Thursday, June 26, 2014

Chapman's Peak - Named after someone who probably didn't even know it!

Chapman's Peak in Cape Town is a beautiful, coastal, mountain pass with dramatic rock formations, high slopes, and dangerous curves if not respected! It forms part of many tours in Cape Town including Cape Point, Constantia wine tasting or a visit to the penguins in Simon's Town.


The Cape Town community was shocked to a standstill when told the road will be closed permanently if not made safe. Rock falls caused car accidents and deaths in only a handful of years, and the road was becoming simply to hazardous. After a few years of construction closure and millions of Rands, the road was safely re-opened as a toll road. 

But who was Chapman? The road engineer? An explorer? Someone well-known? None of the above! He was simply a Captain's mate on an English ship in the early 1600's. They anchored in the Hout Bay area and The captain sent John Chapman into the rowboat to find provisions on land. The area was informally named Chapman's Chance for mapping purposes, but became official on maps in later years.


It is most likely Mr John Chapman died without knowing how popular his name would become. A temporary note on a map became a name spoken in Cape Town and historic tours every single day.

Thursday, June 19, 2014

The Cape Town Shipwreck Pizza Delivery

Certainly a pizza delivery like never before, and perhaps never again! The delivery boys from a Cape Town Pizza business goes the extra (sea) mile for their customers!


Some of you might remember this event from a couple of years ago if you were in the Cape Town area. It crossed my mind again (for some unknown reason!) and after looking it up, I found the pics and videos all around the internet! 

Saturday, 12 May 2012, a Japanese fishing trawler became stuck in the shallow Clifton sands, and simply popping it into reverse was going to help! With about 30 crew members and a dog on board, this gigantic piece of metal on the famous Clifton beach wasn't going anywhere! A massive, multimillion Rand operation finally moved the doomed ship to Cape Town harbour.



The smart guys from Butler's pizza realised that these guys need to eat! With the help from a local radio station they ordered a few pizzas. Within minutes three 'butlers', all dressed up in their red bow-ties, took on the icy waters of Cape Town to get their piping hot pizzas to their hungry customers... stuck on a shipwreck!





Saturday, June 14, 2014

Adderley Street in Cape Town - Why the Mother City main street was given this name.

Adderley Street is the main street of Cape Town and carries thousands of pedestrians and vehicles daily. This is where we find the famous flower sellers, historic statues, museums and as much of Cape Town culture as you can handle! It is also the hotspot for Cape Town Christmas decorations and lights every year.


The street was first given the name Heerengracht, after the canal that used to run down it's centre. For quite a number of years it was mostly a residential street filled with trees, but by the mid 1800's it became very commercial in nature. Mayor Hercules Jarvis called it Adderley Street in honour of British Politician C.B Adderley who sided with the residents of Cape Town and fought successfully against the planned project from the British to turn Cape Town into a penal colony.