Sunday Stroll

View of the False Bay beach in Fish Hoek.

With beautiful weather on tap, this last day before the onset of winter, I took a trek around the neighborhood. Our lodge is nestled in the hills overlooking the ismuth of the Cape of Good Hope between the Atlantic Ocean and False Bay. I started my jaunt over the hill out the back door through Table Mountain National Park on a trail that drops you into Kalk Bay. We have been frequenting the restaurants, watering holes and coffee shops in Kalk Bay but the walk today gave a new perspective. The Harbor House has been our eating establishment of choice. Cape to Cuba serves a nice Mojito and the coffee at the Columbia is awesome. Most of the time spent there has been in the evening hours so daylight gave it a new perception. Families, vendors, tourists and locals were out in force on the Sunday afternoon. Fisherman were casting from the breakwater walls of the harbor. Locals were shopping for fresh fish on the dock. The fish cleaners were feeding the local seals and trying to hock a view to the tourists for a snapshot or two. I could hear a percussion band from the top of the mountain as I descended to town, which was actually providing entertainment for the long line of people queued up to get into Kalky's restaurant on the dock.
Leaving Kalk Bay I walked along Main Road south toward Fish Hoek. Our much traveled vehicle route revealed many hidden aspects. One of note was a man made swimming hole on the beach. There was a pool built to collect water on the rocky shore. A bit chilly this time of year, but I am sure it becomes a venerable hot tub during the new moon phases in the summer. The water is clear and pristine to the view. Visually inviting, physically repelling today. Quite cold.

I continued via Main Road through the commercial strip in Fish Hoek. Dropped into the Pic'n'Pay for some snacks, staples and garbage bags to ward the rain off our gear which is forecast for game time tomorrow.

I headed for the beach access on the south end of town anxious to plunge my toes in the sand. The warm midday sun was being fought off by a marine layer that was lurching bay ward from the Atlantic. Across the rail road tracks and onto the beach i found kids splashing, kayakers paddling, runners running, hand holding lovers and dogs romping. The beach was full of life on this last day of fall. Essentially retracing my steps back toward the house I had to forge the stream of fresh water whose tributaries gather outside my bedroom window from the hills, which flow into the stream that runs through the golf course, through the wetlands and into the sea. An invigorating chill that help invigorate my peds for the trudge up the road to the house.

The cool mist was winning the contest with the waning sun. After tomorrow I can only hope the sun wins the war as it battles back to longer days.