The first Anglican parish in Southern Africa was established in Simon’s Town in 1814. That building was destroyed by floods in 1824, and the current St. Francis Church was built in 1837.

 Last Saturday Richard Cock   conducted Songs of Praise concert in the church which was full.  My friend bought the last ticket for me at noon that day.    The choirs were St Francis Church, Christ Church Constantia, St Margarets Fish Hoek, St Georges Cathedral (evening choir) and the Herschel Chorale. The list of hymns included Love Divine and We are marching in the Light of God.  Howard Goodall composed Promise of Grace for the Congregation and Choir of St Francis Church.

The program book included word of hymns that Richard Cock invited the audience to sing.   The singing was the loudest and most enthusiastic I have ever heard in an Anglican Church.

The next day the same concert was in St Georges Cathedral in Cape Town.

Sir Abe Bailey‘s thatch  guest cottage, below the railway, has been renovated. It was designed by Herbert Baker and built in 1909 only 4 years after Sir Abe Bailey’s home, Rust en Vrede was completed.  It was thrilling to be on the site to see the waves crashing in front of the cottage.  It must be wonderful to have been a guest in that cottage. It has a modern bathroom!! The guests could not have imagined what a popular place Surfer’s Corner, in Muizenberg, is with all ages of surfers.  Surfers’ Corner is a short walk past the Casa Labia which is a gorgeous house to visit for breakfast or lunch. http://casalabia.co.za/

My friend’s dog died so

she found a new pet to share her home in Kalk Bay. The pig walks on a lead  around Kalk Bay village with my friend.

Did not get a photo of the whale but see rescue at http://www.nsri.org.za/2014/03/sa-whale-disentanglement-network-false-bay/

At dawn the next day there was a fishingboat in the same vicinity fetching the net.

The whales are not seen until June so this was an early visitor.

Good place to take visitors on a rainy day – L’Omarins wine farm.  http://www.fmm.co.za/

The cars are in 4 huge barns on a wine farm in Franschoek valley

It was such a beautiful summer’s day to drive to Simonstown on the False Bay coast. We enjoyed breakfast at

http://www.thestudiokalkbay.co.za/The_Studio/BISTRO.html   in Kalk Bay.  The 19 cars were pre 1939. The oldest Benz 1901.

Pedal Power Association invited cyclists to meet at 6.45 am this morning at the spot where a commuter cyclist was killed last week.  A White ghost cycle was placed on a polel on the pavement. About 40 cyclists gathered round some with boards  that said

CYCLISTS  STAY ALIVE AT 1.5 meter.

Sports minister made a short speech.

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The traffic was slow so  we reminded the public to be careful when passing bicycles.  See the  size of the bus that killed him.

There has been lots of rain between the beautiful sunny winter days.  So there was a waterfall to see on  Boyes Drive.

Waterfall in winter .

 

It was a perfect sunny winter’s day in Kalk Bay.  We went with Chad in his boat to see Seal Island. It was very exciting to see whales from the ocean on our way to Seal Island.

There are hundreds of seals in and out of the water.  Plenty of  food for sharks.   The island rock has no beach so the baby seals often cannot get out of the water. The adults catch a wave and arrive safely on the rocks.  We went around the island twice.  There were sea gulls, comorants, and a few penguins. The sea was shallow in the north side of the island but we did not see any sharks or big fish.     The trip took about two and a half hours.  We were very glad that we took this trip which we arranged on the day by phoning Chad 0721472555

We purchased  Fish and Chips and Calamari from Kalkies in the harbour and enjoyed it  on the rocks on the Fish Hoek side of the harbour.  The seagulls ate too!!!

              

          

        

Kalk Bay and St James residents cheer the cyclists on Boyes Drive while enjoying breakfast parties on the roadside.

           

41000 + cyclists registered for the race last October.  31000+ started the race.  29000 + finished.

It was a wonderful day in Cape Town.  Too much sun and little wind.  No one complains about closed roads on this day!  Early morning I walked down to Olympia Bakery (opened 6 am) to purchase fresh croisants, cinnamon twists and raisin buns for our party.                   Cyclists enjoyed wonderful sea views of different bays on 109 km tour.

     Double garage with shade was a good place for a party.