Rachel Colenso

As the new year rushes into the middle of its second month, I am all too aware that it feels like being on skiis for the first time - whizzing down a never ending slope! Help! What happened to Christmas? The New Year? A relaxed, controlled and measured start to 2010? Help! It's February and my blogs can't keep up. After a whirlwind tour of the Cederberg , guiding the renowned British photographer John Freeman on his quest to find the most scenic places to take stills, that were actually accessible with a mountain of photographic lenses, tripod etc, we settled for a quiet Christmas...well... sort of! THEN BANG! The new year happened, Cape Town Routes Unlimited held their Back2Business Conference for the business tourism and conferencing industry on the 22 January. It was an event with attitude! Western Cape Minister for Finance, Economic Development and Tourism, Alan Winde and Dr. Platzky (Deputy Director-General of the Western Cape and coordinator of the 2010 programme) a...

Karen Watkins, an experienced hiker and reporter wrote this great article for the Constantia Bulletin. Last year Karen joined us on the Vlakkenberg section of our hike over the Cape Peninsula mountains. I hope we will see Karen and everyone whojoined us on this walk on our ascent of Lion's Head.

We have some super pics from Smitswinkel Bay, which I was interested to find was supposedly named after the booming echo of high tide waves resounding from the large cave just inside the Cape Point Nature Reserve. We had a very interesting group of people who were all very different, and hardly anyone knew each other at the start! It made the day rather fun as we all learned a littel more about each other, and enjoyed the favourable weather and wonderful scenery. In fact it was such fun and such a great group of people that I hope we can all meet up on another hike.

Last Tuesday I happened to see an eye catching photograph in the Cape Times newspaper, the silhoette of an athletic looking hiker on a mountain peak gazing into the mist; (somewhat reminiscent of Casper Friedrich's "Wanderer above Sea of Fog".) Two members of the Mountain Club of South Africa, Jonathan Tillett and Nick Allen have managed a remerkable trek from Gordon's Bay to the Cederberg. It is considered to be the first time that this journey has been completed in its entirity. Their journey took them 15 days, over a series of weekends. Much of the route was through rough terrain and thick vegetation. Being the first people to accomplish a long journey like this is always difficult, as you can never be sure whether all your hard efforts and planning will be rewarded, of if close to your goal your success may be thawted by some or other obstacle. The isolation of travelling through 'unchartered' or previously untrodden ground can be extremely hazardous too. ...

Yet another downpour and I was wondering whether we should think of calling Saturday's family hike to Smitwinkel Bay off. As a last resort check to see if perhaps the forecast for Saturday had changed, I was pleasantly surprised to find it has! We now have perfect conditions forecast. A cool day (16deg), no rain and partially cloudy. So if you were thinking it might not be the Saturday to venture out and join us, get your boots and bathers and think again. Smitswinkel Bay tends to be more sheltered from SW winds which are expected. For details see: http://www.facebook.com/home.php?#/event.php?eid=175910296664&ref= mf or keep reading... Family hike at Smitswinkel Bay Join Rachel Colenso for a family hike to raise funds for Rape Crisis Cape Town Date: 14 November 2009 Time: 8:30 for 9 am Place: Meet at the Smitswinkel parking area Cost: R25 per person (Funds raised will be used to buy airtime for the 24-hour crisis line and to prepare care packs for rape survivors) Route typ...

On Saturday I gave a motivational talk at the inaugural fundraising function for Breast Buddies in Cape Town. The fundraiser at Edgemead Primary was very well attended with over 230 people enjoying the afternoon's food and entertainment from the beautifully laid banqueting tables. Steven Segal , this year's Mr South Africa who was MC and Auctioneer for the event was also sat at our table. He was accompanied by one of runners up in the upcoming Mr South Africa who was keen to get a feel of what Mr South Africa's role entails. Both men, other than quite obviously being very good looking were charming, warm and friendly. Mr South Africa is never decided on looks alone, but I was surprised to learn that other than having great interpersonal skills he has to be able to show talents in areas like singing or dancing when competing in the Mr Universe competition. We have a super ambassadors for our country with both these men, and wish Steven the best of luck for Mr Universe next...

On 24 October at 3.50pm about 50 people dived into the icy Atlantic at the last outpost of human habitation in the most South Westerly corner of Africa, Scarborough, near Cape Point. They spent 350 seconds (six minutes) bobbing about in the 8deg c water in support of the 350 Campaign. The ages ranged from 2 years old to around 80, some in wetsuits and some braving themselves against the elements. Two whales swam close to the shore during the event.