pic of the week

There is always enough time to do the things you want to do...

2012-02-14T23:53:00.000+02:00

... the trick is discovering where it is! Or at least, learning how to make the most of what you have, like grabbing yourself by the scruff of the neck at the end of a work day and dragging yourself up a mountain when you're actually feeling really lazy and grumpy and could easily sink into a comfy couch - I invariably find my grumpiness soon evaporates, and my body and soul energised by the time I come back down.

But then again, there are those times when a comfy couch has exactly the same effect!

Mad, invigorating, dash up Echo Valley, over Ridge Peak, pausing briefly after a quick over-the-shoulder glance towards Cave Peak at the setting sun to rest the (fat and lazy) Brikon on a rock and fire off a series of high-speed shots that capture the full exposure range of the view then down Spes Bona to Ou Kraal, musing en-route on future possible developments of digital sensors with HDR capabilities and planning gourmet ostrich burgers with peppered Hollandaise sauce...
Life is good, go and enjoy it!

Kitsch

2012-01-17T13:17:00.002+02:00

Sorry about this, but every now and then I need to work the kitsch out of my system...

...and a pretty sunset helps a lot! Since I was up there because I was on a rescue I only had my cell phone - but as they say, the best camera is the one you have with you!

THAT moment

2012-01-11T12:55:00.000+02:00

I love that moment, when a wave is in mid-break and you can see the white foam through the thick, crystal-clear, recycled glass-like wall of the wave as it comes over and down - a mere-micro second, but oh! so satisfying!

Perhaps the secret to being a content photographer (or anything else for that matter) is to accept that some things you probably won't be able to achieve, trying anyway, and, occasionally, being pleasantly surprised when you do suceed...

May you all have a pleasantly surprising year in 2012!

Mountain crab

2011-12-28T09:54:00.004+02:00

I hope you've all managed to squeeze some relaxing and enjoyable time in between the craziness and festivities of the last few days! I for one decided to go for an early morning surf last Wednesday (my birthday) before switching on my PC... and left it off till now! What bliss! I am rather sad that my work tool is also a play tool, because sometimes I am just totally overwhelmed by computerness, but hey, there's so much good in these things too!

I went for an impromptu walk through Newlands Forest yesterday, which never fails to delight. It always feels a bit like the garden in Through the Looking Glass to me - you need to head in the opposite direction to where you want to go and the paths will shake themselves out and deposit you... well... somewhere interesting!

Left: A Table Mountain river crab (Potamonautes perlatus) - the largest invertebrate in the Cape Peninsula's streams, they are an important decomposer of dead plant and animal matter. By filling its gill chambers with water, the river crab can move considerable distances overland in search of better feeding grounds. From Table Mounatin, A Natural History by Anton Pauw and Steven Johnson a book worth having in your library! (Google only returned various methods of eating crabs!)
Right: Crab's eye view of the contour path below Hiddingh Buttress.

PS. Thanks so much to everyone who purchased calendars, you've helped to donate R2000 to Rhino Reality - check them out at rhinoreality.org.

Woodhead

2011-12-13T22:16:00.000+02:00

I just liked this shot...

Cath being blown about on the dam wall

Same place, different view

2011-12-09T14:51:00.001+02:00

It's just so different every time! The other morning Nina and I met at Farmer Pecks again, both laughing at our rather bleary eyes after a too-short night. It started out as a slow walk, but there's something about the place that always energises, regardless of how tired I feel. The entire sky appeared to be covered by cloud, but shafts of sunlight snuck through here and there, put on the most fantastic light show for us. Naturally my Brikon wanted to see the view for itself, so I bounded off with it over the rocks to another vantage point (it's fussy that way - the view from the path is simply not good enough for it!)

Seal island illuminated....

View from the top of Farmer Peck's Valley... again.

realistic rescue weather

2011-12-05T22:50:00.001+02:00

Before work swallows me whole again, I thought I'd better send out this week's pic. This weekend there was a howling south-easter, as all Capetonians will know, with thick, racing, mist up on Table Mountain. What they don't know is that the weather was pre-ordered since it's not only some of my favourite sort, but it also happens to be pretty realistic rescue weather, and the MCSA Cape Town and Hottentot's Holland sections were running a mountain rescue training seminar this weekend. The three days we were up there were interesting and fun (maar dis 'n ander soort fun) - learning some new techniques, honing old ones, scraping off the rust and somehow managing to keep from being blown down to Camps Bay... and of course we also enjoyed good food, wine and company in the shelter of our well-loved hut.

After a loud and lumpy night followed by very miff morning, the mists finally started to lift on Saturday afternoon and the team set off to "rescue" a "patient" from the bottom of Disa Gorge, using a highline/reeve. If you look carefully you will see the two teams on either side of the gorge, the track lines going across it, and two tiny blue figures at the end of the reeve line in the middle of the gorge.

More images at www.andynix.co.za/sar/mcsa08 or click here to view this image very large (1.7MB)

Zantedeschia

2011-12-01T09:54:00.001+02:00

I've been wanting to join Francie on her Wednesday walks, and I've also been wanting to do Left Face B again, a delightfully sneaky route that zigs and zags its way up that apparently sheer rock face in the middle of Table Mountain, so when Francie said she and Evelyn were going up it yesterday arvie, I snuck out of work without telling my boss (she's been working me really hard the last month, since Adam left for Côte d'Ivoire in fact - I guess she thought I needed something to distract me - that and there being something about November that makes people decide that it's a good time to have their designs done!)
Our mountain never ceases to amaze me. It's been a while since I last ventured all the way to the northern end of it, and I had forgotten how different the vegetation and the rock is there from the middle part that I call my back yard, despite only being 20km away. As usual I lugged my Brikon with (damn thing doesn't loose weight no matter how much exercise I give it) and ended up taking just one, but very worthwhile, image. Hope you like it!

Zantedeschia aethiopica, Table Mountain sandstone and restios.

Cape Snow

2011-11-29T17:14:00.001+02:00

Just in case you haven't seen enough images taken around Muizenberg Peak! It's just so beautiful, and at this time of year the Cape Snow everlastings are flowing. The scene is so... oh, I can't t think of the word, there's just all these bright, pure, papery white flowers dotting the plain at the top of Farmer Pecks, going off, off, off into the distance. But beautiful as they are, they are have been proving very difficult to capture in a way that conveys the whole feeling of that lovely plain. The other day I persevered though (while Nina found a rock on which to lounge and very patiently wait!). Hope you enjoy the result - a vertorama composed of two images stitched together, one on top of the other, enlarging my lens's viewing angle.

Cape Snow on the "high plain" of Silvermine (with Constantiaberg in the distance, Lower Steenberg on the left and Muizenberg Peak on the right. - Ha! I got my L's and R's right this time Clyde ;-)

And my long suffering, ever patient friend Nina above the place I love calling home.

The other way...

2011-11-25T10:31:00.001+02:00

I've had a last minute change of plan, or rather, change of pic, and the 13th month (January 2013) is now going to be this one - there were just too many taken facing the other way, towards Cape Hangklip, and this one was, well, sunnier!
The artwork is off to the printers today and printing will start on Monday. Since there are always a few people who come late, I'm ordering a few extras, but those go quite quickly, so please let me know if you still want to order any.

Sunset over Kalk Bay Peak, with a thick Atlantic fog over Noordhoek and Kommetjie, viewed from my backyard (Muizenberg Peak)

One Day Art Fair

2011-11-24T11:13:00.001+02:00

This Saturday a select group of artists with a diverse range of media including painting, illustration, photography and mixed media sculpture will be exhibiting at the Blue Bird Garage in Muizenberg. I've finally plucked up whatever it was that I needed to pluck up and decided to exhibit a few of my works as well. So, if you're in Cape Town, swing by any time from 2pm - 10pm. The Blue Bird Garage usually has a great vibe - munchies, liquid refreshments and music are all part of it... See you there!
(More info about One Day Art Fair.)

The works I'm exhibiting are a bit different from the usual Pic of the Week fare - this one is part of a series titled Red Dunes, of Sossusvlei in Namibia. A Portrait Of The Artists At Work will also be exhibited...

Villiersdorp vineyard storm

2011-11-23T12:09:00.001+02:00

Ok, the calendar artwork is going to the printers next week. I am only having 250 calendars printed, so, if you want calendars, you had better let me know by Monday so I can increase the print run!
Delivery takes up to 10 working days internationally, less if it's local (according to the post office). They will be posted at the beginning of December and all parcels have a tracking number so you can follow their progress.
In case you missed this info, they are printed on a high-end digital printer (HP Indigo, for those who love technical details), on a lovely, smooth, satin-matt, locally produced, recycled card (Sappi's Triple Green). January 2013 is included so you can plan your next December/January break, and major public and religious holidays as well as world environmental days are shown in the months - more details are at andynix.co.za/2012calendar

This is one of the images featured in the calendar, one of those simply spectacular winter storms over a vineyard just outside Villiersdorp, near the Theewaterskloof Dam. It was a very slow journey, with more photo stops than driving (I hadn't even driven 1km from my previous stop to photograph a graveyard, and before that it had been a ridiculously beautiful and intense rainbow over the valley, and before that...). Anyway, I decided I needed my tripod to take the shot, so I set my camera up. As I turned to put the lens cap on the car, the tripod decided to face-plant my camera into the stony ground. End of lens. It was 3pm on a Friday and I was on a mission to photograph vineyards. I had left my spare at home, and all I had was my 90mm micro baby. Now, nothing sparks creativity like constraints, so I decided that I would see this as an opportunity to get creative, to try and see landscapes from a whole new perspective. And boy did I love it! There were a few images that were just too wide to capture with the 90mm, so I planned stitched shots, but the majority worked! And I decided 2 things: to capture more landscapes with a long lens in future, and to always take my spare along! A few more of the images I shot on this trip are in my online gallery.

Appreciation

2011-11-17T16:20:00.001+02:00

Every now and then something brings back a memory from childhood... we've all had the experience of a sight, or a smell or sound or something bringing back a memory from childhood. Well, the other day, while on my early morning walk with Nina, I had that feeling that all Vaalies will recognise. (I'm using the term Vaalie loosly here to describe all those from the interior, wherever they are in the world, who make the annual trek to the seaside.) We had taken a different route than our usual before-work one, and decided to go down Farmer Peck's Valley instead of up. As we neared the top of the path, the sea slowly become more and more visible, this straight line stretching across between the hills of Muizenberg and St James Peaks, and suddenly I experienced that happy feeling when, after the interminably long drive to the seaside, the sea finally comes into view between the hills. I turned to Nina to ask if she remembered the feeling, and I realised that those who had the good fortune to live by the sea (and, could you believe it, they didn't even go to the beach every day!) wouldn't understand what I'm talking about. So, sorry for you - for those who do, or did, live inland, I hope this has given you a bit of a happy nostalgic smile!

No matter how often I walk here, I simply can never be bored with the view! And after spending my entire childhood and more inland, I am always so appreciative that I can now live in this wonderful place where I can hop up onto the mountain, or get onto my surfboard, or simply stroll on the beach, and get back in plenty of time for work...

2012 Calendar

2011-11-17T12:30:00.001+02:00

Ok, here's all the images that will be featuring in next year's calendar. As always, it's printed to order (so very exclusive), and only costs R120 (less if you buy more)... andynix.co.za/2012calendar for more details and ordering info.

It's calendar time again!

2011-11-14T11:39:00.001+02:00

Yup, for all those who've been asking (and for those who haven't), the pick of the pics are featuring in a calendar once again...

It's in the same format as usual: 1 month to view, A4 folding out to A3, with all major holidays (SA, UK, US, Canada, Australia & NZ) as well as major religious holidays, environmental awareness days and lunar cycles.

I've managed to keep the price the same as before: R120 each, with discounts for orders of 5 or more.

More details are on the order form at andynix.co.za/2012calendar.

Please feel free to forward this on to anyone you think might enjoy it (they make great Christmas pressies, especially if you're posting to home-sick loved ones overseas since it's nice and light and features... home!)

A sample page... and this week's pic of a dreamy pink Table Mountain sunset.
(Mother Nature manages to do kitsch really well!)

Just quickly...

2011-11-08T20:26:00.000+02:00

I'm sending this off quickly before my stomach drags me off by the scruff of my neck to give it some food... It's been a very full fortnight, and it's not over yet! Full of long hours creating, designing, learning new stuff (how did we ever do without Google?), but so motivated that one "I'll just do this quickly" turns into another and another that's long past midnight and, well, as I said, I'm just sending this off quickly...

The Lion's Cloud... (Cape Town, of course!)

just being...

2011-10-26T23:12:00.000+02:00

Sometimes I think we get so wrapped up in all the urgent stuff we're expected to do, the chores that seem to pile up, the persistent little things that just can't wait and all the other stuff that tires us out day after day, that we forget about all the important things that make life real, and end up giving us more energy than they use - like taking an hour or two, a few times a week, to go somewhere away from all the clamouring, somewhere we can stop being human doings for a bit and just be human beings... I hope you all make some time for yourselves and the people that are really important to you!

The path along the spine of St James Peak, above Muizenberg (my beautiful backyard - oh, I am so fortunate!)

Crossroads...

2011-10-11T19:43:00.000+02:00

Early misty morning (just my kind of walking weather!) at the top of Farmer Peck's Valley (left), between St James Peak (straight on), Muizenberg Peak (behind), and Steenberg Peak (right).

is...Noordhoek Beach dunes on one of those wonderful Cape weathery days

2011-10-04T23:33:00.001+02:00

Noordhoek Beach dunes on one of those wonderful Cape weathery days

Meisho Maru 38

2011-09-22T15:47:00.000+02:00

A little while ago I finally made it to Cape Agulhas, one of those places that I've really wanted to visit, but which is too far for a day trip yet too close for a special trip, so I just never ended up going until I had another excuse to head out that way. Adam and I stayed in one of the park's fully equipped self-catering "chalets" with a lovely view of the bay and the fynbos. Being the middle of the week and the middle of winter we had the whole place almost exclusively to ourselves... perfect! If you're interested you'll find more info on SANParks website: www.sanparks.org/parks/agulhas/

The wreck of the Meisho Maru 38 lies a couple of kilometers from the Southern tip of Africa

Rain makes me happy!

2011-09-14T09:35:00.000+02:00

I love it! I love walking in it, I love the way it makes the colours of the plants so vibrant, I love the way it freshens the air, I love the way it makes the sky so interesting, I love the fact that some of my friends are not squeamish about splashing about in it, I love the fact that Adam will walk with me in it without complaining despite not loving it nearly as much as I do, and I love the fact that the fronts bring some pretty good surf to Muizenberg - which is where I hope to be sometime today!


View from Constantiaberg, with Devil's Peak on the right and Muizenberg Peak on the left. (click on the image to see the full-size version)

Peaks in the clouds...

2011-09-01T22:46:00.000+02:00

Yes, I'm still around! No, I'm not a figment of your imagination. Yes, I have been on a journey, but no, it wasn't to Timbuctu... I've been here all along, climbing a figurative mountain. I'm still wandering around somewhere in the mountain range, but as I go further and higher (and deeper) than ever been before the view broadens, the mist over the peak I'm scaling clears, and from here it looks like it may just well be worth the climb...
But enough of that, here's your pic (don't worry, it hasn't become the pic of the year, just slightly more erratic!)

Sunrise over Hottentot's Holland mountains viewed across False Bay from Trappieskop (under-exposed)

Sunrise over Hottentot's Holland mountains viewed across False Bay from Trappieskop

Technical tips and miscelaneous mumblings:
Ok, for those who enjoy the technical details, these two images were taken within seconds of each other; the first was listening to the light meter that was reading the amount of light from the center of the frame, which was the sun - hence the dark image. The second was a rough guess as to what the exposure should be to expose the image pretty much as I was experiencing the view. I like them both, although they have very different moods, they both reflect my own mood. It's interesting, as these two images embody the two conflicting views I have of photography. I come from a slide background, where the aim is to create a pure image with no touch-ups, and I still delight in trying to capture that pure image, but I've found in digital photography a wonderful added dimension - I would even say a totally different art form - that allows one to create an image by building on the raw image, exploring and expanding its creative potential...

Caro & Pete's wedding

2011-07-02T08:00:00.000+02:00

Yeah, I know, it's been a while... I've been a tad pre-occupied with a few other things the last couple of months and my camera's probably put on a bit of weight from lack of exercise, although we both had plenty towards the end of May when I photographed Pete & Caro's wedding. The sky, to my delight, was overcast just enough to provide interesting skies but not too much to create a problem with the light for the couple's private photo session. What did create "interesting" lighting conditions were the red tents at the ceremony and reception - I must admit I was terrified when I saw them the day before, and decided that it would all have to be in black and white. However, thanks to the versitality of RAW digital negatives and my Lightroom, I played around and managed to work the colour into something the bride termed "an edgier version of sepia" (much better than plain old sepia, which I personally can't stand unless it is a genuine, old, print!). Phew!


Carolyn with her rescued bouquet...

More photos are on my facebook page at www.facebook.com/picoftheweek

Caro & Pete's (very wet) pre-wedding photo session

2011-05-07T20:27:00.000+02:00

Carolyn and Peter are such a fun couple to photograph - they initially claimed that they don't think posing for photos is much fun, but I don't believe them... despite my best efforts to ensure that they receive a thorough soaking from the rain and waves, they both left with such big grins on their faces, and they willingly came back for more later!

When they called to check if we were still on despite the on-and-off rain, I obviously I replied - with an evil grin - that we were! They had no qualms about making their way over the slippery rocks and getting a soaking - from above and below, and when I asked if they were game for an experimental after-dark-with-lightning session, they didn't hesitate! The lightning moved on pretty quickly so that's a project for another dark and stormy night, but we all really had a fantastic time!

This was one of the few semi-directed shots, and one of my faves from the session. I just love Caro's cheeky, humour-filled expression.

But mostly I just say "Go and play!" and leave it up to them to be themselves... (and I got a fair bit of exercise in!)

I couldn't help lauging - I was joking when I told them to "go a little further... a little more...", but they were so game!

I think this one took us all by surprise, but by this stage we were all pretty wet anyway, it didn't matter!
(I can confirm that the weather-proofing on the D300s works!)

You can see more from the session on my facebook page or my website

whoopee for winter weather!

2011-04-26T11:31:00.000+02:00

First time up the fairly recent path path up Chapman's Peak from Noordhoek Beach... in my favourite kind of walking weather! (Thanks for the company Paul!)

The view North, looking down on Chapmans Peak Drive with the Hout Bay Sentinel just peaking out of the mist.

This is a really stunning path - yet another to add to our local treasure trove... oh, I do so love living here!

kokerboom

2011-04-18T22:06:00.000+02:00

Just can't seem to stay away from my little square boxes of light! A quickie before bed, revisiting my Nam trip from last year: 1393 unedited photos, which for some reason I was mostly uninspired by on my return, but now seem to be turning up some real gems! Oh ja, the joys and tribulations of working in a subjective and entirely mood-dependant field...


Namib Quiver tree (Aloe dichotoma, also known as Kokerboom)

Lone quiver tree on the road between Aus and Sesriem

Adam bonding with the lone tree near Aus...

...and with a lone tree near the Fish River Canyon

Seems it's getting too hot even for these trees, and they're slowly dying out, thier dry, hollow branches drying out and lying at the foot of the tree like bleached bones

A Portrait Of The Artists At Work

2011-04-14T10:48:00.000+02:00

After spending almost a month of 12-18 computer-hours a day with one teeny midweek-weekend, my brain pretty much feels like this (not to mention my optic nerve, which is creating spectacular phsychedlic shows for my private entertainment!)

Molluscs, periwinkles and the odd starfish create a wonderful ephemeral work of abstract art in a rock pool near Kalk Bay.

Ok, so the last month or so has been hectically full of work - photographic, design, admin, favours, house, garden (oh, my poor neglected herbs & vegies!) - but come bed time I've felt like a kid who wants to keep playing, and, since one of the best things about being a grown-up is that you can stay up as late as you like (the other is being able to eat chocolate for breakfast), I've stayed up until my eyes have taken me by the scruff of my neack and dragged me from the office to my bed at some silly hour. And now it's not just my eyes that are complaining - my body is grumpy about being folded up so much and not being taken for walks!
Of course, having so much that we have to do, we tend to not make time for the things we want to do, until we discover that they are actually things we need to do! Which is part of the reason I started the Pic of the Week so I have a good reason to get out and do something that keeps me sane, happy and healthy every week... well, sort of weekly ;-)

Hope you all get to go out and do something that keeps you sane, happy and healthy... just for you!

Remember that little things can count for lots!

2011-04-08T14:31:00.000+02:00

The deadline for comments on the fracking in the Karoo were due by 5th April, but please don't stop sending them in and letting them know that we are not going to stand aside and let them destroy what is left of our natural planet!
Please see my other blog articles for more info on how you can help - including a letter you can just copy and send to the relevent people:
Prevent your backyard from being fracked up!
Copy this letter and send it to the ministers and portfolio committees listed
And an inspiring one about a pristine piece of nature that was saved from mining and is now a World Heritage Site:
http://pixoftheweek.blogspot.com/2011/04/so-large-we-cant-miss.html

What is fracking?
Fracking is short for ‘hydraulic fracturing’, a way of breaking up rock deep underground using millions of litres of water, sand and chemicals pumped deep into the earth under high pressure. This creates cracks in the rock, releasing the gas. The gas is called methane, but some people call it shale gas or natural gas.

Why should you be worried?
In America, which has been using this fracking technique for the longest time, major problems are emerging.
Exposure to fracking chemicals has been found to be extremely hazardous. In one famous case, reported on by a US Government watchdog organisation in 2008, a Colorado nurse nearly died of organ failure after being exposed to a worker who had been soaked in fracking liquids. Even while she was on the brink of death, the company refused to divulge what chemicals she had been exposed to. She still doesn’t know.
Since 2004 nearly 1000 incidents of water pollution from fracking have been recorded where chemicals or methane have contaminated water in Pennsylvania, Colorado, Ohio, New Mexico and Arizona.

Remember that the little things count for so much more than we can imagine - including your little email or fax or siganture on a petition!

Thanks for caring!

Hope for the Karoo... and everywhere else under threat!

2011-04-08T13:51:00.000+02:00

This is such an inspiring article, showing how we can prevent the Goliaths of the world from destroying it...

Hope for the Karoo... Saved in part by public petition, the crystal clear waters of Lake Sibaya near St Lucia, tucked against the world's highest forested coastal dunes, are home to KwaZulu-Natal’s second largest population of hippo and crocodiles, not to mention the myriad of wild life that continues to thrive around it.

Fight for St Lucia revisited by Andrew Muir

I experienced a feeling of deja vu when reading Shell's recent full page advertorials in various media around the country, "Shell's commitments to the Karoo", and response to criticism of the proposed hydro-fracking of large parts of the Karoo.

Where had I seen and heard this all before? Then those memories came flooding back. In the late 1980s we were in the midst of a titanic struggle to prevent the proposed dredge mining of the eastern shores of Lake St Lucia.

At that time I was working for the Wilderness Leadership School in Durban with Dr lan Player. Together with a group of committed environmental NGOs we formed a coalition to try to stop this critical part of our natural heritage from being mined.

Lake St Lucia is a wetland of world importance and is also an international Ramsar Convention site. Richards Bay Minerals, (RBM), part of the Rio Tinto Zinc mining empire, proposed dredge mining of the lake's eastern shore dunes for minerals such as rutile, zircon and titanium.

I can clearly remember reading page alter page of full spread advertorials placed by RBM in the media, claiming this proposed development would be "a win-win between mining, tourism and conservation".
Our main concern was that the fresh water supplied by the dunes to the lake would be irreversibly altered by this proposed dredge mining and in so doing starve the lake, and all the species it supports, of fresh water. Such was the outcry and the potential loss to biodiversity and heritage, that this campaign was not limited locally.

It rapidly became an international campaign with more than 1 000 NGOs voicing their opposition to the mining. This eventually pressurised the government of the day into ' having no alternative but to appoint a commission of enquiry, headed by Judge Leon.

Our coalition against the proposed mining launched a petition which the minister of environmental affairs at that time stated had been signed by "children and communists". In a short period we had gathered more than 250000 signatories.One of the last people to sign this petition against the proposed mining was none other than the then president in waiting, Nelson Mandela.

The commission's ruling was that mining was not permissible on the dunes of St Lucia due to the financial and ecological arguments presented. Inter alia, the commission ruled that "the sense and the spirit of place" would be under threat of destruction.

A few years later Lake St Lucia (now known as Isimangaliso) became South Africa's first World Heritage Site.

One only has to read Eve Palmer's book, The Plains of rhe Camdeboo, to be consumed by that deep sense of place that is the Karoo, and to glean invaluable insights into the unique biodiversity and fragile eco-system of the Nama Karoo biome. Ground water is the lifeblood of this eco-system and tampering with it in any way could irreversibly destroy this cycle and balance.

As fracking is a relatively new and untested method of extraction in South Africa, and ground water so precious to the survival of both the people and species of the Karoo, surely the precautionary principle applies? Currently in the US, it has been proved that fracking seriously affects ground water supplies. Shell has undertaken a battle that they ultimately will not and cannot win because common sense will prevail through the collective support of the people of South Africa and the world!

Back in 1990 I remember asking lan if he thought we had any chance in winning the fight for St Lucia. As a small, under-resourced but determined coalition of NGOs and environmentalists, we were fighting against the world's biggest mining company at the time, Rio Tinto Zinc.

He proceeded to tell me the biblical story of David and GoIiath.
He said: "Muir, do you know what David said when he saw Goliath walking towards him?"
"No, Dr Player," I replied, "what did he say?"
lan answered: "He is so big, I cannot miss."

By Andrew Muir, from his "Wild Eyed" column in PE's Herald Newspaper, Wednesday April 6, 2011

Don't frack up the Karoo!

2011-04-04T11:09:00.000+02:00

This week's pic is one I took a while ago when I was visting the magical heartland of our country, the Karoo. But this time it's more about the possible destruction of this amazing area: Shell, Falcon Oil & Gas and Bundu Oil & Gas are wanting to frack it all up...

Think carefully - all this destroyed in exchange for a teeny bit extra fossil fuel!

Below is the content of a short speech given by Lewis Gordon Pugh OIG (a.k.a. the Human Polar Bear) about the proposed fracking for gas in the Karoo, by Shell, for which he received a sustained standing ovation! Please read it and pass it on if it matters to you...

Ladies and gentlemen, thank for the opportunity to address you. My name is Lewis Pugh.

This evening, I want to take you back to the early 1990’s in this country. You may remember them well.

Nelson Mandela had been released. There was euphoria in the air. However, there was also widespread violence and deep fear. This country teetered on the brink of a civil war. But somehow, somehow, we averted it. It was a miracle!

And it happened because we had incredible leaders. Leaders who sought calm... Leaders who had vision. So in spite of all the violence, they sat down and negotiated a New Constitution.

I will never forget holding the Constitution in my hands for the first time..

I was a young law student at the University of Cape Town. This was the cement that brought peace to our land. This was the document, which held our country together. The rights contained herein, made us one.

I remember thinking to myself - never again will the Rights of South Africans be trampled upon.

Now every one of us - every man and every women - black, white, coloured, Indian, believer and non believer - has the right to vote. We all have the Right to Life. And our children have the right to a basic education. These rights are enshrined in our Constitution.

These rights were the dreams of Oliver Tambo. These rights were the dreams of Nelson Mandela. These rights were the dreams of Mahatma Gandhi, of Desmond Tutu and of Molly Blackburn. These rights were our dreams.

People fought - and died - so that we could enjoy these rights today.

Also enshrined in our Constitution, is the Right to a Healthy Environment and the Right to Water. Our Constitution states that we have the Right to have our environment protected for the benefit of our generation and for the benefit of future generations.

Fellow South Africans, let us not dishonour these rights. Let us not dishonour those men and women who fought and died for these rights. Let us not allow corporate greed to disrespect our Constitution and desecrate our environment.

Never, ever did I think that there would be a debate in this arid country about which was more important - gas or water. We can survive without gas.... We cannot live without water.

If we damage our limited water supply - and fracking will do just that we will have conflict again here in South Africa. Look around the world. Wherever you damage the environment you have conflict.

Fellow South Africans, we have had enough conflict in this land - now is the time for peace.

A few months ago I gave a speech with former President of Costa Rica. Afterwards I asked him “Mr President, how do you balance the demands of development against the need to protect the environment?”

He looked at me and said : “It is not a balancing act. It is a simple business decision. If we cut down our forests in Costa Rica to satisfy a timber company, what will be left for our future?”

But he pointed out : “It is also a moral decision. It would be morally wrong to chop down our forests and leave nothing for my children and my grandchildren.”

Ladies and gentlemen, that is what is at stake here today: Our children’s future. And that of our children s children.

There may be gas beneath our ground in the Karoo. But are we prepared to destroy our environment for 5 to 10 years worth of fossil fuel and further damage our climate?

Yes, people will be employed - but for a short while. And when the drilling is over, and Shell have packed their bags and disappeared, then what? Who will be there to clean up? And what jobs will our children be able to eke out?

Now Shell will tell you that their intentions are honourable. That fracking in the Karoo will not damage our environment. That they will not contaminate our precious water. That they will bring jobs to South Africa.

That gas is clean and green. And that they will help secure our energy supplies.

When I hear this - I have one burning question. Why should we trust them? Africa is to Shell what the Gulf of Mexico is to BP.

Shell, you have a shocking record here in Africa. Just look at your operations in Nigeria. You have spilt more than 9 million barrels of crude oil into the Niger Delta. That’s twice the amount of oil that BP spilt into the Gulf of Mexico.

You were found guilty of bribing Nigerian officials - and to make the case go away in America - you paid an admission of guilt fine of US$48 million.

And to top it all, you stand accused of being complicit in the execution of Nigeria’s leading environmental campaigner - Ken Saro-Wira and 8 other activists.

If you were innocent, why did you pay US$15.5 million to the widows and children to settle the case out of Court?

Shell, the path you want us to take us down is not sustainable. I have visited the Arctic for 7 summers in a row. I have seen the tundra thawing.

I have seen the retreating glaciers. And I have seen the melting sea ice. And I have seen the impact of global warming from the Himalayas all the way down to the low-lying Maldive Islands. Wherever I go - I see it.

Now is the time for change. We cannot drill our way out of the energy crisis. The era of fossil fuels is over. We must invest in renewable energy. And we must not delay!

Shell, we look to the north of our continent and we see how people got tired of political tyranny. We have watched as despots, who have ruled ruthlessly year after year, have been toppled in a matter of weeks.

We too are tired. Tired of corporate tyranny. Tired of your short term, unsustainable practices.

We watched as Dr Ian Player, a game ranger from Natal, and his friends, took on Rio Tinto (one of the biggest mining companies in the world) and won.

And we watched as young activists from across Europe, brought you down to your knees, when you tried to dump an enormous oil rig into the North Sea.

Shell, we do not want our Karoo to become another Niger Delta.

Do not underestimate us. Goliath can be brought down. We are proud of what we have achieved in this young democracy - and we are not about to let your company come in and destroy it.

So let this be a Call to Arms to everyone across South Africa, who is sitting in the shadow of Goliath: Stand up and demand these fundamental human rights promised to you by our Constitution. Use your voices - tweet, blog, petition, rally the weight of your neighbours and of people in power.

Let us speak out from every hilltop. Let us not go quietly into this bleak future.

Let me end off by saying this - You have lit a fire in our bellies, which no man or woman can extinguish. And if we need to, we will take this fight all the way from your petrol pumps to the very highest Court in this land. We will take this fight from the farms and towns of the Karoo to the streets of London and Amsterdam. And we will take this fight to every one of your shareholders. And I have no doubt, that in the end, good will triumph over evil.

If you want to know more about fracking, click here to read Carte Blanche's story on it or just Google Fracking + Karoo!

If you are concerned and want to make your voice heard, here are some petition sites:
http://www.thepetitionsite.com/295/--if-gte-mso-9xml-wworddocument-wviewnormalwview-wzoom0wzoom-wpunctuationkerning/
http://www.greenpeace.org/africa/en/getinvolved/Stop-Fracking-in-the-Karooder-/
http://www.3rdrockenergy.co.za/about-us/182-stop-fracking-in-the-karoo.html

sunset tree

2011-03-12T16:47:00.000+02:00

Encountered on a very photogenic evening walk through Silvermine...

(thanks for you patience and the wonderful company :)

Woman walking dog

2011-02-25T14:44:00.000+02:00

Interesting how things so often just work out. I often previsualise the images I take - I know the mood I want to create, and the scenery I need, but it often takes months-or years - to find myself in the right place with the right light. This time it was a couple of days. I was going to go for a walk on the mountain in the cloud, but I decided that it was too mif in the mist to suit the photographic mood I was in, but I suspected the light would be pretty awesome under the cloud on the other side of the mountain, and I wasn't dissapointed. I was doing my usual thing of framing my shots to exclude people, when these two young girls walked through my viewfinder. Not quite what I had in mind. And then shortly behind them this woman, in her long skirt, came walking across the far side of the water with her dog... perfect!

Woman walking dog, Noordhoek Beach

false bay sunset

2011-02-18T10:57:00.000+02:00

Hottentot's Holland to Cape Hangklip from St James Peak

pins and needles

2011-02-10T12:17:00.000+02:00

Just a quickie from one of my early morning mountain meanders with Nina, this time in the mist on Muizies...

close up of pincushion (Leucospermum - not 100% sure which one) leaves - I've always thought that while the flowers look like pincusions, the leaves look like those round, flat, plastic thingys that also hold pins - and they feel like plastic too!


even closer up of pincusion (Leucospermum) leaves, and hairs, catching water from the mist	.

perks

2011-02-02T17:51:00.000+02:00

There's usually a side benefit to everything and I've been treated to beautiful, windy sunsets from Chapman's Peak Drive two days in a row now, when my Tuesday afternoon turned out to be an abridged version of Monday's. Same place, same reason: rope access contractors clearing alien vegetation growing undisturbed on the steep slopes below Chapman's Peak discovered a body one day and a skeleton the next, hidden in the thick bushes halfway down the cliffs. (I think they're getting a bit spooked now and are working are working elsewhere today - don't blame them!). Mountain Rescue was called in to assist with retrieving the remains. It was slightly different to what I'm normally used to on search & rescue operations since we were working from the road, using vehicles as anchors instead of rock, and had a mechanical winch to do the heavy hauling, but the principles are the same as a mountain scenario and, as a side benefit, the scenery every bit as pleasantly spectacular.

I was a tad too busy to pull out my camera on Monday (although Brent took some of the operation), but we packed up before sunset on Tuesday and I wandered around a bit afterwards, enjoying the light and wind show.

The South Easter has been howling for days - our position on the road was relatively sheltered, but the mist was racing down just above our heads...

...and out to sea the wind was whipping up the water into walls of spray!

yesterday, today and tomorrow

2011-01-28T10:50:00.000+02:00

Yesterday's history, tomorrow's a mystery, but today? Today is a gift... that's why they call it the present!
~Master Wugui, Kung Fu Panda

an everlasting flower about to release its seeds to the wind...

fog

2011-01-24T12:51:00.002+02:00

If the route up the front of a mountain is a frontal, is a route up the side a sidle? In which case I sidled up Muizenberg Peak a short while ago to get up above the fog bank which apparently stretched from somewhere in the Atlantic all the way along the coast to the Eastern Cape. It was very dense around my house but thinned towards the mountain and I guessed the view would be pretty above it, so up I went...


Muizenberg Village and Surfer's Corner was just visible below the fog bank, and the Hottentot's Holland mountains slowly came into view through windows in the mist as the wind blew it North until I climbed above it...

Facing South I could see a couple of ridges peeking above the fog that covered the rest of the peninsula and reached as far as I could see out to sea...


After wandering up along the ridge line, tarrying to breath in the views and take some more photos, I decided that it would be prudent to find the path again before it got completely dark!

flowers and fairy tales

2010-12-06T14:31:00.000+02:00

Part of the purpose of the Pic of the Week is for me to take some me-time time out every week with my camera, since work and admin and favours and just the basics of daily living seem to always take precedence over the me-time that I've come to realise is more essential to all of us than most of us realise! But as you've probably noticed there's been a lot of shots from my archives lately - what with one thing and another (I won't bore you with the details) I haven't really been in the mood to go hunting with my Brikon and mostly been leaving it at home. But the mood really grabbed me yesterday arvi as I was walking into Kirstenbosch for the Mango Groove concert, first in the forest and then in gardens. Actually, it was a good thing I didn't have my Brikon with me as I don't think I would have made it to the concert at all! The light was just supurb, and the flowers were so tempting, so I dallied long enough to get a few semi-decent shots...

The watsonias were prolific on the slopes of the irrigation dam...

These pincusions... damn, I've forgotten the name of them! Anyway, they reminded me of sea urchins! So bright and vari-coloured...

And this hacked pine in the plantation reminded me of a fairy tale castle...

the unique beauty that comes between the devastation of a wild fire and the regeneration after the first rains...

2010-12-02T15:22:00.001+02:00

The calendars are going to the printers next week, so if you want one, please let me know by Monday - I will print a few extras but they usually go quickly, so rather place an order beforehand...

Thanks for all your requests and suggestions for the calendar! This year the South African public holidays are higlighted by coloured blocks, and once again, to make your new year holiday planning easier, January 2012 is also included as an extra full page. Each page also shows the preceding and following month to facilitate planning. Any other requests or suggestions, better get them in quick, there may be time to include them!

January 2012 will feature this photo from Cape Point, the unique beauty that comes between the devastation of a wild fire and the regeneration after the first rains...

home sweet home

2010-11-25T14:15:00.000+02:00

I love living in a place that, no matter how sad I may be to leave wherever it is I'm visiting, I'm happy to be coming home...

Muizenberg Beach on a peaceful evening, looking West...

looking East...

tech tips & miscellaneous mumblings:
I'm often asked to provide technical details of how I achieve my shots. Most of the time it's purely intuitive and I'm not thinking technical, but since digital files record all that stuff, I'll be able to supply f-stop/shutter values, etc. However, in my early forays into photography I found that info pretty useless and instead found myself wandering what the light was like when the photographer took the shot, what obstacles they found/overcame/ended up using to their advantage, and stuff like that. So, I'll give it a bash at describing what I did at the time of the shot, and the first one is fortunately easy: leave Brikon at home, take cell phone camera (BlackBerry Torch in this case, first "real" shots, and not too bad for a phone), walk down to beach soon after the sun has sunk below mountains, get nice and low without getting too wet and sandy (benefit of cell phone cameras over SLR) and shoot away... (blow wet sand out of speaker after getting too low)

2011 calendars

2010-11-24T22:03:00.000+02:00

For all those of you who patiently read my babbles, you'll already know that the 2011 calendars are available... this is for those who usually just look at the pretty pictures and ignore the little black squiggly things:
the 2011 Pic of the Week Calendar is now available to order! (Click here to order...)
As usual, it is an A3 calendar with a month-per-view, showing major public and religious holidays in South Africa as well as a few other countries. This year I am also offering a discount for orders of 5 or more calendars.
For more details, larger previews and the order form, please click here to go to andynix.co.za/2011calendar.

page information:

A3 / 300 x 420mm (open size - folds to A4)
one month per view
major public holidays (SA, UK, US, Canada, Australia & NZ)
major religious holidays (Christian, Jewish, Muslim, Hindu & Budhist)
lunar cycles
global environmental awareness days

prices:

1-4 calendars : R120 each
5-9 calendars : R110 each
10 or more calendars : R100 each

Please place your orders by Monday 6 December 2010.

2011 calendar now available to order

2010-11-18T08:52:00.000+02:00

The pic of the week calendar has been quite popular the last two years so I've decided to keep making them available to the people on the mailing list. 2011's calendar features some of my classsic "Andy style" landscapes that have been on the pic of the week, including the one below.

As with the previous years, the calendar is in A3 format (300 x 420mm, folding in half to A4) with a month per view, and shows major public and religious holidays, lunar cycles and environmental awareness days.

To see a preview of the calendar and to place an order, go to andynix.co.za/2011calendar.

Red dunes of the namib desert

Yoga Awakenings Africa

2010-11-08T10:41:00.000+02:00

My good friend Nina publishes a lovely yoga magazine, Yoga Awakenings Africa, which is designed by my graphic designer friend, Aline. This year we decided to create a calendar for the magazine as well, and in a bit of a rush decided to include some "yoga landscape" images as well as close-ups of poses. Things always seem to work out and, on our ramblings around the mountain and on the beach, we encountered some fantastic locations with perfect light. The result was a lovely yoga calendar and a couple of posters, which are available to order via the magazine's website at www.yogaaa.co.za.

Nina and I went for a walk on the beach early one morning. The sky was mostly overcast with a dark cloud over the mountains towards the east, and I thought it would be very dull for taking photos. But then the clouds above us started reflecting pink, and Nina did a perfect Wheel just as the sun's beams illuminated her... things really do work out when you just relax and let them!

end of the world

2010-10-26T23:27:00.000+02:00

here's one harking back to my pre-Brikon days, taken with my lovely little Leica (the choice of connoisseurs, ahem... ;-)

sunrise from the Drakensberg escarpment, one of my favouristist places on the planet...

poppy

2010-10-19T21:33:00.000+02:00

My friend Monique gave me a bunch of poppies and, as usual, I couldn't resist climbing into them with my lovely micro lens. I couldn't decide which to share with you, so here's a few of my faves:

My favourite abstract shot

I discovered two tiny caterpillars on two of the flowers, covered in pollen. This one had spun silky filaments across the petals.

close-up of the centre of the poppy flower, with the star-shaped stigma, coated with sticky nectar and microscopic hairs, surrounded by the pollen-laden anthers

I also found one of these iridescent green beetles on one of the poppies. (We have masses around the house, so I presume a clutch of eggs hatched recently in one of the rooms.) With the naked eye they are very pretty, but seeing this one's face zoomed in on a macro shot, I'm rather glad they're less than a centimetre long!

Fairest Cape of Stormy Good Hope II

2010-10-11T11:06:00.000+02:00

Seems like every year people say "Odd weather for this time of year!" Which makes me wonder if there is such a thing as normal weather. In fact, is there such a thing as normal? Ok, before this gets too philosophical for a Monday morning, here's the pic...

Mist rises off the south-western tip of Africa during a typical late winter Cape storm

graveyard thunderstorm

2010-10-01T11:00:00.000+02:00

Another week dashed past... here's one I've always liked, taken way back just after new year in 2007, on the outskirts of a tiny town in the Eastern Cape:

Sunlight snuck in under the deep purple clouds of a massive thunderstorm as we drove past this little graveyard on the outskirts of the town - the bright yellow flowers of the yukka plants were so bright in contrast to the sky, and I couldn't help stopping.

Rhino Day - 22 September 2010

2010-09-21T14:06:00.000+02:00

Rhino poaching has increased dramatically in the last two years. In South Africa, which is home to more than 80% of the world's black and white rhinos, on average 20 rhinos are being killed for their horns every month. Often the horns are removed while the animals are still alive. By using helicopters to access the animals and a dart gun with scheduled veterinary drugs to immobilize them, the poachers are able to get in and out quickly, posing a virtually un-policable risk to rhino and elephant populations across the continent.

On 22 September, RHINO DAY, WWF is calling on all concerned citizens of the world to dust off their vuvuzelas, toot their horns and to make as much noise as possible, at 1pm, as a symbolic act to send a powerful message to leaders that the time to take serious and effective action against rhino poaching is now.

RHINO DAY will be the culmination of a month-long campaign by WWF and other partners, encouraging the public to help support South Africa’s rhino warriors – the men and women at the frontline who risk their lives daily against the sophisticated, ruthless and heavily-armed international criminal gangs who run the illegal rhino horn trade.

Check out World Wide Fund for Nature (World Wildlife Fund) www.wwf.org.za and Stop Rhino Poaching www.stoprhinopoaching.com for more info and to see what you can do to help.

This young white rhino calf peered curiously at us when we stopped to peer curiously them, while his mother grazed contentedly in the relative safety of the iSimangaliso Wetlands Park (formerly St Lucia Wetlands Park). Sadly, being declared a protected species, in a protected world heritage site, is not enough to ensure their safety. In fact, I feel that it's sad, not to mention disgusting, that there is a need to declare protected species and areas at all.

Oryx, horses

2010-09-16T13:24:00.000+02:00

I'm a tad distracted this week, so here's one from the archive. Don't know what it is about it exactly, but I like it...

Coming in to land at Dragon Peaks in the Drakensberg, just ahead of a huge thunderstorm

witskollies en snotrosies

2010-09-06T14:36:00.000+02:00

It's been a weekend of crazy, long hours, lots of work and far too little sleep, but I did manage to squeeze in a walk to maintain sanity levels! Ian, Mo and I decided to walk up Elsies Peak on Sunday but we were all of four steps up the path before we were waylaid by a witskollie. No, not the type that demands you give them your valuables - this one was a beautiful, dew-covered Protea scolymocephala, which Mo tells me was once abundant on the Cape Flats but now endangered due to habitat destruction and surviving in isolated stands.

Well, after getting up close and personal with the flower and its resident beetles, we managed to walk a few more steps before being forced to whip the cameras out again - this time for an orchid, Satyrium coriifolium – evidently pretty common in the fynbos biome to the extent of becoming roadside weeds. None of this changed the fact that it is extremely beautiful.

However, the star of the day, in my opinion, was were the little sundews Drosera cistiflora, which go by the delightful name of Snotrosie (I love Afrikaans!). They are carnivorous plants, using their "boogers" to trap insects which they later digest.

the backlighting was perfect, and this little flower was posing, simply begging to be photographed

close up, you can clearly see the "snot" drops - while I was looking through my lens I noticed this bug trying to work its way free, but it was held fast.

Guest Pic this week is by my mate, Mo Oliver

I have Mo to thank for all the info on the flowers, as well as this shot of me lost in a micro world...

arum lily frog in danger

2010-08-31T11:33:00.000+02:00

It's the start of arum lily season in the Western Cape and yesterday presented the perfect opportunity for me to take a photo of the arums growing wild in the reserve in front of my house - godbeams were spiking through the clouds all day long, it was really spectacular!
But what I really wanted to bring your attention to was the endangered arum lily frog, so please have a look at the note below...

Apparently if you see someone selling arum lillies you must call City Law Enforcement on (021) 596 1400/1424

It is the start of Arum Lily season. Two tiny endangered frogs - the Arum Lily frong and the Micro Frog sometimes shelter in the cup of these Lilies. We are desperate to curtail the gross destruction of Lilies. Please don’t buy Lilies sold at traffic intersections.

Would you please do a tiny bit, and just forward this by email to everyone you can?

Please Dont kill Arum Lily Frogs

and http://www.zeekoevlei.co.za/2010/08/setting-the-facts-straight-on-arum-lilies-and-frogs/

horse

2010-08-25T16:47:00.000+02:00

This weekend I escaped with my Sister, Mum and brother-in-law-to-be to a guest farm near Stanford for some R& R... & E... & D (w+b)... and F... and L (both kinds)* - and to celebrate my sister's birthday. We discovered the Salmonsdam Nature Reserve - a place that deserves a return visit or two to explore the kloofs and waterfalls. On our way back to our farm cottage we passed some horses in a field, and what with the spectacular pre-sunset light sneaking through the thick, dark clouds of a rapidly approaching cold front, as well as this beautiful model, well, I couldn't resist...

(K, this one's for you! xxx)

*Rest and Relaxation... and Eating (damn fine food too!)... and Drinking (REALLY good wine as well as Birkenhead beer)... and Fun (in Africa's southern-most forest, Salmonsdam Nature Reserve and Belofdebos Farm)... and Laughter/Love

after the flames

2010-08-18T21:51:00.000+02:00

another one from my archives, taken at the same time as this one

new life in a temporary pond

Sunday morning insomnia

2010-07-28T06:13:00.001+02:00

just a tiny thing I picked up on the road in Namibia, carefully stowed in the otherwise-useless ashtray, tucked onto a picture frame for safekeeping, photographed one day when I didn't have energy for anything bigger and finally looked at and cross-processed in the wee hours before dawn on a clear and chilly winter morning...

Self Portrait With Shadow No. 64

2010-07-19T11:32:00.000+02:00

On clear days in mid winter, for a brief time in the late afternoon, the sun shines through the wrinkly glass in my bedroom doors creating perfect light to photograph - all that's needed is a subject to illustrate the light.

Recently I treated myself to one of those deeply dark purple arum lily plant, and of course it was just a matter of time before it found itself posing for my camera. All I needed was a stand...

in between storms

2010-07-09T10:59:00.000+02:00

I'll leave you with this creamy image for the weekend...

Muizenberg Morning

And I also wanted to share this article that a friend shared with me:

Shari Cohen: South Africa Rolls Out the Ubuntu in Abundance
June 15, 2010 11:35:03
I went on a rant the other day regarding the cost of the 2010 World Cup versus all the critical needs

South Africa

is facing and whether or not the most vulnerable of this country would gain anything from having the World Cup hosted in their country. At that time, I also had some very positive things to say about our hosts for the 2010 World Cup and I wanted to share that side of the coin as well, because it is equally important.

To say that I have been blown away at the hospitality

South Africa

has shown the rest of the world would be an understatement. I think back on recent Olympics and struggle to remember much reporting in the

USA

of athletes from other countries. I remember when a Togolese guy won a bronze medal in kayaking and NBC reported it and I thought to myself, "where are all the other fascinating stories like this one...like the Jamaican bobsledding team." In today's

America

, sadly, we have drifted so far towards being so US-centric that we only seem to root for the Americans.

Not so here in

South Africa

. I've been here since early May and each week I have become more and more impressed with the global embrace that South Africans have offered up to the world. On the way to the airport a couple of weeks ago, I heard a radio program that said each day they would focus on one country that would be coming to South Africa for the World Cup, and they would explore not only that sport's history in soccer, but also their politics, religion, and socio-cultural practices. On the television, I've seen numerous programs that focus on a particular country and it's history of soccer and how the history of that country is intertwined with their soccer history. I've seen programs on India, exploring why

India

enjoys soccer but hasn't really excelled at the global level... yet. And I've seen shows on soccer in Muslim countries. Maybe it's planned, maybe it's unplanned, maybe it's by chance, but it is happening. It's not just about South Africans showing off their varied and multifaceted culture to their global guests, it's also about using this opportunity to educate

South Africa

on the rest of Planet Earth's inhabitants.

As I moved through my work here in the provinces over the last six weeks, I had a pivotal meeting with the Board members of a rural NGO. They were explaining their guiding program philosophy of Ubuntu. No, not the Linux program. I'm talking about the traditional African philosophy of Ubuntu that essentially says, "No man is an island."

I found a better explanation <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ubuntu_(philosophy)> from Wikipedia:

Archbishop Desmond Tutu further explained Ubuntu in 2008:

One of the sayings in our country is Ubuntu - the essence of being human. Ubuntu speaks particularly about the fact that you can't exist as a human being in isolation. It speaks about our interconnectedness. You can't be human all by yourself, and when you have this quality -- Ubuntu -- you are known for your generosity.

We think of ourselves far too frequently as just individuals, separated from one another, whereas you are connected and what you do affects the whole world. When you do well, it spreads out; it is for the whole of humanity.

To me, Ubuntu is the acceptance of others as parts of the sum total of each of us. And that is exactly what I have experienced during the lead up to, and the initial days of this World Cup. There is nary a South African citizen that I've met on the street, or in shops or restaurants or hotels, that hasn't gone out of their way to greet me and make me feel like I am home. And I don't mean that in the trivial, "Oh, aren't they nice, homey people here... " sort of way. I mean real, genuine interest and questions. People seriously want to know where I come from. What it's like where I live. How does it compare to where I am now. What do I think of

South Africa

. Oh yes, and what do I think of Bafana Bafana... The questions and conversations are in earnest. They are honest. And they are had with enthusiasm and a thirst to know more. South Africans are drinking deeply from the cup of humanity that has been brought to their doorstep. I would never imagine that an American World Cup or Olympics would ever be this welcoming to the rest of the world. And that saddens me for the state of my home country, but it also makes me feel the pride of the South African people.

I have been truly humbled on this trip. And while I have my gripes regarding development here, I cannot say one negative thing about how

South Africa

has handled its duties as host and hostess to the world. If I could say one thing to sum up being here during this once-in-a-lifetime experience, it would be that I've learned the value of Ubuntu, and that when found and offered in abundance, the world is indeed a better place to live in.

So, if

South Africa

accomplishes nothing more on the playing field, it will still have won as a host country. I am a cynic, no doubt about that. And yet I have to admit, I'm a little teary just writing this because I leave for home next weekend and I will be leaving a little piece of myself here in

South Africa

. I just hope I have learned enough to bring back a little piece of Ubuntu to my homeland, where perhaps with a little caring and a little water, it will take root as naturally as it does here, in the cradle of civilization. It's funny, many people in America still ask me, "are the people in Africa very primitive?" Yes, I know, amazing someone could ask that but they do. And when they do, I usually explain that living in a mud hut does not make one primitive, however, allowing kids to sell drugs to other kids and engage in drive-by killings -- isn't that primitive behavior? I think it is. When I think of Ubuntu and my recent experiences here, I think America has much to learn from Africa in general, in terms of living as a larger village; and as human beings who are all interconnected with each other, each of us having an affect on our brothers and sisters.

As the 2010 Cup slogan goes, "Feel it. It is here." Well, I have felt it, because I am here. Thank you

South Africa

, for giving me this unexpected gift. I am humbled.

gone nowhere

2010-06-19T23:20:00.000+02:00

back in Nam

2010-05-21T12:34:00.000+02:00

These should give you a clue as to why I've been so quite the last few weeks...

The second largest canyon in the world, the Fish River Canyon started forming when two pre-Gondwanan continental plates collided and pushed up a range of mountains. Millions of years later, when South America began to pull away from Africa, a rift valley was created, into which, again many millions of years later, flowed the Fish River, which gradually erroded the canyon we see today. Since 1968 a vespa scooter has been seen at the bottom of the canyon - you can read about how it got there here at http://www.gomag.co.za/hiking/story/14

For 20 month in the 1920's, Kolmanskop was the richest community in Africa. Built in the desert it was a booming centre of diamond mining activity which serviced the needs of expatriate miners and their families, sporting a gymnasium and concert hall, casino, bowling alley, hospital, school, butchery, bakery, and power station. It also boasted the first x-ray machine in Southern Africa - not only for broken bones but to catch miners who spiced up their sandwiches with the precious rocks. Almost everything was imported to Kolmanskop, including fresh water from Cape Town and caviare from Russia. When the diamonds, which has been picked up by the handful off the ground, started to run out the residents packed their belongings and moved on, leaving the desert sands to move into their lavish homes. Some more photos and info at http://www.griotphoto.org/kolmannskuppe.htm

Around 55 million years old, the Namib is the oldest desert in the world. Almost completely devoid of surface water, save for a few non-perennial rivers that are trapped and swallowed by the sands long before they reach the sea. Sossusvlei is one of these rivers that occasonally floods into its valley between the high red dunes, providing a means for the tenacious fauna and flora that live there to survive. For more infor go to http://www.worldwildlife.org/wildworld/profiles/terrestrial/at/at1315_full.html

kokerboom II

2010-04-18T14:04:00.000+02:00

Another one of those weeks where you find your time completely consumed with everything but what you planned to do... No inspiring photos were taken so I've delved back into my archive and dug out this triptech taken in the Quivertree forest near Niewoudville, using my ancient 1939 Rolleiflex and shot on Kodak's old Tri-X 400 - a high-speed, delightfully grainy, black and white film.

Aloe dichotoma doesn't normally grow this far south, but this forest was planted by a local farmer years ago and has since flourished. Which is probably a really good thing, since the trees at the Northern end of their range are taking strain from the changes in climate, with those exposed to warmer conditions dying off.

kumara

2010-03-31T02:01:00.000+02:00

Back in New Zealand driving somewhere around the Coromandel or thereabouts, I asked Adam to brake and back up when I spotted this oddly spotted field with its lone sentinel tree on the hill. On closer inspection the brilliant white dots turned out to bepartially munched sweet potatoes - apparently sheep rather fancy the things, although not enough, evidently, to polish them off!

Anyway, when I saw the scene I knew just what picture I wanted to make, and here it is...

Kiwi kumara field

Cape Point Hobie Challenge

2010-03-23T10:44:00.000+02:00

The Fish Hoek Beach Sailing Club held their annual Xtreme Cape Point Challenge this weekend. The wind is usually what makes it so challenging and this weekend was no exception - speeds of up to almost 10knots were predicted, although the start was delayed by an hour

while they waited for it to increase from 3kts! Since my skipper was out of town I decided to take advantage of the opportunity to stay on the land and take photos - and boy was I glad I did! The race was shortened at Miller's Point (the halfway mark), and then abandoned after the boats bobbed around with dozing crews for an hour - eventually they were towed back to shore! So it would seem that too little wind, while possibly safer, is just as challenging as too much wind...

The hobies cats get off to a not-so-speedy start

The flotilla rounds Sunny Cove and heads off southwards into the mist...

Save the Elephants: STOP BLOODY IVORY

2010-03-15T10:58:00.000+02:00

Within days, 2 African governments will try to pry open the worldwide ban on ivory trading -- a decision that could wipe out whole elephant populations and bring these magnificent animals closer to extinction.

Tanzania and Zambia are lobbying the UN for special exemptions from the ban, but this would send a clear signal to the ivory crime syndicates that international protection is weakening and it's open-season on elephants. Another group of African states have countered by calling to extend the trade ban for 20 years.

Our best chance to save the continent's remaining elephants is to support African conservationists. We only have days left and the UN Endangered Species body only meets every 3 years.

Avaaz are going to deliver a petition to the UN meeting in Doha. They are looking for 1,000,000 signatures - so far they have over 350,000, so if you haven't signed already, please click the link below to sign the urgent petition to protect elephants, and forward this email widely:

http://www.avaaz.org/en/protect_the_elephants/

Thanks!

Elephants crowding around a watering hole at Addo Elephant National Park, 2001
Shot on Kodak T-Max 400ASA - a lovely grainy, contrasty film... sometimes I really miss the stuff!

mellow muizies morning

2010-03-10T23:19:00.000+02:00

I can't remember when I had so much plain fun with camera! I went for a walk on the beach and immediately ran back home, squigged into my wetsuit, grabbed the 'pus and took it for its first surf. Conditions were perfect for trying out some on-board photography, classic mid-frontal winter conditions with small but consistent swell, and f... freezing cold water! Easy enough to catch a wave, whip out the cam and giggle off a few shots of whoever was sharing the wave with me, classic muizies-style.

In between sets. Man, I love it when the water is this smooth molten gun-metal...

Guest Pic by V
Despite the cold it was such fun that my last surf was half an hour and few more surfs before I actually got out. By that time my arms were so cold they could hardly paddle fast enough to catch the waves. Oddly when I returned to surf with V in the evening it had warmed up to an amazing +/-7 degrees, but the So'easter had whipped up the waves into a confusion of foamies that was surprisingly fun to play in - once again with the Tough8000 in hand - this time Vanessa's...

View of surfer a split second after falling inelegantly off board, at sunset

last sigh

2010-03-04T13:49:00.000+02:00

I have spent the morning doing a 30 minute job over and over and over and... well, we'll see if Brad refrains from spontaneously rebooting again after I've fiddled with yet another bit of him or if these are indeed his dying breaths. I'm not even sure if this message will reach you today since José, who connects me to the internet, is hanging a couple of times a day.

All this just makes me want to pick up my lovely mechanical 1939 Rolleiflex and some good, old fashioned film and wonder off into the wilds without any "thinking machines". Problem is, my personal time-saving devices have wasted so much of the time they've saved, I don't have any spare...

*sigh* I imagine this sounds rather familiar to most of you!

Portrait of an orchid as she sighs her last

(I did take some photos this week, when I finally had a chance to try out the lovely morning light in my house for portraits this week, but since my subject was naked I'm giving you one I took with OldBrikon instead. ;-)

caught in the act

2010-02-24T18:18:00.000+02:00

caught with Brikon mkII (D300, yummy) and my even yummier 60mm micro lens - I was actually photographing a lovely large spider that's taken up residence in my herb garden (and who provided me with some private entertainmenmt when she caused a burly security response guard jump a few meters back!) Anyhow, I noticed these ladybirds are farming aphids (one good reason to have other plants in between your vegies!), but interestingly I also noticed them running around the web strands with no problem. I have heard that spiders can make only parts of their webs sticky, so this may be the reason, or they may simply be immune... I could ask Google but I think my time right now is better spent catching up on work I didn't do during my burglary-enforced break, so I'll leave it up to you to ponder...

Bonking bugs. (The third seemed keen on a threesome but the pair were not interested... they bounded off down the stem together, and later I spied them atop a teeny blossoming bud... wish I was that talented!)

odd

2010-02-05T08:48:00.000+02:00

Sad news! My Brikon is no longer with me! Nor is Ken (my laptop), my phone (unnamed) and a number of other characters that were kidnapped from our home. Fortunately (or unfortunatley, depending on how you look at it) I've had enough of these types of experiences to be totally paranoid and make backups of backups so I still have all my photos and designs (don't worry T+T, your wedding photos are not lost!) so it's just a matter of getting through the admin of replacing the hardware - some time soon, hopefully!

In the mean time, to start the pics for 2010, here's a fun one of my boet... you work it out!

shot with our new waterproof toy, Olympus Tough 8000

The Fairest Cape of Stormy Good Hope

2009-12-30T18:02:00.000+02:00

Brad, my design & photography tool, died after the hard drive started making a noise that sounded much like mouse would if it was, for some reason we won't speculate on now, scraping its teeth down a chalkboard. Fortunately it's not a problem for two reasons - firstly the day is much too bright and cheerful to be really bothered by anything that might otherwise be extremely annoying, and secondly I've been around these damn things long enough to know that it's a case of when, not if, and accordingly have all my works d'art backed up on various external hard drives that don't sound like they'd like some cheese (their cheesy names notwithstanding.) The software does still need to be reloaded though - as soon as I've changed this horrible default Microshit Windoze XP desktop photo of that green hill to something less creepy!

But not to worry, I did manage to prepare one last pic for the year before it all went haywire, so...

May your new year be filled with much fun, love and yummy things right through to the next one!

Hanging in there: a tenacious bush clings to the cliff above Diaz Beach on one of the cape's less wild days.

sailin'

2009-12-22T12:48:00.000+02:00

I've recently discovered another passion - one that usually can't include my passion for photography because of my Brikon's allergy to water (at least until waterproof housings fall within my budget - not any time soon I'd imagine!) Anyway, my dad used to take my sis and me sailing on his Hobie Cat when we were little, although we didn't do much more than cling on for dear life and watch the water flow past at speed. A few decades later I found myself out on a trapeze with the wind, sea-spray and a BSG (big silly grin) on my face - and a possibly even bigger one on Adam's face!

Saturday found me down at the Hobie club on a perfectly clear day without a skipper to shout orders at me, so I made use of the opportunity to take some photos of the others going out. Fortunately for me I later got a chance to go out with Mark on his Hobie 16, which turned out to be one of the best sails I've had - quite the safari sail in fact! Apart from the bird life that is always present in False Bay, a Humpback whale breached right out of the water fairly close to us and right after that a school of about 40 or 50 dolphins decided to play around our boat for a while. Seriously BSG stuff!

A more colourful shot than my usual fare: two Hobie 16's heading out into the bay on a particularly clear day.

muizies bridge

2009-12-22T11:39:00.000+02:00

My Brikon is well again, but no chance yet to get out and take photos; instead here's one that I've been wanting to share with you of the vlei mouth that's just a stone's throw from my home:

sharks, chairs & surf

2009-12-08T12:50:00.000+02:00

Sadly my Brikon is in camerospital having its symptoms diagnosed by a doctician - I guess the kloofing was a bit rough on it! (but then I didn't buy a Brikon to photograph chairs, despite the fact that they are more deadly to humans than sharks! - see the SOS Rethink the Shark ad on YouTube.)

I've just had a lekka morning - walked down to the beach with my mates Kirsten & Lisl for coffee and Knead's enormous and totally decadent chocolate croissants, and the waves are absolutely perfect so as soon as I click send, the HMS Pucjlowski and I are off to hang ten! (if you aren't already envious, you can see what the surf is doing at the Corner Surf Shop's webcam - and maybe bunk out of work and join me ;-)

one from my archive of Muizenberg beach - a bland image that begged to be played with and made special!

kloofing

2009-12-08T12:47:00.000+02:00

Deadlines having disipated, I finally managed to escape into the mountains again with a bunch of mates, this time headed down rather than up through a chocolate box land of crystal clear pools and stunning waterfalls. Entertaining company, delightfully warm weather, a game or two of hacky and the cold beers Jane magically produced made for one of those simply perfect days!

Rik abseiling fifty meters down one of the spectacular waterfalls

2010 calendar

2009-11-19T14:50:00.000+02:00

The calendar was so popular last year that I've decided to make it a regular thing! Next year's calendar features close-up views of nature's little things. There are also a few improvements on last years calendar - firstly I've managed to get the price down to ZA R100 per calendar. The date boxes are slightly bigger and I have also included the national holidays for the USA, UK, Canada, Australia and New Zealand every month as well as the main Jewish and Islamic holidays. And I have enough time this year to get a proofreader to check it all!

Click here to view the photos that will be featured in the 2010 calendar, and access the order form.
If you have any questions, just send me an email.

windless

2009-11-19T14:46:00.000+02:00

And setting the mood for the calendar, here is this week's pic:

A delicate pink oxalis closes up for the night in a magical sunset field of mini daisies

...ok, I'm just happy the sun is shining and the wind has stopped blowing (Wow, I never thought I'd say that!)

flutterby

2009-11-12T11:33:00.000+02:00

Patiently transferring caterpillars from my herbs to my weeds (which are carefully maintained for the purpose!) has paid off. The Western Cape has been buffeted by some rather severe and completely unseasonal weather, and during one of these storms my mom noticed this butterfly unsuccessfully trying to crawl into the grass on my lawn to escape the wild winds. We brought her inside, where she conveyed her gratitude by posing patiently for my camera for hours (or so it seemed!). She spent the night and fluttered away the next day on a northerly breeze - which was headed out to sea, so I only hope she got a chance to alight somewhere and lay her eggs!

This time I actually know what she is, a Papilio demodocus, known as the citrus swallowtail or Christmas butterfly.

On deadlines being social creatures

2009-10-22T17:16:00.000+02:00

I have come to the conclusion that deadlines are gregarious creatures that tend to congregate in groups of at least 3 or 4 a week, and often far more! During the last few weeks they have been particularly sociable, but fortunately for the pic-of-the-weekers, one of them involved photography, so you still get your pic!

In fact, this week there is a little more on offer, so let me try and give you the story in brief:
In 1771 a grapevine was planted in what is now the charming courtyard of Heritage Square in the heart of Cape Town. 237 years later this little vine is still flourishing and bearing fruit (and featured previously on the pic of the week, here). To celebrate the tenacity of the vine, the new owners of the Square asked a skilled winemaker to work his magic on the grapes, and subsequently just twelve 750ml bottles and four magnums of Cape Riesling have been produced. Not satisfied with just wine, they approached four local artists to create vinic works of art out of the magnums.

The owners, Vicky and Johan Nel, are very involved in community and environmental projects, and one of their beneficiaries is the ZipZap Circus. (Which is brilliant! If you haven't caught at least one of thier acts yet, I suggest you do - and yes, I'm talking to all you adults! Have a look at www.zip-zap.co.za to find out more.)

So, this Saturday 24 Oct they are having an exclusive luncheon at Heritage Square and will be auctioning off the bottles; the 750ml bottles are individually numbered, and of course the magnums are completely unique. I happened to find out that there are a few tables still available and knowing Capetonians, always waiting for the last minute to see if something better comes up, this is possibly what you're waiting for. I asked if I could offer a 10% discount to the pic-of-the-weekers, to which they agreed to, so if you are in town this Saturday, seats for you are R450 instead of R500. Contact Catherine on 021 424 8840, 083 320 2057 or catherine.barkhuizen@gmail.com to book, or view the booklet (which naturally features more of my photography) for more details.

I forgot to mention that in addition to the flocking nature of deadlines, they are also the fastest land creature known to man - way faster than the cheatah, although they often take a few weeks to get up to speed and this deadline was no different! I had an afternoon to photograph all the bottles in order to have the booklet printed in time for the event. The 750mils actually contain Fleur du cap savignon blanc, but since a picture speaks a thousand words and not a 1000 flavours, and since they had the smallest labels and photoshop would made quick work of changing them from clear to green glass, I decided it was fine for the shoot!

Artists (not the cheap kind who do graphic design, but the real things) don't tend to hang out in the same social circles as deadlines, and therefore are completely baffled when graphic artists, (who spend most of thier lives in deadline-bars) start panicking because the artwork has only been delivered 5 days before the event, which is 3 days after the press deadline started drinking straight gin at an alarming rate and almost passed out!

Cadmium Orange Fuzzywuzzy

2009-10-16T19:01:00.000+02:00

Thanks to everyone who identified the jellyfishythingys - for those who are curious, they're called a By-the-wind sailor or Velella velella, of the Cnidaria family, which includes blue bottles, jellies and corals.

So, last Sunday I escaped to Scarborough for a delightfull walk with my good friends Ian and Mo in the hills behind their house. They made the fatal mistake of including me in the invitation to us all to bring our cameras as there would be plenty of opportunity to take pictures. I brought my mirco lens which seems to also belong to a micro time field, as I swear I was only hovering with my nose to the ground for a few seconds to photograph this tiny flower, or that teeny bug, but in the mean time one of the party had to be sent back to check I was still ok!

So, another challenge this week, this time to ID this Cadmium Orange Fuzzywuzzy, found inching at a rate of knots up a short restio near Scarborough (although I've seen them all over the Peninsula and as far North as Namaqualand).

my goodness

2009-10-08T16:00:00.000+02:00

Madness at Muizenberg last Sunday resulted in South Africa provisionally breaking the world record for "the most people on a wave" (anything to get in that book!). Anyway, over 400 surfers hopped in the water, and to my utter surprise, considering my aversion to crowds, I hopped in there with them, and was one of the 103 to ride a wave for more than 5 seconds without falling over, bumping into each other or taking each other out. And to my even utterer surprise, I actually enjoyed it! Definitely won't make a habit of it though, I'll stick to those nice quiet early mornings - or those days when everyone else is at work!

This is more how I prefer my waves - uncluttered! Taken down at Cape Point a few years ago.

Guest Pic this week is by Lee Slabber

of the record breaking surf (my siblings told me I was 6th from the end on the left - didn't notice too much as I was trying not to take out or be taken out by a huge paddle boarder!)

View the madness on youtube:

jellyfishythingys

2009-10-02T09:49:00.000+02:00

Seems like the southeaster really missed summer and has spent the last
few days making up for it! And while it may burn all the leaves off
the land plants, it also blows a host of interestings onto the beach.
These little guys are miniscule - the size of the fine grains of beach
sand give a clue to their tinyness - and are almost missable on the
edges of the tide lines. But what they lack in size they make up for
in detail and colour and, well, interestingness! If anyone has an idea
as to what they are, please feel free to inform me!

Veryverytinyjellyfishythingysonfinbeachsand

The seasons are definitly changing, and while we in the
South are preparing for the sunny, warm, if windy, kind of good
weather, I guess those in the North are preparing for the dark wet,
and windy, kind of good weather. I was contacted by the owner of this
blog, and I thoughoroghly enjoyed her prose - thought you might too...
hindsfeet-birdseyeview.blogspot.com

AMS

2009-09-25T21:31:00.000+02:00

Phew! It's been a full time since coming back from holiday, and not much of it for photos. To make up for the lack of pix last week, here's two: I was asked to take some photos of AMS's Agusta on a mountain rescue exercise, so I had a great excuse to leave my pc for a while and get out in the hills and order a heli to pose nicely and smile for the camera. They were called off for an emergency hospital transfer halfway through the exercise, so there was the benefit of a pleasantly easy walk back down the mountain without the puffy up bit (except for the guy carrying the stretcher, poor bastard!)

The SA Air Mercy Service is a non-profit organisation that provides an air ambulance network, rural health outreach and emergency rescue service around the country - check them out at www.ams.org.za.

JR & Ian depositing some mountain rescuers onto Pulpit Rock...

...in the saddle between Devil's Peak and Table Mountain

you can see more photos on my website at www.andynix.za.net/sar/ams03/

arum landscape

2009-09-09T19:41:00.000+02:00

Ok, enough of the pretty New Zealand landscapes - back to the Cape! This is one of the shots I mentioned last week of some arums Tammy gave me before we left - they've become more photogenic with age! I still have them drying out and will try creating some scanner photos of them when the time is right. Just for those who don't stay here, Arums are indigenous to the Cape, and for those who do, there are still thousands of them blooming in Wolfgat Nature Reserve along Baden Powel Drive and are utterly beautiful -might lug the Brikon along next time I'm heading that way...

Zantedeschia aethiopica

ice

2009-09-02T18:20:00.000+02:00

I really love living in my little corner of the Cape - it makes coming home from holiday a happy thing! I've had such a wonderful relaxing, fun, scenic holiday, and I've returned with loads of pic of the week material, so it may be New Zealand for the next few weeks (although there are still plenty of wonderful distractions here- today's lunch break found me with my micro lens crawling down some beautifully wizened arum lilies!).

So, after a fair bit of the cold, wet type of good weather on the west coast of South Island we were treated to a day of the sunny, warm variety - painfully blue skies, no wind and no rain - so we decided to get cold and wet clambering about on Franz Josef Glacier. Only guided tourists and experienced mountaineers are allowed to hike on the glaciers in Aoraki/Mt Cook National Park , and since South African's are glacially-challenged (with the exception of those who can afford expensive foreign therapy in high, cold and sharp places) we were classed as the former. Which was wonderful - we were fortunate to just have a small group of six, guided by a young kiwi called Zac, who gave us sharp pointy things to put on our feet, cut steps into the ice for us to minimise the risk of us putting the sharp pointy bits into ourselves, gave us some very interesting info about the glacier and just managed to prevent his naughty ZA tourists from damaging themselves because they insisted on gaining teetering vantage points for photos...

Lisl on the far side of an ice tunnel - what you can't see is that the tunnel opens onto a deep crevasse and she is standing on a narrow ledge against the wall of the crevasse, about to squeeze through yet another ice tunnel...

Guest Pic this week by my friend Lisl Bennett
who shared some of Adam & my Kiwi experiences before heading further south to Milford Sound, Te Anau and other ridiculously beautiful places! I had trouble deciding which of her pics to feature so if you'd like to see more just click on the pic to be see more from her New Zealand album.

The scenic Buller Gorge that runs through the Paparoa Mountains – as Lisl says “When nature sets up the shots”.

power

2009-08-23T09:33:00.000+02:00

Phew-wheee! Where do I start!? We've been touring through what Adam calls a chocolate box picure factory and have run out of synonyms for pretty! After the thermal wonderland we drove south through North Island's extremely pretty green grasslands, dotted with sheep and wonky fences, before sailing on a misty morning through the uniquely beautiful Malborough Sounds to South Island. We paused to taste some pretty good Kiwi wine on the East Coast (which made us appreciate our good fortune in having our excellent yet affordable Cape wines), before heading across to the west coast where forests of tree ferns add texture to the steep tree-lined slopes running down to the sea, which in turn is filled with wildly erroded sea stacks. The adjectives we used along the way ranged from awe inspiring to jaw dropping, exquisite and sublime, but soon degenerated to oohs, aahs and grunts of appreciation punctuated by drool and flappy hand movements. And that was before our first view of the southern alps - rain forest-covered slopes lining glacial valleys, some with the glaciers still occupying the higher regions, leading up to high craggy snow covered peaks. Now we are well ensconsed in one of the country's oldest hotels, spending our days going up and down snow covered slopes and using words that sound suspicioulsly like whaahoo!, whoopee, yippee and the like...

Early morning sun lights the summits of Mt Tasmin and Aoraki Mt Cook

thermal rainbow spring

2009-08-23T09:29:00.000+02:00

This week's pic is from Rotorua, the thermal wonderland on North Island, New Zealand. The day had been completely overcast with the occasional drizzle, but just before sunset Adam and I were treated to the most amazingly intense rainbow, formed by a combo of the clouds and the steam rising from the thermal pool...

under the weather

2009-08-07T17:32:00.000+02:00

Despite grand plans to get plenty accomplished this week, I've ended up spending the larger portion of it in bed and feeling pretty sorry for myself - but, thanks to my house guest Doctor Amazing and her assistant, Nurse Wonderful, I'm thankfully on the mend again :)

So, it's a shot from the archive this week...

Flooded trees next to Zandvlei after heavy rains

Guest pic this week by Paul Moody
...who's spending his summer cruising around the British Isles in his yacht (which you can buy if you want - have a look at www.trintella45forsale.co.uk)

A rocky beach on one of the Scilly Islands off the coast of Cornwall

the blunt end

2009-07-30T17:40:00.000+02:00

People focus so much on the sharp end of sharks that they loose sight of the amazing animals they are. I've always had mixed feelings about shark cage diving as there are a lot of operators out there who exploit these wonderful animals for their own profit. However, when it was suggested we go have a look at some sharks up close I contacted Shark Diving Unlimited in Gaansbaai, which is run by a family who are very involved in conservation and research of sharks around the world, but mostly the Great Whites of our Southern Coast.

The experience was incredible - as a surfer, I have a healthy fear of meeting one of these creatures in the water, where I am literally and figuratively quite out of my depth. I thought that after meeting some of these great whites personally I would be even more wary of venturing out, but the encounter had quite the opposite effect! We were fortunate in choosing a day with excellent conditions, 10m visibility, low swell, plenty of sunshine and sharks in abundance!

They are naturally curious fish, and since they have no hands with which to examine something they find interesting in the water, they use what they do have - their mouth. That it's full of sharp teeth is unfortunate for surfers (and seals, I suppose!). However, they don't grab a mouthful instantly, but rather swim up to the object they're interested in and nudge it with their nose before swimming off, coming around again and this time trying for a bite. Since humans - and neoprene - are not their dish of choice, they are, on the whole, not really interested in munching us. If they were, I imagine there would be a lot more incidents of shark attacks and far fewer surfers!

Blunt end of a great white after coming and enquiring as to who we were...

FYI, Muizenberg reportedly has the best shark attack prevention system in the world, thanks to the Shark Spotters network on the mountain - have a look at www.sharkspotters.org.za for more info.

duckdrops

2009-07-22T16:26:00.000+02:00

Yeah, yeah, I know, I'm addicted to close-ups of little drops on little things... sorry, can't help it!

Morning after the storm - rain drops on duck feather

misty

2009-07-14T15:37:00.000+02:00

I have what seems to be a slightly odd penchant for rambling about the hills in cold, damp, misty weather... can't think why more people don't do it! (Admittedly it does help to know that a roaring fire, hot meal and fiery beverage is waiting at the end of it!)

The top of Nursery Gorge on Table Mountain is such a magical place with varying personalities to suit the conditions - awkward to capture, it really deserves a dedicated trip just to photograph it...

...hours could be spent getting completely lost in the tiny details

sewerage

2009-07-06T10:12:00.000+02:00

Golden light showers the Strandfontein Sewerage Works - which is not what you might think! Once a small naturally occurring vlei, the area was converted into a series of settling and oxidation ponds when the sewage works was developed. It is a designated Important Bird Area and is rated as one of the top five birding sites in South Africa. If you want to find out more, have a look at http://www.fbep.co.za/fbepbirdarea.html and http://web.uct.ac.za/depts/stats/adu/strandf.htm

A burned protea tree frames the view from Bailey's Kloof of Muizenberg and False Bay

breakfast light

2009-06-30T12:26:00.000+02:00

There we a few teething problems with the new mailing list software last week (I'm actually surprised there were just a few, considering I was feeling my way around phpList with a white-tipped cane). Anyway, for those who couldn't see the guest pic last week, it's on the previous post now, as well the links to the extreme ironing items.

Oh! It was also the third birthday issue, which, in my exhausted excitement that I had actually finally managed to get the thing to work, I completely forgot to mention! Pic of the Week has grown from a little email to keep my far-flung family and friends updated with what was happening in my little corner of the world (and also to air some of the pics that would otherwise just get e-mouldy in the e-bowels of my pc) into a fair-sized, uh... slightly erratic, sort-of-weekly e-pressie! I'd like to keep growing it, so please feel free to forward it on to whoever you think might enjoy it. I really enjoy receiving your quirky comments and pics, so please keep them coming (if you want to make them public you can always post a comment on the blog). I also want to feature guest pics more regularly now as well, so please keep sending your lekka photos :) Ok, enough babble now!

I went for coffee and croissants on Elsies Peak with my friend Roy the other day (who's brain got seriously picked for database/php info last week!). Near the top of the ridge we were admiring the quality of light when I suddenly realised that not only was it was just right for a shot I've been wanting to create for a while to pair with this one I took previously in Silvermine, but happily I was in the right kind of fynbos too.

Path leading up to the summit of Elsies Peak (and breakfast!) The bushes with the white flowers have an odd, not entirely unpleasant, scent of honeyed poo...

Guest pic this week
by my sister Vanessa Nixon

V does a lot of work for the community, and one of the projects she's involved in is the Peacock Educare Center, a crèche in Masiphumelele. The aims of the project are:

to fund the building of a decent day care centre to replace the current little shack that has been a day care for pre-school kids since 1997
assisting with improvements such as securing regular food aid (from local sources), running & maintenance costs and teachers training
find innovative ways to make the centre self-sustaining
where possible, to use local labour and skills for the building & to generate income in Masiphumelele

Have a look at peacockeducare.blogspot.com to see the latest on what's happening there, as well as some great photos

Four little faces (look closely at the hole on the left!)

Extreme Ironing

2009-06-23T20:15:00.000+02:00

Extreme ironing - "the danger sport that combines the thrills of an extreme outdoor activity with the satisfaction of a well pressed shirt."

You might think that loading an ironing board with a pile of laundry and pressing it whilst dangling on a rope from a helicopter flying hundreds of meters above the ground would be a very silly, purposeless thing to do. Well, the local mountain rescuers think so too, which is why we stick to stuffing our cold-weather laundry into rucksacks and pressing them onto stretchers while training for useful things like picking up people who come unstuck in the mountains.

But it would make for a great photo opportunity... ;)

(Surprisingly, this decidedly non-Olympic sport has taken off around the world, with South Africa's very own Troye Wallet winning the Rowenta Trophy for his flamboyant ironing session over the Wolfberg Cracks in the Cederberg - have a look here for more info and here for the winning pics...)

Without an iron in sight, a pair of mountain rescuers (far too creased to actually be allowed into AMS's spiffy Squirrel) are shorthauled out of a simulated accident site on the slopes of Table Mountain. While the pilot cannot actually see his human cargo dangling 25m below his aircraft, the crew keeps an eye on them and the terrain while pattering the pilot into position to insert or extract them.

More search and rescue images can be found on my website collections

old roses, new spiders

2009-06-14T20:13:00.000+02:00

Who says flowers don't last? This gift arrived fresh in delicate shades of death with a tinge of pink and of course I had to photograph them! It took a couple of weeks for the correct planetary/solar/weather alignment to coincide with a suitable break in my work/play/sleep alignment, but one morning I woke up to find that the rains had headed North to bother the Vaalies and that the sun was reflecting off the house next door, bathing my kitchen garden in a wonderful warm glow that created the perfect natural lighting conditions to make my flowers last. I had noticed that a spider had spun her web around some of the roses early on, but it was only when I looked through my micro lens that I could see the teeny specks of hundreds of translucent baby spiders and eggs...

mood enhancing

2009-06-08T18:57:00.000+02:00

One of the great things I love about living in Cape Town is being able to get out for a walk in the hills, even if you only have less than an hour to spare, which I always find is the perfect mood enhancer! I dashed up to Silvermine just before sunset yesterday eve, and got so carried away with taking photos in the wonderful evening light that I only remembered that the car park would close in 15 minutes when I was still a 20min jog away! But I managed to grab a few more shots, pack away camera and tripod, bundu-bash my way back to the path (it's always more interesting off the path ;-) and dash back down the hill with seconds to spare...

Table Mountain, flanked by Vlakkenberg to the left and Devil's Peak to the right, with Constantia and the Southern Suburbs below.

muizies peak

2009-06-01T19:51:00.000+02:00

Before the week runs away from me again...

One of the very pleasant views from my home in Muizenberg

breakfast?

2009-05-20T16:32:00.000+02:00

Ok, a bit of a hiatus there for various reasons that I won't bore you with, but I did warn you that this is a sort-of-weekly email! Anyway, I still haven't been able to take any decent pics lately, but I decided I'd better send something to your inboxes before you all think I've dropped off the planet, so I had a quick trawl through my archive, a fiddle in the lightroom and came up with this one from the lion and rhino park...

...breakfast?

Earth Hour 2009

2009-03-25T21:07:00.002+02:00

Most of you have probably already heard about Earth Hour 2009, but just in case you haven't, this Saturday, 28 March at 8:30pm local time (wherever you are in the world) you can show your support for our planet by switching off your lights for an hour.

Earth Hour 2009 is a global initiative by the World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF), which acts as a worldwide call to action to every individual, business and community to take a stand against Climate Change. The lifespan of our planet, the very place we call home, is facing immense danger. Having said that, by standing together, we can make a difference.

By signing up, you are pledging to switch off your lights on Saturday, 28 March 2009 at 8:30pm. Your name will form part of a 1 billion-strong petition (that's more than one seventh of the world's population!) that will be sent to the Climate Change Conference in Copenhagen at the end of the year to put pressure on governments and world leaders to pass legislation on climate change.

Sign up now by visiting http://www.earthhour.org.za/sign_up.php?refer=65fd03f185e7c645ac01c68123c16f1c and become part of what could be the single most powerful demonstration of global solidarity.

2009 is the year we decide the future of our planet. Your name will make a world of difference.

The Moon and Venus hanging in the sky after sunset in the Cederberg (taken on good old Fuji Velvia slide film - yummy!)

whale ship

2009-03-05T09:18:00.003+02:00

I'm back! Not that I went far, just down the road really, but it still involved lots of packing madly, and then of course madly unpacking a chaos of boxes on the other end. I'm still in Muizenberg, just on the other side of the vlei now in a lovely Victorian house that was built around 1901! Needless to say life has been a tad busy and I haven't managed to take a photo for pic of the week, so here's one I took a while ago from Glencairn.

Humpback whale blowing & a three masted sailing ship (I'm sure one of my sailing friends will let me know what the correct term for it is!)

Cruising the Karoo (Karoosing)

2009-02-13T20:15:00.001+02:00

grenadilla

2009-02-03T22:45:00.002+02:00

just quickly... (I was supposed to be packing boxes but I'm easily distracted)

granadilla flower (that's passion fruit to all you foreigners)

muizes morning

2009-01-29T13:24:00.000+02:00

I did a quick search on the history of Muizenberg, and found out a few interesting snippets:
Firstly, I've often heard people wonder where the name came from. Well wonder no more: in 1743 Sergeant Wynand Muis became the commander of one of the first Dutch military outposts which was originally known as Muisenburg (Muis' Stronghold). His stronghold wasn't strong enough to withstand the British and after the Battle of Muizenberg in 1775 they Anglicised the name to its current form.
Secondly I found out that the oldest European building in the Cape, Het Posthuys on Main Road, was built in 1673 (a year before the Castle was completed) and has been many things from a pub to a lookout post (to a tourist attraction).
There's lot of other interesting bits and pieces on the muizenberg.info website, and the Muizenberg Lakeside Residents Association's facebook page has notices and info and other interesting or useful stuff if you're a local. I really love living in Muizies: fantastic surf in walking distance (when the south-easter isn't howling and during the week when the crowds are at work, haha!), Shark Spotters doing a great job keeping us all out of the johnnies diet (and pointing out whales to tourists), walk-on/walk-off mountains for hiking and climbing, a great sense of community where neighbours are often delightfully odd but not strangers, and, best of all, a whole bunch of my mates live here in walking distance :)

One thing Muizies is not is quiet, so this is a very rare shot of the village without a soul in sight!

6am and all's quiet in the village (except for the south-easter of course, which was howling as usual and the reason I was out with my camera instead of my surfboard!)

seal pup

2009-01-23T12:22:00.003+02:00

We were walking down to the Brass Bell the other evening (slitting our eyes against a howling south easter!) and we came across this tiny fellow, sitting on his own on a rock. When I hopped closer to him he asked me in a bleat: "Maaaa?" I'm not sure if Ma was anywhere nearby, but hope she was. Although he was strong and healthy, he's probably only a month old and will not survive without his mother. We saw another young cape fur seal bobbing in the wild waves just off the rocks, so there might have been more of them, as well as his Ma. I called a local marine wildlife officer, who suggested that we wait to see if he was still there in the morning, in which case he would call the SPCA, but I couldn't see him when I walked down after sunrise - I hope he did manage to get back to seal island in the middle of False Bay, but it's a long way!

Cape fur seal pup at Muizenberg