Nothing funny about fifteen

The world is ready for a new story.

October was a whirlwind, so this month paled somewhat in comparison. As the last full month before flying home, the schedule was hectic, and although started out somewhat slow ended up fantastic as the Finns visited, bearing Finnish gifts*. Trying to figure out what I did was made much harder too by the fact I completely and utterly destroyed my phone.

The lack of the phone led to many camera photos instead, but then not much happened. The end-of-year group meal at the 'Eastern Bazaar', and weird clouds coming in for once off the Atlantic rather than pouring over Table Mountain. Wine tasting (of course), with TK, a snap of work so I had a reference for my notes, and TK's cats (I was on food duty) also featured heavily when I looked at the SD card. Essentially this blog has now become a useful way for me to organise my photos...

Obviously though I had much fewer photos to organise this time and that's why I enlisted the help of the ever dependable Lydia and TK. This may seem unnecessary but there were several essential moments which had to be recorded. Firstly...a bar which has a working phone for the speaking clock, radio 4, and bar service...

An essential visit to a jazz bar...

A trip to 'Bombay Bicycle Club', which seems to exist all over the world but completely separate to any other. Nonetheless, delightful food.

AND THIS MONSTROSITY, called a 'conut'; a doughnut-shaped into a cone and filled with soft-serve ice-cream, topped with Belgian chocolate. Very 'lekker' indeed.

Now for the best of the rest...I conquered the last of the peaks that encircle the city bowl of Cape Town, and ran up Devil's Peak, letting off much needed steam. It was the toughest of all the peaks as defined by the 'easy' route, but the most rewarding. It's incredibly easy to get out of the city here and one of my favourite aspects of living in Cape Town.

This was followed up with a talk by Braam Malherbe. This guy rowed across the Atlantic in a double, completely unsupported. For those who've never rowed, it's an incredible feat; the Atlantic is really, really big. Rowing is hard; I've done the Boston marathon in a single, which is 52 km/35 miles, and the Atlantic is at least twice this distance. Somehow I've potentially signed myself up for a little cycling trip with him, so watch this space.

This talk was followed by one from Robert Mugabe at Sally's (with a Devil's peak beer, appropriately)...it was much less inspiring, but he did eventually leave. It will be a very interesting few months to see if 'the crocodile' is any better.

Back to my phone photos...yes! The Finns brought me a sturdy Nokia 8, to combat my clumsiness hopefully using the memories of the 3310 indestructible brick. First up...the big red bus! I've seen this vehicle drive around the Cape for the last year and a bit, and so it was incredible exciting to jump on board. It was also actually really good fun and informative! Definitely recommended; I had picked up a lot of the facts that are given out, but that was over my entire time here, and I certainly don't manage to dispense them all when I have visited.

As for the rest...magic show, with Hanna becoming a star of the show:

Open air cinema...far too cold in November still:

Noordhoek beach...incredibly windy and the sand hurt, but it looks stunning:

Finally...a horrible but great dive bar called 'the Shack':

Ice cream sandwiches:

And an incredible braai once again courtesy of Andrew and Lydia:

For various reasons, my time in Cape Town may soon be coming to an end. I've applied for jobs in Copenhagen and Italy. Let's see. Next month...the 'garden route' trip with the Finns, and home (temporarily)!

Song of the month: Deep of the Night, by GoldFish, simply because it's a South African band that is easy listening for work.

*But no insect bread