The Great Train Jol
A week or so ago, a certain Jonathan decided it would be a good idea to take the train down the peninsula and have a day of fun and relaxation on the public holiday. Since I live about 150m from the Diep River station, I was the last person to hop on the train as it headed south and the jol 1 was already in full swing. We enjoyed the relaxing trip down to Kalk Bay, although there was the occasional mild panic to figure out which station we were at to make sure we didn't overshoot.
We got to Kalk Bay at around 10 and went wandering down to the pier to look at the fishermen and watch the seals playing. When we got tired of that, we found a coffee shop/restaurant/eatery that purportedly sold sushi (although we were too early for that) and breakfast (although we were almost too late for that) and beer (which was warm). I held out and had a coffee first time around, but snagged a spare Windhoek with the second round when the waitress brought too many of those and not enough Heinekens. After some juggling of varying-denomination paper money, we had the bill paid and train fares sorted out. (Jonathan had bought a stack of tickets, we needed to repay him and he needed to dish out some change.)
After that, some of us headed down to the bookshops and antique dealers and browsed a bit while the rest went and did their own thing. We were starting to get peckish, so we arrived at the Brass Bell about 45 minutes early for our lunch reservation. Our table was ready anyway, so we had more beer and waited for the other half of the party to catch up before we did the food thing. There is an unwritten rule that when you go to Kalk Bay by train, lunch is fish and chips. Graham missed this somewhere, and had to send his burger back to be reheated.
After lunch, we got back on the train and went to Simonstown. We wandered around a bit and ended up at a place where they do awesome ice cream. I don't know about the ice cream, but they do really yummy pancakes. After chilling there for a while, we marched back up to the station and caught the train back home. My jol ended a bit prematurely when I got off before anyone else, but it was an awesome day nonetheless. We really should do this more often.
1. For readers abroad: The word jol, like the word kief, is a generic South African word. It refers to having a good time and is used in any context. "I am going on a jol (party)." "I am having a jol (good time)." "That spectacular wipeout at Super Tubes was a jol (rush)." -- Surfrikan Slang
We got to Kalk Bay at around 10 and went wandering down to the pier to look at the fishermen and watch the seals playing. When we got tired of that, we found a coffee shop/restaurant/eatery that purportedly sold sushi (although we were too early for that) and breakfast (although we were almost too late for that) and beer (which was warm). I held out and had a coffee first time around, but snagged a spare Windhoek with the second round when the waitress brought too many of those and not enough Heinekens. After some juggling of varying-denomination paper money, we had the bill paid and train fares sorted out. (Jonathan had bought a stack of tickets, we needed to repay him and he needed to dish out some change.)
After that, some of us headed down to the bookshops and antique dealers and browsed a bit while the rest went and did their own thing. We were starting to get peckish, so we arrived at the Brass Bell about 45 minutes early for our lunch reservation. Our table was ready anyway, so we had more beer and waited for the other half of the party to catch up before we did the food thing. There is an unwritten rule that when you go to Kalk Bay by train, lunch is fish and chips. Graham missed this somewhere, and had to send his burger back to be reheated.
After lunch, we got back on the train and went to Simonstown. We wandered around a bit and ended up at a place where they do awesome ice cream. I don't know about the ice cream, but they do really yummy pancakes. After chilling there for a while, we marched back up to the station and caught the train back home. My jol ended a bit prematurely when I got off before anyone else, but it was an awesome day nonetheless. We really should do this more often.
1. For readers abroad: The word jol, like the word kief, is a generic South African word. It refers to having a good time and is used in any context. "I am going on a jol (party)." "I am having a jol (good time)." "That spectacular wipeout at Super Tubes was a jol (rush)." -- Surfrikan Slang