I did a lot of this while I was at The Strand recently. The weather played along and as a result, I could wander around and fulfil my passion for recording my experiences digitally.
This Time for Peace Clock Tower, installed in 1993, on the beach at The Strand, was the starting point of my daily morning walks.
This was at the base of the tower. I read it every morning to remind me to be grateful for what we have here at the southern tip of the African continent.
A series of diverse statues have been placed on the promenade that runs parallel to the beach. Each is by a different artist and is representative of their work. There are currently 9 works on display.
Voelvry. Anton Smit
A view out over the Atlantic Ocean…
Wind Girl Monumental, 2019. Vincent Da Silva.
The Tree of Life. Neil Mopp.
In a way, this is a natural sculpture of sorts.
The beach was littered with this species of seaweed. Every morning a team would arrive to cut up, collect and remove the seaweed from the beach…and the following day they would have to do it all over again.
It is a seemingly endless task, but it keeps municipal workers busy and the beach relatively seaweed clean, if only for a few hours each day.
I stopped to ask a group of workers what happens to the seaweed after they have cut and bagged it. The answer was that they put it on the pavement, a vehicle collects it and after that, they have no idea what happens to it. I wonder if there is a commercial use for this particular species…
Art imitating life?
Sand art which seemed to be a semi-permanant installation. I did meet the artist one morning as he was doing touch-ups to the work that the wind and rain had damaged during the night.
This particular piece seemed to be a reflection of the real buildings in the background.
Assembled. Lionel Smit.
This particular work became the focal point of every walk that either my wife or I did.
It is hauntingly beautiful and the detail in the eye was created by a small piece of rebar welded into a hole. However, from afar, the combination gives the impression of an eye with a pupil…
Mother Nature. Louis Chanu.
A close-up of the same work.
The Diver. Nanette Ranger.
The plinth on which it stands denotes the pollution of our oceans. The fish that she is holding looks like a Coelacanth.
A few days before Christmas in 1938, a Coelacanth was caught at the mouth of the Chalumna River on the east coast of South Africa. The fish was caught in a shark gill net by Captain Goosen and his crew, who had no idea of the significance of their find.
The Director of the East London Museum at the time was Miss Marjorie Courtney-Latimer. She alerted the prominent South African ichthyologist Dr J.L.B. Smith to this amazing discovery. The Coelacanth was eventually named (scientific name: Latimeria chalumnae) in honour of Miss Courtney-Latimer.
FYI: Over 100 fossil species of coelacanth have been described. The oldest identified coelacanth fossils are around 420–410 million years old, dating to the early Devonian.
Whisper. Stavros Geogiades.
Could this have been inspired by the head of the horse found in a bed in The Godfather?
Sanctified. Janko De Beer.
Gordons Bay in the lee of the Hottentots Holland Mountain range.
When you want to fish, but you don’t have the patience…
Time to say goodbye to this special stretch of coastline. We hope to visit again in September.
Travel is the proud winner of this prestigious award from the digital British lifestyle magazine Luxlife. The award is in the category Best Travel & Experiences Blog 2024 – South Africa
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