Saturday in Kalk Bay

Natalie, a lovely new friend from the Cedarberg weekend, invited us to take the train with her down to Kalk Bay (45 min. train ride or 25 min. drive) on Saturday morning to enjoy breakfast at the Olympia Café, along with a few other friends. Delicious coffee and croissants, and we reveled in the bright, clear day (after lots of heavy rain earlier in the week). The town of Kalk Bay is on the southern part of the Cape peninsula and is on False Bay, the bay facing east onto the Indian Ocean (rather than westward onto the Pacific).

A Weekend in the Cedarberg

Two weekends ago we were invited, along with a group of Fritz's housemates and other friends, to spend a night in the Cedarberg area. These rocky mountains are about 2 hours from Cape Town, and during late winter-early spring are filled with amazing flowering plants and bushes, many of which belong to fynbos, one of the world's six floral kingdoms and contained entirely within the Western Cape (more on that later). We enjoyed the quiet (compared to the city!), gnoshing on lots of fresh oranges and naartjies (tangerines), playing board games late into the night, bushwacking up the hill to get a better view of a waterfall, and getting to know some new people.

The New Car

No name yet for this spiffy little Toyota Tazz, but despite that it already has a lot of personality (largely due to the stick shift, which we love). Praise God for this provision! Used cars were more expensive here than we had anticipated, and we also had to have a fancy new security system put in, as this is considered a ‘high risk’ car (and the auto insurance company demanded it). Unfortunately car crimes are a frequent reality and apparently the more common cars (like this one) are more susceptible to crimes. But the Tazz is dependable and friendly to us, and she loves to hug that left side of the road like a good South African.

Welcome to One Gavenwood

Welcome to our new home! It is located about 15-20 min. walk from campus, in a two-story block with about 18 other flats. It has one bedroom, lots of sun coming in the windows, and a lovely garden area to share.


Here's Jul in the kitchen (well, part of it). We were fortunate to receive a 'loaner' of a fridge and an oven/stove from some of Fritz's friends, so now we can start cooking!


View of the living room - yes, those are wood floors, with the windows looking out into the backyard/garden. We now have a dining table (loaned us from a friend), desk and couch (2nd hand) in here.


The lovely bathroom, which has both a shower and a tub! (pretty unusual) We'll probably get a washing machine for in here eventually.


The 'sun room', adjacent to the living room. We like to eat breakfast in here (and hang our laundry to dry).

The flat is also located close to Rondebosch Common, a huge city block of scrubby grass and trees - good for walking and jogging, as well as near the grocery store and public library. Yeah!

First pics of the area

Jim and his bro, Fritz

Friday night spread (bread and various toppings - tuna, avocado, cheese, egg, jam) and Jul and Jack on the couch (Fritz's dad and our host - along with his wife, Marianne - when we arrived).


Marianne's amazingly delicious apple pie, enjoyed with coffee after church on Sunday.

Sunday afternoon walk in Jack in Marianne's neighborhood, Bergvliet (suburb of Cape Town).