As I opened the front door at 6am to let the dogs out, I was hit by a wave of hot air - a berg wind had developed overnight, bringing warm air from inland, as is common before the onset of another cold front. The stars were sparkling overhead and it looked as though it would be a beautiful day. And it was, for half an hour, by which time the wind had swung from north east to north west and the sea had developed a serious chop and the palm trees were already taking strain.
But as there were no signs of a cloud, I set off for the day in summer attire, with numerous stops on the way into Cape Town. The views of the mountains across the Cape Flats were amazing and the wild flowers lining Ou Kaapse Weg a sight to behold. As I began the descent from the top of Woodstock along the foothills of Table Mountain, I was amazed to see a puff of white cloud developing over Signal Hill, but put it down to thermals.
An extremely pleasant and entertaining couple of hours was spent in Kloof Street having lunch with really fun people. Entertainment was provided by one of the waitresses, who seemed to be having a really Blue Monday, first tripping over a chair leg and nearly dropping a fully tray of empty dishes, then recovering her balance, only to trip a little further on. Everything lay in smithereens on the floor, while patrons took absolutely no notice and it was swept up with no fuss. A little while later there was a repeat performance for those who had missed it the first time. I doubt whether her tips will have covered the costs today. Poor girl.
When we went outside, low cloud had completely covered the Peninsula and was sweeping over Kloof Nek at the rate of knots. The cableway was, of course, closed due to high wind and no visibility. When I got back to Kommetjie, we were back in blazing sunshine, as usual, but half an hour later, the cold front proper had arrived and it was again time to batten down the hatches.
That's Cape Town in Spring!
No comments:
Post a Comment