Lots has happened in the past week, including The Pollack Family weathering a number of winter storms, including the worst that Cape Town has seen in seven years! We moved to our new place in Constantia amidst the storms, only to find a small willow was blown over in the back yard. The landlords had called Nick from "Afford-a-Fell" to come and take the tree down, which he did without a problem. Then, the day after that tree was cleaned up, we noticed that a huge 150 year-old oak had also come down in the back yard. Here's a photo:
Not only did the tree come down, but as you can see, it also took part of our security fence with it. So, Naomi has been working with the City of Cape Town, and Nick, and the fence company to get this taken care of. Welcome to our new home! Other than the tree issue (and oh yes, the washing maching breaking down), we love our decision to move, and can't wait for the weather to change, and for "braai season" to begin.
Weekend with the Whales
We are just back from a great weekend whale watching in Hermanus, 90 minutes from Cape Town along the southern coast. Hermanus is a cute town that reminded us of Pacific Grove, except, in Hermanus, they have Southern Right whales, and they come right up to the coast line to have their babes and frolic. We had one beautiful day watching a couple dozen whales playing right off the shore. It was wonderful. We stayed at a great B&B right along the shore, and got to watch the whales from our breakfast patio. Pretty amazing. We also took our first walk in th feynbos --the unique ecosystem that is indigenous to the western cape region. It was gorgeous, with lots of plants in bloom, and birds twittering everywhere you turned. (I've posted a few pictures as a slideshow.)
Exercise Updates: Moving this almost 50 year-old body...
And on the exercise front, a couple of exciting developments to report. I did my first couple of workouts at our new gym, "Virgin Active." Just minutes away, it is incredibly convenient with great equipment. I did some great sweating on the stationary bike, and then took a sauna, and cooled-off in an outdoor shower. Nice. Also, I successfully WALKED OFF the tennis court for the first time in 18-months. The last time I was on a tennis court, we were in Cancun, and I was CARRIED-OFF with a ruptured achiles. I went and hit with my friend Michael for an hour, and it felt great! Watch out Roger, Seth is coming back... comes. And finally, even though I've yet to ride it, I bought a used road bike: Trek 1200 aluminum. It cost $400, and I bought it from a guy who has his own business buying and selling used bikes. So, he'll buy it back from me when the year is over. A great deal! Now, if the storms just die down a moment... (It's pretty amazing. Right now, the rain is falling so hard, making such a racket on the roof, I can't hear a thing...)
Blog ya later.
Seth./.
