Damn this Evolution thing...

these baboons are just getting cleverer and jumping higher than ever before...

A Local Fishing Spot...

For some or other reason, it's known as "Cemetery" and yet there isn't one within a huge radius (I've checked on Google Earth).

I think it might be because the water is "dead", in other words, I went fishing there over last weekend and caught fuckall...




The scenery, though, is great from that part of the world and the water in False Bay is at least 10degC warmer than on the Atlantic Ocean side (even though the bay is fed by the same ocean).

I did, however, go down to the Kalk Bay harbour wall the other night and, although the conditions were pretty crap, managed to catch my first squid ("chokka" as it's known here). I got it on my second cast and spent the rest of the almost two and a half hours flinging the lure into the water for fuckall. If I'd known that was going to be the case, I would have buggered off home for a nice scotch right after that, but as the same going "c'est la vie". By the time Fishman and the Kosi Fishing Team come down to the Cape (we're talking about Morgan Bay as our next trip) I'm hoping that we won't have to buy bait as, with my new fishing licence, I can catch up to 20 chokka per day. Some of them we'll probably eat at home (lovely calamari), but the majority will be frozen as bait.

Honestly, Officer...

I don't know how those weeds from my garden got into those cut-off plastic bottles. A big boy must have done it and ran away...

Actually, I found these two "weeds" growing next to our driveway and I suspect the removals guys might have had a smoke during a break they had, and thrown the seeds from their mix into the sand. These are the results and I'm keeping them as a novelty. I'll keep you posted on their progress...

It was time for a change...

to the look of this blog.

And maybe, just maybe, it'll stop Wreckless from bitching about the length of some of my postings. Now they'll at least look shorter due to the wide-screen format.

I like it...and that's what matters...

Our new lodger...part 2...

has flown the nest...literally...

Aside from noticing that mommy-dove had not been around to feed the lodger in the last couple of days, we have had some storm-strength winds recently, and I found he/she/it sitting on the little wall directly below the nest. Whether it had been blown out of the nest, I'm not sure, but that is likely.

I approached it to see if there was any damage and it flew into the middle of the garden. Again, I approached to see if I could pick the lodger up to put it back in the nest, but the dove then flew over the property wall and we have not seen it since. The dove's wings were well developed and most of the juvenile feathers had been shed, so I'm hoping he/she/it will be okay...

Good luck, little dove...

Our new lodger...

In a tree right outside our lounge sliding door, a dove built a nest. Here is the fruit of her loins, aged about two weeks...

Oor Hoos...

Some pics of the house we are renting for the first six months of our stay in the Cape...

The garden (what little there is of it)


The front door (look, no burglar guards)


The master bedroom, nice and airy (all bedrooms have these doors leading out into the garden)


The kitchen (the photo belies the actual size)


From the Dining Area looking out the sliding door to the garden


The front of the house, to the carport


The view out the lounge picture window (not pictured is the double garage, behind the guest house, both out of view to the right)

Since I've been in the Cape...

it appears my mates have gone all "responsible" on me.

Wreckless had a good reason for not being with us at Quartz for a few pints last night (Lucky L's prize-giving at school) so it was to be just Fishman, Corner, Jacko and myself sitting out in the "fresh" Shit Towne air getting wasted. Or at least so I thought...

We all pitched up around 5pm, as arranged, with Fishman and Corner already there when I arrived. Jacko arrived a couple of minutes after me. I arrived in SWMSBO's 206cc cabriolet, top down, to the gay jeers and pelvic thrusting motions from Fishman (no, neither of us are gay, the car just attracts weird pelvic thrusts from jeering fishermen).

After pleasantries, I had my third beer of the day having been at a team lunch earlier. Jacko arrived just in time, while I was standing at the bar buying drinks, so I got one for him too. Sitting in the warm, humid, Shit Towne air wasn't all that pleasant as the few weeks I've had in Cape Town has acclimatised me to the cooler air and I was sweating buckets.

It was great to sit and talk shit with the guys again, as it is one way of venting one's frustrations and, being in Joburg, those frustrations build pretty quickly. I couldn't believe the difference in the characters of the people in the different cities. It's as if Cape Town is not even part of South Africa.

We chatted until about 19h30 or so and when I went for a pee, I came back to find Jacko ready to leave, with Fishman and Corner also pleading responsibilities. I finally managed to convince Corner to have an ABF (Absolutely Bloody Final) drink and we threw another Capn's Organ down our throats then headed into the traffic.

On the road back to Buccleuch, the storm that had been brewing over the past couple of hours finally let loose and there was some serious lightning and hard rain that slowed the traffic hooligans down to a scream.

Feeling a little peckish, I stopped in at KFC for a quick Sweet Chilli Wrap and then headed for our ex-neighbour's house where I've been staying for the last couple of nights. We ended up sitting chatting and watching some or other daft TV movie and I was surprised to see that it was after 23h15 when I made my way to the room I was sleeping in.

It's too bad that Wreckless couldn't join us, but I might be back in Shit Towne again next week (still to be confirmed) and I'm sure we'll get together then. And I don't think the others will need another formal invitation to go out for a couple of hours.

Friends are the only thing I miss about Shit Towne and it's always great to see old friends, even if they do have other responsibilities to take care of...

Any ailments you want sorted out?

The doctor is in the house...

Son of a Bitch Fish...

The parish priest went on a fishing trip. On the last day of his trip he hooked a monster fish and proceeded to reel it in. The guide, holding a net, yelled, "Look at the size of that Son of a Bitch!"

"Son, I'm a priest. Your language is uncalled for!"

"No, Father, that's what kind of fish it is - a Son of a Bitch fish!"

"Really? Well then, help me land this Son of a Bitch!"

Once in the boat, they marveled at the size of the monster.

"Father, that's the biggest Son of a Bitch I've ever seen"

"Yes, it is a big Son of a Bitch. What should I do with it?"

"Why, eat it! Of course. You've never tasted anything as good as Son of a Bitch!"

Elated, the priest headed home to the rectory.

While unloading his gear and his prize catch, Sister Mary inquired about his trip.

"Take a look at this big Son of a Bitch I caught!"

Sister Mary gasped and clutched her rosary, "Father!"

"It's OK, Sister. That's what kind of fish it is, a Son of a Bitch fish!"

"Oh, well then, what are you going to do with that big Son of a Bitch?"

Sister Mary informed the priest that the new Bishop was scheduled to visit in a few days and that they should fix the Son of a Bitch for his dinner.

"I'll even clean the Son of a Bitch", she said.

As she was cleaning the huge fish, the Friar walked in. "What are you doing Sister?"
"Father wants me to clean this big Son of a Bitch for the new Bishop's Dinner"

"Sister! I'll clean it if you're so upset! Please watch your language!"

"No, no, no, it's called a Son of a Bitch Fish."

"Really? Well, in that case, I'll fix up a great meal to go with it, and that Son of a Bitch can be the main course! Let me know when you've finished cleaning that Son of a Bitch."

On the night of the new Bishop's visit, everything was perfect. The Friar had prepared an excellent meal. The wine was fine, and the fish was excellent.

The new Bishop said, "This is great fish, where did you get it?"

"I caught that Son of a Bitch!" proclaimed the proud priest.

"And I cleaned the Son of a Bitch!" exclaimed the Sister.

The Friar added, "And I prepared the Son of a Bitch, using a special recipe!"

The new Bishop looked around at each of them. A big smile crept across his face as he said, "You fuckers are my kind of people!".....

Cape Fish 1 - Kosi Fisher 0

I registered on a local website that specialises as a forum for Cape-based fishermen, and a valuable site it is too...full of great information and a good bunch of guys to chat with. "Kosi Fisher" is my forum-name seeing as it is popular to do it this way rather than having your real name bandied about all over the place.

So, on Saturday I drew a blank.

After stopping off at "Misty Cliffs" to see who belonged to the blue bakkie with the Cape Town Fishing website sticker, I made my way along to a spot called "Blakes" where I was going to throw my first line in anger in Cape waters. I noticed that there were a few guys coming off the beach at the AECI pipe and checked what was happening there, but the wind was pumping through and I guess that was the reason for everyone coming off?

Anyway, I headed back to the bakkie and went past Blakes to see that the water was way out and the wind was whipping around there too, so I made my way to Gordons Bay New Harbour wall. The wind wasn't too bad, even though it was straight in the face and the water looked good for some toothy critters, and I put out a nice medium-sized head...2hrs later, I pulled it in to see that some minnows had been having a go at it.

Even hanging about there for another couple of hours, changing baits between chokkka and sardine, I still drew a blank. Then, at about 4pm, the wind picked up and I couldn't even throw a 6oz more than about 50m so I gave up. Probably just as well...as soon as I got into the bakkie, the rain came down and never stopped...

I stopped off at Kalk Bay Harbour on the way home and the guys were hauling in some nice sized chokka on lures...might try that myself sometime and save a few bucks on bait.

Ah well, there's always next weekend...