Sunday 13 September 2015

Wildlife in Camps Bay

Since we have come to live in Camps Bay we have always seen a couple of Egyptian geese - which are actually ducks! - wandering around the beach area.  Last year was the first time we saw them with goslings.  And a few days ago on our walk to the beach we encountered this family.  Very alert about being approached, lots of quacking and a quick escape into the water!




Friday 4 September 2015

Haircut for the Palm

One of our most loved assets is the beautiful palm tree in front of Camps Bay Terrace in Victoria Road.  Due to its position it is very difficult to remove old fronds and parasitic plants on its trunk and one needs to find a specialist to do this.  This winter, when we had quite strong storms, lots of debris from this tree fell onto the electric fence, the stairs and even the pavement.  The fronds are large and heavy, and if they would hit a pedestrian it could actually be quite harmful.  So I set out to find the right team, and after two months of searching I finally found it!  To watch them was quite amazing, but they were very organized, security conscious and incredibly skilled.  The only issue was with the pigeons who are always nesting in this tree and who were very upset and noisy during this operation! Now peace has been restored and look at the results!



Before the cut


The counterweight to the "climber"


 Held by the rope clipped onto the harness - walking around the tree



The result

Monday 31 August 2015

Cape Town Concert

Cape Town City Hall is a prominent Edwardian building in the centre of Cape Town built in 1905 with honey coloured limestone imported from Bath in Englan. It looks out onto what is called the Grand Parade which is a large open space west of the Castle of Good Hope.You may all have seen Nelson Mandela adress the crowd of 250000 from the balcony after his release from prison in 1990. The City Hall is also the home of the Cape Philharmonic Orchestra which regularly performs concerts there. We were lucky enough to attend the last concert where the world-renowned violinist Joshua Bell played the much loved Tchaikovsky violin concerto. One of the reasons this was so special is the fact that Joshua Bell purchased a 1731 Stradivari in 2001 and I wanted to listen to one of those masterpieces again. It was absolutely beautiful. The sound and the range of this instrument are just incredible. Nobody to this day has found out the secret of the Stradivaris unequaled quality. And Joshua Bells musical talent is amazing. The audience was virtually holding their breath when he started playing.  What a wonderful evening for us,  standing ovations, really unforgettable.





Tuesday 18 August 2015

Today's rainbow

Clouds and rain and sun - this morning a beautiful rainbow spanned right across Bakoven Bay. Later another rainbow appeared at the foot of the mountain - very unsual but we were too late to capture it!



Thursday 13 August 2015

Our bird restaurant

After various unsuccessful attempts we are thrilled to announce that the Camps Bay Terrace Bird Restaurant has finally re-opened and managed to attract the little hidden gems in our garden area. We are so delighted to see the White Eyes and Sunbirds enjoying a drink of sugar nectar out of our bottle. The perch is becoming a hotly contested spot at various times of the day and we have to refill the bottle already weekly to keep our feathered friends happy.  It is another lovely aspect of our daily lives in this beautiful part of the world.



Male Sunbird


Female Sunbird


 Cape White Eye


Sunday 2 August 2015

West Side Story

We are very fortunate to have the Artscape Opera House in Cape Town where almost every production is short of marvellous.  Cape Town also has a big number of classical music lovers who patronise most performances to sell out stage.

We went to watch "West Side Story" last Friday and were absolutely blown away.  The performers, the scenery, the choreography, the lighting, everything was incredible.  To realize that we have such an amazing amount of talent right here is very uplifting.  No wonder there were standing ovations at the end. Obviously this particular story, based on Romeo and Juliet, cannot leave you untouched.  It is classical, emotional, inspirational and the outstanding music appeals to a wide spectrum of people.  It was good to see so many young people in the audience who hopefully will continue supporting this important venue.

If you are in Cape Town don't miss this performance, it is worth it!


Auditorium
The auditorium seats 1487 with provision for two wheelchairs. 
There are 23 rows of seats in the stalls and 8 rows on the balcony. 
The distance from curtain to back rows are respectively 26.10m and 29.70m






Go and enjoy! 

Saturday 1 August 2015

Not yet spring!

With the days getting longer and having such mild weather we were all fooling ourselves thinking that spring had already arrived.  This last week we had the coldest temperatures this year with some areas of South Africa well below freezing and snow on some mountains.  On top of that August is a windy month and we put on gloves and beanies for the first time when going for the walk on the beach.  The surf was huge, the sky was grey, the wind was blowing, it was definitely bracing but also very invigorating and beautiful.



A very cold light


Almost no beach left