Tuesday 9th April 2013

S:  A really lazy day today. L:  It is called, a duvet day.  S:  It was really misty this morning and did not clear until just after midday. Had to dig out the jeans at last and find my jacket. At about lunch time we jumped into the car and went exploring.

It takes me back driving around Port Nolloth and the surrounds. I was up here in Alexander Bay in 1989 for three weeks as part of a UCT scientific survey to determine the extent of the decimation of the crayfish after the 1986 Orange River floods. The Orange River had come down in flood and the fresh water had been driven south by the current, from Alexander Bay, with the result that the crayfish had died. Our job was to dive out as many crayfish with air tanks as possible and then measure each one. Every couple of days I would drive our catch down to the crayfish factory in Port Nolloth where it was processed. 

Some things change and some things still stay the same. The gravel road between Alexander Bay and Port Nolloth has been replaced by a very good tar road, but the John Ovenstone crayfish factory is still there though it processes very little these days. 

McDougalls Bay was a fisherman’s shanty town in those days with houses made from anything they could find. I seem to remember a bus and a ship’s bridge. I must dig out those photos sometime.

We took a drive around McDougall’s Bay and were fascinated by the diverse building styles and type of building materials. There does not seem to be any building code.

We then popped into a restaurant on Port Nolloth beachfront for lunch. Pizza, double thick milkshake, pita bread and Mississippi mud pie and ice cream. Yum. 

We also took a walk along the beach to get rid of the few kilos from lunch. I picked up some black stones that look like larva, except these are round.

On the way back to the cottage we noticed some strange boundary walls around what appeared to be a development of some sort. However, the walls were more artistic than functional. We managed to find the entrance of the development and it is called Kai Kai. We went into the sales office and chatted to the staff. They told us the development was started in 2008 and so far 65 plots have been sold but only 4 houses have been built. You can find out more about the development at www.kaikai.co.za.  L:  The locals have built some of the walls and fashioned their own bricks.  They have put up all their names, working them into the walls and bricks.  There are 1 500 names of the locals displayed so far which they are very proud of.

S:  Then it was back to our cottage to start packing again for the next part of our journey south. Hondeklip Bay, I think.

L:  We did not bother to make anything for supper as we both had left-overs from lunch and full tummies.

I will miss “Dis Al” meaning “that’s all” as it pretty much has everything and the most amazing sea view (which was blocked for a few hours this morning with the sea mist hanging around for so long.)

It is the first time that Steve has put a t-shirt on and has earned himself quite a tan by now.  My left arm is well tanned as the sun beams in on me while we are driving.  We have had temperatures averaging in the 40’s (Celcius) all the time, but today, being closer to home, for the first time the temp is below 20.  Back home and into winter for us, soon.