Author Archives: Paul

Open gardens: Tree tap

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Open gardens: Tree tap
Only when a young girl from a sitting with her family at the garden table next to ours mentioned it did I spot the unusually-placed tap embedded in this tree.

Now, that's a fairly large tree - I'd guess it's in excess of 100 years old. So, either someone drilled a horizontal hole into the tree and then a vertical one straight down into the ground (which seems unlikely to me), or the water point is so old that the tree grew around the original pipe.

In any event, it was kinda weird to see a tap coming out of a tree with no obvious pipes in the vicinity.

See this post for more about this photo and Rustenberg Wine's open gardens.

Open gardens: Beautiful buildings

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Open gardens: Beautiful buildings
The farm dates back to 1682, a mere 30 years after Jan van Riebeeck of the Dutch East India Company landed to establish the first European settlement in the Cape [1], making it one of the oldest farms in South Africa.

If you have a spare moment, click though to the their website to read the Rustenberg story - surprisingly, it's somewhat interesting. :)

See this post for more about this photo and Rustenberg Wine's open gardens.

Open gardens: Pink sunshine

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Open gardens: Pink sunshine
While they're ok, I'm not a huge fan of the traditional rosebush. Climbing roses however - they're pretty awesome.

See this post for more about this photo and Rustenberg Wine's open gardens.

Open gardens: Lilypad pond baby

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Open gardens: Lilypad pond baby
Don't you love lilypads? I think I need to make it an objective for us to create a pond with lilys at our house - they create such a serene atmosphere.

See this post for more about this photo and Rustenberg Wine's open gardens.

Open gardens: The grim Creeper

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Open gardens: The grim Creeper
Creepers look pretty awesome, but boy oh boy, don't let them get out of control. We have one at our house and if I weren't keeping a chopping-hand directed towards it, I swear it would cover our house in a matter of minutes. Exaggeration perhaps, but still, there's some truth here. :)

See this post for more about this photo and Rustenberg Wine's open gardens.

Open gardens: Thatched roof

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Open gardens: Cool thatch
Besides for being really pretty, thatch-roof buildings are known to retain heat exceptionally well in winter and keep out the heat in summer.

One of the negative aspects of thatch is that it burns very easily. Once thatch has caught fire it's very difficult to extinguish flames and smoldering embers - which is why insurance companies tend to raise premiums considerably for buildings that have a thatched roofs.

See this post for more about this photo and Rustenberg Wine's open gardens.

Rustenberg Wines open gardens

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Rustenberg Wines open gardens
It was by shear chance that we stumbled upon Rustenberg Wine Estate (map) and their open garden day.

On a whim, while heading down the Helshoogte mountain pass towards Stellenbosch, I took a right-turn and came across signs pointing to "Open Garden". After a few minutes we discovered the Rustenberg Wine Estate, parked, paid our R30 entrance fee, and started our walkabout at this gate.

I'll post more photos from the walk in my next few posts - hope you enjoy them!

Fun digger-toys

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Fun digger-toys
I'd love one of these, just to toy around with - wouldn't you? Imaging driving around, digging holes and moving things about - or better yet, using one of these as a combat vehicle in a paintball game!

Clearly I have an office job - or I guess this wouldn't sound as exciting as it does right now. :)

Volleyball on the beach

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Volleyball on the beach
I think I probably suck at volleyball, but still (and even if you do also), don't you think this would be a hell of a lot of fun?

For interest sake, and not that I have any affiliation with them, the Virgin Active health club in Green Point has outdoor beach volleyball courts. Not that the courts are on the beach - they've filled huge sandpits with beach sand and voilà, miracled up an awesome addition to their facilities.

Cape Town Zombie Walk : Party Zombie

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Cape Town Zombie Walk : Party Zombie
Some zombies just aren't made to be zombies. But then, I suppose, if all that zombies wanted was a party... well, that would clear up a whole lot of mess.

Read more about the Cape Town Zombie Walk here.

Cape Town Zombie Walk : Smiley Creepy Zombies

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Cape Town Zombie Walk : Smiley Creepy Zombies
Okay, so (against odds) I'd have to give the zombie on the left the Cutezie-Zombie badge - which is, as I guess you'd imagine, a spur-of-the-moment made-up badge. I mean, who goes to a zombie-badge party expecting to hand out a Cutezie-Zombie badge?

Now, with that one out of the way - that grinning blue one, on the right; he definitely wins the Creepy-Zombie Delux with Extra Chocolate Sauce badge. Yoh man, that is one eerie (I'm not going to sleep tonight) kinda grin!

Read more about the Cape Town Zombie Walk here.

Cape Town Zombie Walk : Nurse Zombie

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Cape Town Zombie Walk : Nurse Zombie
A friend and I went along to the Cape Town Zombie Walk in the city center. The walk was organised to raise money for the Lucky Lucy Foundation - a charity that helps take care of abandoned, abused, and neglected animals.

The walk started at Thibault Square and hobbled along down St George's Mall to the Company's Gardens - causing somewhat confusion and consternation among the unsuspecting audience. It was, as I'm sure you can imagine, amusing to watch unfold. :)

I'll be sharing a few more photos in the next few posts, but click here if you'd like to see the complete album on our Facebook page.

Mountains and beaches

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Mountains and beaches
We're really privileged to live in a city that has a table-like mountain as its centerpiece, a sprinkling of tall hills dotted across its peninsula, and white-sand beaches all around. I don't take this for granted, believe me; it's just spectacular. :)