News
On fire
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.
Here are the rest of the pics.
Remembering the day the world changed
Remembering innocent people who died 10 years ago today and the day the world became a less safe place.
I was on an aeroplane at the time (the last flight into Cape Town before South African airports were closed), and I landed having had no idea what had just happened. When I turned my phone on, I had about 10 voicemails from family checking that I was ok. Thankfully nothing happened on our shores, but not so in New York, Pennsylvania and Virginia.
It still shocks me that there are people that will willingly cause so many innocent people to die, for no other reason than to spread fear and terror.
Please spare a thought for our friends in USA commerating the day the world changed.
Argus Cycle Tour photos
This year I was not riding the Argus Cycle Tour, but that did not stop me from being on the side of the road taking photos, and offering some support to the 35000 cyclists that races that 109km route around Cape Town.
Both last year and the year before had absolutely shocking weather, with the wind hitting over 120km/h at some places. Well, bad luck did not come in threes. The weather was warm with a gentle cooling breeze just managing to take the edge off the heat. Absolutely perfect weather for cycling.
To the person that stopped and chatted to me on the side of the road. No, Boyes Drive is not the second worst hill on the race, in fact it hardly counts as a hill. Smits, Chapman’s Peak and Suikerbossie are far, far worse. But I couldn’t tell you only 25km out that the worst hills were still to come.
Speeding Union Jack
Pausing on the hill
A cyclist speeding along Boyes Drive
Cyclists at the top of one of the many hills on Boyes Drive
2011 South African municipal elections
The 2011 South African municipal elections, which are held every 5 years, will be held between March and June 2011. At this election, we will be voting in our local ward councilors for seats at the municipal level.
Remember that every vote is important, even if you feel that your vote is not.
Every single vote has a small impact on the future of your municipality, and of South Africa. Please be sure to register, and please vote. For more information, please visit the IEC website.
Panamanian shipwreck in Blouberg
I can’t give too much information about this ship, but from what I can gather, it is a Panamanian coal ship, originally with 30000 tons of coal onboard which ran around in October 2009, and is still there.
It is literally a stones throw from the beach, and you can see the many kite-surfers in front of and around it.
Does anybody have any more information?