The chef, George Jardine, was recently named Chef of the Year in South Africa.
Wednesday, February 13, 2008
Monday, February 4, 2008
My First Lead!! (and an incredible weekend)
Where do I even begin!?! Last Thursday started a little tough - nearly 15 hours in the office - but the ending couldn't have been better. At home, I walked in to the apartment where a glass of wine, cheese and grapes were waiting and were accompanied by a foot soak/massage and shoulder rub from Theresa. Then, they surprised me with grilling fresh vegetables on the grill and ostrich steaks. It was the perfect ending to a productive day. Friday was a big day at work but I managed to get out a little early and we kicked off the weekend with some roc
k climbing.We drove to Silvermine (near Muizenberg) for some rock climbing - and my first lead!!!!! I've only climbed on a top-rope set up before where you only fall as far as small amount of slack in the rope and as much as the rope stretches (with a good belayer, of course). Lead climbing is where you are tied to one end of the rope and your belayer (below you) has the other end. When sport climbing, there are bolts in the wall that you clip your rope into as you climb. So, the distance of your fall can be much greater - however far above your last bolt (known as your run-out) is how far you can fall below that bolt. If you are 10 feet above your last bolt, you have a 20 foot fall coming if you come off the rock.
After a short hike in (and taking the first picture on this post), we repelled down a 5.8 climb and warmed up on that route. Then, we moved to a 5.7 and it was my first lead (with no falls, thank you). Then, in preparation for Saturday, we did a harder climb to test out my ability for more challenging climbs at Paarl. We went up a 5.10b and there was only one sticky place for me. I came off and was happy to not be leading :) We had to be out of the park by 7pm so we finished with a climb up the 5.8 (I led) and hiked back out. It was an amazing day.
On the way back to town, we stopped for dinner and halfway through, load shedding affected me for the first time. South Africa has been witness load shedding for the past few weeks but Cape Town had not been heavily impacted since I arrived. It appeared the entire city had its lights shut off (including suburbs - we were 30 minutes away and had no power). The wait staff had to go back through and ask what we ordered to handwrite the bill; the could not accept credit card; candles were lit down hallways and stairways to make it out of the building. Driving back the city was mostly black (allowing for incredible star gazing) with few stoplights working. At my building, the 'caretaker' was up with the garage door open (big relief) and we found some candles in my apartment so that we could repack and get situated. Check out this link for more info on the load shedding: http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/africa/7208628.stm.
We woke up Saturday morning at 5:30am so we could get climbing at Paarl when the park opened and beat the heat of the day. Luckily we had electricity and brought our morning coffee in the car for the drive to Paarl. We were waiting when they opened the gates and went straight to Sands of Time, a 4-pitch climb that took the 3 of us 2 hours total. (The second and third pictures were taken from the top after writing in the summit book.) The hike down turned into a repel and as the sun was heating up, we found some shade for a break. While resting, I was eyeing up the Little Dutch Boy (the climb I'm on in these two pictures!). It's a 3-pitch endeavor that starts with a 5.10a climb. It's probably nearing the toughest climb I'd want to lead but I had the last two day's adrenaline going and I didn't think I could leave without giv
ing it a shot. And, I made it! I only had a foot slip from a smear once and my hands had solid enough holds to keep me until could find a better hold for my foot. I cannot tell you how good I felt when I reached those anchors at the top of the first pitch. I also set the anchor independently for the first time and top belayed Peter up so he could take out my quick draws from the bolts and then we repelled down. It was another unbeatable day. I can't get over these pictures - another thanks to Peter and Theresa for taking me to this next level!
On Sunday, we had a 4:30am wake up call to go fishing but due to weather, we slept until 7. It was the first morning that I actually felt well-rested in a while. We met JP in Cape Town and drove out to Gordon's Bay (on 
False Bay) with a stop to fix the timing of his pick up along the way. He seriously took a wrench and adjusted so it would run cooler - I wish I could do that! The fishing was fun - caught 5 elf but only 2 were over the 30cm minimum for keeping. Theresa had a big one, but we never got it in the boat - next time!! 
Thursday, January 31, 2008
Cape Town's Welcome Back
I've passed the one week mark... and it's been amazing. Peter and Theresa arrived last Friday night (a couple hours after my luggage, thank you) and they have been keeping me busy. Not sure how they'd feel with the jet lag Saturday, I made no plans. 
To hint at how the week has been since they arrived, we started up Platteklip Gorge (you can see the path up the gorge we went up on this first picture) on Table Mountain Saturday morning at 9am. 
Six hours later, we were back at the car after summiting, walking to the far edge of the mountain (MaClear’s Beacon, the highest point on the mountain at 3,563 feet), and ready for a break from the 95 degree heat. After grocery shopping, a quick ocean dip and showers, 
we invited the rest of the team (Mike, Tom, and Lynne) over and grilled ostrich steaks on the grill on my patio; it was quite the perfect day.
Sunday was another Table Mountain summit and we went up Devil’s Peak. It was a shorter hike and different from Platteklip because we actually had a nice breeze and didn’t feel as we were hiking up the racks of an oven… Then we cleaned up and headed out to Stellenbosch and visited 2 vineyards for winetasting. After two fantastic days, you could say that I wasn’t thrilled with the idea of the approaching work week.
The fun activities continued through the week complementing my work . With Peter and Theresa as extra motivation, we’ve fit in some beach runs, a morning hike up Lion’s Head, and
another Table Mountain attempt (we ended up halfway up the mountain, missed the ravine and instead had a scenic traverse walk on the ocean side of the mountain). The week has flown by and I’m excited for the weekend. The agenda will hopefully include plenty of rock climbing as well as some fishing on False Bay. Peter and Theresa’s vacation here is spoiling me – but it’s definitely a positive!
To hint at how the week has been since they arrived, we started up Platteklip Gorge (you can see the path up the gorge we went up on this first picture) on Table Mountain Saturday morning at 9am. 
Six hours later, we were back at the car after summiting, walking to the far edge of the mountain (MaClear’s Beacon, the highest point on the mountain at 3,563 feet), and ready for a break from the 95 degree heat. After grocery shopping, a quick ocean dip and showers, 
we invited the rest of the team (Mike, Tom, and Lynne) over and grilled ostrich steaks on the grill on my patio; it was quite the perfect day.
Sunday was another Table Mountain summit and we went up Devil’s Peak. It was a shorter hike and different from Platteklip because we actually had a nice breeze and didn’t feel as we were hiking up the racks of an oven… Then we cleaned up and headed out to Stellenbosch and visited 2 vineyards for winetasting. After two fantastic days, you could say that I wasn’t thrilled with the idea of the approaching work week.The fun activities continued through the week complementing my work . With Peter and Theresa as extra motivation, we’ve fit in some beach runs, a morning hike up Lion’s Head, and
another Table Mountain attempt (we ended up halfway up the mountain, missed the ravine and instead had a scenic traverse walk on the ocean side of the mountain). The week has flown by and I’m excited for the weekend. The agenda will hopefully include plenty of rock climbing as well as some fishing on False Bay. Peter and Theresa’s vacation here is spoiling me – but it’s definitely a positive!
Thursday, January 24, 2008
Back to Cape Town - luggage would be nice...
I have just arrived back in Cape Town for the last phase of work here. After 2 months at home and only having 2 trips by plane, the 41 hour door-to-door commute took a little gearing up for - and knowing that my old apartment on the beach was still going to be the door on the Cape Town end certainly helped!
I had 11 hours to spare in London so I left Heathrow and took the tube to watch the sunrise while standing over the Thames River on the Tower Bridge. Still quite early, I walked up river to cross the London Bridge and returned back down and over the Tower Bridge again. By that point, the Tower of London (previous fortress, royal palace, and prison - all in one!) was open and ready for me. Being a weekday and early, there was no line to see the Crown Jewels and I gawked at the largest diamond in the world (530 carats) until I'd had my fill - wow. Then I moved on to the second largest diamond in the world...
After the Tower of London, I explored a bit by
foot before the wall hit me and I realized how tired I was. I made it back to a tube stop and battled to stay awake on the ride. I lost the battle but luckily Heathrow was the last stop. After a quick shower and snack in the British Airways lounge, I made my way to the guantlet (also known as the jet bridge) for my 12 hour flight.
All and all the trip wasn't so bad - including 3 good movies (Into the Wild is the winner) and a big chunk in my book - until the baggage claim conveyor stopped without my luggage on it. Unfortunately, British Airways had no record of my luggage but I felt pretty confident that it made it through JFK and to London. The took all the details (brand, color - both black, and type) and told me that they'd call me with an update. By that point, my ride had left (knowing that all other passengers from the flight had long since left) and it appeared it couldn't get worse... I should know better. While out shopping for clothes (yoga pants not being appropriate for work), they delivered one bag. Sadly, the blue bag they delivered wasn't mine. I tried to laugh at the fact that they could have just checked that my name was not Victoria like the tag on the blue bag stated... but yes, my address is Victoria Road. Easy mistake or cruel joke?
I've since traded bags and have one... wonder what adventures tomorrow will bring!
I had 11 hours to spare in London so I left Heathrow and took the tube to watch the sunrise while standing over the Thames River on the Tower Bridge. Still quite early, I walked up river to cross the London Bridge and returned back down and over the Tower Bridge again. By that point, the Tower of London (previous fortress, royal palace, and prison - all in one!) was open and ready for me. Being a weekday and early, there was no line to see the Crown Jewels and I gawked at the largest diamond in the world (530 carats) until I'd had my fill - wow. Then I moved on to the second largest diamond in the world...After the Tower of London, I explored a bit by
foot before the wall hit me and I realized how tired I was. I made it back to a tube stop and battled to stay awake on the ride. I lost the battle but luckily Heathrow was the last stop. After a quick shower and snack in the British Airways lounge, I made my way to the guantlet (also known as the jet bridge) for my 12 hour flight.All and all the trip wasn't so bad - including 3 good movies (Into the Wild is the winner) and a big chunk in my book - until the baggage claim conveyor stopped without my luggage on it. Unfortunately, British Airways had no record of my luggage but I felt pretty confident that it made it through JFK and to London. The took all the details (brand, color - both black, and type) and told me that they'd call me with an update. By that point, my ride had left (knowing that all other passengers from the flight had long since left) and it appeared it couldn't get worse... I should know better. While out shopping for clothes (yoga pants not being appropriate for work), they delivered one bag. Sadly, the blue bag they delivered wasn't mine. I tried to laugh at the fact that they could have just checked that my name was not Victoria like the tag on the blue bag stated... but yes, my address is Victoria Road. Easy mistake or cruel joke?
I've since traded bags and have one... wonder what adventures tomorrow will bring!
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