Hike — Kromrivier Hut — 28 Des 2015

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Spend the laast couple of days of 2015 in the mountains at a hut belonging to the Paarl/Wellington section of the Mountain Club of South Africa.

To get there one take the old Du Toitskloof pass and just after the highest point take the turnoff to the Telkom tower. One has to pre-arrange access through the Telkom gate and after that drive for about 3km to a parking area to leave one’s car.  Then it is a fairly easy walk of 2.2km down to to the hut. See Google map:

Here is a view of the hike as tracked by Runkeeper:
Hike in to Hut - 28 Des

All the ammenities like toilet, running water and even gas is available. Close to the hut is a pool to cool off in the December heat. It was such a peacefull and beautifull place so see out 2015.  We stayed their 2 nights and walked out on the morning of the 31st again.  Enjoy the photos.

Sea Point Promenade walk

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After the strenuous walk up Skeleton Gorge over the weekend, I had the give my legs a light exercise and what better walk than on the Sea Point Promenade.

Started at the famous Mouille Point lighthouse.

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Walked all the way to the other side of Sea Point and back with great views of the ocean.

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And do not forget to have a look at Lions Head. When in Cape Town then go and have a picnic right on top, best views in then whole world.

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Table Mountain, Maclear’s Beacon via Skeleton Gorge

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Hiked to Maclear’s Beacon on top of Table Mountain via Skeleton Gorge.

It was a nice sunny day when we started at the bottom at Kirstenboch Botanic Gardens but when we arrived at Maclear’s Beacon, the miss has come in and we could hardly see in front of us.  Just show how dangerous hikes up Table Mountain can be.

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Before the miss set in we had some great views from atop of the Mountain.

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Flowers on top of the mountain is always beautifull.  Unfortunately the Disa is not flowering yet and Proteas neither.  However saw some beautifull flowers.

 

 

Back from the Dead

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Yes, I know, this blog was dead for more than a year and there was many reasons for it which is not really important.

So what has happened since then:

  • After 2 and a bit years at Internet Solutions I have decided to move on work wise.  It was a great time at IS and I learned and experienced a lot about the Internet and ISP industry in South Africa and what it take to work with last mile infrastructure for large corporates.  Let me just say, it is a tough world out there.
  • I have joined a small team in Naspers, working on WeChat for Africa and doing great things around WeChat.   I will blog more about that on my other more technical blog — The Technical Side
  • Tomorrow (7 Sep) I am off to go visit my WeChat colleagues in China for 11 days.  Looking so forward to it.  I will try to at least post some photos of my trip and the experience.
  • Oh and I am still very single if anybody was wondering 🙂

This is it for now while I go and get my packing done. 

2012 — The year that was and looking forward to 2013

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2012 was one of those years that was not that bad (well the world did not end) at all but I cannot say that it was great either.  So what happened during the year:

  • Work — I changed jobs.  I started the year off working for Fundamo/VISA and during the first half decided to make a change.  I got an offer from Internet Solutions and accepted the offer and started working for them on 1 July.  Must say that it was probably the best decision I made all year.  I have a great team and IS is a great company to work for and I am very excited to be part of them.  To see how the internet in SA operate is a real eye opener and I believe over next year or so we will see lots of change particularly around Fibre and wireless technologies like LTE and WiBand. 
  • Children — My son completed his Chemical Engineering degree at Stellenbosch University and obtained his degree on 13 December.  Was a very proud moment for myself and I am so proud of my son.  He is now looking for work but it is tough going so if anybody has some contact or know of something, then please contact me and let me know.  My daughter is still studying for her B.Sc (Human Sciences) degree and hope to complete next year.  I am so lucky to have 2 great kids that is doing very well.
  • Personal — My son was in an accident with my car and the car was written off, my son was fine.  This meant that I had to go car hunting and eventually decide on a Kia Rio 1.4 TEC Sedan and must say that I am very surprised how well it is behaving.  It has all the bells and whistles as standard and after driiving it for about 8 months, I do not have any complaints.  Little bit loose on the road in windy conditions but I have now got used to it with all the wind here in Cape Town.
  • Social — On the social front nothing realy changed.  Now that work has been sorted out and children are mostly done with studies, I want to spend some more time in 2013 socially and have a more balanced life.  Time to meet new people and make new friends.
  • I have to add something (and the people that know me will enjoy this) about technology.  2012 was the year I started using a Mac (MacBook Pro 13inch) and must say, I am getting used to it and it is way better than Windows I used for work.  I am a Linux person and the Mac allows me to still get to the underbelly where I can tinker and where I still have some control over what I do on my machine.  On the cellphone side, I upgrade to a HTC One X and am very happy with the phone itself.  However I am very disappointed with the support from HTC South Africa particularly in rolling out Android Jelly Bean to their user in South Africa.

I am looking forward to 2013 and make it the year where I spend more time on myself and what is important to me. I do not make new year resolutions since we break them in any case.  I just want it to be a year of happiness and prosperity.  Oh and hopefully will get some time to take out my golf clubs and get on the course again.  This is something I realy neglected in 2012.

To all my friends, family and whomever read this, I wish you all the best for 2013 and may it be a great year.

Alive and Kicking

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For those few that are still reading and following this blog, I am still alive and kicking. I am just very busy at the moment with my new job which I started at the beginning of July, can you believe, almost 3 months already.

It has been a hectic 3 months spending some time finding my feet and learning all about the ISP and Internet provisioning industry and keeping big clients connected. It is amazing how everything is urgent and need to be done yesterday.

Hope to get back at blogging soon again.