??Whaletale Lockdown??
Dear Inmates, someone once asked me why I always send the WhaleTale Updates over a weekend and not during the week. My simple answer was because I’m a considerate person. Although Carlo and I are busy with retirement training, others are not. Some folks are working in less attractive corporate environments. Imagine this pre-lockdown scenario. You are sitting with executives at a ‘bored-room’ table busy with another boring meeting. Your phone indicates there’s a message. Against your better judgment not to fiddle with your phone during a business meeting, you quickly check-in. The next minute there’s an enormous Southern Right whale tail flapping on the bored-room table, knocking the Merloo glasses over and sending wine flying everywhere. Waves splashes foam and sea sand over spreadsheets and files. Your seaweed-covered drenched colleagues in red-stained shirts are flabbergasted as they try to make sense of what the flip has just happened?! You, too, are stunned!! There’s a crayfish crawling over your laptop, and the CEO across from you is the spitting image of Sarel Seemonster. A Kaal-ou is casually strolling along the office corridors joyfully blowing on his kelp horn. When you hear the voice of the whale crier, it’s your signal to grab your snorkel and make a plunge for the emergency exit before security gets hold of you. Because how on Hemel-en-Aarde are you going to explain this whole shebang to the local authorities???
Did you know that Hermanus has a train station without railway tracks? Yes, siree! The only town in SA where a train never arrived or departed. When Sir William Hoy and his wife Lady Gertrude visited our sleepy seaside village for the first time, they fell in love with it and made it their permanent holiday retreat and retirement home. His favourite pastime was fishing .and spending time in nature. In 1910 Sir Hoy became the youngest General Manager of the South African Railways ever and gained control of the second-largest government-owned railway system in the world. He was a bigwig in his day. Sir Hoy noticed what a negative impact the railway line had on small villages like Kalk Bay, and was determined to keep the natural surroundings and air in Hermanus champagne fresh and unpolluted. Although the train station building was complete, he stopped the laying down of the railway line literally in its tracks. (He put the system in permanent lockdown!) The line ended at Botrivier station. From there, he introduced a horse and carriage service for residents and visitors to transport them into town. Some folks found this arrangement inconvenient and ridiculous, while others were grateful for the blessing he bestowed upon our village.
Situated in the centre of our town, you will discover Hoy’s Koppie. It is dramatic in its stature and exquisite in its Cape fauna and flora array. From the top, a 360-degree view confronts you, and it takes your breath away. Sir Hoy loved the Klip-Koppie as it was known then. Daily at sunset, he took a hike up there to enjoy its pristine beauty and to plan the next day’s fishing trip. It is, therefore, fitting for Mr & Mrs Hoy to have found their final resting place atop of their Koppie in their favourite town. He passed away in 1930 at age 62 and his lady five years later. They are both laid to rest at the crest of Hoy’s Koppie across from the train station with no tracks and are still keeping a watchful eye over Hermanus.
The love-birds are missing their special chicklet tremendously. We are still bravely bearing up under our countywide lockdown. And as history reveals, it seems Hermanus knows something about travel lockdown, albeit for a different reason. ?
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