Nov 5, 20194 min read

EARTH

Story 2 – Cape Town 25 – 28 May 2019

Cape Town is now my new home. After living here for just over two years and, wanting to show people more of South Africa, this would be stop number 2 for James and I in our Elements Series.

I have always enjoyed Cape Town and the wave riders here. The friendliness and easy-going people really allowed us to make the most of our time in the water and the filming of this part of the series.

Cape Town was to be labelled EARTH due to its multitude of landscapes, views and mountain faces meeting the ocean along the coast. The Atlantic Ocean has some of the strongest and hardest water in the world. Its cold, raw power and unforgiving wind batters the coastline day and night. Traveling around the Cape area there are so many different elements that make riding waves here a real challenge, while the earth shows its beauty in so many different ways at every turn.

In the couple of days that we were filming, we managed to get to multiple spots and even got some time at Caves, scenes of Cape Town, Noordhoek as well as a mission into the Cape Point Nature Reserve. I was literally blown away by the time that we were able to spend working on our series in the Cape.

Image: Tamarac Searll

James arrived on a Sunday night and, after some small talk, we drove Clarence Drive around to Caves. Standing over the now wind-blown ocean, we decided on some photo shots and then headed home for dinner. Knowing that the few days we had together in the days to come would be filled with a lot of driving, and even more riding, the early night and good food got us ready to take on the Cape elements.

The next morning was go time. We packed the car, fueled up with breakfast, a coffee and shot through to Cape Town. This would be the start of an awesome adventure of waves and scenes that would showcase all that the Cape is about.

When we got into town the cloud cover started to lift and allowed us to get some beautiful sights of Hout Bay and the Sentinel from Chapmans Peak. This would be our first stop and a show of our sights and sounds of the Cape.

Image: James Jones

After a quick stop for some lunch in Noordhoek we moved around the point, heading down onto the long stretch of beach, chasing waves far down with the offshore winds now blowing. It was a slow afternoon of waves, moving from peak to peak as the sun beat down on the deserted beach. The water, which is usually cold, seemed to bless us with slightly warmer conditions. The day was long, and as I sat in the water with the sun moving towards the horizon, I managed to get some of the better waves of my day. We walked back to the car, slowly getting shots as the sun sank below the horizon, sending light rays all across the cloud-scattered sky. A first successful day of the trip and a happy team vibe!

After a long first day, our sights were firmly set on a great second day. Packing the car with warm jackets, water and the normal bodyboarding gear, we set off to our next destination, Cape Point Nature Reserve. The morning was again slow until James and I came across what we had been looking for; waves! We walked down a long road, along some gravel, over the rocks and through a kelp-strewn beach to find a little gem breaking in the middle of the bay. On arrival, I changed quickly and paddled out to get into a few waves on offer.

Image: James Jones

After a short session, a call was made to move on to our next spot; Dunes. Waves would be in the 6-8 foot range and I was blown away as we walked down the beach to see Mother Nature offloading all her raw ocean power on the shallow sand banks. The wind, now blowing huge fans of water off the back of perfect waves, was making waves stand up before noisily breaking. I ran out in the dying afternoon light and got some waves that would bring a close to the filming of the Cape Town trip.

It was two grueling days of chasing that swell. All the elements beat upon us during this trip. From the cloudy conditions, strong winds, cold water and hot sun, we knew this was going to be tough but we were happy it was successful. Looking back on the few days of filming, we are lucky enough to have got such good conditions.

Image: Tamarac Searll

James had been standing in the heat, wind, and battling all the elements, to come out on top with an amazing story to tell.

As always, I would like to thank everyone who had a part to play in the challenging production of this video, especially Rosie for all her support in all that we do!

This is EARTH: CAPE TOWN!