Bridget McNulty

A dedication to playfulness…

// September 23rd, 2008 // Cape Town, Life (and the living of it), Love

After three days of delicious sunshine, winter has returned to Cape Town… with a vengeance. Floodlike rains. Howling winds. The end of the world as we know it. And this is supposed to be spring?

So, to stave off weather-inspired cabin fever, I want to talk about my weekend – which was sun-soaked and wonderful… Sunday, in particular.

My man and I decided to go on a day trip up the West Coast – my favourite part of Cape Town, with its endless views and wild seas and rocks and (this time of year) abundant flowers. We spent some time wandering around the West Coast National Park, taking photos of the flowers and revelling in their colours (they’re really quite amazing – they come out of nowhere and cover the whole area in brightly coloured daisies). And then we drove a little further to the town of Langebaan, and had a seafood feast right on the beach, at Die Strandloper (www.strandloper.com)

It was incredible! Ten courses of crazy fresh seafood – all kinds of fish, and mussels, and crayfish – cooked right there on big fires or in potjie pots. They also bake their own (incredibly delicious) bread, and make homemade jams. The idea is that you go there for three or four hours, eat as much as you like, have a couple of drinks, walk along the beach, swim in the sea (if you’re brave!) and generally slow down… The tables are all old and wooden and set right in the sand, covered by fishing nets for shade. It is such an amazing way to spend an afternoon…

Not least (for me) because it was such a good dose of quality time with my man. One of my fears of moving in together was that we’d get used to each other and start taking each other for granted, but in fact it’s been quite the opposite. The time we spend together is such fun, and so deliciously playful and full of love, and we’ve started going on even more adventures than we did before.

And this is something I want to keep, throughout my life: A refusal to get too serious. A dedication to playfulness. A sense of fun.
What about you?