Birling Gap December 2018

From one side of the world to the other,,,

Christmas had come and gone in a bit of a blur. Dayne and Matt produced a new member of the family, baby Maya, on Christmas Eve. Kate and Kean were collected from Heathrow on Christmas morning. Christmas lunch was delayed by a day or two in all the excitement and then there was a bit of time to take a breather, so we headed off to Birling Gap and The Seven Sisters for the day.

Birling Gap is the entry point to the beach and only accessible by a galvanised steel staircase - designed to be moved, as a result of the constant erosion of the cliffs. (Between 1873 and 2005 the cliffs had moved 90 metres northwards). The spectacular cliffs are the Seven Sisters.  Administered by the National Trust, there is lots of parking, clean loos and the ever reliable tea room for cakes and scones - an important (actually most important) part of any walk. 

Lots of people around despite the weather but the further you walked, the more you felt you were alone and about to walk off the edge of the cliff!  Easy to see why smuggling flourished in this area in bygone days.

Fairly regularly during the year you hear about people falling (jumping) off these cliffs. Selfies have accounted for a few.  This was also the area in 2017 where swathes of coastline was smothered with a toxic cloud leaving many people needing hospital treatment. One idea is that it may have been a 100 year old WW1 corroded munitions shipwreck leaking poison gas.  This is the English Channel after all.

Shades of Wuthering Heights?

The day wasn't warming up at all so time for that cream tea and then into the fog to find our way home.

Cape Town December 2018

Summer in Cape Town - best place to be!  Though it was a working holiday. The jobs I have now are conducted mainly in The Cloud, which means I can pretty much work anywhere in the world as long as there is WiFi. It's great from that point of view but on the other hand it meant that it wasn't a break. I did get to swim quite a lot and saw quite a few friends and family, but work ... Things are changing this year, I'll keep you posted.

The weather was mainly spectacular though the sea temp is always cold, being Atlantic as it is. No penguins this time, they were all around the corner at Boulders. This is the most photogenic spot and we swam there at least 6 times in those two weeks, so I'll try not to bore you with repetitive shots.

 

I did take a drive around the far south one afternoon, past Kommetjie, past Slangkoppunt (Snake Head) - the tallest cast iron lighthouse in South Africa (who knew? I lived there for 20 years and have only just discovered this fact, I also discovered you can do a tour there! Next time).  

 

Onwards to Misty Cliffs, Scarborough and then across Red Hill to Simonstown. 

Catching up on some South African staples, besides biltong.  This Amarula, long story, but my kids have owed me a bottle since they polished off a bottle they had gifted me a couple of years ago. They say they have paid me back, but I don't recall ......  Anyway, I don't recommend this Vanilla version, it's a bit cough mixture-ish, stick with the original.

Steri Stumpi - I know, probably doesn't contain any known food or nutritional products, but still, a necessity. Works particularly well after dentist visits (which involves another story of biltong).

In previous years we've had a braai, but this year Ann offered their house as a venue and we just had a small party.  Kate has become the Queen of party platters - so easy to do and you can make them as substantial as you like, as well as adding dessert.

 Kate and Ann, Delphi and Michele

 Do not be fooled for one instant at the angelic look on this cat's face. This is Frankie and he's a bit of a demon. Corinne has had practice with these babies though.

Back to the Woodstock house and some serious loft clearing out to do. This angel is Cinnie, she's special. Also known to come home with other people's belongings. 

No words ...

Michele, cheerleading ... in amongst chaos.

And before you know it two weeks is almost over. Family braai. The most important reason for me to keep coming back. For where are we without family?

A very last swim, apparently accompanied by Pyjama Sharks according to friends with goggles. Feet up!

So long Cape Town, till next time

The summer of 2018 ...

After the excitement of Turkey not a lot happened but we did get down to the beach at Lancing a couple of times and a first swim in the English Channel happened. I love swimming so I'm quite surprised it took so long. Still Atlantic but such a different experience to Cape Town, and a million miles away from the Mediterranean where my most recent swimming episodes happened.  But first, a walk around to check out the surroundings. 

Lots of beach cottages, some quite decorated, others just lived in.

 

A long pebbled beach. When I first saw these beaches I was outraged - how could this be considered a beach?  But with a bit more experience I've changed my mind. First of all, no sand, anywhere. Imagine that? Not in your bathing suit, not on your towels, not on your feet. The pebbles also offer a  subtle massage and are surprising warm and comfortable to lie on. Not particularly comfortable to walk on though.

 

The next trip down to the seaside, Judy and the dogs joined us. As with pretty much everywhere in England, as long as you bring along poo bags, dogs are welcome.

 

With the water so calm and flat quite a lot of watersports were happening. Everyone I spoke to warned against the current, but I have to say I didn't notice any on either of these occasions. I did notice however that when the tide came in, it happened really fast. Pinch myself to not be too complacent xx

Do you see the wind farms in the background?  Flying over the channel I was astonished to see the size of these windmill fields (it spans 28 square miles!), especially in one of the busiest shipping channels in the world. This is called Rampion Offshore Wind Farm and is 8 miles off the coast.

 

This next seaside jaunt we even persuaded Matt to join us (he maintains he was conned). It was a bit later in the season and much cooler. There was a very fresh wind running with the sea horses.

 

A man in a suit hanging out in the shallows. It was a bit odd...

A quintessential English Cafe. No card machine, ice creams, boogie boards, tea and bacon sandwiches. Really good. That was it pretty much, summer.