Coastal Chronicles Pt III: Of Loss and Pain

The helplessness I feel when I consider the “Asian Tsunami - ©®TM” is mostly drowned out by the degree of desensitization that I’ve incurred. That and living on a continent without any first world countries opens one’s eyes to the human condition and it’s coupled miseries. I haven’t made a donation yet. Mostly because I’ve got to curb my spending for a while. If I get the job working during Varsity registration then I’ll certainly make the effort.

In Hermanus, Jess, Carl and I went to watch the sunset at the beach. We found a titillating little cove. The beach’s sand appeared blue – it was covered in tiny pieces of shattered muscle-shells. Between the beach and the Ocean was a large group of rocks and rock pools. It was there that we discovered a group (school/shoal?) of Octopi. They felt their way around the pools and changed colour as they did. Jess and I stood there fascinated. Carl - seemingly unconcerned - tried to get them drunk with a Smirnoff Spin.

It was sad when, the next day, Jess and I found two of the pelagic creatures decomposing around the same rock pool.

Our last day in the Cape was spent mostly inside the Combi. We drove the intimidating path over Chapman’s Peak… there and back. We Visited the sprawling “Trevato” house built by Carl Jeppe III – Jess’s Great Great Grandfather. However, before any of this, as we were driving along – after a brief stop for drinks and pies – I sat on a bee. It’s sting was luckily pulled out by my pants when I jumped out of them. There was thankfully very little poison absorbed. And my crack didn’t swell shut.

Our return flight was, save for the time of day, a mirror of our flight out. We had a baby behind us both times. At least it was only a two hour flight.