Kakapo

It's 34 years since I walked down to the wreck of the Kakapo on Noordhoek beach. In fact, the last time I was there I drove down with picnic baskets for sundowners, so technically the first time I have walked there. Those were the days, my friend, we thought they'd never end. However, today's reality is that there is only relative safety in numbers as criminal elements lurking in the nearby dunes often result in loss of personal possessions and bodily harm - something that needs to be advertised on a huge hoarding at both ends of the beach for tourists and non-locals to be aware of. 

Undeterred by possible muggings, a large group of us enjoyed a little bit of paradise as we strolled barefoot in the shallows along the beach from Kommetjie, a light southeaster bringing relief from the last few days' intense heat brought from inland. Dogs frolicked, toddlers toddled and mothers sunbathed as we passed by on our way to the wreck. We stopped at the landmark log that has been firmly wedged on the rocks above the high tide mark and wondered at the immensity of the tree it must have once been, and how sad it was that is should have been destroyed only to end up as a piece of driftwood on a foreign shore. 

As we rounded the shelter of Klein Slangkop, the southeaster freshened and stinging sand blasted across the expanse of beach between the dunes and the shoreline. No place to hide there and so we peacefully proceeded to the rusted remains of the Kakapo, forever wedged in the sand through poor navigation, sometimes at the edge of the sea and sometimes far inland according to the whims of the weather. Sometimes almost covered and sometimes exposed right down to its propeller shaft. Part of the scenery in Ryan's Daughter - now there's a playback from way back.

We didn't stay long as Kakapo (for those who understand Afrikaans) is an apt description of what humans have left there, and besides, the stinging sand would have played havoc with our sandwiches, so we headed back to the log, disturbing a young seal that had come to lie on the beach and enjoy a bit of a sunbathe. It lolloped back into the water at a great pace, dispelling any ideas we may have had that it was needing medical assistance!

The walk is around 7km and, on a day like today, perfection.