Yesterday I shared some iconic hood emblems of three classic cars. The Bugatti really stood out for me. I just love Bugatti! This beauty can be seen at the Franschhoek Motor Museum in South Africa.
You remember this one:
But it would be so unfair not to show the rest of the car as well…
1925 Type 23 Bugatti
And a short history of this beauty in English and Afrikaans…
Now this is truly a thing of beauty in my eyes…
Wordless… Just wish I owned any one of these three…
At the Franschhoek Motor Museum, South Africa.
I am not that familiar with the classic cars. Readers may enlighten me as to the model of this beautiful 1930’s Bentley. But in my uninformed eyes this is one of the most spectacular front ends of any car, ever… what a beauty!
It is residing in the Franschhoek Motor Museum, South Africa
One of the reasons for my silence the past two months was that I was training very hard. This coming Sunday it is the Pick ‘n Pay Argus Cycle Tour. I am aiming for my 20 th medal this year.
Yesterday morning my eldest son and I left home at 04:00. We are having a road trip to Cape Town.
Yesterday was a very long day- 1156 km from home to Beaufort West, where we arrived at 17:00.
This morning was fun- we drove through the scenic Meiringspoort…
A bit later through Oudtshoorn, the one time ostritch mecca of the world. We drove on Route 62 to Barrydale, and over Tredouxpass to Swellendam.
Tonight we are staying at the Cape Agulhas Backpackers Lodge ar Struisbaai. What a fun place to stay if you want to visit the Southern most tip of Africa. Which we did this afternoon.
We had a lot of fun so far, driving more than 1600 km in 2 days (1000 miles). Today was extremely hot, we measured about 41 degrees C in the car. We passed an Asian gentleman on a bicycle, geared for transcontinental travel. He looked in distress, and we stopped and asked if he was OK. He ran out of water, and we were glad to give him a litre of cold bottled water. He said his thermometer showed 48 degrees on the tarmac!
There is a serious heatwave
In the Cape Province, with some serious bush fires around our race route for Sunday. I am just praying and hoping for cooler weather, and that the fires will be doused before the weekend’s race.
But I am having a good time with my eldesr son!
HE is also enjoying his first ever Backpacker lodge experience. Now signing off, I am tired tonight!
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My oldest son is having hia matric farewell function (prom) tonight. More photos of him in his tux will probably pop up here soon.
But this is his Ride for tonight- a MGB… What a cool car! Me and the youngest went for a quick spin just now…
WOW- I am in love…
http://dailypost.wordpress.com/dp_photo_challenge/endurance/
There was nothing more demonstrative of “Endurance” as the Rhino in the African Bush. Until the humans came along, and needing it’s horn because they don’t have one… this magnificent creature was also killed in our region…
Also enduring despite the riks of becoming soup, is the giant mountain turtles you see in the Karoo National Park outside Beaufort West, South Africa…
Then of course- a 71 year old Harley still in working condition would also be worthy of this title…
And an Antonov A1 old Biplane, still keeping on keeping on… 65 years later…
I saw this Challenge at Nowathome’s blog, and it reminded me of a huge holiday we had in December 2006. This photos was taken at the rocks in front of the Blue Peter Hotel in Bloubergstrand, Cape Town, South Africa.
The Point of No Return was reached…
First my eldest, my daughter jumped into the rock pool.
Do you have any idea how cold the Atlantic is here at Bloubergstrand, coming up from the South Pole…?
My Eldest son… Going
Going
nearly gone, gone has disappeared somehow…
My second son
My Friend’s son
So how could my youngest also not try?
This was one of the best days of my entire life! And my kids’ lives too!
http://sundaystills.wordpress.com/2014/08/24/sunday-stills-the-next-challenge-alcohol/
I ride the Argus Cycle race around Table Mountain every year, (missed this year’s race for the first time in 20 years!) And over the time I have developed some traditions of my own.
After finishing the 110 km race, I usually go to the Victoria and Albert Waterfront of CApe Town, where I usually park my car. On my way from the finish line to the parking lot, I stop at Ferrymans Tavern- one of the oldest buildings in Cape Town. A pub with some old history behind it…
I see I actually don’t have many photos of Ferrymans… I am usually so very tired after that Cycle race…
But one of my favorite beers in the world resides here. Ferryman’s belongs to Mitchells Breweries. And one of their brews is the Bosun’s Bitter. It only contains about 4% alcohol, but it is really a tasty, grainy beer…
There is another story behind the Bosun’s Bitter. I drink it as a toast to my dad.
We did not always have a great relationship. After I finished university, I had to go to the army as all white young men in South Africa had to do. When I finished Army, I had a temporary post at a congregation in the Free State. In that time my uncle was murdered in Durban. This uncle was a real mentor for me since a very young age. We met as a family in Durban, and went to my uncle’s funeral. That evening, my father and I went to a pub, just us two. We sat down in a pub, and had a beer or two together. Mitchell’s Bosun’s Bitter. And we talked like real men to each other, and we had a very constructive father and son experience. The next day we all went home- he and my mother to Newcastle, me and my 7 month pregnant wife to Kroonstad.
I never saw him alive again. Two weeks later he died of a massive heart attack at the age of 54.
Mitchell’s Bosun’s Bitter is a rare beer to find these days in South Africa. The Keg franchise of pubs kept it for years, but I don’t see it there anymore. In Cape Town, I find it at Ferryman’s and at my other favorite watering hole… the Blue Peter Hotel in Bloubergstrand (where I had my honeymoon 24 years ago…)
This is also a beautiful place to see the sun setting over Robben Island, where Nelson Mandela was imprisoned for 27 years, and over the Atlantic Ocean.
Each time I drink a Bosun’s Bitter, I think of my dad. Sometimes with great regrets. For now I am 7 years younger than he was when he died. I understand much better these days… and I try to connect with my sons in meaningful ways, that they may have memories of me one day to treasure. Hopefully more than one beer…
Related articles: https://mitchellsbreweryct.wordpress.com/tag/bosuns-bitter/
http://dailypost.wordpress.com/dp_photo_challenge/fray/
One of the famous landmarks on our favorite Route 62 in South Africa, known by all bikers, is Ronnies Sex Shop…. Between Ladismith and Barrydale.
It is actually a Pub, on a very hot stretch of Karoo desert road. A cold one here really helps a lot to enjoy the route even more. But what does that have to do with “Fray”? Well, inside it is customary to leave some underwear there, especially if you are passing it on your honeymoon. But some of the underwear does show signs of extended use- i.e. being frayed…
To confess: these three photos each comes from different visits to Ronnies, I stop there a lot on my way to Cape Town… Desert road… beer… you know…
http://wheresmybackpack.com/2014/08/22/travel-theme-orange/
I have been so missing in action around here I will be greeted like a stranger! Hi all you people! I do have some orange photos! Being a Biker, people will immediately assume it will be KTM photos, but no, I am a Beemer fan… but here is an orange bike to satisfy the first impulses:
I think it is a custom Suzuki Boulevard, but Cruisers is not my scene yet, so I might be totally wrong, in which case I sincerely apologise. Seen at the Poison Rally in Kroonstad, South Africa a few years back. But it is a beauty!
Then, living in a rural town of South Africa, we do like agricultural shows around here. And veteran tractors usually gets a lot of attention…
A Minneapolis Moline, far far away from home…
Next on the orange list: a Sunset silhouette- I should have entered this one in last week’s Photo Challenge!
Nature at it’s most beautiful orange best at sunset…
A foreign country, no, not Holland… in Ireland, in the harbor town of Kinsale:
An orange art shop…
A favorite South African flower, the Namaqualand Daisy, comes in two colours, one being…
To finish off: another Bike of legend- the Original Bullet 500
And there is my take on some of my orange moments in life. A last one- me, a few years back and a bit heavier than today, in one of my favorite sweaters- this one I use when hiking in the Drakensberg Mountains, so that the helicopter can see me and rescue me if necessary… camping on the rugby field at Jeffreys Bay, one of THE surfing beaches in the world…
And there you have my Seven Shades of Orange for today’s challenge!
The Rider 