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

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

I heard screeching brakes .....sirens blaring... a loudspeaker calling from afar

The next thing I knew, was police marching me off the golfcourse to their latest high tech prisoner van ...

Ok I had a nightmare ..this is what I feared... it didnt happen :) but I didn't linger too long to take these shots The whole golfcourse is now sealed off, even the former Metropolitan Golf Course is fenced off, you can only get in the parking lot now

The greyish mountain at the back is called Devils Peak then on the left of this photo you can see part of the City bowl district, the houses on the Hill are part of the suburb Upper Green Point The water in front is going to be part of the waterfeatures on the golfcourse

So here I was walking.....fast :) shooting left and right, seeing lots of water lots of birds, getting my shoes full of mud, my heart in my throat but it was worth it, the views are mind spinning !

After 5 days of heavy rain I woke up to a glorious blue sky and apparently it will be good for the next 5 days as well The new golf course has new drainage, which works a treat, only the very, very new grass sods (like a couple of days old )were a little spongy but there is still allot of ground which is just mud

On the left of this photo you see Signal Hill where I live, to the right is Lions Head and then the tall building is the infamous Ritz Hotel
At the top of Signal Hill you can just see some trees, thats where I often go to take the photos of the Green Point Common or Stadium like this

I have chosen about 12 photos from todays shoot which I will publish the coming days so don't go away, stay with me and uhh ..its allowed to say something :)
Congratulations to the Netherlands first Europeans to qualify for next years world cup
See you here next year !
PS Don't forget to click on the photos to see them large

IOL News used this "All rights reserved" 2010 Green Point Stadium photo without my permission, credit or payment

Click to enlarge

IOL news website published a Green Point Stadium photo of mine which they took from the Cape Town Tourism website which ran one of my photo essay's, it says clearly that the photo is by Joanne and is All rights Reserved Yet they used my photo without my permission or payment

1 of these 20 is the stolen image which my client paid for
and I send IOL an email on 30/5/2009 but got no reply from IOL whatsoever

Email copy:

I noticed you have used my Green Point Stadium photo without my permission, all my photos are "All Rights Reserved"
You took it from the CTT website which clearly mentions my name and website
http://www.capetown.travel/blog/entry/green_point_stadium_grows_a_cape_town_tourism_flickr_photo_essay/
I would like you to compensate me R 1000 for the use of the Green point Stadium photo without my permission

Joanne

They should know better ok TIA.... :(... This is Africa but do you think I should let them get away with those kind of breaches of All rights reserved?

Anybody got suggestions as to what to do next ?



On a happier note
Welcome to my 8th follower Brian Brown :)
Now that I have a counter on my blog I know allot of people drop by each day and I am grateful and excited about that its my incentive to keep posting daily but so far only 8 people took the time to sign up up as "follower" even my bestest friends or family havent yet What a lazy bunch I have :)

The 2010 Cape Town Soccer Stadium against a slate grey sky

Click image to enlarge
Well I did tell you that the stadium looks beautiful in any weather even today of all days with so much rain there was heavy flooding in Cape Town yet who could not love the look of this lady ?


The roof of the Cape Town stadium consists of a double layer of translucent white glass and the entire roof can flex in rough weather conditions its going to be partially closed but the spectator seating will be almost entirely covered

Madly and crazily in love with the new Cape Town Soccer stadium

I must be in love or mad or both I never tire looking at it or photographing it

Like the sea, this stadium never looks the same, it changes with the light and always looks beautifulIn my opinion the scenery and the stadium compliment eachother, many have likend it to a ship, with its sweeping wavy roof I guess it could indeed be mistaken for a ship from a distance

A random tit bit of information...A single incorrect switching off stadium lights could cost R75k

Not a mistake you would like to make then ...

Paragliding over the new Cape Town 2010 Soccer stadium

This was the 1 st of June a beautiful sunny day, the colours were so deep the sky so clear because we have had rain there was no dust in the air. I was out in my tiny garden watching my papayas and bananas grow :) when the para gliders came overhead They jump from Signal Hill its the hill I live on so they come right over my head I will do a tandem jump one of these days ... but not here in Cape Town maybe in Wilderness its cheaper there

Today is a different story..its raining cold and grey skies

2010 countdown is 371 days

Cruising through...

This huge cruise ship arrived and stopped just there for an hour or so waiting to be cleared by the harbour authorities, it meant I had an opportunity to shoot it, otherwise you would have just seen a streak of lights
Robben island, Nelson Mandela's prison for many years, set against a strinkingly beautiful evening sky

My God I love the song and the band so much !
"Cruising through" Goldfish

The link I put in was a live gig of Goldfish in Kirstenbosch Gardens I have been to several now and they are outstanding value for money what I especially like is that you can really get close to the podium, once I was so close I got a sweaty kiss from
Michael Buble :)!

This is a better version of "Cruising Through) Goldfish is a live electronic act from Cape Town, South Africa. The two members Dominic Peters and David Poole are jazz musicians who met while studying music at university. They recorded their first album ‘’Caught in the loop’’ themselves with little more than a double bass, a saxophone and a couple of synths. Since then they have got a cult following and numerous hits in South Africa they are known as the ‘Fishies’ to their fans.

Whales Rescue Attempts on Long Beach and Kommetjie beach were to no avail

Groups of rescuers made desperate attempts to push the creatures back to sea. Hundreds of volunteers tried to help them but, it was all in vain, with most of the false killer whales re-beaching themselves and then slowly dying of organ failure

Rescue teams had contemplated taking the whales to a nearby naval base and transporting them on boats to the deep sea, but the idea was abandoned because the animals' condition deteriorated rapidly.

So the most humane option to end their suffering was to shoot them Many of the False Killer whales turned out to be pregant females and calves, some of the whales bodies will be taken for research since its still not completely understood why they beach them selves en masse

To me this was the most poignant sight of the 2 hours I spend on this scene of destruction,

to see these young people sitting in freezing cold water with a helpless whale hoping against hope that they could rescue it

Some of the beached Whales Kommetjie Photos were published yesterday on the Cape Town Tourism website The best IMO if you are planning a holiday in Cape Town