Where there's smoke........

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Our Christmas holiday and time in Gansbaai was mainly spent with family, which was wonderful. It was windy most days, except one exceptionally hot day and a couple of mildly windy days. Typical strong cape wind that can last for a good few days, without stopping at all - that is why most trees in the cape don't grow upright. There was a severe fire just above Hermanus that caused some major destruction in its path and with the wind blowing constantly, it flared up near Gansbaai as well. It's always a scary sight and so difficult to control when there is so much wind. Fire-fighters had a difficult task to control the fire.



Paul managed to go fishing on two occasions, the catch was small but plentiful, with our brother-in-law very skilfully cleaning and filleting the fish, then freezing it, to be cooked at a later stage. Some of the fish gets salted and dried to make 'bokkoms' - only edible for the acquired taste of a discerning palate!



Time to return home and of course the Cape bids us farewell with one of its special days, absolutely perfect, where it shows off its mountains and sea to perfection – maybe this is an image meant to be imprinted in our minds to remind us what a beautiful place we are leaving behind when we have to head inland to the faster paced life that we lead.



We drove from Gansbaai to Cape Town to fly back to Johannesburg. As we flew out of CT the pilot took a completely different loop over False bay, towards Cape point, then veered right to go north, up the west coast for a while then inland. Our own scenic flight on a commercial airline! It was such a clear day that we could even see the Langebaan lagoon on the West coast, which also holds a special place in our hearts, where Paul and I first got to know each other.



We couldn't have asked for a better show at the end of our holidays. Till next time, farewell fairest Cape! And to all our family: thank you for making our stay there so special! It was great seeing you all and may the year ahead be a good year for all of you.

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Photos

Gansbaai
Seagulls aplenty

Gansbaai
Smokey!

Gansbaai
Fire above Hermanus

Gansbaai
Smoke from the fire in Hermanus

Hermanus
Fire started above Hermanus high in the mountains

Hermanus
With the wind the smoke is being blown towards Stanford

Gansbaai
Not going fishing?

Gansbaai
From Gansbaai harbour overlooking Walker bay towards Hermanus where the fire started

Gansbaai
Two boats in for maintenance

Gansbaai
St Peter The Fisherman Catholic Church - yes a church - it is going to be restored to its former glory

Gansbaai
Graffiti art

Gansbaai
Typical Cape coastal scene graffiti

Gansbaai
Typical old style lime stone building - pity about the security sign!

Gansbaai
No steps?

Gansbaai
Caravan park overlooking Gansbaai harbour

Gansbaai
Old lime stone, revamped with a modern twist

Gansbaai
Wind blowing the waves

Gansbaai
The wind and the waves

Comments

[Home and Away]

And may you have a happy new year too!
I remember reading your early blog about your time at Langebann.

[roamingfox]

Another magical place!
Hi Bob and Linda, yes, Paul and I are fortunate to have so many wonderful places that hold special and fond memories for us. Thanks for reading my blog and Happy New year to you both!