Late winter fabulousness

Rain overnight, cool and wonderful

A corner of the garden slope - lovely lush foliage, mint and lemongrass.

Patio glory - the best weather

The Faces of Fifa

Aiden and Dylan indulging in a bit of Friday-night-allowed pleasure - Fifa.  It is a parade of unguarded expressions, which, if you focus in on, are delightfully un-self-conscious nor posed.  The upside of the downside.

Special Day - with knives and High Junk Peak

Today is a special day.  My cousin Rob and his partner Henk are getting married.  They are super-fabulous, and we are thinking about them, and sending love and good vibes.  As soon as I get a pic I will post it right here.

Ev spent the afternoon constructing a wooden butterfly knife out of ice-lolly sticks. 
Lots of drilling and sanding and cutting and gluing - it's turned out really cool - video to follow.

The air has been great, so I took the big camera up High Junk Peak - for the first time in ages.
Sheung Sze Wan is mid-right, just going into shadow.  The top is 344m (feels a lot higher going up).

Fellow peakers - looking down over Clearwater Bay beaches 1 and 2, Ninepins on the horizon left.

Camera bag and "high" quality graffiti on the Trig Beacon on the top - "Smoke weed, eat pizza".
I'm sure there's a fair bit of that going on in SA as we speak (pizza ovens are not necessarily electric :-)

Oh my word - real beauty - Aiden and cousins in the Drakensberg

As far as a photo goes, this for me is one of the very best of the best of the best; it is narrative, epic in its colours and framing and symmetry  - exquisite.  I think it is completely fantastic and appealing in every way.  Drop. Dead. Gorgeous.

Ethan and Aiden - Drakensberg, winter in KZN, 2018

Emma-Daisy and Aiden - utterly fantastic in its own right - just fabulous, beyond.  The way the holes where the windowframes once were, repeating into the distance, colours fading.... wooooohoooo man

The big walk

We set out from the gate of the country park this morning for our annual big walk.  From our side it was only the ze-boys - Ange having trashed herself properly in a tennis fall (chin, toe, ribs ...).  It was super-cool, and much less in the way of whinging on the way (though getting a tired, would-like-to-sleep-another-five-hours Aiden out of bed and onto the bus was taxing).  On the whole it was a very cheerful group.  The air was however somewhat foul - so all the pics are close range.

Back to front - but I so like this pic - Ev on the sampan heading back to Sai Kung.

Pak A villiage, near Yau Lei - cool flags a fluttering.

Dylan in Pak A - deserted houses for the most part - some still inhabited.

Some uninhabitable... the fingers and trunks of time.

Ev above High Island Reservoir - as I mentioned - chewy air (which hopefully will be gone tomorrow)

The sampan on the way home.  Plenty of tired legs.  Dylan had just fallen asleep, which was
unlucky; senconds later he was unable to defend himself from a tongue kiss from Buddy,
Liz and Pete's completely hyperactive Labrador - Border Collie cross.  Very funny for everyone else

Divine Chinese New Year's day

I've enormously enjoyed today.  It was fantastic.  I went for a long walk this morning, swam in the (for Hong Kong) freezing sea, and then walked home through the bush and an old and unusual village.  Then Jacques, Hisako, Maya, Miki and baby Jay came for lunch.  It was something movie-like special - can't quite put my finger on why - lovely day, lovely food, lovely people, lovely walk between the lunch and desert (my best).

Love our patio on a winter's day, Jay-boy on the munch, Maya and Miki getting into it.

Hisako - super-mom with Jay and Miki

Jay and Ev hit it off...

...it's so cool to see, Ev is so often the youngest, and he's taking his turn at looking after and loving a little one.

Jay has Jacques hypermobile and quizzical brows - checking out the camera lens with his Peter Pointer.

Lucky boy - super-nice, super-engaged big sisters.

Lots of laughter - delightful blend of smarts and humour

Hisako and Jay - chillin in the gentle night.

Touring bikes

I'm trying to convince Aiden to bike touring in Taiwan in October.  He's so not into it and ambivalent - can you imagine?  Anyway, I'm definitely planning to go - in case you feel like an unusual Asian experience.  Below, messing around with Ev as the photographer.  Big blue - still the coolest - in photo-shopped flight.

Masi Giramondo - slightly weird yet beautiful bike - and for that reason the one to get.

Kona's Sutra - probably the most sensible choice, along with...

....Salsa's Marrakesh.