Another great day to be in Cape Town

Well, as far as Wednesdays go, this has been a pretty good one.
Even though I'm busy trying to recover from a bloody flu/cold thing, I was up early and off to work bright eyed and bushy tailed. (had the wet nose too..)
I've really been missing Rebecca lately. There's just something about your own car that feels like home. And I wanted my baby back.

And then I got a call from the panel beaters to say that my car was ready for collection! Fantastic! (except for the part where I had to shell out just shy of R3k for my excess. Outsurance claims they can't find the bugger who caused the accident.)

So Rebecca is back, looking sexy as ever. I am a very happy guy right now.

Before

After

And so, what with it being Wednesday and time for the 3rd installment in our Starfinder Astronomy Course at the Iziko Planetarium, we decided that we would have a little picnic in the Company Gardens. The last few days in Cape Town have been super windy, but today was just awesome.

No wind, nice and warm...A perfect precursor to summer.

A short detour to Woolworths (I believe everyone has stopped, or never started, boycotting them now..) for some snack and it was off to the gardens.

Picturesque

What a spot for a picnic

This dude was just watching us...#freaky

Turns out he was just finishing his Streetwise Two

The New Vanilla Steri Stumpie..yummy

We had some munchies, with the squirrels looking on. Spotted this random little dude in the pics above. Apparently he was winning the staring contest. At first I thought he was chewing on a stick, but it was actually a chicken bone. All in all, another fantastic impromptu outing in Cape Town. I love this city.

The Starfinder Astronomy Course was interesting as usual. We actually went outside this evening to spot two satellites one of which was the Hubble Telescope. Very cool. One of the guys asked the lecturer why stars seem to twinkle. Apparently the answer is not "Because that's how the song goes..." My bad.

And that was Wednesday.. Oh, Arsenal and Manchester City lost in the Champions League this evening. Can this day get any better? haha

N.

Starfinder Astronomy Course at Iziko Planetarium

"Space: the final frontier. These are the voyages of the starship Enterprise. It's five-year mission: to explore strange new worlds, to seek out new life and new civilizations, to boldly go where no man has gone before."
You don't need to be a Trekkie (which I am not) to be familiar with this line.

I have always loved staring up at the night sky, pointing out constellations that lesser mortals might only guess. Knowing where Taurus begins and ends and that the Pleiades (you may know them as the seven sisters) form part of the constellation. Being able to identify stars such as Rigel, Castor, Pollux and Antares.
I have the late, great Professor Tony Fairall to thank for my (waning) knowledge of the southern skies.

The Iziko Planetarium is one of my all time favourite places to go in Cape Town, albeit it has been a while since I last saw an astronomy presentation. Which is why, this week, I am once again boldly going where no man has gone before. Okay, maybe that's a little melodramatic.

The Starfinder Astronomy Course is a 4 week course which gives you a glimpse of the heavens and how to identify the constellations that appear in our night sky. It is something that every Capetonian should do at least once. And so, this Wednesday, myself and 3 of my favourite Capetonians, shall be reclining in those ever so comfy chairs and gazing at the stars.

Of course, the other bonus about attending these evening courses is that you get to explore the Museum at night. It's hardly Night at the Museum, but exciting nonetheless.

If you are interested in attending the Starfinder Astronomy Course, call the Planetarium on 021 481 3900. Tickets are R200 per person and the course runs every Wednesday evening (19h30 till 21h30) from this week until the end of the month. I know it's short notice, so it's best to call ahead. If you miss this one, don't fret, the course will run again.

While you're at it, check out these shows that are also on at the moment. Morris Mouse is great for younger children and The Sky Tonight is great for a Saturday or Sunday afternoon.

If you are already booked for Wednesday, come say hi... I'll be the one looking up.

N.