This blog was originally intended to be released on New Year’s day however we lost the broadband internet connection in Llandudno for my last week in Cape Town. Living in paradise has its price, sometimes we lose the internet, sometimes the electricity and on other days we have to struggle without fresh water. I live next to a nature reserve so we have accepted the need to take the rough with the smooth. In the photos below I will introduce you to some of the compensating pleasures of this region.

First of all I should explain that I am not the only regular visitor to this location. In this blog I will introduce you to Wilf and Wendy who regularly visit Sunset Rocks for a bit of summer romance. Wilf has something of a wind problem – so he tends to snort a lot. I always know when he is near because I can hear his rather loud snorting. In the picture below I have tried to capture him while he snorts.

Wilf is a whale and around mid-December (2013) we were treated to a visitation by dozens of whales. During one of my daily treks to Sandy Bay beach I managed to count about 8 spouts rising out of the sea at one time. Clearly not all whales spout at the same time so eight simultaneous spouts indicated that there were something like 30-50 whales playing in the sea.

At a local party I recently met someone who used to take people on whale spotting trips from the Cape Town waterfront. He said that on a typical day they might be lucky enough to see a single whale in the distance (fog and rain permitting!). This made me feel slightly guilty since I can simply sit in the comfort of my balcony and enjoy multiple whale events. Clearly we do not get these every day. I hardly saw any whales during my two week November trip. In contrast I discovered a true orgy of whale activity immediately upon my arrival in December.

Many visitors to the region initially mistake the local rocks for whales. One of the main differentiators is that the rocks don’t normally express wind and rarely spout water!

Also rocks do not have a tendency to dive or wave their tails….

As soon as I saw Wilf I knew that his girl friend Wendy was unlikely to be far.  I was right – just after he decided to take a dive Wendy surfaced.

In the following two photos Wilf and Wendy demonstrate some whale ‘togetherness’ as they prepare themselves for more energetic fun.

As they got closer to Sunset Rocks I could sense there was going to be some major courting activity. Wilf was certainly starting to get rather restless.

At first when I saw Wilf in the picture below I thought he might be waving at me to invite me to come and join in the fun. However he had a much bigger prize in mind – the voluptuous Wendy!

Wilf started the activities by demonstrating that he was no slow coach when it came to swimming round the rocks.

The I witnessed the whale equivalent of a high jump event. It is not just horses that provide show jumping entertainment. Wilf loves to toss himself out of the ocean and expose his sexy body to Wendy in all its glory.

Here is a closer picture of him as he demonstrates to Wendy that the two of them can really make fireworks once she gives him a chance. If you double-click on any of these photos you can get a high definition version of the whale pictures.

I had intended to spend most of this trip to Cape Town (and the last one) working on the Duggleby Family Tree. However when Wilf and Wendy popped by I couldn’t help being a little distracted. They were however not the only large distraction sailing past my living room window during this stay. I regularly get other passing ‘giants’ like the one in the three photos below.

As New Year’s eve drew closer I thought it would be nice to share with you a sunset shot in celebration of the end of another exciting year. There was just one problem – there was a rather inconvenient obstruction standing directly between me and the sun-set.

Actually trees can get in the way of many good scenic photos (and mess up the auto focus if you are not careful). In addition to the palm tree standing between me and the setting sun there was another one plonked right in front of the mountains to the side of my balcony.

Actually taking the pictures needed for this week’s blog did not distract me very much from my work on the Duggleby Family Tree. They were all taken from my balcony. So with a bit of luck (and probably some bad weather now I am back in the UK) I should only need another weekend to get the tree ready so I can publish an update. Thanks to everyone for their patience – it has been something of a mega project for 2013.

If you are interested in reading my other health focused articles try the following

Torture In The Shower – Face and Body Soap Allergies – Main Suspect: Pears Transparent Soap

Poison in your Washing Machine: Allergic Contact Dermatitis from Laundry Detergents, Softeners, Conditioners and Whiteners

Is Alzheimer’s caused by the Gum Disease Bacterium P. Gingivalis – A Dementia Prevention/Treatment Breakthrough?

Toxic Chemicals in Sex Toys – 18 Vibrators, Cock Rings, Love Balls Tested – Only 3 Get All Clear

My T-shirt Made Me Sick – Textile Allergies – Sinusitis From Your Underwear