we were heading to the deep south, to Simon's Town and the promise
of African penguins. To get there we had
to follow the M3 to its end at Kirstenhof, and then continue south on Main Road
through Lakeside, Muizenberg, St James, Kalk Bay, Fish Hoek and Glencairn.
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However, upon exiting Muizenberg, the traffic
stopped dead. Initially we agreed to
wait for a break, but after 20 minutes without moving, we turned around. We backtracked to Kirstenhof and took a route
over Ou Kaapse Weg and then onto the Glencairn expressway. Eventually we reached Simon's Town, drove by
the naval base where a young cadet was exiting, and on to the beach.
At Boulders Beach, just two pairs of breeding
birds first arrived here in 1982. The
colony has increased to some 3000 individuals.
"Bordered mainly by indigenous bush above the high-water mark on
the one side, and the clear water of False Bay on the other, the area comprises
a number of small sheltered bays, partially enclosed by granite boulders that
are 540 million years old." (Wikipedia)
I'd been there once or twice in the years I'd
lived in Cape Town. Then it was possible
to sit on the beach with the penguins and even swim with them. It has since been fenced off for the
protection of the birds. Newly
constructed boardwalks allow people to wander to within a few feet of the
colony without disturbing them. Swimming
is allowed only at beaches adjacent to the colony and no longer amongst the
creatures. The tourists around us were
not as affable as the feathered beauties.
I excused myself in Chinese as I passed one lot, and warned another in
Chinese that I was behind him as he stepped back. In neither case did they recognize that I was
using their own language. Mainlanders!
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Sorrowfully, our protracted southbound journey
meant that we did not have ample time to observe these beautiful marine
animals. Tonya had asked for only one thing
besides Merrells and whale watching - shopping.
To this end I'd arranged with Lerene to go with us to Century City in
the Northern Suburbs as she'd said she knew where to buy the right sizes at the
right prices. We were already late, and
we had to negotiate traffic back to Kenilworth.
Still, I did not push Tonya. I
waited until she willingly albeit reluctantly ceased watching.
Unwilling to attempt the roadwork along Main
Road, we returned via Ou Kappse Weg. And
met another queue of stagnant traffic.
As we reached the top of Silver Mine Nature Reserve, through which this
road runs, the reason for the lethargic commute proved to be an accident. Passing it, the road cleared and we were able
to accelerate. For a short while. Down the bottom end of the same road, a
garbage truck had crashed into a car at the intersection through which we had
to proceed. Heavens! Would we ever get to Century City?
Arriving at Andre and Lerene's an hour late, we
hopped into two cars and scurried northward.
The giant shopping complex is up the N1 motorway, but not too far. Andre and I drank coffee, ate junk food and
chatted while Tonya and Lerene did their lady things. Time flew by - clearly Andre and I each had
lots to say. Poor Tonya again had scant
luck on her quest. Nothing she found was
right for her, and I guess she also got a little flustered, being unaccustomed
to shopping with another person. Like
me, she has been single for years and as such has done everything by herself. Reunited, we had a quick drink, and then
Tonya and I returned to the Silver Lattice, leaving Andre and Lerene to
complete their acquisitions.
Tonya stayed home while
I went out to meet Richard Gregorowski.
Son of a preacher man, I met Richard when I was in London. He worked at Rules Restaurant in Covent
Garden. This is where I earlier said a
handful of the Wild Fig waiters ended up working together again. A month or so after meeting, I moved into the
house he shared with a bunch of South Africans near Wood Green. It was here that I also met Jo'burg Quintin
as well as Richard's brother Matthew.
Matt and their sister Sarah now live in Sydney, and I shall see them
there in January 2016. Now in South
Africa in 2015, I was excited about rendezvousing with Richard as we had not
seen each other since before I left London in 2000. We chose Observatory, Cape Town's Bohemian, eclectic,
wild hangout. The place reminds me a
little of Khoasan Road in Bangkok. There
are backpacker's hostels, pool halls, Mexican restaurants and an array of
drinking holes. It was great to catch
up. Richard had married Rachel, with
whom he'd lived for a while in Cardiff, Wales, though she herself is English. They'd returned to Cape Town some time
after my last visit in 2010. I listened
gleefully to his tale of their ten-month sojourn through Southern Africa -
Namibia, Botswana, Zimbabwe, Malawi, Mozambique, Swaziland and Lesotho. Their trip had been much more rugged than my
own overland race to Uganda and back in 2003.
On Saturday, I woke relatively early to put on
a pot of Tarragon and Sweet Vermouth Beef Stew.
I had been so taken by Tiziana's ingenious plan to get many people
together simultaneously that I requested the use of Brett's home for a reunion
of a different circle of friends. He
agreed, and it would ideally have been a bring-and-braai, but the weather did
not play along. The rain and grey that
had started on Thursday had not yet cleared. Indeed, it was worse today. I was not unhappy as I like the frigid
temperatures, and an alternative had already been decided upon - a pot
luck. Fortuitously, Silver Lattice was
equipped with everything I needed, and I'd bought all the ingredients at the
Garden Centre just down the road yesterday morning before our penguin
excursion. (I was surprised to find no
tarragon in the herb section and had to substitute it with oregano.) It did not take long to get it all into the
pot, and then it sizzled for about two hours, at which point Richard and Rachel
came to pick up Tonya, me and the pot of food.
We drove via Kloof Neck and Oudekraal, past Llandudno and into Hout Bay.
I was piqued.
I had already seen Debbie and Deon at the Wild Fig lunch, and Richard the
night before, but today I'd see Brett and Claire and meet their daughter Chloe;
Maya, Deon's daughter who'd grown so quickly; Franz and Elizabeth and their
children Emma and Josh; and of course, Rachel, who'd picked us up. Everyone had brought something, and I'd
warned the parents about the alcohol in mine.
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At first Tonya was overwhelmed by the crowd,
but very quickly the darling girls surrounded her and welcomed her with rapid
questions and anecdotes. Conversation
was spirited and spirits flowed - well, it was champagne, but you get the gist.
The ladies had all remained slender and
looked elegant and dazzling; the men had all kept fit and sexy. As day turned to night, some refused to
relent. Richard had an early morning
appointment with his parents, so he and Rachel left around 10pm, taking Tonya
with them and kindly dropping her at Silver Lattice. I stayed and continued partying. Franz and Elizabeth called a driver to take
them home, and I slept in the spare room.
In the morning, I called an Uber to take me home. What a joy it was to see them all again! I think I am incredibly lucky to have kept my
friendships, despite living abroad for 18 years!
We had rescheduled our
trip to Robben Island for Sunday, but I did not make it home in time. Tonya was not annoyed, given that we had done
so much and been on the move constantly for three weeks. I had also booked to take the cable car up
Table Mountain, but for the same reasons just mentioned, we agreed not to make
the effort. Instead, Tonya packed her
suitcase, checked her airline ticket and washed the last items she needed to
wear. She'd had some trouble with her
Mango Airline flight from Cape Town to Johannesburg - the airline had changed
the flight details twice, and she now discovered that the flight on which she
was booked would arrive at OR Tambo too late.
She hurriedly changed the flight and had to pay another amount for
that. In the end, this ticket cost her
much more than it should have.
We returned to the Waterfront to browse in the
Watershed, formerly called the Red Shed.
Here Tonya bought another piece of art.
Then we lunched at the restaurant attached to the aquarium. This establishment was once called the
Bayfront Blu and had then been owned by Pat Pryce-Fitchen. The same woman owned La Scala Restaurant in
Cavendish Square, Claremont, which is where I'd met Deon, Ben (who we'd visit
today), Brett, Monique, Kathy (who lives in the UK and who will join me in
Sydney next January), and by extension, Elizabeth and Claire. Apart from the two latter ladies, we'd all
worked at La Scala for a couple of years shortly after I graduated from the
University of Cape Town. Claire was already
then coupled with Brett, while Elizabeth was dating Ben at the time.
After filling our
bellies, we headed south once more, this time to Marina da Gama, which lies
just before Muizenberg. It was time to
see Ben and Simeon and to meet their offspring, Liam and Raegen. It was Liam's birthday and they'd had a party
at the community centre nearby with classmates, cupcakes and games. We arrived after festivities and went to
Ben's house. It was wonderful to see
them, and pretty soon Ben's parents Steve and Julie also arrived. I've known them since my wild youth and
always see them also when I come home.
All of them were well, though they were all living in new homes. Unfortunately, Ben's sister, Prue had already
returned to Somerset West. Nevertheless,
we had a good visit.
On Monday it was time to say a sad farewell to
Tonya at Cape Town International Airport.
From here my solo experiences would be slightly less enthralling. I went to pay for parking and a tall, lanky
man was just ahead of me at the paypoint.
He finished up and it was my turn to insert my ticket. When I got to my rental, said tall man was
trying to get into it. He was hugely
embarrassed when I said, "Excuse me!
That's my car." Five spaces
to the left stood his rental, identical in make, model and color. Poor guy looked mortified at having been
caught "breaking-and-entering."
I drove to the High Court. Here I hoped to get my birth certificate
apostilled. After being directed left,
right, up this corridor and down that passageway, I was eventually told that
documents from the Department of Home Affairs could not be apostilled
here. I was required to send the
document to Pretoria. There was not time
for that. I wanted to do this in order
to get the certificate verified by the Taiwan Liaison Office here in Cape
Town. The reason for this is the following:
I remember almost insurmountable red-tape when my dear friend Leanne passed
away. Her parents requested that I take
care of all matters on their behalf as they were unable to fly to Taiwan. One of the difficulties was that her birth
certificate had to go through the process I've just described before the
Taiwanese authorities would issue a death certificate. The matter was time consuming and dreadful to
deal with under the circumstances. It
was then that I'd decided to not put anyone through this in the event of my
passing.
Now thoroughly frustrated, I resolved to visit
the Taiwan Liaison Office and explain what I'd been told. The gentleman at reception listened, took my
birth certificate and stamped his recognition without further question. What a relief!
Returning to Silver Lattice for the last time,
I picked up my bags, which I'd already packed, and headed south again, to
Tokai, where I'd booked at Tiana Guest House, down the same road upon which
Debbie and Deon live. This was a
converted home at the end of a quiet cul-de-sac, with a pretty garden
surrounding a swimming pool. The room
was well-appointed and the hostess amiable.
The other guests, with whom I'd take breakfast for the next three
mornings, were also pleasant. There was
a couple from the Netherlands, a German woman who had just returned to South
Africa, where she'd lived previously, and a young man from Johannesburg.
I mentioned earlier that the penguins were
the last of Africa's wildlife I'd see, but
here, beside the suburban roads, wandered a smattering of peacock. Having dropped my bags I went by Elizabeth's
place to see her again, and later to Rosebank to catch up again with Richard
and Rachel. In the evening I enjoyed a succulent
meal at Jake's in the Village with Debbie and Deon.
On Tuesday morning, I woke with a fire in my
chest. My muscles ached and a dull
earache threatened to get worse. Along
both sides of my septum flowed an everlasting torrent. Urgh!
Really?!
My first stop today was
at Andre and Lerene's. We chatted for a
while, and then Lerene produced a gift.
A new painting she'd just completed of a rhinoceros mother and
calf. I'd been endlessly lamenting to
all who'd listen that this was the only animal I'd hoped in vain to see in the
Kruger Park. I mean to say, of all the animals I'd been dying to see, this
was the only one I didn’t clap eyes on. How
thoughtful of Lerene! It was already mounted, and I couldn't see how I'd get it home on a plane. We
looked in the yellow pages for a framing shop, and I took it to be removed from its mount and rolled into a tube. It has subsequently been reframed and now
hangs in my bedroom, brightening the space markedly.
After the framing shop, I headed down to
Lakeside where Debbie D was having her hair done. I bought something to eat at the fast food
place downstairs, which they brought up to the hairdresser's. I was very impressed with both the size of
the portion and the flavor of the chicken strips. The meal had cost very little and I had
expected the same. I offered some to the
hairdresser and Debbie, then wolfed down the rest while I chatted with
them. Soon it was time to return to
Tiana - I needed a nap before meeting my sis Susan tonight.
Susan had arranged with her friend Sonya, whom
she wanted me to meet, to have dinner at Sonya's. This took me to Edgemead, a suburb of Cape
Town I'd never set foot in. Surrounded
by traditionally Afrikaans suburbs, Edgemead was the only predominantly
English-speaking area beyond the Boerewors Curtain. (This was a description the English-speaking
youngsters of the Southern Suburbs disparagingly used for the north.) Sonya's daughter Tara was also present. The meal was great and it was fantastic to
spend time with Susan again, and to meet a good friend of hers. Nagging at me the whole night, though, was
the cold or flu I'd awoken with. Oh
well, what can be done about catching bugs?
On Wednesday morning, I
drove a short distance within Tokai to meet Ben again, this time accompanied by
his sister Prue. I was thrilled that
she'd been able to make time for me. She
is a textiles rep and travels all across the Western Cape. We had breakfast at a coffee shop and caught
up joyfully. Next I tried to see Nienke
again, but she'd also caught a cold and was home in bed. Tiziana was also unavailable. I drove around for a while, then returned to
Tiana to take a nap. In the late
afternoon, I popped by Debbie D again to see her one final time, and then made
my way to Hout Bay to catch up with Brett and Claire. I had in fact booked to see an "African
opera" tonight, Heart of Redness, but decided after much internal debate to
miss it because it was the only opportunity to see Brett and Claire before
heading to Port Elizabeth tomorrow. I am
glad I made the right choice.
Andre had arranged to meet me at the airport on
Thursday morning. Driving there from
Tokai, I listened as usual to Fine Music Radio.
Over the airwaves came a rendition of the piano reduction of
Tchaikovsky's Nutcracker suite. It was
captivating. I was so entranced that I was
loath to hand the car back to Avis; I wanted to stay inside and listen until
the end. But planes don't wait for
Tchaikovsky, and I ultimately capitulated.
(Back in Taiwan, I contacted Fine Music Radio to find out more about
this piece. They informed me that it was Mikael Pletnev’s interpretation
of the Concert Suite from Tchaikovsky’s Nutcracker. I tried to find the
CD to purchase, but had no luck. Oh, well, I’ll just have to listen to it
on YouTube.) After checking in, Andre
called to say that his car's radiator had sprung a leak and he would not be
able to meet me. We said our
goodbyes. Before going to get a bite to
eat, I caught this shot, beautifully framed by the airport building. Regrettably, my good camera was packed away.
