cape of storms ...
This was the name Batholomeu Dias originally gave to this promontory, and it is currently living up to it. For a third day we have strong gales -- peaking last night, according to the forecast, at an average 57 mph (just under 100 kph, and probably peaking at 150 kph). This is the notorious South-Easter. It has been strong enough to make small cars skitter about on the highways, and walking against it very difficult (especially breathing through a fabric mask!) A rose bush in our fairly sheltered garden had five blooms on it three days ago -- yesterday it had none; today I saw at least one mature tree uprooted. You can hear the next gust coming in the trees on Devil’s Peak; like an aircraft coming into land, the roaring grows and grows until it hits the spot where you are. Apparently (I am assured) this is unusual weather for this time of year; but I remember days like this when we first visited Cape Town in late 2018, and wondering whether we were about to lose the roof. We have also had more rain than usual, at least in recent years; the dams are close to 99% full, and we may actually see the once-a-lifetime event of water pouring over the tops before long. All told, it’s not surprising that Dias never managed to land in Table Bay, or anywhere else this side of Mossel Bay.
