Can you help to get Table Mountain named one of the New 7 Wonders of Nature?

There is a road, Tafelberg Road which gets you to the Cable Car Station but if you keep following it, you will find it closed off to cars because the road isn’t in good condition, there are points where it's falling away and there are rocks which have fallen onto the road but the views are stupendous and its great for cycling, jogging or walking, it winds all around Table Mountain until it meets Devil's Peak (about 10 km's) then the tarred road becomes a gravel track which will take you around the mountain towards the Southern Suburbs
I found it to be rather busy around sunset which means I might dare venture there on my own on good weather days

I read that Table Mountain climbed to number five in the New 7 Wonders of Nature global rankings on Monday June 8 rocketing 24 places from its previous position of 2of the week before . It is now officially ahead of legendary mountains such as Mount Everest, K2 Mountain and Mount Kilimanjaro.
Table Mountain itself is so beautiful, rich in flora and fauna with pretty waterfalls and ponds the mountain is just incredible either to look at it or to be on it or to see the view from it, it deserves to be one of the new 7 wonders, at one time I even considered to run a blog just about Table Mountain but that was before the Stadium bug bit me :) maybe one day ...

The New 7 Wonders of Nature will be determined by votes from South Africans and foreigners who can show their support for the Mother City's majestic mountain by visiting Vote for Table Mountain
Please cast your vote if you haven't done so yet !

Start of top truss construction on the Green Point Stadium

On June 11 the first truss on the upper side of the stadium was installed Eventually the PVC membrane will be attached to these trusses It hadn't registered with me that this was a truss too, initially I thought it was a contraption to do with the laser show :)

After a few stunningly beautiful and really hot days we are back to winter weather, grey, dreary and wet a very wet weekend but on Teusday it will be sunny again and
20°C expected on thursday

This colourful dredger caught my attention, it is called Prins Der Nederlanden and while I am typing this its coming back into harbour ..I wonder why
Here is a cool website with the ship movements in and out of the Port of Cape Town

Just learned that there is a virus on Skyscrapercity
Darn !

Cape Town Tourism launches dedicated 2010 Cape Town website

My Stadium images were used for the photo gallery and slide show on the new 2010 mini website

I know I am not the only Capetonian, who is hugely impressed with the speed this construction was stamped out of the ground and I am imensely proud to be able to show off this beautiful new Cape Town stadium to the rest of the world

The 2 photos here on the blog show the difference a year makes and so far the completion date is still on target: December 14
Around 2000 construction workers worked flat out and often during the night

I have been asked if I can hear the noise from the construction but thankfully I can't inside the house but if the wind comes from that side, I can hear a distant noise but only when I am outside which isn't bothering me



The video of last nights laser show illuminating the Green Point Stadium is here on my Youtube site
I know I am in need of a "How to make videos and editing tips"
Also the camera picks up the slightest noise, listening to the video I heard crickets chirping which I never noticed before !

Official countdown to 2010 party on Green Point Common, Cape Town

On June 11 President Jacob Zuma,Helen Zille and Danny Jordaan + other dignitaries, visited the Green Point stadium and President Zuma officially kicked off the countdown to 2010 I just caught this helicopter trailing the "1 year to go 2010" flag, unfortunately th colours are dull because it was a hazy day
Last night there was a party in full swing and tonight as well with live music and a laser show illuminating the stadium It took them a while to get the colours from the laser show showing, they were just white until about 11 pm when they sorted the problem I took a video I haven't checked it yet If its good I will show you of course




Not everybody is happy though there is a strike threat for Green Point Stadium
Construction workers are demanding a 15% wage increase while Safcec is offering 7%.

Aerial view from Table Mountain

You really need to click the image to get an idea of the view I had while walking on Table Mountain

On my left and behind me not shown here is Table Mountain

I am looking down on to the city bowl district of Cape Town, in summer this is where the South Eastern wind richochetes around and round, sometimes for days on end

The pointy peak is Lions Head, then the hill on the right is Signal Hill where I live but I live on the Atlantic side You can just see a strip of the sea, that side is also called the Atlantic Seaboard

I knew the photos would be lousy since I had the light against me and it was also very hazy so I am dying to go back soon but in the morning, when I will have the sun behind me


The Port of Cape Town

Cape Town is South Africa’s second busiest container port, after Durban and provides services to the emerging oil industry in West Africa in support, repair and maintenance facilities The deep sea fishing industry uses Cape Town too and numbers of Far Eastern fishing vessels are based at Cape Town for a large part of the year
Cruise ships like to stop by for obvious reasons

This is why there are so many different ships in my photos, I have full view of the entrance to the Port of Cape Town

Hiking high up Table Mountain

Click on photo to enlarge

I went for a few hours sunset hike high up Table Mountain There are no superlatives to tell you what its like, except its just heaven Out of this world !

It was an incredible day, just like summer and an exquisite sunset as you can see here After the hike I had dinner in Anatoli , it was heavenly :) ....Anatoli is the best Turkish restaurant in town Consistently superb food and being Teusday night I was amazed to see how busy it was and now I am about to fall off my chair, so I will leave you with just this photo of Robben island in the distance and our new 2010 stadium the most beautiful stadium I know and have ever laid eyes on :)

View from the new Metropolitan golf course in Cape Town

A huge water feature in the making on the new Metropolitan golf course which is already teeming with birds You know once this golf course is ready in April 2010 I might even take up golf :) its really nice to walk around and the views are to die for

A close up view from the Metropolitan Golf Course of the Green Point Stadium trusses (white vertical and horizontal poles) where the PVC facade will be attached to


Green Point Stadium : A theatre of sport
The PTFE/glass membrane façade totaling some 30,000 square metres provides one of the significant architectural features of the stadium The façade completely wraps the whole perimeter of the stadium and is supported from some sixty vertical trusses with a series of horizontal fins within the individual membrane fields.

The light membrane is composed of expansive concave elements that form a cohesive flowing facade, which follows the stadium's undulating shape. The light-colored glass-fiber tissue emphasizes this effect, since its color creates a sense of depth and animation, and the translucent surface absorbs and reflects the effect of the existing daylight. At sunset, the stadium possesses a reddish glow, a blue one on a bright summer day and has a gray appearance on a stormy day in winter.

This is already absolutely true, when watching the stadium and roof during the day, in different kind of weather, the changing colours are amazing
View toward the Cape Town city bowl district and Devils Peak

A second pre-view of the New Metropolitan Golf course in Cape Town 6/6/2009

June 7 Part of the new Metropolitan Golf course
Where I was walking yesterday, this part of the Common is still mostly un-developed and rather muddy

View from the golf course I think that tomorrow the gap in the fence will be closed off, they haven't been working on the Green Point Common this weekend but now that its been dry the last 2 days I am sure they will steam full power ahead
Its hectic when I watch them working on the Common so many heavy machinery at work

One of the water features ...Devils peak on the right of the photo

Signal Hill on left Lions Head right
If you need really affordable accomodation in 2010 close to the Stadium and the V&A Waterfront with all its shops entertainment and restaurants then the Ritz hotel (tall building ) is a good bet people seem to be happy there and think they get good value for money