Beachies.

Somewhere in the middle of the night it rained. Quite hard at that and probably for an hour or so. In the morning Ingrid was blisfully unaware of the downpour. I had slept well otherwise and was up early for the coffee and sunrise. Today was promissing to be a good day. 

08h30 Pilates for Ingrid and that is usually my cue to check the bin and put out the rubbish, clean the pots and sinks and do a bit of household things. It gives me something to do. After she came home she had some breakfast and then it was pack up and go to the beach. The sun was going to be a bit more fierce as we were leaving later in the morning. We had just left the driveway when I thought of the beach umbrella that I had seen in the garage yesterday. Our last umbrella was toast when we tried to unfold it, so we were hoping that one of the 2 umbrellas in the garage were going to be fit for service. Quick trip back to get the brolly (as we call it). The brolly did not have a stalk thingy to plant into the sand, but I remebered seeing one or two in the loft room at Jackpot. I took all three of these just in case I took a guesstimate and took the wrong one. 

I need a name for my new board. The Red Devil is too easy, so I will have to come up with something more fitting. Red Baron? Something will come to me. It was strapped to the roof so that I may enjoy a session if I felt the need. I was a little stiff and sore from yesteredays efforts, but it had been worth it. 

At the beach we looked for a spot as the beach was the busiest that we have seen it. If not this holiday, perhaps ever. We are not here in December when ALL the tourists are here and it is jam packed, but this was busy for us. There were a lot of surfers in the water and a lot of kids on the shoreline being watched by their diligent parents and the life guards. I set Ingrid up on the beach under the brolly and made a little sand hump for her to lie up against while tanning. I went back to Dusty to fetch Nameless.

What a joyful session I had in the water with all of those surfers. Sitting out at the back and bobbing up and down waiting for the set waves to roll thorough. I once again caught a few beauties and am loving the feel of nameless. It has great stability when riding the white water. At the backline I met our new friend Andrew who was surfing with his son and son's girlfriend. We had a bit of a chat and Andrew invited me to go fishing with them this afternoon in the boat. I declined the offer as I was planning a weekly paddle from Granny's pools. We were going to stay at the beach for a while longer and the sun would bite us a bit, even under the shade of the brolly. 

Ingrid went for a dip and I took Nameless back out to the backline for a 1 wave wonder. Wait for the biggest wave that you can and ride it back to the shore. Signed and sealed. Job done. Smiling me and smiling Ingrid. It had been an absolute gem of a morning on the beach here at Cape St Francis. And there you have the advantage of the Malibu board. One can catch a wave from further out than the surfers and one gets priority on the chosen wave. I did almost run over Brian's girlfriend about 3 times on my way in on a wave, but skills on both our parts saw to it that we avoided eachother in time.

Lunch was at the Kitchen. We had tried Granny's Pools, but they were closed. Got to chatting to Peter at The Kitchen and talked about a few things before we sat down ordered. Ingrid had had some lunch so had a piece of carrot cake and I did the chicken mayo toasted sandwich with gerkins. Yummy. Thankfully the monkeys were not active today. We had heard from Peters wife that the monkeys were a right pain in the a.se yesterday and kept stealing stuff from the tables outside. Maybe they don't 'hunt' on Good Friday. Maybe they were just being Good on Friday?

After lunch we did a light grocery shop and it was time to rest the sun touched bodies. We were feeling a bit low on battery when we akowe and just sat on the couch and whittled the rest of the afternoon away. When it was time to go for my paddle, I caved and thought that I would rather like to stay on the couch and rest a bit more.

At around 6pm I said to Ingrid that I was going to light the fire. Boerewors on the fire and salad for dinner for me. Grazer option for Ingrid. As I stood up I heard a car door and said, that could be Andrew. I should be pyschic! Andrew and Brian with 4 lovely fillets of Mackrel. Caught and filleted and on our doorstep within an hour. Boy what a treat. The Mackrel that we get in Holland is predominantly salted and smoked, here we have the real thing fresh and perfect for the pan. Andrew even gave some cooking instructions and off they went to another engagement with his brother and family.

No time to waste. Mackrel in the pan and a change of plan for the grazer. Spaghetti pesto with mushrooms.  It was a great accompanyment to the Mackrel. I would order that in a restaurant is our private joke when I like a dish that we prepare at home. The next hour or so was spent on the whatsapp getting some intel on the comings and goings this weekend. We have some interested aprties who may or may not come on over. Tomorrow at the end of the day we see what the outcome is. No one can really commit to anything and we will all play it by ear.

Today has been another peach of a day and we are thankful that we are blessed enough to be able to enjoy it.