WEDDING #1: BUSY DAY March 14 and 15

A glrious morning in the tidal pool at St James

I decided to have a swim at St James again this morning to get some more pictures of the colourful beach boxes there. Pad strolled past on his morning walk – it was these chance meetings that were part of the pleasure of living in Kalk Bay.

The waves roll into St James Bay

The old buildings along the Main Road were bright in the sun. Most of those from St James to Muizenberg were built by the old ‘Randlords’ – the wealthy mining magnates who had opened up the hinterland when diamonds were found near Kimberley and gold on the Witwatersrand where Johannesburg stands today.

Rhode's Cottage

Rus en Vrede

The wealthiest of these men was Cecil Rhodes, one of the few people who have had a country named after them – Rhodesia, now Zambia and Zimbabwe. He died here, in a small cottage, which is now a museum, although not one visited by many of the local people, apart from some old whites worshipping at the feet of a colonialist, often regretting that the good old days have gone. Many feel that this humble cottage reflects the true spirit of the man – a man of the people etc – but in fact it was part of the property he bought on which he was to build the magnificent mansion now known as Rus en Vrede (Rest Freely) which is next door. Problem was he died before the work started.

Not Venice in fact

There are many other magnificent homes along this strip, most of them built in the early part of the last century and most of them behind high walls. One is a Japanese house made of papier mache which has been deteriorating for years. The present owner cannot afford the enormous amount required to restore it and can get no help from the associations that insist that it must be restored. Another house right on the road is built in the style of a Venetian palazzo, it is only now that I have seen these buildings in their place along the canals of Venice that the absurdity of having landing stages on a road are appreciated.

Het Posthuis

Also along this road is the building known as the Posthuis, said to be the oldest building in Southern Africa (by some!). it is certainly on the site of the old station where road tolls were collected on traffic to and from Simon’s Town, the safe port in winter and the main settlement of Cape Town, after the Dutch built the road. Just when that was is hotly debated by the experts. Some say it was soon after they arrived in 1652 when it served as a lookout post to spot enemy ships entering False Bay and as an indicator of the Dutch presence in the region. Others that it was built later.

We had been hoping that it would cool down a bit today for sister Angela’s wedding at Kommetjie and indeed the initial forecasts were for lower temperatures, but they still soared.

Surf's up!

Ang’s wedding was at 11h00 in the priory above Kommetjie and it made a good venue. Many of the guests, old surfing pals of Paul, the groom, had heeded the invitation to wear rainbow coloured clothes and were appropriately dressed – not too sure that the couple wearing bright Hawaiian shorts and shirts hadn’t gone a step too far? We hadn’t seen Ang’s son Berkley, who gave her away, for some years and, as is so often the case were astounded at how large he is – seems the Herbert genes are at work there. Her daughter, Fifi had also flown in from New Zealand – I didn’t recognise her at first since she had become blonde since we last saw her in London on our way back to Australia some six years ago.

The Happy Couple

Sister Ang

The reception was at a little café in the village and although Ang had thoughtfully placed us on a table in the shade on the veranda, where there was something of a breeze, I was still very hot and when she and the wedding party arrived from the photo shoot, I made our excuses and we left, so we didn’t stay for the speeches and other jollities. And there must have been a good deal of jollity planned as she asked if we could come back for the cutting of the cake ceremony estimated to be at 16h00 – four hours later.

It was good to be back in the air conditioned car, and as we were a bit peckish we decided to stop off at the Cape Fish Market for a bit of lunch. They offered us a seat on the veranda, but we took the cool inside seat option and had an excellent meal of grilled sole. They were pretty small, but we  got two each and they were delicious.

A cool shower after lunch, a bit of work on this blog, which is days behind and a nap and we were ready for yet another dinner, with good pals Di and Rupert. Good food, good talk reminiscing about the past and catching up with all the news, and then to bed.

BUSY DAY Friday March 15 2012

(I got so far behind with this diary/blog that I am only writing it ten days later. No doubt there will be less detail than for earlier entries as a result)

Dalebrook Pool at sunrise

It was overcast this morning when I looked out of the stable door although it was still warm. It looked as if it might rain, but I headed off to Dalebrook for my morning swim, getting there just as a shower came in off the Bay, wetting me and my towel. It was tremendous to be swimming again and my new cozzie made life more comfortable. The fact that the elastic had gone in my old one  made swimming, and especially diving in, awkward to say the least. None of the family turned up – presumably kept indoors by the showers.

The first of our social engagements was morning tea with my old boss, Joe and his wife Brenda. He was undoubtedly the best boss I ever had – no doubt he would respond to that comment with a wry smile and a comment concerning the quality of the other managers. I learned a good deal from him. He was, and still is, a gentleman in the old meaning of that word. Kind, considerate, wise. Now in his early 80s he has a number of what might be termed “medical mysteries” – issues that the medical profession cannot diagnose and therefore cannot treat. He finds it a little difficult to follow conversations at times and it is sad to see someone who was so quick on the uptake now battling to find a response. I known we all slow down with age – I can feel that myself, but…… he and Brenda live for their children in a house too big for them in a world which seems to be getting smaller all the time.

Our next date was lunch with Val, my erstwhile secretary at Constantia Shopping Centre which was convenient for both of us. We continued where we had left off the other day, chatting about people we hadn’t seen for years. Brother Pad wandered by and, as we found when we came to leave, had chosen to eat in the same café as we had.

Although the morning had started cooler, it had heated up again, so it was back to The Stables for my shower and snooze. I really need those to re-charge the batteries.

Lorna had invited us out for a dinner – and had included Lola and Rick – but they declined on the basis of busyness with the business, so the three of us went to a local steak house. It is odd to us that this class of restaurant has never caught on in Australia to any great extent – there are only five or six good steakhouses in Melbourne – because Australians are comparatively big meat eaters. The Cattle Baron where we went is a chain in SAfrica and I must say the quality of the food was excellent and good value, even for SAfricans. For us it was a bargain, even if Lorna hadn’t been paying. 

I had my eye on the ribs and have to say that they came up to the level of those magnificent ribs I had in Branson, Missouri which I have never  forgotten. And the price you could order 500 gm, 800 gm or 1 kilo of the delightful bones. I could not imagine eating two and a quarter pounds of ribs, although at A$20 for the serve, I could have left some  without too much guilt, so I ordered the 500gm at a little under A$10 and was satisfied with that.