Street photography

Drip, drip drip, drip

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Drip, drip drip, drip drip drip...

Over the last few days I've been posting photos from the Worldwide Photo Walk that I attended on Saturday. Even though Cape Town was at her best on Saturday, and there are plenty more photos that I'd like to draw your attention to, this will be the last one that I'll publish as a blog entry. I have however uploaded the rest of the morning's photos to our "Scott Kelby's Worldwide Photo Walk - 2009" album. Please indulge me and take a look through the album - the city really was very photogenic on Saturday morning.

On a side note, although we had perfect weather on Saturday, I found this gutter downpipe dripping really fast, almost as though it were raining... which makes publishing this photo today co-incidental since this week we've had our fair share of rain! Perhaps the dripping was prophetic in some or other way? :)

Enjoying the sun

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Enjoy the sun

This is one of my favourite photos from Paul's Photowalk set. I love the facial expressions, the composition, the way these people were taking advantage of Saturday's summery weather to warm themselves up, the inclusion of the "Happy Birthday Madiba" poster to the left of the group, and the selection of photos on the wall just behind their heads.

If you're wondering about those photos on the wall (and I certainly was), Paul shot this scene just outside the offices of the Cape Argus, and presumably those are some of their recent or most popular press shots. I guess that makes this another example of meta-photography. :)

Birds of steel for your garden

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Birds of steel for your garden
I'm not one to buy curios, furniture, or other goods from road-side sellers. Perhaps I should, but it would be on rare occasions that I'd stop and browse, let alone buy. After taking the photos of the tyre swing seats I wandered over to a lady selling birds made of some kind of metal - possibly copper - hey, possibly copper from old hot-water cylinders!

I found out that the cost for these (what I'm assuming to be garden statues) ranges from R180 for the large, more detailed birds at the back, to R150 for the large, but less detailed ones in the second-last row. The price decreases along with the size of the bird, all the way down to R50 for ones about the size of a shoe-box.

As with the tyre-swings, you'll find this stand just up the road from the Stodels Nursery in Bellville.

Where to buy tyre swings

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Tyre swings for sale

At the end of last month I posted a photo of a swing made from an old car tyre. Today I happened to spot a road-side vendor selling these tyre swings pretty close to where I live. Don't you think it's far better to put these tyres to use as a swing than to have them lie about polluting the environment? I just wish that they would make swings for big people. Perhaps some old 4x4 tyres would work nicely... heh, one could even have a premium-class swing made from BMW run-flat tyres! :D

I didn't think of it at the time, but I should have asked the vendor (sitting in the far right corner of the photo) how much these cost. I can't believe that they would be expensive, so if anyone is interested, leave a comment and I'll stop by to find out for you.

If you'd like one for your kids (or even for someone else's), you'll find this vendor just up the road from the Stodels Nursery in Bellville. I've marked it here on Wikimapia.

Why not consider buying two of these and some tough rope, and then setting them up in a field or forest somewhere where someone would use them? You'd support the vendor and possibly make some kids (or skinny big people) happy at the same time... the butterfly effect, you know! :)

Funk Fly-over

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R300 fly-over

The lorry that you see on the left is making its way away from the city along the N1 national highway, about 30km outside of Cape Town. The fly-over that you see rising from the centre of the photo carries vehicles from the N1 onto the R300, one of the major routes used to reach the country's second national highway, the N2, about 20km from this point.

The centre of this photo is where I shot the photo in yesterday's post. I have to say that I had an eerie feeling listening to (and feeling) cars, trucks and huge lorries whizzing by only metres overhead. It kinda reminded me of climbing up the Sydney Harbour Bridge (which carries a highway as well as a metro rail system!).

Off the beaten track

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Funky graffiti
I found this piece of graffiti at a spot that locals often pass by but would never know is there unless they derailed whatever day-to-day activities preoccupied them and explored places that they would normally not.

Whether you live in Cape Town or in some other part of the world, look around you as you travel the same route that you travel most days, and identify the places that you've never explored before. They may take you off your beaten track and they may waste a few minutes of your day, but you'll never again wonder "what's behind that wall?", "what does that store sell?", or "what does that suburb look like?". Heck, perhaps you'll even start your own {mycity}dailyphoto.com!

I'll be darn impressed if any of you know where this photo was taken. All will be revealed in the next exciting instalment of Cape Town Daily Photo. ;)

Die Burger, Naspers and The Borg

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Newspaper Salesman

Die Burger, first published as long ago as 26 July 1915, is a super-popular print newspaper read mostly by Afrikaans-speaking South Africans. The name is essentially a direct translation of The Citizen, which I would imagine to be a popular name for newspapers all around the world.

Die Burger is owned by Naspers, a large corporate that owns other well-known print brands such as Huisgenoot (and YOU), Drum, Fair Lady, City Press, Shape, Daily Sun, City Press, Beeld, etc. Many years ago Naspers formed a pay-television company, M-Net, and a television signal-distribution and communications company, MultiChoice. The company expanded in later years to create a large Internet service provider called MWeb, then launched the Media24 division (with it's *24 brands), and in more recent years started buying stakes in hot-shot digital startup companies like MXit and Blue World Communities.

People have often referred to large software companies such as IBM and Microsoft as "The Borg" due to their strategy of buying out the competition's software to add to their growing portfolio of solutions. It's become apparent to me that, due to their size and pervasiveness in the market, in some ways Naspers is becoming South Africa's own Borg of the media and publication sector...

Not the most inspirational graffiti

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Not the most inspirational graffiti

Cape Town's weather has turned grey, much like this photo. I always struggle to find something to photograph under these conditions... either because it's too flippin' cold to venture outside, or because it's raining outside and I'm reluctant to get rain on my camera - or perhaps that grey weather just drains my inspiration (much like I'm guessing this graffiti artist's inspiration was drained by the dull vibracrete wall and monochrome palette).

Vibracrete walls must be one of the structures I dislike most in our country. These precast concrete walls have permeated the fabric of our suburbs, with almost every property bordered off by a dull grey wall. Every now and again someone gets inspired and paints their walls in a colour to match their homes, or better yet, in an inappropriately bright colour, like apricot or salmon. Because undercoat is seldom used, the wall paint doesn't last very long and starts to peel, leaving patches of grey or previous layers of paint exposed.

If there were actually a chance of being taken seriously, and if the thought weren't so ridiculous, I'd recommend we start a petition to ban the erection of vibracrete walls. :)

Don’t expect to buy a garage

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Scooters and a Yard Sale

I meant to post this photo when I took it (on 3 May), so I hope you don't mind a slightly older photo. I just liked this one for some reason - perhaps it's the angle, perhaps the slightly-out-of-focus scooters in the background.

Seeing the sign reminded me of the only yard sale (often known as garage sales here) that I visited many years ago out of curiosity. Clearly the event left me rather pessimistic about the chances of actually finding anything of interest at these sales. The items I browsed that day were really nothing more than junk for which I wouldn't really have ever had any use.

I do think, however, that I should give it another try. I imagine one could find some really interesting things hidden among people's white elephants. Perhaps, if you're a tourist, it would be an interesting thing to do too... visiting a yard sale. You may find something interestingly different to buy, and you may meet some interestingly different people too. For your own sake, though, be a little cautious; this is a city, after all, and we have our fair share of unsavoury people too.

Oh, and remember that a yard sale is often called a garage sale - so don't go to a garage sale expecting to come home with a new garage. ;)

The cost of home ownership

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For Sale sign in Cape Town

Locals (particularly those who haven't travelled overseas) are often surprised to find out how much cheaper property is in South Africa than in many other parts of the world.

Of course, we have very high interest rates compared to many other parts of the world, which pushes the actual cost of property up for us somewhat, as very, very few people can afford to buy property without taking out a mortgage bond. But nevertheless, it's still a whole lot cheaper to buy an average suburban home here than it is in Sydney, for instance.

According to Global Property Guide, Cape Town is the 53rd-most expensive city in the world in terms of property - their comparison is based on the average purchase price in US dollars of a 120-square-metre apartment in a prime inner city area.

Our property market has seen quite a slowdown in the last two years or so (after a massive boom in the four years before that), but it does seem to be slowly (very slowly) starting to pick up again - at least in certain sectors of the market.

Somewhat bitter; somewhat dry; but never sweet

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The Castle Hotel

Looking at this photo, I'm not really surprised that the Castle Hotel is for sale. But perhaps I'm being a tiny bit harsh - it's possible that this location was once (many, many years ago) a wonderful place to stay. I wait in anticipation for someone who remembers to leave a comment and let us know. :)

I found this building in Zonnebloem, just outside the CBD, and right next to Charly's Bakery. What caught my attention was the hotel's apparent affiliation with with Castle Lager (a widely loved South African beer for which I sincerely have little taste, but that my father-in-law loves).

What gave this affiliation away was the lettering's font, the insignia on the windows, and the huge "Castle Beers" sign on the front of the building. Must say, I find it strange that a brewery would have their own hotel... After googling the name I discovered that not only is this building for sale, but the old Castle Brewery in Woodstock (on the fringes of the city) is also for sale.

What's up Charles, need a loan? ;-)

At Charly’s Bakery, even recycling is pretty

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Recycling station at Charlys Bakery

In yesterday's post I mentioned Charly's Bakery, and how you should definitely not look at their cupcake gallery page.

Today's photo (as you may notice) is of a "recycling station" found on the corner of their premises... and this got me wondering about the recycling project that started in Cape Town a while back.

On Tuesday mornings I roll my large, black, dirtbin out onto the curb. A little while later a huge truck comes past to collect the contents. Unlike many other cities however, we don't have a convenient way of disposing of recyclable (or environmentally-damaging) waste. To recycle our waste we have to separate bottles, paper, and plastics into separate containers. Once the containers are full we then have to deliver the contents to a local collection point... which is far too inconvenient for most.

To assist with this (and to reduce the impact on our environment) the City of Cape Town entered into a partnership with a company called Waste Plan a while back. Under the arrangement, residents are provided with special plastic bags into which recyclable waste should be separated. The full bags are placed into the municipal bins (the same one that I wheel out on Tuesdays) and Waste Plan collects the contents for recycling. Unfortunately this arrangement hasn't yet extended into our suburb, but we're hoping that it soon will!

Charly’s Bakery, don’t you think we deserve cake?

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Charly's Bakery - new building
The legendary Charly's Bakery in Canterbury Street is what you behold in this photo. The Charlie and the Chocolate Factory-like building accurately reflects the childlike manner in which one should enter the premises. Charly's Bakery is the place to go if you'd like to buy awesome-tasting-and-fantastically-decorated cakes. Just take a look at some of the wedding cakes in their gallery, but be careful not to even look at their cupcakes - as I fear that you could become an addict with just one glance!

One or two of our visitors recently alluded to the fact that there has been some irregularity with our daily posts. It's not your eyes deceiving you, or your RSS reader acting up; it's indeed Cape Town Daily Photo that's been in a little bit of turmoil for about a week.

Last week we had an incident with our hosting provider, with the result that I spent a large part of the week sourcing an alternative provider, setting up a brand new server, and migrating Cape Town Daily Photo away from the previous provider. Over this time, I have to admit that we slipped on posting for a few days, and so we're currently trying to catch up the lost days (which is almost like trying to catch up on last week's school homework!).

So, we've now found a new home in the Rackspace cloud and so far, so good. And, to be honest, it seems as though the site is just a tiny bit faster on our new server. Now, don't you think some kind of celebratory cake is in order? ;)

Seems someone doesn’t like Hake…

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Kill Hake graffiti

A week or two back we posted a photo of a rather creative piece of street art in Green Point, bearing the name "Hake". One of our readers, Michelle, commented that she'd seen a number of his tags around the southern suburbs too, so presumably he's fairly prolific.

It seems he has an enemy, though (look at me, being all sexist and assuming that Hake is a boy... tsk tsk), if the writing in this photo is anything to go by. I spotted this as we were driving around Vredehoek, and made Paul screech to a halt so that he could get out and grab a photo. By a happy co-incidence the man in the background entered the frame just as Paul was busy composing his shot - I think he adds an extra bit of interest to the photo, don't you?

Umshini wami, umshini wakho

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Umshini wakho campaign posters
I doubt that there's a South African alive right now who is not familiar with the phrase "Umshini Wami". It's the name of an old struggle song sung by Umkhonto we Sizwe during the apartheid years. More recently it's become famous (or notorious, depending on your perspective) as the song sung by president-elect Jacob Zuma and his supporters at ANC rallies. The main phrase repeated throughout the song is "Khawuleth'umshini wami", which is Zulu for "Bring me my machine-gun". This probably goes some way towards explaining my use of the word "notorious" in the previous sentence...

The posters you can see on the wall here, designed by advertising agency Young and Rubicam, are a clever twist on this piece of South African culture. They read "Awuleth'umshini wakho", which means "Bring me your machine gun". The posters were put up in February as part of a campaign to persuade citizens to hand in their unlicensed firearms. I have no idea whether they've been effective or not, but they're certainly eye-catching.

You can read more about the campaign and see a photo of the full poster on Marklives!com.

Don’t drive to the voting station

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Driving my car

As I mentioned yesterday, tomorrow will be the day that gazillions (hopefully!) of South Africans visit their local voting stations to put their cross on a ballot and cast a vote for a political party... or I guess in many cases, against a political party.

Whichever party :-) you fall into, why not do as Kerry-Anne and I will tomorrow? Don't drive to your voting station, but walk instead! You'll (a) avoid possible traffic, (b) get some exercise, and (c) have a chance to walk outside in the nice, clear, and comfortable 25°C weather we'll be having. It looks like it will be a perfect day for voting - not too hot, not too cold.

Of course, I should probably disclose that we only live a shy 900 metres from our voting station... :)

South Africa votes on Wednesday!

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We're voting on Wednesday

The air has turned cool, the sky has turned grey, and the first significant rains of the year have started to fall. Millions of South Africans will be heading to the polls to vote in our national elections on Wednesday, and fortunately it seems as though the weather will start clearing in preparation for that.

Political parties have been advertising on lamp posts, and several times each day on radio stations. I'm not sure how political radio ads are dealt with in other countries, but here the station has to play a standard message before each ad, along the lines of: "The following message was paid for by the political party concerned and does not necessarily reflect the views of this radio station." I guess we should give the same message before this photo: the views of the ID and ANC aren't necessarily those held by CTDP. ;-)

Voting in South Africa is tricky. We have one very large party (the ANC) and several much smaller opposition parties. The chance of one of these opposition parties coming into power is zero, but in theory, if the ANC doesn't win an outright majority, the smaller parties could join together and govern as a coalition. This has happened at provincial level in the past. Which brings me to the next point: we don't vote only on a national basis, but on a provincial basis too. This means that we could vote for party A at national level (perhaps because we believe in their ideals) and for party B at provincial level (because we believe they will be more efficient at running our province). Or we could vote for the same party in national and provincial elections, of course!

Wednesday's going to be an interesting day. I'm keen to see if the tide has started to turn against the ANC's two-thirds majority win of 2004. Personally, I don't think it's a great idea to have one party (any party) with complete power, so let's see what happens this time around. Let's go and vote, people!

Keep me safe?

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Keep me safe

Why do you imagine someone would draw a bird on an old LP, write the words "keep me safe <3 hake" at the bottom, and then stick it on the side of a building in Green Point? I have no clue myself. I googled the words, and found nothing at all except this rather odd poem by someone called George Hake, which contains the words "keep me safe". Somehow I don't think it's connected. :-/

If you have any idea what it's about, or if you'd like to take a flying guess, please help us with this little mystery by leaving a comment.

“Black” taxi

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"Black" taxi

If you're unfamiliar with South Africa you may wonder why I named the title of this post "Black" taxi, especially when there are no black vehicles in this photo. The orange minivan in the photo is in fact known colloquially as a "Black taxi"; this form of transport is used by a large portion of the country's population to get to and from work, and by far the majority of these commuters are black. These taxis are generally (and perhaps ironically) white, so this orange one is an exception.

If you are unlucky enough to find yourself on the N2 highway during rush-hour you're sure to experience the taxi operators' phenomenal driving ability - often you just have to sit back and laugh at these drivers' arrogant resourcefulness when navigating stopped or grid-locked traffic. And, oh, by the way, the unofficial rule of the road is that unless you have a significantly large vehicle and/or don't particularly mind your car being scratched or dented, these taxis have right of way. ;-)

It’s the little things that count

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Detailed railing

One of the great things about publishing this blog is that it really forces us to pay attention to the details around us. When you've lived in a place for a reasonable length of time, it's easy to miss all the small things that make it beautiful. Sure, you'll probably marvel at the tablecloth hanging over our gorgeous mountain, or spend time watching the sun setting over the ocean, but you're quite likely to miss the ornate doorway, the cheeky graffiti, the quaint cobblestones, the handwritten sign in a shop window, or the weathered old church-bell.

Part of our aim here at Cape Town Daily Photo is to draw your attention to these tiny facets of the city's character, whether you live in Cape Town or not. It's not always about the big landscapes, the bold architecture, the famous landmarks - sometimes the beauty of this city lies merely in the juxtaposition of a shiny wrought-iron railing with an old church's faded brickwork.

Don’t forget to pay for your parking

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Parking signs

We used to have parking meters in the city, but now we have real, living human-beings to receive our parking money and make sure that we don't stay longer than we should. Which is much better, I think, because, try as I might, I could never get a smile out of those parking meters...

If you come to the city and hire a car, look out for people wearing bright yellow bibs, and carrying hand-held parking machines and bags of change. They'll tell you how much you need to pay, depending on how long you plan to park for. Oh, and do be nice to them - they're out there on their feet all day, every day, and I suspect they have to deal with a lot of grumpy, unfriendly people. ;-)

An enigmatic hotel at Greenmarket Square

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Longmarket Street

I wonder how many people realise that the building located behind Greenmarket Square (in the background of this photo) is in fact a hotel - the Park Inn, to be precise. I scoured the web for anything about the building's history, but it seems as though there is just NO information... which is kinda strange if you ask me... (I'm thinking conspiracy theory here). ;)

Apart from the fact that the building itself looks like it's been around for some time, the Park Inn's website is just so '80s. (That's really saying something, since the first http website was only launched in 1990.) And why do I say their site is looking dated? Just take a look at the antiques in the photo on this page. :D

The 2009 UCT RAG float parade

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UCT RAG Float Parade

Remember and Give, RAG for short, is an 84-year-old tradition of raising money for charity. At the beginning of each year students from the University of Cape Town publish and sell a student magazine called SAX Appeal, and then towards the end of March they gather for a float parade in Cape Town's Adderley Street.

All profits from the sale of the magazines and all donations collected at the float parade are given to SHAWCO, a student-run organisation whose mission is to improve the lives of developing communities in the Cape Town area. Approximately 1,200 volunteers make up SHAWCO, and they run 15 health and education projects in the area.

We drove through to the city centre today to snap some shots of the parading students. It was a colourful and entertaining affair, as always, with hundreds of dressed-up and decorated students walking, dancing and singing through the streets. Take a browse through today's photo album, but I have to warn you, ladies, that in addition to the one above you will come across several more photos of topless young students. :D

If this is your first visit to our blog, and you think it's actually pretty cool or awesome or sick or rad or [insert favourable slang word of your choice], please (a) subscribe (b) leave us a comment and (c) consider voting for us in the SA Blog Awards - we've been nominated for Best Travel Blog, Best Photography Blog and Best Group Blog. There are only a few days left to vote (voting closes on 1 April). To vote, click on the big golden tag in the sidebar - this will take you to the voting page, where you can have a look at all the finalists in the other categories and submit your votes. Don't forget to click on the link in the confirmation email you'll receive, or else your vote won't be counted. And a huge thank-you to all those who've let us know that they've already voted for us!

Glaceau Vitaminwater spotted in Loop Street

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Vitaminwater

I first heard about Glaceau Vitaminwater a few weeks ago, when one after the other my Twitter friends began saying that they'd received these promotional suitcases from the company. Look, I'm not going to lie to you - we were pretty envious. I watched at the window day after day, wondering when my suitcase full of (apparently awesome) vitaminwater would arrive. But alas, it never did. The life of a B-list blogger is filled with disappointment. ;-)

I have to say though, their stealthy launch campaign has been really well-executed and clearly very effective. I was visiting one of my clients in Loop Street yesterday, when someone in the office spied this truck downstairs, offloading crates and crates and crates of something liquidy. As soon as I saw the truck, I exclaimed, "Glaceau Vitaminwater!" with perhaps a bit toooo much excitement, considering I haven't even tasted it yet. :) It turns out their store/office/temporary home is right next to my client's offices, on the corner of Loop and Bloem Streets, and they were preparing for their launch party.

Come with me, down Paradise Road

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Union Avenue and Paradise Road

Today marks an interesting sporting anniversary: 120 years ago today the very first cricket test match was played in Cape Town. The match was the second of a 2-test series; the first test was held in Port Elizabeth earlier in the month, and the second hosted at our very own Newlands cricket grounds. South Africa unfortunately lost both tests and the series to the then-better ;-) English team.

Union Avenue and Paradise Road are both part of the M3, a route normally taken by most people going to watch cricket at Newlands. The M3 is the major road leading from the City through the southern suburbs of Cape Town. It can be a little confusing, as sometimes people will talk of De Waal Drive, or the Blue Route, and mean exactly the same road. Let me clear up a bit of confusion by listing the various names given to parts of the M3. Starting from Cape Town's side of the M3, we have: Buitensingel Street, Orange Street, Annandale Road, Mill Street, Jutland Avenue, De Waal Drive, Hospital Bend, Rhodes Drive, Union Avenue, Paradise Road, Edinburgh Drive and finally, Simon van der Stel Freeway (colloquially known as the Blue Route). Got that? ;-)

Chai-Yo – Spiro’s Corner, Durbanville

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Restaurant Table

It seems as though we don't go out for dinner much these days unless it's to a function like GeekDinner, 27Dinner, or something similar. I arrived home this evening to a wife not up for cooking and myself not too much in the mood either.

A quick decision was made, which entailed rationalising the fact that we deserve eating out tonight - because we've been working so hard, you see. ;) Anyway, we've been meaning to try Chai-Yo, a Thai restaurant in Durbanville, for some time.

To be honest, we're never really impressed by restaurants in the northern suburbs, and most often find ourselves eating out in the city or in the southern suburbs. The thing that normally counts against restaurants in the north is the service - which is usually just not good, or pretty average at best (to be honest).

But this is what made our visit to Chai-Yo really awesome. The service was impeccable - polite, helpful, and attentive without being overly intrusive. The thinly-cut, seared, tuna starter that Kerry-Anne and I shared was delicious, as were the traditional Thai chicken dishes that we ate as our main course.

So to sum it up, there was great service, good food, and a pleasantly comfortable yet smart ambience. Well done Chai Yo, please do keep it up!

Any day for a picnic

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Sea Point Picnic

Cape Town has plenty of outdoor spots where you can just sit down and enjoy a simple picnic assembled from the shelves of Pick 'n Pay, Spar, and Woolworths. This couple found a spot near the ocean at Sea Point, but other good picnic spots include the top of Signal Hill, the beach at Woodbridge Island, Camps Bay or Clifton, Rhodes Memorial, Kirstenbosch Botanical Gardens, Cape Town Company Gardens, and many more.

The evenings have started cooling down a little and I seem to have developed a cold, so I suspect that unless the weather warms up again soon, the only picnicking I'll be doing is during the day, not in the evening. I'm finding it hard to believe that summer has started to show signs of fading already...

Litter sucks

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Please do not litter

It's really strange to me that the City Council has to place stickers on bins in an attempt to persuade people not to leave their rubbish lying around.

I remember many years ago being astounded at the way a fellow passenger dumped her empty soda can half absent-mindedly out of the train window. So I guess there's my answer - it's for these "absent-minded" folk that we pay taxes to have stickers asking them to be nice and not litter.

Oh, and then don't get me started about the plethora of cigarette butts you'll find lying around public areas... heck, we don't even smoke and one of our outside plant pots has become a resting place for many discarded cigarette butts - thanks guys. ;)

Our men and women in blue

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Our men, and women, in blue

Last month Cape Town was visited by the UK's Commissioner of Metropolitan Police Services. We're told that the intention of the visit was to share information with respect to security and safety at major events, like the 2010 FIFA World Cup. Cynicism tells me however that Sir Paul Stephenson visited Cape Town to put his mind at ease that UK citizens will be safe when visiting our country next year.

Yesterday the South African National Defence Force and South African Police Services started conducting training exercises to help prepare security personnel for managing safety and security in 2010. The Confederations Cup, being held in a couple of months' time, will be great training to help the police and military put into practice what they're learning at the moment. So, when next year rolls around we'll be confident of our ability to keep visitors and locals safe at these large events.

Roll on 2010!

Green Point Stadium construction site

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Green Point stadium construction

I must be honest, I'm not too sure how you'd enter if you wanted to - the holes in that fence look pretty tiny to me. But still, nice of them to warn us that it's a construction area... because I'm not sure that the cranes there in the background were quite enough of a clue on their own. :)

By the way, if you're in Cape Town and you'd like to get a closer look at the stadium, visit the Green Point Stadium Visitors' Centre website to find out about the tours and experiences that are available. Paul and I will definitely be making a turn there ourselves very soon...