Sitting on the dock of the bay (almost)

A jewel of a day in Kommetjie - morning coffee break was a takeaway cappuccino on the rocks, literally. My good friend and I could not resist the call of the sea and we meandered down to the Kom lawns and parked ourselves on the retaining wall. If it hadn't been low tide, we would have been able to dip our feet in the icy seawater, but the vast slabs of rock - wave-cut platforms formed 250 million years ago - that characterise this coastline stretched out before us.

In the tidal pool beside us, haarders (small bait fish) broke the surface, enticing a cormorant to dive beneath the shallow waters in search of an easy meal. In the narrow channel between the natural pool and the bay, a heron shadowed any escapees and the terns perched on the rocks beyond. A one crayfish dinghy lay at its mooring, a reminder of the days when the bay was filled with these little boats during the crayfish season - a time now long gone as society sinks ever lower.

Despite the calmness of the sea, a heavy shore break could be seen from Inner Kom to past the lighthouse, with only one intrepid surfer way out at the back of Outer Kom, dwarfed by the waves as he slid across their faces. As ever, I didn't have the right camera with me for these perfect conditions.

We spent a soothing hour with our backs to the sun observing paradise, discussing the workings of the universe and our place in it. Where better to be?