A Natural Wonder ...

One among many ...

Look, bearing in mind the 26-mile stretch of mind-blowing beauty linking the mountain's façade to its end at Cape Point, it qualifies as a natural wonder of nature. But I have little time for money-laundering marketing campaigns run by smooth-talking spinmeisters and even less time for hordes of tourists inundating and littering my backyard. This mountain's mine. There are a million other places to visit ... the Grand Canyon, Fundy Bay and Halong Bay being but three I'd really like to experience. Then again, if you do happen to be in town, you're most welcome and I hope you really get to enjoy the mountain – from its remarkable frontage to the treacherous currents sweeping the cliffs of Cape Point. Mi casa, su casa ...

Early risers ...

False Bay sunrise ...

They say the early bird catches the worm. These guys were out looking for sharks. I didn't see any. We were surrounded by dolphins, seals and killer whales, but there was not a Great White to be seen ...

The Web And The Rock

Alongside Koggelman's Arch ...

The open spaces of Smitswinkelvlakte are, in many ways, a state of mind best enjoyed when relaxed. Like the sea, you're at once aware of where you are and, given the relatively featureless landscape, clueless as to where you're at. It's a wonderful feeling ...

Soaring ...

African Raven

"Can't take my eyes off of you ..."

Three Score Years and Ten ...

The S.S. Thomas T. Tucker (1942) at Olifantsbospunt ...

Three score years and ten – a lifetime – she's clung to the rocks at Olifantsbospunt. But time and the tides have taken their toll on the skeletal remains of the 400-foot, 14,000-ton Liberty ship which, with each succeeding year, melts further into the sea.

A Promise of Rain

A brooding cloud follows the flow of the Krom River ...

We've seen far too little rain this past winter. The dams, rivers and bodies of natural water in and around Cape Point are at their lowest level in years. One positive result has been the rebuilding of the lagoon and dunes at Die Mond, where the Krom River Valley breaks out into the Atlantic. After years of blasting straight into the ocean come winter, the lagoon now stretches towards Bonteberg to the north and, to the south, towards the old Fish Factory – its historical domain.

Not the Cape Point Lighthouse

The 'old lighthouse' atop Cape Point – a case of seeing is believing ...

Paradoxically, one of Cape Town's most popular tourist attractions is not all it claims. The 'old 1860 lighthouse' atop the Cape Point cliffs a hundred metres or so above the lighthouse that replaced it in 1919, is a replica – and has no light. However, it's built on the base of the old lighthouse, and photographs tell us it mimics the original exactly.

Cloud separates light from dark over the Smitswinkelvlakte

From left to right and east to west, shades of winter duel over the peninsula ...

Sun stone ...

Flat-iron rock ...

You never know – at any given time – where you'll be. But I guess this is as good a place as any to find yourself shortly after sunrise on a cloud-brushed day. Tomorrow morning? Who knows?