Today is our 22nd wedding anniversary. It’s 10am and we are on our way to the Fish Hoek Library to pick up a couple of books before we head off for the night – right now for me it’s “destination unknown”. We arrive at the library! It’s closed! Of course! It’s Woman’s Day, and a public holiday so the library is closed.
So we head straight for Chit Chat on Recreation Rd in Fish Hoek for breakfast. I am so grateful for these 22 years of marriage. God has blessed us and we are so happy!
We sit down at Chit Chat and place our order. Then Mike nips across the road and buys a newspaper. We relax and read and eat. Chit Chat is always such a civil place to enjoy breakfast - I love it.
We finish up, stroll to a nearby Pick ‘n Pay and buy a few snacks. After drawing money at a nearby ATM, we go back to the car and now all will begin to be revealed as to where we are going. Mike pulls out of the car park and expectedly heads towards Muizenberg. Then, at the end of the street, he turns away from Fish Hoek and drives around the block, back to the Main Rd and in the opposite direction to Muizenberg. Where are we going? He turns right and then left into the Simonstown Rd! It’s a beautiful day. The sun is shining and there is very little wind. I wonder again where we are going. Mike laughs. We arrive in Simonstown and he suddenly turns right into some random road that takes us up the mountain. We curve away along steep mountainside roads upon which I have never driven. We turn right into lovely Victory Way and Mike slows down. Then he pulls into a parking bay on the left and announces “we’ve arrived!” It’s a Bed and Breadfast high above the sea, perched solidly on the mountainside with nothing but mountain behind it. It’s called High Gables. It has the most magnificent view of Simonstown, Falsebay and the surrounding Mountains.
We settle comfortably into our room, have tea and soak in the solitude and peace as well as the beauty of the day.
It’s now 12 noon. Mike has prewarned me to come with walking shoes, hat and sunblock. We find the batteries of the camera are dead, so we drive to a local café and buy batteries and then head back up the mountain to Barnard Rd. We park towards the end of Barnard Rd and walk, following the signs to the waterfall. Clearly not too much crime here. Well kept beautiful homes with stunning views and nice gardens, all high above the sea and far from the maddening crowd. It’s a short easy walk that takes us up and away from the houses. The path is easy to follow and has a short incline with some steps. The Waterfall is rushing down from high up the mountain. In the distance you can see it pouring down a waterfall into a shallow lake before plunging further down another waterfall and winding it’s way down a river into False Bay. We take loads of pictures and drink in the hugeness of the mountain and the prettiness of it all. That done we return to the car and then decide to take the steps to the grave of the well known Navy dog “Just Nuisance!” Now you have to understand, looking up the steps, there don’t seem to be too many that go too far. There are about 4 flights of about 15 steps each. In between each flight there is a bout 20m of incline. We can do this, I think, so off we go climbing enthusiastically up the first 4 flights of steps. When we get to the top, the path curves sharply and guess what? There are more steps. We keep going, puffing and panting up more steps and more and more and more. These blasted steps never seem to end!! Just when we think they are at an end, there are more. They go on and on and on. Eventually on looking up towards the mountain high above us, we spot a cross! I can’t believe it! That’s miles up. We still have loads more stepping to do.
We stop and rest commenting on the old cable car that runs from the top of the mountain to the water’s edge. The steel girders are all still there. It reminds us of an age gone by. I determine that when we come down, I will count the steps!
Finally we arrive at the path to the cross. I’m amazed. Surely they haven’t erected this huge cross for Just Nuisance. This cross can be seen way out to sea! As we get closer I see the sign and read that it is in memory of those from the Simonstown Navy who lost their lives in the First World War. We take some pics and then walk back to the main path. We find ourselves at the entrance to a large old Navy Building. People mill around and a man sits bored and disinterested on a bench. We ask him where is the grave of “Just Nuisance”. He points to an insignificant site right in front of him. It’s a small memorial, well kept and surrounded by rope with the dates of service of Just Nuisance. He died at the age of 7 in 1944. We ask the man about the buildings. He says it used to be a Navy Hospital but now it is a Medic School. We walk around and are so disappointed by the lack of maintenance. The place is run down and in dire need of maintenance. It reminds me of Zimbabwe and is sad! There are cars up here!! We could have DRIVEN to see the grave of Just Nuisance. We return the way we came and start the walk down bearing in mind we are counting the steps. I count each step on each of the flights of stairs. Mike counts all the paces in between, deciding 2 paces equals 1 step. 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6…. 82, 83, 84, 85, 86…. 109, 110,111,112,113,114,115,116… 176,177,178,179,… 220, 221,222,223, 224,
…..287, 288, 289, 290, 291, 292,293,294,
…….301, 302, 303, 304, 305,…The final stretch is in sight!!! ….320, 321, 322, 323, 324, 325, 326, 327, 328, 329, 330, 331, 332. 333, 334,335,336,337,338,339,340, 341!!!!
Three hundred and forty one steps!!!!! Mike counts another 200 in between the flights of steps… That was some cardio workout! Not for the fainthearted! Our legs are like jelly. We go back to High Gables drinking our waterfall water as we go. Apart from looking a bit brown and brackish, it tastes fine. It’s 11 minutes past 2! All the boats at the yacht club are preparing to race to Muizenberg. It’s such a pretty site. We arrive home and rest!
6pm A lovely evening lies ahead. Hungry! Very hungry after 341 steps up and 341 steps down and 400 steps in between! We drive down the road round the corner on a magnificent wind free evening in Cape Town. We park at Seaforth Beach and although we have not booked we walk into Seaforth Restaurant and see if they have a table for us. They do. We take our seats and peruse the menu. Mike chooses Tomato soup as a starter. I choose the Camembert Cheese with Cranberries (yum). It was really good. As our main course we both decided on the Seaforth Rib Combo. It comes with ribs, calamari and 4 prawns. The meal comes. It’s huge. I manage the 4 prawns and half the calamari and half the ribs. Ooooooweeeee, I’m full! I need to walk! I go to the bathroom. There are two young girls, one of about 16 and one about 12. The 16 year old is teaching the 12 year old to put eyeliner on! So sweet. I stretch a bit and feel a little better. My stomach starts to settle. I return to my seat and Mike and I chat about the future. Not our future. THE future. We talk of lifts to the stars… not quite the stars. We guess that some day in the future there may be a lift sort of contraption that will take you to a Satellite Port way up in the sky. After docking there, you will get in a space craft that takes you across the universe to another Satellite Port. From there you will take another lift down to the another part of the world, perhaps America or Australia. The whole process will take an hour or so! International travel of the future! We are thinking outside the box!
My tummy settled, the remains of my food in a doggy bag and I order Ice Cream and Chocolate Sauce. Mike has a little and we order coffee. Our meal complete we settle the bill – it comes to R355 including tip. We usually would NEVER spend so much money on a single meal. But it is our 22nd wedding anniversary and so tonight is special!
We stroll out the main part of the restaurant and encounter live entertainment with a dance floor. We are tempted but too full to eat. Before we leave, we notice a massive TV screen showing events from the Beijing Olympics. Cosy, comfy couches surround it. No one is using this little lounge, so we settle down in front of the TV and watch handball. Then women’s basketball. New Zealand are playing Mali. Mali are an African country so we are behind Mali. They are doing very very well. The scores are neck and neck for most of the match. Right at the end, Mali blow it and NZ takes the lead and wins the game. Mali did very well. Well done Mali!
This has been a lovely evening! The live entertainment and big screen TV just added a little extra to a lovely meal. If we had known about it, we would have had our coffee and dessert in the TV lounge. The food was great. The service was fast and attentive. The venue exceptional. I will definitely want to go to Seaforth Restaurant again on a Saturday night.
We get home. It’s still relatively early – about 9-30pm. I’m tired and lose no time falling asleep!
7am Sunday 10th August – we wake up… another beautiful windless day. We admire the view and I make Mike coffee. We enjoy it on the balcony. After reading a bit, we shower and dress and head upstairs to the B&B dining area. Our host Meagan makes us a scrumptious breakfast. They have been doing B&B for years…all in the Simonstown area. They do a good job.
After breakfast we pack and leave by 9-30am. We drive round the Peninsula past Cape Point to the Good Hope Nursery. We want some ideas for Indigenous plants for our garden. We make notes, talk to the nursery lady and Mike takes photos! Then on the road again. We stop by Imhoff’s Farm and are amazed at how many people are here. This is where non church people come on a Sunday morning.
11am – we arrive home, having celebrated our 22 years of marriage in a suitably memorable way.
