A beautiful, gracious three bedroom home with panoramic views of Kalk Bay and St James has sold for R6 000 000. (£386 000) It is so easy to go to the beaches or the mountain from this ribbon of houses built between the Table Mountain National Park and the ocean.

View to Cape Point.

View to Kalk Bay and Fish Hoek.

This home was never listed on my web site as the owners had not finally decided to sell it.

It is within walking distance of St James beach where I swim everyday in summer.

What a good experience we have had to get a new passport.

We drove through the vineyards for an hour to reach Paarl. The old oak trees and Cape Dutch buildings delighted us when we arrived in Paarl. Soon we were parked in the small carpark. I followed my daughter into the building 5 minutes later and after 2 minutes we walked out with the passport. What a relief that our second experience was no different from our first when we applied for the passport. The staff are efficient, helpful, quick and cheerful.

We decided to lunch at the gracious Grande Roche hotel.

We sat on the stoep overlooking vineyards and mountains of the Paarl valley. The food was excellent with good service. Fruit starter, duck, cod, desserts tasted as good as they looked.

On Sunday I watched the 31st Argus Cycle Tour from the winesense restaurant on Main Road in Kalk Bay.

33000 cyclists passed us on bicycles, tricycles, tandems and monocycles in perfect weather conditions — no wind. The race is very well-organised by the Pedal Power Association, but it is difficult to recognise friends as they pass. You need to know their estimated time of arrival in Kalk Bay to be able to encourage them.

The race, around the Peninsula in stunning scenery, is 109 kms . All the roads are closed for this crowd. Main Road is closed from 6 am to noon. You can only get to Kalk Bay by train. Muizenberg to Simonstown past Kalk Bay is the best train ride in the world at sea level.

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Every year I invite my friends and the folk who support my business by giving me referrals and local information and who are within walking distance of the restaurant to meet me for breakfast. This year 60 people accepted my invitation. Over three hours winesense served a delightful continental breakfast with sparkling wine. Friends and families met new neighbours in the village. On the terrace under the palm trees there is a “leiwater” stream and the children had great fun playing here.

I have sold for R1 200 000 a charming old apartment. It needs renovation, but it has high ceilings and oregon pine floors and has lots of potential. It is opposite the beach pool where I swim everyday on a wind-free beach.

The sea views from the front and side windows are St James pool and Muizenberg beach.

The South African couple from Cape Town will use it as a holiday apartment. It was a pleasure to work with the seller and the buyer. I love a deal where everyone is satisfied.

The Cape Town MG Car Club organises delightful trips to scenic regions of the Cape. In October 2007 the destination was Oudtshoorn. We took the N1 over the mountains to Worcester and turned off to Montague.

The R62 from Montague is a quiet back road to Oudtshoorn. The Klein Karoo scenery is different from the busy N2 along the coast. We arrived at Calitzdorp later than the other cars because we had to have a drink at Ronnie’s Sex Shop. We met Ronnie and heard that this shop on his 200 hectare farm is more profitable than farming.

After a comfortable night at the Dorpshuis we planned to cycle around the neighbourhood. Very soon the plan became a walk because of a puncture. While walking past a beautiful Victorian home I saw 40 huge old tortoises and lots of little ones. Since Jon has a big 50 year old tortoise we opened the gate and went to introduce ourselves to the owners. Elise and Gerhard were delighted at our interest in tortoises and were soon showing us the chickens, ducks and geese. Their house is filled with fine antiques. They invited us to drink tea with them. When Elise heard that Jon had the correct licence to house tortoises she gave him a mate for his tortoise. He was delighted. As we were going to the MG meet we arranged to collect on Sunday.

We arrived at Kleinplaas in the mid afternoon. Our self catering unit had a carport which sheltered the car from the hot sun. At dinner we met the other members and received our instructions for the next day.

These instructions include a list of questions about landmarks and geographical features on the route. We enjoyed answering the questions while travelling to Prince Albert via the Meiringspoort. Meiringspoort was wonderful again. Some cars returned over the Swartberg Pass which is a very steep dirt road. It was built in 1888. I decided against it as I have trouble with the first gear in the MG. We were disappointed to miss the views.

In the evening we enjoyed the well-organised braai with ostrich steaks. Ostrich is the main product of this region.
The next day was free to enjoy the sights of Oudsthoorn. There is too much to see in a day. We chose the Cango Caves. They are magnificent but it was no different from seeing them 30 years ago. I was hoping to see the huge new cave but it was not open to the public.

At about 3.30 the day was cooling and we decided to cycle up the Swartberg Pass. It was very, very steep and I had to walk some of the way. Jon cycled all the way. The views are fantastic. It was worth the effort. We were late for the Feathers Dinner Dance. So our attention to our feathers was limited but the dinner was great. Later we watched the Springbok rugby team beat France in Paris. I was excited to know that my son, Keith, was in the audience, but despite peering at the screen I could not see him!

On Sunday we returned to Calitzdorp where we collected the tortoise which travelled in a box on top of our suitcase in the MG. The MG was very full. We decided to overnight at a B&B where we could watch the car. We did not tell our host that we had a tortoise. So after settling in we took our box to a field to let her have a walk and food.

The next day we arrive home happy after 5 delightful days. The male tortoise was overjoyed to have company again: he rushed around showing her the garden for a week before life slowed to normal again.

Recently I flew to Pretoria to attend a celebration of the 100th anniversary of the PHSG Old Girls Association. I breakfasted with 30 ladies who were at school with me 50 years ago. It was amazing to hear their stories and where they had worked and travelled. I met Elaine De Villiers who was full of praise about my talented daughter and her writing ability. I liked hearing that. Pauline Spruyt, who was head girl in 1954, announced her retirement from the committee of the Old Girls. She is as popular now as she was in 1954. We all love her.

I was delighted to see that the gardens and sport fields are still in the same place. None of the land has been sold. The Oak Drive and Pine Drive are still there. The buildings have grown and are beautiful. The museum was interesting. The spectacular hall with thick wooden beams is still there but the seats around the organ have been doubled in number.

My aunt attended the school in 1926 and there has been some member of the family at school ever since.

Today’s pupils at the school look as we used to look, with similar green dresses. But summer hats and winter berets are no longer worn.

The sad thing to experience was the high security on the gates. The bicycle sheds are gone because it is not safe to cycle.

The school is very well equipped with everything the pupils need to achieve success in academics, music, art, computers and sports.

It was lovely to see my school friends again but I also had fun catching up on cousins, Gary and Bronwyn and 3 sons, Lauren and Paul and their three children. Their mother, Olga was fun to be with in her home.

30 Recyclers drove through the Karoo to Prince Albert. It is a charming village with many restored houses and cottages. This popular village was our base for cycling in the stunning Meiringspoort Groot Rivier road. The road crosses the river seven times.

There is magnificent scenery in the poort which is surrounded and compressed by the Table Mountain Sandstone — the high red rock cliffs. The high waterfall was thin because there has not been any rain for 8 months. The pools below were good for swimming, but the windy weather did not encourage us to swim.

Yesterday I prepared my road bike for a cycle to Cape Point today. Too bad, that this morning in the dark, I decided that my unattended email was just too long to ignore. So my friends enjoyed a fantastic sunny, windfree ride. When the emails were nearly finished I walked down the hill to the Kalk Bay village for a coffee.

I walked back along the rocks and beach below the railway line. I regretted that I was not wearing a bathing costume for a quick dip in the waves. The whales were here again today. It is the first time this summer that I thought of swimming.

Tonight I am looking forward to my Scottish Dance Club evening. Some of our members have recently returned from St Andrews Summer School of Scottish Dancing at St Andrews University. I hope that I get to dance there some day.

As the sun rose over the sea I cycled into the Constantia vineyards for a mountain bike ride through the vineyards. When the sun became too hot we cycled in the shade in Tokai forest for an hour. Finally chose to have a delicious breakfast in Lakeside.

My guest at lunch today, whose family have been in Kalk Bay/St James for 123 years, was so excited to see from our dining table the ALBINO whale and her baby (also albino) in the bay. He said that 50 years ago there was one whale who came every year and they called her Wendy. Now we have so many whale visitors we no longer count them. However, we have never seen an albino whale before.