Chapter 29

23 October 2021

WhaleTale News

Dear Friends, October marked our second anniversary in Hermanus. Let’s raise a glass of Merloo! With 29 Whaletale updates, I brought you along on our epic journey into our new world. Together we experienced our Hemel en Aarde Wine Valley, “Pina Colade op ‘n wit strand” holiday vibes, lazy Sunday afternoon jazz concerts, our Cape Flora Kingdom and our train station without railway tracks.

We went into a worldwide lockdown together and mourned the loss of friends and family to the big bad Corona wolf. Pilates4.Me successfully went online. We became familiar with our first in the world Whale Crier and our own Kaal-ou, who can freely stroll Hermanus’s streets. We introduced you to Mr Mole and his relocation into the green belt. We reported on actors who live amongst us, on visits of sports celebrities and where the Lions sleep tonight. We spoke about purple poppy fields in Hungary, Opium Yves St Laurent style and SA’s first-ever perfume museum in Franschhoek. Our local fashion industry came under the spotlight, and the Joseph Pilates exercise method took the world by storm. “Waterblommetjies in die Boland” that you can find in a song and on a menu to mention a few exciting topics. We shall carry on to do so, keeping you updated as best we can.

Numerous festivals occur countrywide, and the “Kalfiefees” (Whale Calf Festival) is one such festival that has happened in our Hermanus village every September for the last 21 years. Every year we celebrate the return of the Southern Right Whales to our shores. There is a variety of art, cultural productions, and music festivities to suit all ages and tastes. We attended some shows and had a whale of a time.

Speaking of celebrity actors. In 1980, film director Jamie Uys released his very successful comedy film ‘The Gods must be Crazy’. The Americans, in particular, fell in love with the “primitive” San people living in isolation in the Kalahari desert. When a clan member, Xi, picked up a coca-cola glass bottle that fell from the sky, believing it to be a gift from their gods, he carried it back to his village. Little did Xi know the ructions it would cause. Instead of being a helpful utensil to aid them in their daily tasks, it unleashed a spirit of covetousness amongst the once peaceful tribe that almost consumed them. A small cinema in New York showed the film to a packed audience every evening for five years until 1985. The poster outside the cinema read: “The longest showing movie in the history of the USA.” It became the biggest financially successful release in the history of South Africa’s film industry. Often Sandra Prinsloo, one of the actors in the film, is seen having lunch on a wine estate in the Hemel en Aarde Valley.

Did you know that the Overstrand and Cape Agulhas have the best municipalities in South Africa, according to the News24 index? Yes, siree. If ever you are wondering where your next move should be, then hopefully, we have been of some assistance to you.

Whaletale blessings to you all, my friends. Thank you for part-taking in our epic journey. It was a privilege to share our ups and downs with you till we speak again, Sea la Vie and shalom!