While showing property for sale in Kalk Bay a number of MG midgets drove down Quarterdeck road.  When I returned home I read the invitation to attend at the Crankhandle Club the MG Club welcome party for Roy Locock from the UK.  Roy drove to the celebration from a village near Oxford in England.  www.bridgetthemidget.co.uk

 

 

PURCHASE  YOUR CHRISTMAS GIFTS AT THE KALK BAY COLLABORATION

18 Rosmead road,

Kalk Bay.

Park in Main road opposite the stone church.

Walk up Rosmead road from Main road past C’est la View cafe.

Open Monday to Sunday 10.00 to 16.30 Chris 083 788 1398

At last summer has arrived and with it the sea is warm.  It has gone up from 18 to 20 degrees.   After the South Easter blows we sometimes see bluebottles on the beach and in the water.  Then I fear the sting so I do not swim.  MSG rubbed on the sting does stop it.

St James pool and beach and Dalebrook pool in Kalk Bay are my best pools.     Muizenberg surf will be warm too.  This is the best beach for surfing. Danger Beach will not have many people on the beach.

The South Easter wind does not blow on this beach.

Silvermine dam and Tokai forest is 20 minutes drive from Kalk Bay and St James. We drove up the mountain and parked a car. Then we found the top contour jeep track and cycled slowly down the mountain. At the beginning we had wonderful views over the Constantia wine farms to False Bay.

  

 

We cycled through the forest to the Porter school and stopped at the Impala Jet.  Then cycled on through the forest to Steenberg wine farm.  http://www.steenberghotel.com/   Wonderful food and the winter special menu was super.  Such a beautiful place to sit in the sun and only 15 minutes from home in Kalk Bay

 

Tulbagh is a village at the end of the road.   We enjoyed a wonderful stay on a farm Schalkenbosch.

Valley from Schalkenbosch road

Pretty cottages

Our cottage number 3

FLOWERING GARLIC. Tulbachia

Paddagang for lunch under the grape vines.

Lovely pool in which to cool down in hot weather.

Tea on the lawn

Witzenberg mountains above the farm

We cycled into Tulbagh. At the Tulbagh Hotel we met the owner who gave us a map of cycle routes. We plan to return to look for more routes in the nature reserve near the station.

At about 5 pm on Saturday family and friends met to cycle the new path. It is 15 minutes drive from Kalk Bay towards Cape Town.  The path is suitable for all ages.  Cyclists ages were from 7 years to 70 years!

Non cyclists found a lovely secluded spot in the forest near the path for our picnic.

While we chatted the children had such fun cycling  on the path.

 

This morning 8 Recyclers joined hundreds of cyclist at Woodbridge Island in Milnerton to cycle the new safe cycle path to Cape Town. Despite the strong wind it was fun to be there.

After super breakfast provided by Pedal Power and City Council the Recyclers decided to ride to Three Anchor Bay and on the Green Point common. There was no wind and the park was wonderful.

Arrived for breakfast Cape Town Council offices.

Green Point Common is developed as a beautiful park.  with lovely cycle paths.     Lions Head and Signal Hill are in the background. I spent my childhood there.

One of my favourite activities close to Kalk Bay is my weekly mountain bike ride with the Tuesday Tribe in the Constantia valley, between 5 wine farms, oak trees and the Tokai forest. There are green belts with trails between the beautiful houses.

My daughter from London enjoys the rides too.

The trees are being removed to allow the indigenous fynbos to grow.

There are hundreds of houses in this valley with the wine farms and forest.
The fynbos flowers are already flowering. There are lots of Pelargoniums.

Kalk Bay Bookshop often hosts authors promoting a new book. These events are well attended by residents and their friends who enjoy a glass of wine and delicious snacks. At a recent event, the shop was so full that they had a camera sending Peter Godwin’s presentation, about his latest book The Fear, to people sitting in The Annex restaurant behind the shop.

He spoke for an hour. It is awful what is happening in Zimbabwe. Robert Mugabe can continue his rule because of the discovery of diamonds in 2008 which provides money for him and his cronies. The Chinese are doing business with Mugabe and have no interest in human rights.

The extracts that he read are cruel. It is not a genocide but a politicide — all those serving in the opposition are tortured and their bodies are broken. The hospitals cannot help them because the doctors do not have any supplies.

The Fear
The Last Days of Robert Mugabe by Peter Godwin

Following the huge success of Mukiwa and When a Crocodile Eats the Sun, Peter Godwin returns to Zimbabwe to consider the last days of Mugabe.

This is a moving personal account of Zimbabwe under Mugabe’s terror. In mid-2008, after 30 years of increasingly tyrannical rule, Robert Mugabe, the 84-year-old ruler of Zimbabwe, met his politburo. He had just lost an election. But instead of conceding power, he was persuaded to launch a brutal campaign of terror to cower his citizens.

Journalist and author Peter Godwin was one of the few observers to slip into the country and bear witness to the terrifying period that Zimbabweans call, simply, the Fear.

http://www.kalkbaybooks.co.za/author-events-detail.php?id=158

Told with a brilliant eye for detail and Godwin’s natural storytelling gifts, this is a story framed by personal loss. But most deeply, it is a moving and stunning account of a people grotesquely altered, laid waste by a raging despot. It is about the astonishing courage and resilience of a people, armed with nothing but a desire to be free, who challenge a violent dictatorship. … THE FEAR is, finally, an important, brilliant testament to humanity’s ability to transcend fear, to rise up, even in the face of astounding adversity.

http://petergodwin.com/books/the-fear/

I have so enjoyed “A Statement in Stone” by Michael Walker, a new book about Muizenberg-St. James-Kalk Bay’s early buildings and their architects, including Sir Herbert Baker.

Michael Walker was born in St James. He has a lifetime of experiences and relationships on the False Bay coastline. This is his 14th book about the region. His knowledge of and passion for the villages is deeply appreciated by everyone who loves False Bay. Mike frequently speaks at Historical Association meetings all over Cape Town.

The beautiful drawings in this latest book were found by the author, who was given special permission to access them in the Cape Archives. They date from 1897 and this is their first publication. He also includes old photos which are interesting because the houses have been altered since they were first built.

This is a must-read for everyone who is interested in Kalk Bay, St James or Muizenberg, or simply in the history of architecture. It’s also a great idea for a Christmas present!

Buy it from the author (coolarty@telkomsa.net) or from Kalk Bay Books (books@kalkbaybooks.co.za) on Main Road, Kalk Bay.