Catching up with another trove of files for safekeeping from the “Unposted Photos” folder on my laptop – this is a whole lot of images of Strand beach taken during walks/visits in 2019. Five kilometres of white sandy beach overlooking False Bay, one of the safest swimming beaches in Cape Town, surfing, kiteboarding, water slides and a tidal pool, and some pretty impressive buildings dotted along a beautifully renewed promenade.
There’s a river estuary, a protected marine area, good fishing, a lifesaving club, gorgeous sunsets, and soft serve ice cream. Lots of soft serve ice cream. What can I say, it’s a great beach to live close to!
As the initial lockdown restrictions began to ease and we were starting to get to better grips of knowing how to approach the whole Covid-19 pandemic, the family and I decided that we desperately needed a change of scenery from our own four walls at home and so headed out for a bit of a bit of a drive around the peninsula. Halfway around I decided on an impromptu stop at Llandudno to show off its famous beach to Chantelle, seeing as she hadn’t been with us the time that I first showed it off to the girls back in 2017.
In theory this was an excellent plan, but in practice it all fall apart, as on arrival at the small parking lot by the beach, Jessica promptly took a tumble over a tree root on the tarred path down to the sand, tossing Astros everywhere but more importantly horribly grazing her knee and hands. Blood, snot and tears, and a wife who was now inexplicably angry at me meant that our little saunter about this incredibly small and picturesque beach didn’t quite have the impact I would have liked – though that said, it is pretty hard not to marvel at Llandudno beach’s prettiness.
Big granite boulders just asking to be clambered about on, soft white sand, pooches running around and having fun, icy cold water to refresh, and of course for the surfers, waves, not to mention views of the Twelve Apostles, Little Lion’s Head, and the Karbonkelberg Mountain all around.
As for the town itself, it is named after the Welsh town that features a very similar look, and lies just outside Hout Bay on the way to Camps Bay. It is an extremely upmarket residential suburb of Cape Town and is famous for going out of its way to ensure the residential feel of this stunningly scenic space by disallowing pretty much all commercial ventures, street lights, and basically maintaining as little public parking spaces as what it can get away with! Ah, the joys of having money…
So clearly thanks to the current COVID-19 global pandemic and South Africa’s quickly (and rightfully) imposed lockdown, there hasn’t been much traipsing outside at all, never mind actually getting to properly celebrate the big 40 that rolled in for me on the 11th of May. A few morning strolls during our mandated exercise hours here and there, but for the most part it has just been us and the walls of our tiny (but thankfully larger than an apartment) house.
So in looking forward to the day when things somewhat return to normal (which is probably a very, very long way off), cue a bunch of photos that I snapped while ambling about the beaches of Gordon’s Bay in 2019. (Yes, this is another one of those “attempt to clear out my far too large Unposted Photos desktop folder” entries. Sorry.)
As you might recall, our diminutive little home town named after the Dutch explorer (of Scottish descent) Robert Jacob Gordon with its emblem of a giant anchor and the letters “GB” emblazoned on the side of the mountain (which coincidentally stands for General Botha, the earlier name of the small naval training base that resides in the town) is the proud owner of two small harbours, two small beaches, and thus more than one or two pretty views.
The Covid-19 coronavirus is currently happily running amok and we’re rightfully locked down in the hopes of slowing down the spread of the virus. Of course, before it reached our shores we were still okay with walking about among crowds of other people, which is exactly what the girls and I did following one Saturday morning visit to Cape Town’s historic Castle of Good Hope – with a meander down Sea Point’s famous promenade.
Stretching for ±7km along the Atlantic Seaboard, Cape Town’s most popular (and Instagrammable) promenade takes you all the way from Mouille Point to Sea Point, hugging the coastline with its broad walkway and panoramic views of the ocean and your Cape Town surroundings (complete with big ships lazily floating by). The iconic views of Signal Hill, Lion’s Head and Table Mountain all slowly shift into focus as you stroll by the tiny beaches of Rocklands, Graaf’s Pool, Milton and Brokenbath along the way.
Populated with all manner of Capetonians keeping fit with runs, cycles and walks, the promenade is always busy, with swathes of open space filled with gym equipment, art installations and children’s jungle gyms, enough to entertain even the littlest among us. At the far end is the Sea Point public swimming pool, always a smash hit on a hot Summer’s day, as well as a small collection of food, ice cream and beverage vendors – plus an option or two to rent a drop and go bicycle if you are tired of tackling the walk on foot!
Dodging all the descending paragliders, the girls and I joined the promenade at Three Anchor Bay for this particular outing, soaking up the sun as we strolled up to the swimming pools, stopping every couple of minutes to play on a jungle gym or art installation (or in my case to take a photo or three). At the turn around point we stopped for a delicious softserve ice cream and something to drink, before heading back for one last jungle gym bit of play where we parked. It was hot, it was sweaty, Emily was moaning, but I had a ball.
Always such a great spot to grab some lekker Cape Town photos:
So here I am, slowly but surely whittling down my very large Unposted Photos folder with another ‘A Year of’ picture dump. I rather enjoy living in a small harbour town and very much doubt that I will ever willingly elect to live far from the sea again – primarily because it makes for such picturesque living space!
Although reasonably diminutive, Gordon’s Bay is surprisingly home to two harbours and two beaches (Main and Bikini), and with a mountain overlooking it all, there is no excuse to not wander about and enjoy the scenery. Of course, working remotely like I do, there really isn’t any excuse at all!
So here are a bunch photos that I snapped while ambling about the beaches of Gordon’s Bay in 2018:
Presented here as a form of personal archival (and to get my “Unposted Photos” folder looking a little better), is a collection of random photos taken at Strand Beach (where I do the majority of my evening walks).
I have said it before, but 5 km of white sandy beach overlooking False Bay, one of the safest swimming beaches in Cape Town, surfing, kiteboarding, water slides and a tidal pool, and some pretty impressive buildings dotted along a renewed promenade – what’s not to love?
There’s a river estuary, a protected marine area, good fishing, a lifesaving club, gorgeous sunsets, and soft serve ice cream. Lots of soft serve ice cream.
Another entry in the “slowly clear all the unposted images out of my very large Unposted Photos folder” series. I enjoy living in a small harbour town and very much doubt that I will ever willingly choose to live far from the sea again – primarily because it makes for such great (picturesque) walking routes.
Gordon’s Bay is home to two harbours and two beaches (main and bikini), with a mountain overlooking it all – so in other words scenically perfect. With me working from home, this translates into plenty of opportunity to head out for a stroll – which I invariably do.
So here is a bunch photos from 2017 documenting some of these walks along my home town beaches.
So when I took possession of my replacement car, I immediately took it for a spin out along Clarence Drive, dragging Jessica along with me for the ride. One scenic drive followed by a trundle alongside the baboons in Rooi Els later, we popped over to Pringle Bay for a stroll on the beach.
Of course, dragging my eldest daughter along for all this aimless driving and strolling around didn’t come without its price, which is why then we capped off my new car run with a bout of daddy/daughter tea, flapjacks and scones at La Galerie.
With its bright red exterior drawing you in, La Galerie is a great little restaurant/cafe venue in the heart of Pringle Bay’s business center, filled with art, books and even a boardgame or two. It is run by the same couple that used to own the excellent Sage & Thyme cafe in Somerset West, and as such makes for a well run, delicious breakfast/light lunch/coffee and cake stop in this charming little coastal village.
Catching up with another trove of files from the “Unposted Photos” folder on my laptop, this is a whole lot of images of Strand beach taken during walks/visits in 2017.
5 km of white sandy beach overlooking False Bay, one of the safest swimming beaches in Cape Town, surfing, kiteboarding, water slides and a tidal pool, and some pretty impressive buildings dotted along a renewed promenade.
