More Than A Train Ride

Yesterday afternoon, I had a most unexpected catch up with an ex colleague on the train from Sutherland.

It was positively delightful. It was encouraging. We smiled.

We eased off our own separate individual concerns for the day. It was something that money cannot buy.

Fortunately it was not a quiet carriage that we were sitting in.

Scott and I quickly got in to easy conversation, even if we have not caught up for a few years. We talked of over coming challenges that crop up inevitably in our career and personal timelines. 

I learned how Scott transformed and changed whatever recent lemons were thrown his way. He spoke of how his young family adapted and supported the things he had to do to navigate from a discouraging environment to one where now he finds he can optimally practise his professional passion with engaging work team members and bosses.

He had to make sacrifices along the way but he never wavered. On a 50 minute train ride, I was inspired, moved and became stronger myself. What positive building energy was he transferring to me...

We do unexpectedly meet angels in surprising forms. I have learnt more than ever to not take such encounters for granted. They can fly in and touch your inner heart when I was not expecting any thing uplifting.

Throughout it all, I was reminded of the personal strengths and inner attitudes that Scott always possessed, from the first day I got to know him. Life is a journey for each of us to navigate, but it is made better by people like him.

Southern Cape South Africa - Coastal Vignettes False Bay

Rocky with cliffs.  Sweeping vistas as the road winds its way to hug the contours of the Cape coast.
The wind is on our faces. That is how I first encountered the southern oceans, away from those in New Zealand and Australia.  The landscape here still has rugged terrain, with not many people, more natural and yet still impressive.   There are houses, mostly clinging on to the hill sides, but there is not much vehicular traffic.  Where are the surfers, one of the first thoughts that bugged me as I am transported down the Southern Cape, beside a bay that is seen as False.

 I was not certain whether this route I was taking with my group was passing by the Atlantic, or Indian, Oceans.   The relevant question then is whether False Bay is part of the Atlantic or Indian Oceans.  Spots with English and Dutch name origins dot the coast, like Parson's Nose,  Saint James, Murdock valley, Seaforth, long Beach, mackerel bay, Fish Hoek and Shelley Beach.   By coincidence, names like Shelley Baech, Seaforth and St, James are also used in the greater Sydney area in Australia.  There is a Mediterranean climate here, nurturing its popularity as a get away route with holiday homes, fishing for the Snoek, fine dining, scuba diving and yachting sport.

Where there are no sandy beaches, the ocean meets land with rocky surfaces or slopes of thin vegetation.  May be it was the season - early spring.  I could feel excitement of budding and practising geologist when coming to this region.  South Africa's Cape province is the site of more than several high points with record breaking cliff gradients beside an ocean.

False Bay is defined in boundary by Cape Hangklip, the cute name meaning "hanging rock".   This has been emphasised to us when we had a stop over to view a quiet large inlet.  Most likely a tour hot spot, for people had written in chalk names, places of origin and dates of being there.  It was a quietly stunning experience, soaking in the panoramas of rather placid waters touching the bases of cliffs.   The roads built to circumnavigate the coast are neither too wide nor narrow.   My group stopped mainly at Simon' Town and at Boulder Beach African Penguin colony.

Empty beautiful beaches line the route and provide a getaway from it all.  The landscape is so different from the interior of South Africa but here the Great White sharks swim aplenty.

From Muizenberg to Smitswinkel Bay, along a part of inlet called False Bay, the scenic ride or drive happens.   Seals around the shore at Cape Fur Seal do attract sharks in the waters - and just like around Australian waters, incidents of shark attacks do happen.  And not just any shark species, but the Great White. There is a register kept on line of casualties involving individuals off the coast of South Africa.

A  tip of a huge continent - Cape of Good Hope, but not where the Indian Ocean's warm Mozambique currents flow.

Rocky cliffs predominate part of the scenic route south from Cape Town to Simon's Town and Cape Point.

A bay along the False Bay coast.

Land's end at the Cape of Good Hope, where two major oceans still do not meet up.  The lesser known Cape Alguhas is said to be where the Atlantic meets the Indian Oceans, as the cold Benguela currents from Antartica still touch False Bay and Cape Point.
The Cape of Storms was changed in name by Portuguese King John II to the Cape of Good Hope, for its discovery and passage use by European colonists significantly changed the history of trade, cultural intermingling and cuisine development forever.

Cape Point is also known as Diaz point, in honour of Bartholomeu Diaz and rises 249 metres above the ocean level.  There is still some distance to traverse between the Cape of Good Hope and Cape Point.  The latter has become another tour spot, with a funicular railway to ferry visitors up to the light house if you do not wish to climb up.  Interesting enough, Vasco da Gama Point is north of all these, along the southern stretches of False Bay, within the confines of the Cape of Good Hope Nature Reserve, south of Smitswinkel Bay and Simon's Town.


You may want to check out:

The Black Marlin Restaurant
http://kindlyyours.blogspot.com.au/2015/09/the-black-marlin-simons-town-south.html

Penguin Colony
http://kindlyyours.blogspot.com.au/2015/10/penguins-boulders-beach-false-bay.html

and

Simon' Town
http://kindlyyours.blogspot.com.au/2015/10/simons-town-southern-cape-south-africa.html

The Northern Explorer - Palmerston North to Wellington

The Northern Explorer - National Park New Zealand

The ferns, grass and native vegetation - relatively untainted, with still the trekking spirit nurtured.

The daily train from Auckland's Brittomart Station to Wellington City terminus rolls on past coniferous as it makes progress  in the early afternoon through the centre of North Island New Zealand

Life fights on, even in cold temperatures, little flora persist amongst difficult conditions.

Farming country, plains and valleys - the classic country New Zealand.

The viewing coach lets passengers embrace the fresh air, natural smells and captivating sights more readily than within an enclosed cabin.

A wet climate adds to the allure of the Long White Cloud - and engenders the right mix of factors supporting sheep and cattle farming.

Through mist and toil, the ground is so fertile to make my life grow.

Climbing uphill, one builds character and dignity - and takes pride in the effort to persist and overcome.

"Oh Danny boy, the pipes, the pipes are calling
From glen to glen, and down the mountain side"

Valley deep, mountain high.

Self explanatory, 3pm on a June Monday.

The Northern Explorer - Waikato Valley New Zealand

Bundeena to Cronulla and back - Boat on the Bay

Captain Ryall ran the first ferry service in Port Hacking Bay from Jibbon Beach in Bundeena Village.

Between Horderns and Gunyah beaches lies the ferry wharf that today provides passengers (image above) a refreshing half hour ride to Cronulla Beach. The boat ride, run by the Cronulla and National Parks Service, is highly recommended. With boats called TomThumb and CurraNulla, they are the link between two different worlds and run every hour (on the half hour) from each destination. Below, the door to the captain's navigation deck.

I was impressed with the orderliness and housekeeping aboard the boat, noticeably the safety float vests stored above the passengers (above image) and the cleanliness of floors and seats. Below, a typical scenery passengers encounter along the ride - stand up board paddlers, swimmers and surfers.

Pets, families and backpackers are all welcomed aboard by the crew - one of whom collects ticket fares once the journey begins.

Above, the boat approaches the wharf at Bundeena Village.