Piet made his fourth trip to Cape Town this
year, for the project in South Africa he is working on. This time a number of
meetings were scheduled: with the South African authorities, an environmental
contractor, and two public participation sessions. The latter is a requirement
for every project in South Africa and comprises of an open house where people
can come to view project information and ask questions, which is followed by a
presentation and Q&A session. Piet even had to do media training for this,
to learn how to answer difficult questions. As his project is very far offshore
there was little interest in these sessions, only a few people turned up,
mainly oil & gas contractors looking for work and some fisheries
representatives.
As he had to stay over the weekend this
presented an opportunity for some sightseeing. He rented a car on Saturday
drove to Cape of Good Hope, some 30 km to the south of Cape Town. He was joined
by a teammate, and they made many stops on the way. The landscape on the Cape
Peninsula is stunning, and it is clear why this is a popular tourist
destination. After the Cape they stopped at Boulders (penguins), Muizenberg
(surfers beach) and Buitenverwachting wine estate (closed). The day ended up at
a colleague’s house for an afternoon beer. On the Sunday Piet went out by
himself, to Hout Bay, meeting up with two colleagues from the Shell Cape Town
office. He borrowed a bike, and went out on a 60 km cycle along the Cape
Peninsula roads. This is a true cyclists heaven, with rolling climbs (not too
steep) and stunning views. Piet will be back! In the afternoon he visited Groot
Constantia wine estate and Kirstenbosch Gardens, thus completing a 2-day tour
of the Cape. Hopefully Mary can come over as well on one of the future “business”
trips.
A rig in Saldanha Bay harbour
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