LADIES' DAY

Zen (in turquoise top and keeping an eye on Bella) has stayed here a number of times and brought her daughter who is visiting from Newcastle and friends up to Britannia Bay yesterday: Helen (left) who has also stayed here before, Cecile (daughter in cerise top) and Marge (right).

A tad gusty it was, but then in the 17 years I've lived here I've learned to appreciate the wind for what it does; cools the place down and takes rain to the hinterland. So you see ... it has its place.

I was spoiled rotten: Zen brought me a most beautiful vase which Arthur had made and I do look forward to meeting her friend in due course. Maybe I'll get to host their stay one day - I sincerely hope so!

TOURISM OFFICE OPENS IN ST HELENA BAY

It's been a long, hard struggle but perseverance paid off and on Thursday 23 February the doors of a brand-new tourism office opened in St Helena Bay.

Falling under the auspices of Saldanha Bay Tourism Organisation, the office displays all members' promotional leaflet so that visitors can make their choice as to where to stay and dine.

I was proud to have been asked to run with this project and with an amazing team of workers and willing donors we now have an office we're really proud of.

The wall map is a focal feature by which members can be identified along the l-o-n-g coastline that hugs the town.

Come and visit us sometime or call Pieter on 076 661 2046 if you want answers about accommodation and details about dining. You can also email sthelenabay@sbto.co.za

THE ABC OF IT

Want me eating out of your hand? Then show passion for this wonderful town I live in. St Helena Bay (and specifically Britannia Bay) is, to use a hackneyed word but it works here, awesome and not a day goes by that I don't recognise that fact. (Yes, readers, I've gaaned-aan about this before ad nauseum.)

But it takes guests from Gauteng to nudge-remind me that I am indeed blessed to have a view to die for (bestest office on earth: from my PC I get to watch dolphins surfing the shoreline while I "talk" to the real world).
And so it was that the Boyce family arrived on New Year's Day and spent six nights revelling in unseasonally calm West Coast weather (ja, gewoonlik waai dit soos dit bars dié tyd van die jaar,kêrels).
What a great bunch they were, at the ready to explore the seaside towns and coastline and taking in the atmosphere of the area, including the National (Cerebos) Saltworks at Velddrif and a visit to the West Coast Fossil Park.
I call them The ABC family: The(o), A(shley), B(arry and) C(onnie) and in my book they were top of their class! It might be many years before we meet again, but you will be one of the really super guests I welcomed to Dolphin B&B+S/C in St Helena Bay.

TALL TRAVEL TALES

As most of my friends know, I love to talk, but equally most of them won't listen to me and so I have chosen to commit my thoughts to paper, particularly those gleaned when travelling far and away.

Anyone who is remotely interested is invited to visit http://www.dolphinza.com/travel.html the latest one being on my recent trip to Botswana. (The pic is of us on the Chobe River - Moi is in green in the middle on the left.)

Once the silly season is past (did I wish my fellow Bloggers all blessings this festive season?) I will concentrate on where next to take this bod: will it be Sumatra or Cuba perhaps? What I do know is that I will spend the last couple of weeks of any holiday I take lying horizontal on the beaches of Bali. Bye!

THEY'RE TALKIN' TURKEY

On contract from Leeds to Pretoria where Matt is working on a coal mine operation for Eskom and Claire is a civil engineering designer, they chose the West Coast as their holiday destination.
"I've always wanted to cook a Christmas meal in a Weber," says Matt and on what was a perfect day weather wise he did just that. Here they partake of a turducken (a chicken in a duck in a turkey ... or whatever it is that Nataniël calls it) with the traditional trimmings (those on the plate and on their heads!) and Claire reports that, "He can do that again anytime" (although I did wonder if there was any inference in the fact that he received a braai recipe book for Christmas).

HARK, THOSE LITTLE ANGELS SANG

Doug and Julia chose to spend their annual holiday on the West Coast but, he being a thoughtful person and knowing her penchant for animals, booked an overnight at Elandsfontein Game Lodge on the R27 and by so doing they got the best of both worlds: Doug for the sea and Julia for the bushveld.

Every Thursday volunteers work in a soup kitchen in Stompneus Village and by way of recompense the children performed at a carol-singing concert at Shelley Point Hotel on - appropriately - the Day of Reconciliation, some as young as 5 years. Afterwards they were royally treated to the juiciest of hamburgers and the crispiest of chips by the Hotel management and took home gift packs to put under the Christmas tree.

Having driven all the way north to Lambert's Bay to enjoy lunch at the famous Muisbosskerm Open Air Restaurant they still found it in their hearts to hotfoot it back in time to catch the tail-end of the choral refrain.

Generously Doug, whose son suffers from Asperger's Syndrome, made a wholesome contribution to Die Eilandhuis vir Gestremdes and which Jimmy spent on making sure the children under his care will have a brighter and lighter Christmas.
Both these organisations could do with a cash injection and if you feel it in your hearts to do so, please let me know and I'll put you in touch with the right people.

DIE TWEE IS TWEE KEER HIERNA TOE

I've said it before ad infinitum and ad nauseum: my guests are great; not only do they keep me entertained, they also pay for me to go on holiday! Yes, Blog followers, that's where I am going tomorrow courtesy of Karoo Birding Safaris, headed for the very northern corner of Botswana to look for, inter alia, Carmine Bee-eaters (a dream of Michael and mine from w-a-y back in 2001 when we had to cancel a trip due to his illness) and if I am very lucky Pel's Fishing Owl to boot.

But back to my guests. Having been married on 31 October 2009, Andrew and Yolanda arrived the next day and spent their honeymoon week here at Dolphin B&B+S/C. And so - two years later - they chose to spend their well-deserved annual break on the West Coast with me again. (Check out my earlier Blog "It seems that this is the time for tying the knot" which I posted on November 24, 2009.)

The update is that they're just as in love and happy as two years ago and thanks, you two Lovebirds, for the chokkie hazelnuts. It's your fault I am growing in girth!

Hope the wind drops so that you get to enjoy Britannia Bay in all its glory before leaving for home in Montague next Monday.