The Whitest Beach (Private Joke)

Then, church on main youth camp came. It was a weekend away in Noordhoek, best known for its beautiful shoreline and long, white sandy beach which is about 8 kilometers long. We got to camp early evening on Friday and headed straight to Noordhoek Beach which lies just under Chapman’s Peak. We spent a while there, and I took a swim with some of the boys. I assure you, the water is not warm there, as clear and beautiful as it is. It’s temperature is piercing but feels wonderful in the warm air. Tash, Matt, and I adventured up into the rocks to watch the sun begin to lower. Saturday, after morning service, we took a quick trip to the bakery. Of course, are car was overloaded and thus, per usual, I found a nice cozy spot on the floor in between the passenger back rest and the seat behind it, while Brad sat in the boot of the car. Shoes on? Obviously not. This is South Africa.

After afternoon services, we went back to the beach where Mike taught me the ins and outs of touch rugby. It’s much better to actually experience playing because you learn to read the field…not that I was much good at it. I generally only learn to see what’s in front of me considering running is a straight-line sort of game. But, it was fun nonetheless, mostly because I could poke fun at my friend Simon. Then we headed to a local bar to watch the cricket game. Now that is an entertaining sport, but, interestingly enough, not entertaining for the level of athleticism it illustrates. I say it is interesting because something happens during every play. There is never a null point of lack of progression; the game is always moving along. What a great game it was! South Africa beat India in the very last moments of the game. Plus, Patrick split Marcel’s (froyo) with me!

Saturday night Mike, Dane, Simon, and I attempted to sleep outside under the stars. Problems came when we realized the ground was wet and consequently decided to sleep on a raised platform on the jungle gym. This would have been very successful had a 3-inch role to your right or left not ended in a perilous fall. Yet, during those few hours of attempting the sleepless night, I laughed harder than I can remember. We learned a lot about Dane’s grand sense of humor. At about 2 am, we called it quits and crawled back into our cabins for a good night’s slumber. In the morning we woke up for an early service and cheered on the bikers racing in the Augus Cycle Tour around Cape Town. Because of the race, we had to park our cars several kilometers away from camp, so leaving was quite a process and definitely a funny sight to see.

That week, Ilana, Taylor, and I hiked up Lion’s Head yet again, for Lans’ first summit. Taylor decided it would be a good idea to hike down to Camps Bay, which was great in theory until about half way when we all realized how hungry we were. But, of course, at that point, I couldn’t let us stop, and we somewhat silentely mumbled our way down to the waterfront. For homegroup that Tuesday, we went to signal hill to watch the sun set with a beautiful view of Cape Town. The city is so vast; it’s truly breathtaking.