CAPE TOWN Saturday March 3

Red Hot Pokers we used to call them

Although we were awake at 04h00, we felt remarkably fresh and refreshed. I threw open the French doors to let in the cool morning air and we were struck by the beauty of the sight of all the flowers in bloom. Judy has a wonderful place here – and she is a very talented woman, especially as far as her reputation as fine cook and gourmet are concerned.

The cottage we are staying in is self catering and as is often the case, apart from the ‘starter pack’ that Judy put into the kitchen for us yesterday, there is the detritus of past occupiers., many of whom must have shared Judy’s interest in fine cooking because there is an unusual variety of goods that one wouldn’t expect to find in a holiday let.  Angostura Bitters shares a shelf with Cream of Tartar, a variety of olive oils and vinegars and there is no salt in a shaker – just flakes of Sea Salt sitting next to a jar of Marmite. In the fridge, among the yoghurts and fresh raspberries is a bowl of olives and some tapenade. There is home made muesli and home made rusks – they are always evocative of SAfrican morning coffee – and a jar of feta cheese with some slices of rye bread. Not quite the regular fare.

I had a dip in the pool which is adjacent to the cottage – what a lovely way to start the day, but declined to shift the dead rat lying on the grass by the pool, preferring to leave that to the hired help. I noticed in a sandy patch some ant lion craters. That took me back to my childhood, when we used stalks of grass to disturb the sand on the crater in imitation of an ant trying to get out to lure the snapping insect into biting our lure. Maybe if I have time I’ll see if I still have that skill. 

We made a good breakfast of yoghurt and fruit – some lovely apples and mangoes were left for us as well as the raspberries – with a slice of rye toast and Vegemite. We never travel without that! Although I had asked for the hire car to be delivered, when I called at 08h00 I found that there was a communication problem and the fact that we were a day early hadn’t got through to the operative – who we knew well from previous visits. He was very apologetic but said it would be after 10h00 before he could get the car to us. A call to good old friend Lorna  got her out of bed and over here to give us a lift down to the car hire office and with profuse apologies and an agreed discount, we were on our way to our old haunt of Kalk Bay.

It was a perfect morning as we travelled over Boyes Drive with False Bay spread before us sparkling blue and fringed by the white sand of Muizenberg beach where the early surfers were dotted about getting some good rides in before the wind got up. Steve and Judy gave us a warm welcome, commenting on the fact that I looked very much better. I told him that I thought it might be a bit of a struggle to go to the rugby game at Newlands as planned and he accepted that quite happily – by chance David Delbridge had been looking for a ticket, so all was well. It was wonderful sitting in the warm morning sun on their veranda which overlooks the harbour and watch the passing show while chatting about this that and the other.

The annual Fish Fare was on down at the Anglican Church, so Steve and I wandered down there. The village hasn’t changed much in the past six years, apart from the work being done on the pipe works.  The old cast iron water and sewerage pipes had to be replaced. They were originally laid over a century ago when Kalk Bay was a fishing village with a handful of people living there and they simply couldn’t cope with today’s population. They were laid under the (very narrow) road which winds it’s way between the mountain and the sea and the work has caused endless traffic problems over the past five plus years it has taken to get from Muizenberg to Kalk Bay – a distance of about 3 kilometres.

Brother, Steve, inspects the grilled YellowTail

I bumped into a couple of people we knew from the ‘old days’ and was quite surprised to see how the event had changed and become so much more professional. In the past there were a few stands selling fish products – now there were smartly painted signs advertising all manner of fish meals from grilled yellowtail to crayfish curry. As is often the way in Kalk Bay the starting time of the fair was vague with a range of about an hour and a half from just before ten to just after eleven. We got there at about 10h30 and sales were well under way in parts. The main aim was to get some fish cakes for lunch. The local fisherman have a reputation for excellent fish cakes, but we could not see anyone advertising them.  Word of mouth worked well, however and we found a stall in a far corner where the throng was enough to indicate the presence of these sought after items. We bought a dozen for lunch and a couple to keep us going until we got home. I was hoping to pick up some fried sardines, but they weren’t ready, so Steve and I settled for a lovely bit of grilled yellowtail, which we shared. It was good to see familiar faces and places – and clearly the fair attracts a deal more attention than it did in the past.

I  found it a bit of a strain walking up to the house, but the day was getting warmer, so I took it easy. Lunch was delicious and the sea looked calm as we sat on the veranda. Kate came in  with her Steve and Ella, who is a lovely little baby. Their wedding is on Saturday week and is one of the celebrations of this trip.

We popped in to see Lola and Rick Bartlett at their beautiful home The Old Stables and spent the afternoon chatting to them. They were dog sitting Vicky and Dodge’s miniature dachshund Minnie, who is quite a character and who reminded us of our Barnaby. Vicky was at the beach with Dodge and Oscar and it was good to see them when they called in to pick up Minnie. Lorna also came around and then came back to the cottage with us. I had a cooling dip in the pool while the ladies went off to get something to eat. We had  rye rolls  with cheese and salami and sat out on the stoep chatting while the sun slowly set and the cool night breeze came in.

I watched a bit of the rugby game that Steve and the boys had gone to after Lorna left  – he said it was as well that I didn’t go as it was very hot there – but gave it away at half time and we were abed and asleep by about  20h45.

A lovely day.