Editorial

Cycling to Cape Point

Published December 26, 2011

After all the wonderful meals I ate yesterday, some exercise was much needed, so I took the opportunity of a relatively cool and wind-free day to go for a morning cycle.

I went from home to the entrance of the Cape Point Nature Reserve, and the roads were surprisingly quiet. This was not the case on the return cycle; by then Cape Town was awake and about a million people were headed off to the beaches along my route.

Anyway, I cycled for 56km so I am ready for tonight’s dinner out :-)

Posted in Cape Town, Daily Photo, Phone pics, Places, Scenery, Sport |

Tagged Cape Town, cycling |

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On fire

Published December 21, 2011

We have mountain fires in Cape Town every summer. Usually they happen when it is hot and windy, and mostly they are started by cigarette butts being thrown out of car windows.

This year is no exception. On Saturday the mountain just above Boyes Drive was on fire, and the fire-crews were using two helicopters to dump water onto the fire. Because it was so close to my house and I live right next to the vlei, I watched the choppers collecting the water out of the lake before dumping it onto the fire.

It was pretty amazing watching the choppers, incredible skill in dropping down to grab the water, and then dumping it right on the hot-spots. This is in the cross-winds and flying through all the smoke. These are amazing pilots.

Thankfully, they managed to put this one out quite quickly, and there didn’t seem to be any major damage. We have had some pretty major fires in the past.