We left Struisbaai on Thursday, stopped for a leisurely breakfast, popped into the accountant in Stellenbosch, visited the staff at Fenwick Electric, shopped for dinner and finally arrived at Lisa’s at around 4 o’clock. The weather was stunning for July and we braaied for supper and sat outdoors till quite late.
On Friday there were a few people we had to see including The Earl’s sister and brother in law, and some business to attend to but we had an hour or two to kill in the afternoon so we decided to go to False Bay Nature Reserve which we haven’t visited for some time. Winter is not the best time to visit but the weather was lovely and we were delighted with the birds we saw.
New Welcome Board
Red-knobbed Coots
Red-billed Teal
Cape Shoveler Female
Yellow-billed Duck
Cape Grysbok
Blacksmith Lapwing
White-faced Duck
Great White Pelican
Greater Flamingo
Black-winged Stilt
White Storks – They should have migrated back to Europe but decided to over-winter. Sacred Ibis with them.
Cattle Egret
Common Moorhen
On Friday evening we joined friends Pat and Tony for sushi. It was a great catch-up. Co-incidentally they will be in London and Amsterdam at the same time as Laurie and I will so we will catch up with them again there.
On Saturday we popped in to see our old friends Jeff and Annaline and then we went to tea at my sister’s. Laurie joined us and it was great to catch up with Katja, James and the great nephews too. We took gifts for the kids and when we left, Mattie said, “Come again and bring more surprises – big ones, please!”
Laurie and Oliver enjoying the bubbles
Katja and Oliver enjoying story time
Mattie shows off while indulgent Uncle James looks on
Ollie loved the bubbles
In the evening we had a date with six more friends at Jakes on The Common in Noordhoek. It was lovely but very noisy!
But the reason we were in Cape Town was to celebrate the Ninetieth Birthday of a legend at D’Aria Wine Estate in Durbanville.
Hymie is a fisherman and a gentleman. His passion for the sport of angling caused him to become totally involved in working in all its aspects. For many years he was PRO for The South African Deep Sea Association. It was due to his efforts and negotiations that The Hymie Steyn Slipway was built at Rumbly Bay so many years ago. The Conservation of our Oceans is important to him and he has been actively involved in ensuring that ethical fishing rules are followed.
Hymie’s daughter-in-law organised the surprise lunch for him and when he arrived thinking he would be lunching with a few close friends and family he walked into a crowd of well-wishers singing Happy Birthday to you. He was clearly moved and later expressed that he’d been totally hoodwinked as nobody let on that this surprise was going to happen. Two SADSA committee members even came all the way from Durban to celebrate with him.
Veels Geuluk, Pa – Verassing!
A very surprised Hymie
Reprimanding his friends for not telling him!
After the lunch we drove home to Struisbaai, happy to have caught up with so many friends and family and grateful that the weather had been so beautiful.
Diary of an Adventurous Retiree 