Mad dogs and a Kiwi go out in the morning wind

This morning Thea came to our house and we all drove up Red Hill to the Brooklands ghost town carpark where we met Lydia, all the way from Kiwiland, and another Stephen - no doubt also the Alpha Male of his family! The Food Lady got the start a bit messed up, but eventually we established that Alice was waiting for us further up the road in the chill wind. Stephen set his fancy GPS and we were off.

We found Alice, Maddie and Claude at the dam - all ready for the hunt.

A bunch of roses in the fynbos? Nah, a teeny tiny doll's house daisy called Petalacte coronate.

Views across the Atlantic.

A plant that I can identify with (a bit) - called Rats Tail or Rostert (Babiana ringens). It grows a stiff "rats tail" that you can see sticking up behind the flowers, which is actually a perch for sunbirds who pollinate them.

Some more pretty miniature flowers - the Broad-leaf Clutia (Clutia alaternoides),

and a pretty Claudie - don't you just love the goatee? I was rather missing Dougal today - wondering if he was somehow out there in the fynbos and trying to find me.

Doogs, we all miss you so much. Where have you gone?

Tea photo - Alice, Maddie 'n Claude, Lydia, Thea, the Alf, me and Stephen. Stylish sandwiches the order of the day.

The restio of the week. (The FL is trying to get to grips with these Cape Reeds as they are apparently hugely important in fynbos.) This is a Thamnochortus of sorts - maybe fruticosus. Impossible things!

Another miniature flower - this one is the rather rare and special Thistle Protea (Protea scolymocephala).

We walked through stands of purple Erica parviflora,

and white Salt-and-pepper Heaths (Erica imbricata),

and saw lots of bulbs that gave us a spring in our step. (This one is possibly Babiana ambigua).

Waiting for the Food Lady, and a chance to check the GPS (we'd walked about 9 kms) and check for ticks,

uh oh, one on the Alf's trousers: a rascally Rhipicephalus.

Back down to the Lewis Gay Dam we went,

some of us without our shoes.

Alice and my two black Bouvier friends disappeared into the daisies for a swim.

The last flower - a single golden Ewwa-trewwa (Satyrium coriifolium).

On the was home the Alf identified this car - turns out it has the same name as my new friend from Tokai Park - Bentley.

We stopped at the tapas bar again for a beer and a selection of tapas snacks - and this time the FL slipped me a taste of octopus on a corner of Spanish bread. The Food Lady really liked the "Starry Eggs" tapas - "Huevos estrellados con jamon".

The floor does colour co-ordinate well with me. Tres chic.

Not too sure about this croc though.

Blow, blow thou summer wind

Today, with a slight change of plan, we drove right up to the Lewis Gay Dam at Brooklands

and started walking from there. Alice and Maddy were the only takers today as everyone was afraid of the heat. But luckily Cape Town's air-con was switched on to high so it wasn't too hot for us scots.

A funny bird rock monster watched us walk past.

Alice and The Alph discussing the mammary allusions in Erica mammosa. 

We then crossed a bridge. Not our best but at least this one didn't have open spaces to freak us out. 

Erica viscaria. (Difficult to shoot in the wind.)

Tea time and waiting for biscuits ...

The view from our tea spot - across Long Beach to Chapman's Peak on the right.

Even though the wind was blowing and buffeting, it was quite hot and hard getting up that sandy hill.

A Stone Nest Spider's intricate orb web.

Tritoniopsis dodii.

Once we were on top of the hill, there was another view - this one right across False Bay. 

But no time for views - we were hot and wanted that promised swim! We hot footed it back to the dam, and Maddy was the first to jump in.

Then me.

And Dougal just gingerly venturing in.

The Alph far out, Alice keeping an eye on Maddy - and even the Food Lady dived in much to our consternation. I mean, who would organize our food if she was taken by a lurgy lurking in the deep dark waters of the Lewis Gay Dam! 

But we all survived and came home to Gin and Tonics and bacon and egg.

Cheers!

Footing

Very sorry for myself. I have a sore foot and can't come for walkies today.

But Dougal was better and went along without me to hunt Parrot-beaked Tortoises,

 and explore new paths - and boardwalks. This is the Jonkersdam path that starts on the Glencairn Expressway/Blackhill Road and winds its way up to the Lewis Gay Dam, back towards Ocean View and around to the start past Rooikrans hill. Sue, Alice and Maddie joined the Alph, the Food Lady and Dougal.

They saw big red poisonous grasshoppers, the Rooibaadjie or Koppie Foam Grasshopper (Dictyophorus spumans),

and almost invisible Common Stick Grasshoppers (Acrida acuminata).

 Tea without me. Alice, Sue, Maddie, the Alph and Doog.

At a discrete little pile of stones, they swung off to the right,

past some pretty pink Christmas Flowers (Chironia linoides), 

and along the most beautiful path with views down to the sea and across to Chapmans Peak.

Lots of flowers for the Food Lady - like this root parasite, the Yellow-throated Inkflower (Harveya purpurea).

 More glorious views.

Pretty white Lachnaea grandiflora.flowers - which iSpot calls the Grand Stringbark.

With Christmas round the corner, the Food Lady saw golden baubles (Brunia noduliflora),

 and silver Slangbos (Seriphium plumosum),

masses of white Christmas stars, Struthiola dodecandra,

and strings of tiny red and white stars, the Dodder (Cuscuta nitida).

The whole of the valley was flushed purple with the Grape Heath (Erica multumbellifera).

Dougal got quite hot he said. Here he is taking a drink and shade break.

Funny noises from the rocks ...

and Maddie was pulling Alice up the hill after the culprits - Dassies! Wish I'd been there and I would have been after them too, sore foot or not.

They passed some bouldering types looking for some boulders to climb with mattresses on their backs like tortoises. Look out dassies! Your territories are going to be invaded.

Then it was home to little old meeeee.