Dear Friends, it has been 3 months since we relocated to our new home in the beautiful Overstrand region. It was also our first December here as locals and not holidaymakers. However, dressed in costumes and sandals on our feet, it was easy to step into the holiday spirit with our friends and family who came to visit. And boy, did we have a whale of a time!
December was also the start of the Crayfish season. As we now pride ourselves on being locals, we bought the Recreational Fishing Permit from the Post Office and snoekkoppe as bait, unpacked the wetsuits, masks and fins. Then on the appointed days for catching crayfish, we plunged into the sea at Harderbaai for the big catch. We soon realized that our local crayfish are much more experienced and smarter than us. They very successfully dodged our clumsy fingers. But we WILL be back!
We were pleasantly surprised at the beautiful underwater marine life to be seen as you snorkel along the coastline. Schools of small fish, black mussels clinging to the rocks, white mussels hiding under the sand, colourful sea urchins, alikreukels, the famous abalone (perlemoen in Afrikaans), small crabs and periwinkle snails scattered all over and in between a carpet of green seagrass and giant kelp. A sight to behold.
Did you know that in Oct 2019, Tristan Roberts from Hermanus was crowned the world champion of the waves at a bodyboarding tournament in the Gran Canaria? Bodyboarding has been crowning world champions since 1982, and finally, we produced our very own champion.
At the end of the first week of 2020, all that remained of our holidaymakers and Vaalies were their multiple footprints in the sand. The breakers were stripped of the boogie board surfers, and there are no more scattered beach towels, umbrellas, cooler boxes or sandcastles. The giggles and spontaneous laughter of little ones as they try to outrun a wave rushing towards them faded away. They all left!
The internet regained its speed, and the main road through Onrus and the R43 returned to its normal traffic flow.
The beginning of January was also our 38th wedding anniversary. The two lovebirds flew over to the Pear Tree Bistro for celebrations. The recommended wine to help us wash down our delicious seafood platter was a Sarel Seemonster Sauvignon Blanc:- a feisty citrus fruit with an elegant expression of minerality.
Sjoe…. hierdie nuwe see lewe is darem ma lekka!
11/1/2020
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