Hamilton 'Around the Bay Race'

This morning my sister and I ran the annual Around the Bay Race in Hamilton, ON. We split the 30k circuit of Hamilton harbour between us as a relay team. Yesterday we drove the course and, neither of us having a strong preference, flipped a coin to see who would start and who would finish. I ended up with the start.

What a scrum! 6000 people out of the gate at 9:30 sharp. I think I actually managed to start running freely around the 3k mark. It quite a sight, but the sound of all those expensive running shoes pattering on the pavement was hypnotic, like some tribal beat.

The scowl is for the dude who walked in front of the camera while the shot was being taken, either he was really fast or my I need to encorporate scowling into my training regiment.

This dude was my pace setter, I actually fell pretty far behind him. He finished the whole 30k in less than 3 hours. Good on ya! Alien man.
I finished at the 15k mark and handed of the time chip to my sister. My legs felt like they were replaced with stilts of agony around the 12k mark.

My big sis and I! She finished the race in Copps Coliseum and here we sat at the end of it all, fearful of staying too still lest our muscles atrophied.

When I was at the 13k mark, someone told me the leader was already at the 26k mark...that was 1:14 into the race!! We finished with a combined time of 3:04. I plan to learn how to run across water for next year, it will save much time.

South Africa IV - City Bowl and Bo-Kaap

A walking tour of the Citybowl is essential to any trip to Capetown. I think it is called the Citybowl for two reasons: a) it would sound funny to say Capetown's downtown and b) it really is shaped like a bowl. Capetown has a certain beauty all around, it really lies all around its natural environment with homes and development that simply hugs the surrounding geography. As you might see, the downtown really is in the shape of a bowl

Ah, the joys of youthful education and uniforms! This picture was taken moments before they noticed me and began smiling and waving.

Bo-Kaap is a very old muslim district located up the "bowl" from downtown. There are several old mosques dating as far back as 1794. This is the Owal mosque which dates back to 1794...hey, How about that!?

The residents of Bo-Kaap painted their homes in beautiful pastel colors. I was told this was in response to the forced eviction of the residents of District 6 in the 70's. That is a long story, I did go there but there is only a museum now. I suggest looking it up as it is an important historical event in South Africa's apartheid period.

This guy! His name is John and he is a variety of busker who walks around the "bowl" getting his picture taken with tourists. I heard he is 27 years old and is trying to build the world's largest/heaviest hat made of eggs. The one he was here weighs over 30kg. He is also making a call on his "cell phone".

Street vendors! This is my favourite part, Africans are very accomodating hagglers. Unlike Asian vendors who can be indifferent (Thailand), bitter (Korea), and downright fearsome (China). I was actually looking for a traditional mask, an authentic one which would not be found in a market here. I did end up finding a store well stocked with all types of ritual masks, but I couldn't imagine having my back turned on any of them while they were hanging on my wall. So, I settled for the mass produced aesthetics of the Greenmarket square.

South Africa III - Robben Island

Robben Island is named for the Dutch word for seal. It is about 12km off the harbour in Table bay and has a long history as both prison and leper colony. It was closed in 1996 and turned into a museum. To get there requires a choppy ride in mid sized ferry, followed by a bus tour of the village and grounds surrounding the prison grounds and the quarry where prisoners worked. There is also a walking tour of the prison grounds. Both are led by tour guides who were former inmates of the prison.

The grounds are desolate with little vegetation. The tour guide mentioned that this was not the case during his term of imprisonment, he said that after the prison closed in '96 some of the guards set their rabbits lose and they have since done what rabbits are good at and now the grounds are littered with rabbit warrens. (All of the tour guides were former political prisoners, they were mixed at first with the "conventional" prisoners and suffered abuse both physical and sexual abuse often at the direction of the guards. However, the political prisoners soon began to increase their influence over the other prisoners as educators and were separated).

This is the only shelter in the quarry where earlier prisoners were forced to work. The cave was their only shelter and the tour guide dubbed it the first campus of the African National Congress. It was here that Mandela and others gathered and educated each other and laid the groundwork for the leadership that would assume control of South Africa after the fall of Apartheid.

This were the beds the prisoners were afforded after the Red Cross was given access to the prison.

These were the beds the prisoners were afforded before.

This was the cell were Mandela spent most of his 27 years of imprisonment.

When the tour ended, we had about twenty minutes to wait until the ferry left. So I went back through the prison grounds on my own. It was practically deserted being between tours and I was shocked at how small it was. I came across this painted on the back of one of the prisoner's quarters, I found it strikingly ironic...on too many levels to mention here.

South Africa II - Cape Point

Cape Point is one of the southern most tips of the continent and where the Atlantic meets the Indian ocean. These penquins made the trip from the Antarctic just to have their pictures taken by tourists. Note the obvious play towards the camera by that guy in the middle, terrible actors those penquins.

Bamboons on the other hand, now there is creature worth respect. I ended up taking over a dozen pictures of these guys from the car window. This was the only shot I have where you can see anything aside from their butts.

This little beach is on the Atlantic side of the point, it was totally amazing. I wouldn't recommend swimming there though, the undertow will get you.

This is the real point, there is a fake lighthouse somewhere behind where most of the conventional tour bus driven tourists only have time to see. This point was about a 20 minute walk along the cliffside. Fantastic view of the collision of two oceans.

South Africa I - Hout bay

This was the sight I beheld the first morning after arriving. Hout bay a quiet collection of homes and shops on the other side of Table mountain from the main portion of the city. The clouds just roll over the top of the mountain tops, it is a fantastic effect...like a bad toupee.

Tomorrow is the Argus road race, it is 100 odd kilometers of biking involving 30 or 40,000 cyclists? Can that be right? Anyway, the road leading up to this point, called Chapman's peak, was littered with cyclists...well, the whole damn city was crawling with them the whole time I was there.

View from the road going up to the peak.

Hout bay harbour has a fish factory whose processes sometimes waft nicely over the rest of the bay. There is a small beach and many restaurants, oh yeah and a bar where they serve Vindhoek pints for 16 Rand (about 2 bucks).

South Africa - Intro

I sit at my desk this Saturday afternoon, vaguely studying and watching the snow outside. We were expected to have close to 40cm over the weekend, I'm sure I cleared at least 20cm off my car this morning. The last time I drove my car was back from Pearson airport last Saturday after my trip to Capetown, SA.

I haven't really gotten around to writing, or blogging my trip (such an ugly verb!) for various reasons. But I took so many pictures I thought I would share them in the next few postings which will grouped episodically. Africa is a big place, South Africa is also a big place, Capetown is not such a big place but it is a massive mental experience to have spent a week there. The levels of exposure to the natural and civilized features, the culture, diversity, poverty and affluence are simultaneous and difficult to sift apart. I'll spare those thoughts for another venue, still I wish to thank my many hosts for being so accomodating and kind...and for protecting me from the ostriches.