We found our
Bed and Breakfast, Djuna, on Bookings.com. We normally prefer Self catering,
but there was none available in the area when we booked. It is on Golden Mile
and currently has a good sea view, but there is a house being built in front of
it now
Our very
comfortable bedroom and bathroom
The long, long
white sandy beach at Britannia Bay and, yes, for three days the weather was
perfect. On Easter Monday we awoke to thick sea mist, but it was time to pack
and leave and it did burn off later
A nice long
wave break makes a lovely sound to send one to sleep
This house is
owned by people we know. They were not down for the Easter weekend and had said
we could use their braai area, so we could cook our crayfish. It was quite an
endeavour, one we might not ever try again, unless we use much more forethought,
planning and equipment! But we did have a great deal of fun
Getting out
all the food and the equipment we had brought with us. A wok, to boil the
crayfish in, SO didn’t work as we couldn't get the water to boil, either on the
braai or on the small gas burner we had brought with us. The vine dried
Excelsior might seem strange to start with, but it was to go with the pâté we
bought when we were in France last year and was a perfect match
A healthy fire
using wood gathered around the house and on the beach
The two
essential participants in their bath of fresh water, which put them to sleep.
In the end we
dispatched them both - a coup de grace
with a big, sharp Sabatier kitchen knife - and grilled them directly on the
fire for a very short while. Liberal amounts of butter with fresh garlic, flake
salt and some Madagascar spice mix were the only ingredients necessary to
flavour them. They were sweet and delicious and contained a surprising amount
of meat
The beautiful
sunset. Britannia Bay faces the same direction as our house in Sea Point (it is
about 140 km further north from Cape Town) and has just as good sunsets every
evening
A suitable
glass of crisp Special Cuvée Sauvignon Blanc from Springfield, always a
favourite. And this 2011 was very, very special.
The gulls
gather to roost for the night
Pâté de foie with
some lovely sweet wine was our starter
And the sunset
just got better and better
We clearly
didn’t bring enough light. Our halogen torch batteries have all failed, we
forgot the LED lantern and had to rely on four candles which kept blowing out!
It was hilarious and we had a lovely evening. Our car headlights got us back to
the car, laden with all we had brought with us.
Sunrise from
our balcony
Everyone takes
a morning walk on the beach, including us, and you meet a lot of nice dogs
Great Black backed
gulls fly over
Early morning
canoeists. The sea beyond the break is quite calm
Taking off at
a run
The beach is
covered with the shells of large mussels and what the locals call white mussels,
which are actually large clams. You need a licence to ‘pick’ them and you have
to dig for the clams
Morning exercise
A young gull
This black
back pulled two live crabs from the surf in two minutes
and demolished
them in an instant
A local having
fun with her German Shepherd. The sociable smaller dog adopted us for our walk
and then wandered off to join another party as we departed the beach
A healthy
Banting breakfast served every morning at Djuna. Sometimes with mushrooms for
Lynne. There were also fruit, yoghurt and black coffee. We could have asked for more...
The tiny
sandpipers were so fast it was difficult to get a photograph
A weaver
building a nest at the local nursery
We drove, and then walked, to the Shelley Point lighthouse
We drove, and then walked, to the Shelley Point lighthouse
A sad memorial to someone lost at sea
Roosting
cormorants.... and....
... hello, a grey
heron and a kelp gull liked the company - ubuntu, just how we should all get along
We found a nice rock for our picnic. No sand in our food please.
We found a nice rock for our picnic. No sand in our food please.
Lynne prepares, while John photographs
Shelley Point
is an enclosed estate with a golf course. It seemed very empty for an Easter long weekend, where people own expensive properties
A turtle rock?
Or a Dr Seuss bird in a hat? Or a resting leopard
A squadron of cormorants
over the bay ...
... and coming
in to land
Cavorting on
the rocks
While the tide
returns
Yes, there are
dolphins in the bay, we saw them most days. This small pod was treating us to a
breaching display, but they were so quick that it was hard to capture an image.
But we saw no whales this time
Children delight
at playing on the beach
A late
afternoon walk on the beach
We left
Britannia Bay at mid-morning and headed back to Cape Town, with a stop at Yzerfontein.
We found a great parking spot to have a picnic
And discovered a whole colony of Dassies (hyrax/“rock rabbits”) enjoying the midday sunshine on their rocks
And discovered a whole colony of Dassies (hyrax/“rock rabbits”) enjoying the midday sunshine on their rocks
Strange to
think their nearest ancient relative is an elephant. These are obviously well
fed
© John & Lynne Ford, Adamastor & Bacchus 2013
No comments:
Post a Comment