Healthy Living in St Francis

Welcome to The Pound A new concept in fitness

Stranded abroad over lockdown Stuck at Supersuck

Issue 1 September 2020 Photo: @gumboot.camera What’s Inside West Wind West Wind ...... 3 The Pound...... 4 Kouga Municipality Co-Sponsors The Rip Curl E-Pro ...... 8 News from St Francis Property Owners Association ...... 12 Happy Birthday St Francis College...... 15 Arterial Roads Resurfacing...... 18 News From The Joint Kromme River Committee...... 19 Bruce’s Museum & Cafe...... 20 New Dates Confirmed For Wine On Water Festival In St Francis..21 Healthy Living In ...... 23 Runners, Swimmers and Water Groms...... 25 Souls Of St Francis...... 28 Update From The Rotary Club Of St Francis ...... 31 Stuck at Supersuck ...... 33 Update from the St Francis Property Owners ...... 39 West Wind Hi and welcome to issue one of The West Wind, a new local St Francis publication. Our team consists of Craig Jarvis and St Francis Today. Small beginnings, but we hope you enjoy it. Our new digital magazine hopes to entertain, and inform. We aim to cover the greater St Francis area, Oyster Bay, and JBay so feel free to mail us to let us know what you think, if you have any advice, or if you want to have something in particular published or mentioned. We are dedicated to keeping things fairly light, and we’re not into negativity. How could we be negative anyway, now that the beaches are open, the bottle stores are trading and those that want to smoke can do so, just as long as they throw their stompies away. We have had some great new developments in Cape St Francis with The Pound, Haydn Holmes’ new ‘gym’ of sorts at the CBD. Next up is Faye Zoetmulder and Ari Kraak’s new Coastal Collective food store and eatery. You can find out more about those two developments inside. The St Francis Property Owners (SFPO) and the NPC continue to do great things for St Francis Bay, and were involved on the ground when the spit breached last month as well as this month. Hopefully they can get the long term coastal protection scheme in play as soon as possible. The project’s kick-off is absolutely crucial, because the spit is extremely vulnerable and something has to be done. One of our most lauded surfers, Dale Staples from St Francis Bay was the inaugural winner of ’s first online event. He won the men’s division while Sophie Bell from Salt Rock in KZN won the ladies division. Although the beaches are open, there will be no surf events this year, and who knows what will happen next year. Talking of next year, maybe Cape St Francis local Julian Werts will make it back by then. Julian. is an American but has been living in Seals for close on 20 years now, so is as local as they come, despite his American twang. He has been stuck on Lombok and in Bali for months. Read all about his adventures in ‘Stuck at Supersuck’ inside.

CONTACT INFORMATION: Craig - 082 376 4443 - eMail: [email protected] Colin - 082 554 0796 - e-Mail: [email protected] The Pound A new gym in town Alongside the Liquid Lines training pool sits a new build- ing, called The Pound. It’s a gym, but like no other. The gym founder is Haydn Holmes, and he envisaged some- thing new when he started developing his new training space. We reached out to Haydn, to chat to him about The Pound. Interview by Craig Jarvis CJ: This something new and exciting, but it’s not really a gym as we know it. What is it? HH: The Pound was created as an anti-gym. We wanted to create a space that, in our opinion, accommodated a water people/ ocean culture. We wanted to create a space that allowed like-minded people to come together and get active in ways which support their choice of living at the coast. This is a place that has Chester- field couches, Persian carpets but has assassins on the floor. It has beauty and nostalgia but ruthlessly efficient workout methods. CJ: The Pound. Where does the name come from, and what does it mean?

HH: We are slightly off-kilter but no less fun. The beauty of being local is that while many familiar landmarks or surf breaks become synonymous with the area, they tend to be branded around frivolously by all and sundry. The Pound is proof that not everyone knows everything about this paradise, and it is an exam- ple of what living here means. It’s a that locals cherish. The Pound is the antithesis of Full Stop. ‘Nuff said.

CJ: What is the gym philosophy and ethos?

HH: We are first and foremost about the community. The space is less to do with selfies and self-indulgence and more to do with salt-of-the-earth genuine souls.

We want people with a balanced approach to work, play and healthy living. Train hard and play hard. This is a space that wants you to learn and have an immersive experience. This is a space with beer on tap and art on the walls. There are an ice bath and a sauna. This is a space where those who use it become the custodians of the ocean cul- ture of which we are proud to be a part of. So if you’re lekker and want to hang with some balanced locals, pull in. We’d love to learn from you and hopefully we can teach you a few things too.

Kouga Municipality Co-Sponsors The Rip Curl E-Pro

St Francis Surfer Wins The Men’s Competition When beaches were closed and no sports events allowed, was looking pretty gloomy. The cancelled the Ballito Pro in Dur- ban and the JBay Open in . The SA Champs was cancelled in JBay, along with the Junior Series event that runs every year in Seal Point. Surf Web Series is a surf media company based in Mexico City. They ran an online surf event for the Mexican surfers, and it was a great success. In a nutshell, surfers send in videos of themselves surfing, and these videos are packaged in groups of four and ‘skinned’ to make them look like a surf heat. Then the heats are run off as a usual surf contest, all the way through to a final—a virtual surfing competition. When the word was put out, Rip Curl South Africa liked what they saw, and spon- sored the event. Shaka Surf, an online surf store that makes fins from recycled bottle caps came on board as a presenting sponsor, and Red Bull put up a prize for the Best Tube Ride to the tune of R10,000. Oakley also joined in and of- fered R10,000 worth of eyewear to the winners and to the videographers. So the deal was R10,000 for first prize and R5,000 for the second prize—a mixed competition where women surfed against men. The Kouga Municipality has always always supported surfing and when they found out about the event they felt it would be an excellent opportunity to reward the women surfers during Women’s Month in South Africa. So they decided to sponsor a standalone women’s event, with equal prize money. Their reasoning was that Kouga has such great waves in JBay and Cape St Francis and also have such good surfers, that they will most definitely have a significant presence in the event. Their reasoning was correct. The event secured entries from JBay surfers Steven Sawyer, Dylan Lightfoot, Ari Kraak, and Dan Thornton, as well as St Francis locals Nate Plomaritis, Billy Payne and Matt Davis. PE surfers and brothers Miles, Ollie and Duncan Boucher entered, as well as Joshe Faulkner from JBay and Don Zoetmulder from . Then there was Kai Woolf from JBay and Faye Zoetmulder from St Francis in the women’s contest. That is a lot of surfing talent from the Kouga area. The waves from the Kouga area are always going to show up on video contests and online surf events. They are that good. The event was hosted on Instagram on the @surfwebseries, and it got terrific engagement. So much so that Robin De Kock, the general manager of - the governing body of the sport in South Africa – acknowledged the event and agreed to support and help along the way. His help was much appreciated as the 32 surfers grew to 56 and then to 60 surfers, and the first 200 video clips starting arriving. That was just the beginning. Then the organisers realised how much video content was moving around. It was being sent by contestants, downloaded to the organiser’s machines and then uploaded to the Surf Web Series servers,. So TCS WiFI came on board. They offered to rig the Surf Web Series offices in Cape St Francis Bay with super fast and efficient internet. It was a massive help in the logistics of the event. Wavescape.co.za came on board as the media partner, and we had an event.

Staples in action © Van Gysen

The Rip Curl E-Pro Cont from page 9 In the end it was Dale Staples, originally from St Francis Bay who won the men’s event as well as taking out the Red Bull Best Tube for a massive barrel on the West Coast and pocketed R20,000 with R10,000 for each prize. Sophie Bell from Salt Rock in KZN won the women’s event The big news, however, is that Surfing South Africa was impressed by the event and the incredible engagement, and are planning on running further online surfing events. The beaches are open, but running a tournament will still be very difficult with the current legislation, and SSA might put on an online event to replace the SA Juniors in JBay and the Billabong Junior Series final that takes place o Seal Point every year. There are no physical barriers with online tournaments. These events could be how surfing contests will look like in the future.

Faye Zoetmulder, JBay © Kody McGregor

After the South African event, the Surf Web Series moved straight on to the event in Chile. After this event the tour moves to Japan and then Australia. The tour cul- minates with a global final. The South African winners will be invited to compete in the worldwide final. There is talk of a big wave event for South Africa in 2021, as well as a event. Either way, the Surf Web Series is a disruptive alternative to running surf and board sports events, and there could be more to come.

For more on the contest go to https://www.surfwebseries.com/ News from St Francis Property Owners Association St Francis Bay Spit Breaches Again The fierce storm over the weekend of 15/16 August, combined with giant waves and a high tide saw the St Francis Bay spit breach yet again. This time the spit breach was further down towards the mouth of the Kromme River, whereas the previous breaches were further south. “This makes it the third breach this year, and with more storms and spring high tides on their way there could very easily be more breaches until we get to the oth- er side of winter,” said Deon Pienaar, a director of the St Francis Property Owners NPC, and the person responsible for the implementation of the long term coastal protection scheme. “The spit is extremely vulnerable at the moment, but the Kouga Municipality has been placing rock revetments alongside the spit to protect it in the short term.” As soon as the tide had dropped enough on the weekend, the Kouga Municipality (KLM) were on the beach with their heavy machinery, and plugging the breach. By the end of the weekend it has been plugged satisfactorily, and there were no fur- ther breaches. The spit and beach have both been vulnerable for a while now, with no sand nour- ishing the beach after the sand dunes were stabilised.

© Doug Cornish St Francis Bay Spit Breaches Again (cont.....) The SFPO expressed their gratitude to KLM for their immediate and effective inter- vention when the spit was breached. This work done on the weekend and ongoing will provide a level of protection to the spit until both KLM and SFPO have obtained approval from DEDEAT for their long term coastal protection scheme and collected sufficient funds to enable them to start the work. The draft Environmental Impact Report (EIR) for the proposed long term coastal protection scheme for St Francis Bay beach was made available for public review during December 2019 and January 2020. Good progress has since then been made with additional modelling required to address concerns raised by DEDEAT. The long-term coastal protection team consists of a series of groynes on St Francis Bay beach, suitable located to protect stretches of vulnerable beach. The groyne construction will be in conjunction with sand being pumped from the Kromme River to a location south of the groynes, in order to nourish the beach as well as capture the sand.

Photo Courtesy Daniel

Happy Birthday St Francis College

The 5th of August was a special day at St Francis College, for two reasons. Firstly, it was the end of term, and the children had a month of holidays to look forward to. Secondly, it is the date on which the school always celebrates the school’s birthday! While the kids and teachers are all on holiday, after a term of homeschooling and another term of masked schooling, we thought it an excellent time to reflect. Sixteen years ago, the school was established with just two children. The first two children to be enrolled at the school were Jeff Brooker and Crystal Hullett. Their teacher was Eva Skelton. Teacher Eva, as she is fondly known, is again teaching at school after having two children of her own who are now also at the school. The goal has always been to provide a superb educational environment for the children of the greater St Francis Bay. The farm setting, with open fields all around and farm animals close by, the freshest air to breath and the peace and quiet, make this a most enviable location. The motto of the school is ‘Learn to Live’ which so aptly captures the essence of the school. The last few months have seen everyone in the community and from the school learn to live under a whole new paradigm. Hand washing and mask-wearing are but two tiny aspects of change that we have to deal with, and the fact that the school thrived during the lockdown, and both pupils and teachers managed such a sharp learning curve in such a short amount of time is testament to the Learn To Live motto, The school mission statement is “the quest for excellence and the freedom to make mistakes.” Never has this been more important than in the present moment. In a time of such radical upheaval and uncertainty, the quest for excellence is magnanimous. At the same time, the freedom to make mistakes is absolutely essential. The four values which underpin the school are Integrity, Respect, Compassion and Perseverance. As long as there are community members around who have the best educational interests of their children at heart, then we can rest assured that the school will continue to thrive and grow. Happy birthday St Francis College! WEBSITE Arterial Roads Resurfacing

The roads in St Francis have needed some repairing for a while now, and there has been ongoing discussions between the St Francis Prop- erty Owners (SFPO) and the Municipal Manager in a bid to get the project on the go.

For some, the delay has been frustrating, but the Kouga Municipality (KLM) had an agreement in place with the SFPO Special Rates Area. As a result, extensive resurfacing of our arterial roads began about a month ago.

The work has been done, and it has made a huge difference to the roads in our village.

The resurfaced roads include: 1) St Francis Drive from Lyme Road North to Harbour Road, and a portion of Lyme Road South. 2) St Francis Drive from Harbour Road to half a kilometre past the Tarragona junc- tion, and half a kilometre up Tarragona. 3) Two roads within Sea Vista Township.

The road restoration is part of a 3 year road resurfacing project by the Municipal- ity across all towns in Kouga. News From The Joint Kromme River Committee

Jetski Access With the River Mouth being what it is at present and access to the Mouth and out to sea from Ski Canal only possible during high tide (but still with some difficulty), jet skis have been allowed to go out at the Cove into the River and then down to the Mouth and out to sea. There have now been complaints that jet skis use this section from the Cove to the Mouth to play around as well as in the basin at the Mouth. Furthermore, they also sometimes travel at very high speed either down to the Mouth or back to the Cove. The water on the River is mostly flat so a perfect opportunity to open up. This is a temporary measure and that jetskis must proceed at a slow speed straight from the Cove to the Mouth and out to sea and that any other activity in this section of River or the basin at the Mouth is not allowed. There will be a patrol officer present at all times during busy periods. Online licences Please remember that the public now has the ability to apply for river and or canal licenses online, which is available on the KJRC web, link from either the SFPO here https://stfrancispropertyowners.co.za/kromme-joint-river-committee/ or the SFBRHOA websites. It is a very straightforward application. Bruce’s Museum & Cafe Nestled in the corner of the Granny’s Pool car park sits Bruce’s Museum and Café, with some of the most glorious views around and some of the best coffee in the village. Originally The Heritage Centre, Nikki Bendeman has turned it into one very cool coffee shop and restaurant with a great vibe and a small but adequate menu. It has quickly become a focal point of the area, with more surfers hitting the waves, paddlers heading out, and moms and their little kids hanging out around the pool. \ The car park is safe, and it is one of those car parks where people talk surf, catch up, chat and talk about their , foils, SUPs, longboards, kneeboard and everything else. Their breakfasts are popular, but most importantly, the vibe is always great down there, and the chocolate brownies are a decadent treat with your morning cof- fee.

Visit our Facebook page - https://web.facebook.com/brucesoceancafe New Dates Confirmed For Wine On Water Festival In St Francis Following the necessary postponement of the St Francis Rotary WOW event in March of this year due to the COVID-19 pandemic, Rotary is pleased to announce that they are planning to schedule the event for the weekend of 14 and 15 May 2021. So save the date and Rotary have expressed hope that by such time next year they will be able to safely host this exciting event. As regards tickets for the event, Rotary would like to encourage current ticket holders to retain their tickets for the rescheduled event, and they advise that no further refunds for tickets can be considered. They will, in due course, advise when further ticket sales will be available on Quicket . Rotary will confirm further arrangements with sponsors, homeowners, wine estates and suppliers early in the New Year. This was the most anticipated event of the year before it was postponed, and now that anticipation has grown even more. When tickets go back on sale they will no doubt sell really quickly. Website - http://wineonwater.co.za/ Facebook - https://www.facebook.com/WoWRotarySF/

© Darren Peens

Healthy Living In St Francis Bay

In a place like St Francis Bay, it is almost natural that people would tend towards a healthy lifestyle and healthy living. We have so many amenities and facilities to keep fit. There are waves for the surfers and the ocean for paddlers. There is a pool as well as the canals for the swimmers, and there are a few gyms. There are two golf courses and a squash court. There are tennis courts, and there are cricket nets. There is excellent fishing, and there are marvellous trails and beaches for running and walking. It is like we are in one massive health centre, albeit a health centre with a few bottle stores and pubs. So it’s perfectly normal that our latest shops and retail options are health orientated. Fresh Beets is the fresh juice and bone broth company that is owned by Christina Tancredi and is stocked inside the bakery among other places. The juices are pretty amazing, and the perfect antidote to colds and flu and other such yucky things floating around. It’s a great way to boost your immunity system with their fresh orange juices and other delicious fresh juices. Denude has been one of the success stories of the village. The lockdown saw people focusing on health as the new wealth and looking after themselves with regards to what they eat and how they eat it. Denude offer fresh farm produce, and will source any fruit or vegetable that you might need or want. The new bakery adds some flavour and charm to that little corner of the village, with their coffees being famous, and with clients usually grabbing a bun or a sneaky doughnut to go along. Coastal Collective, coming in early October at the Cape St Francis business centre, is a new shopping experience. It is described as a community-driven, eco-conscious health cafe, boutique and deli that offers sustainability with convenience. Situated at 2 Suffolk Lane with The Pound Gym and Liquid Lines next door. It is a place for the locals, tourists & friends to enjoy the space, come together as a community and to say howzit to Faye and Ari. It offers a place for new opportunities, experiences and good food. It’s a great way to gauge a village by looking at the sort of shops that flourish. With these sorts of outlets proving popular in such challenging times, then it’s a testament that health is a general overriding ideology in the community.

Runners, Swimmers and Water Groms

We all know about the multitude of ocean-based sports that are available and utilized in the greater St Francis area. From surfing to diving, from kiteboarding to paddling, from longboarding to , the ocean is a widely used play area for the inhabitants of our village and for visitors to the area. There are, however, several other clubs and activities that happen on land and around the canals. These are equally as exciting and fun for those who wish to get involved. The St Francis Runners has been around for a while, and they used to have time trials every week. These were based around Quaysyde, and when COVID came along, the time trials went virtual. The local runners area hardy bunch, and there were plenty of virtual races going down once the hard lockdown was over. There were marathons for charity tak- ing place, and fund raising races going down, all with the help of smart watches and good old GPS. The time trials have kicked off again, and runners who wish to get involved need to check out the Facebook page for more details, here - https://www.facebook. com/StFrancisRunners. Contact details are on the page. There is also the Open Water Swimming Club that meets every Friday at Quay- syde and heads out into the waters of the canals at 17:00 sharp for their open water time trials. They have certain distances measured out, and they swim re- gardless of weather and water temperature, even on the crazy stormy evenings in the dead of winter, like now. It’s also a fun gathering however, with members having a beer or a lemonade afterwards and is a great way to end a busy week. Interested swimmers just need to rock up at the Quaysyde car park on Friday afternoon to find out more and get involved. Facebook Page - https://web.facebook.com/St-Francis- Open-Water-Swimming-1264482880286179 For the kids in the area, there is also Water Groms, based around the Quaysyde as well. It takes place twice a week and is a class led by Haydn Holmes. The goal of Water Groms is to deliver water knowledge and confidence to the kids in a fun and dynamic manner and to get the kids to feel comfortable and safe in a water environment. They do water-based exercises and fun training methods, as well as more intense fitness training. It is very popular amongst the kids, and a highlight of the week for some of them.

Souls Of St Francis Anneke May by Sandy Coffey and Caroline Morris In 1998, I was a head baker and managed the brand new bakery at the newly built 7-11 in the village centre. As a qualified chef, the bakery was something different. Still, the rewards were just as good. I would take the bread and rolls order to the one and only coffee shop in those days- and that’s where I met Marc!

Marc had started Sandriver Lodge in 1996- with one room, it grew to 3 rooms of nautically decorated clean rooms, with owner-run care and professionalism. He suggested we team up and change the ‘B’ to a B&B! And so we did. During lockdown the need to generate an income became a concern, so with faith and trust, I headed into my kitchen! We started baking more of the delicious breads our guests usually enjoyed, and baking rusks, and cakes, as the interest grew. Our range of readymade meals – “WHAT’S FOR SUPPER” also made a comeback- with a vegan range as well. The support from our family of friends is a blessing of encouragement straight from Heaven! Anneke May The Sandriver Lodge has slowly had some visitors again. Soon we will open our garden café again. Still, we are sending our guests to support the restaurants and bakery in our area, for all their meals. After all, that’s why we choose to stay in St Francis Bay, for the community and support we share with each other. There may be a new adventure on the horizon, once our children finish their schooling, Marc’s sailing dream needs to be realised. He has dedicated 20 years to NSRI, with a passion for the sea, and calling to serve….. but St Francis will always have our SOULS. https://web.facebook.com/soulsofstfrancis

Update From The Rotary Club Of St Francis

Rotary International is an organisation of business and professional persons united worldwide. This organisation provides humanitarian service, encourages high ethical standards in all vocations, and helps build goodwill and peace in the world. The Rotary Club of St Francis was chartered in November 2019 with 21 members. Our club is attracting support for our projects from many organisations, including Rotary clubs abroad. It has been entrusted with funding from at least two large Foundations for improved infrastructure projects at Disney Land Creche, Talhado Children’s Haven and others in Sea Vista. Sadly our own fundraising activities have been put on hold due to the COVID-19 restrictions. However, the Wine on Water and Golf Day events will take place as soon as it becomes possible. Part of our club’s philosophy is to partner with other service organisations in our community to maximise the impact of our work. A perfect example of this is the Food Relief Programme, where we partnered with the St Francis United Church and the Disaster Volunteer Group. We jointly raise a total of R 2 161 704,29 in cash and secure food donations. 6121 food parcels were distributed to identified families resident in Sea Vista, and four soup kitchens continue to receive support. Others that have benefitted from our support in the past include FOSTER, Kromme Enviro Trust, Nomvula’s Knitters Trust, National Sea Rescue Institute, Sea Vista Primary School, Sibanye Ladies Group, St Francis Clinic, Sea Vista Library and St Francis Hospice. Normally St Francis Rotarians meet on the second and fourth Monday of each month at 17h30 at the St Francis Links Golf Club. However, with the easing of COVID-19 restrictions, we are in the process of planning meetings to fit in with the St Francis Links’ interim opening days and hours. Anyone interested in knowing more about the club is welcome to join a meeting – call our Secretary, Lyn Aitken on 082 777 5624 to find out more. Email: [email protected] or visit our website www.rotarystfrancisbay.org.

Stuck at Supersuck He spent four months at a great Indonesian wave, with nowhere to go to and no idea what the future holds. A St Francis surfer describes how he occupied his lockdown time. There are so many different narratives coming out from COVID-19. So many situations and stories with good outcomes and bad. People who have been stuck, with no way to get home, and others who have had miraculous stories of support and empathy on their particular journeys through the pandemic. Many people from St Francis Bay know Julian Werts, an American surfer who moved to the area nearly 20 years ago. His lockdown 2020 story is different to most, and a perfect example of how sometimes throwing caution to the wind can be the best option when choices are limited. Currently cruising around a very uncrowded Bali with no way to get home, we caught up with him to see just what went down. When did you leave South Africa and what was the plan? I left South Africa on January 28. The initial plan was to do a three-month trip. I did one month in Indonesia, in Ubud and Sumbawa, and I then flew to Thailand for three weeks. It was around March 18 when I came back into Indonesia. I had two boat trips lined up. One of them was going to Enggano Island and another one up to the Banyaks. That’s quite a schedule. It was always going to be a slow trip, though. I was going to go to Sumbawa for 10 days. That was supposed to last until the end of March. The Enggano trip was for April I was going to hang around in a little warung with Supersuck as my view until the end of March. After that I was going to go on the Enggano boat trip in April. Then, what happened? They closed the borders, everything got cancelled, I got shut-in, and I stayed at Supersuck for four months. So crazy. Then what? I came down to Bali and lucked into a little mansion above Padang. It’s pretty cool, sickest views. To stay on in the country, I have to get a social visa for six months. I can’t get into South Africa until February, according to the government, so I am officially homeless. But it’s pretty good right here. And there are girls around. There are a lot more around than there are back home. In your little warung above Supersuck, you had a balcony with a view and a hammock to chill on. I spent four hours every day on that hammock, for 120 days. That’s 480 hours of hammock time, I’m proud to say. I had a lot of time to think about things. Story cont......

That’s a lot of time chilling and an excellent way to destress. Talking of which, did you ever feel stressed about the situation? At one stage the Indonesia cops went quite hard on people during the lockdown. Yes, there was some stress. There still is quite a bit, as Java seems to be increasing at about 2000 cases a day. In the beginning, we were told to only go surf, or stay in our accommodations. Then things seemed to loosen up a little What’s it like in Bali? Still as quiet as it was over the lockdown, or are there people moving around again? Bali is almost back to normal on the Bukit. It’s tranquil, but everything is open and really lovely. It’s like going into a time warp back to 1982. There’s a friendly vibe around though. It’s like a big family here at the moment, and everyone knows each other. Accommodations are, for the most part, totally dead. There are usually thousands of people around here at this time of the year. Everybody is just eking a living. The locals are having it quite tough but there does seem to be loads of support. Do you have any regrets about going to Indonesia or about leaving loved ones at the time? It wasn’t really a decision, it was thrust upon me, so I couldn’t really have any regrets. The thing is, like this disease, the future is so unknown, so live in the present and soak up every beautiful moment. What was the worst part of your whole adventure thus far, because it is ongoing? I guess the worst thing is not know- ing when I’ll see the people I love again. You know that when international travel opens up, so many people are going to go travelling again. I know. I’ll be done by then, and I’ll go home just as everyone leaves. For Julian’s adventures, follow his at-times hilarious Instagram feed on @lordofleisure and check out just how empty it is.

Update from the St Francis Property Owners The St Francis Property Owners Association (SFPO) would like to thank all those who supported our drive to contribute to the COVID-19 Food Relief Programme. This was done by choosing to renew their Residents Association membership ahead of the due date of 1st October. Your kind support enabled us to contribute a total of R52,000.00 to the food parcel programme for the Sea Vista community managed by the St Francis United, Church, the Rotary Club of St Francis and the Disaster Volunteer Group. New Office Address With effect from 1st September 2020, the St Francis Property Owners Association and NPC will be situated at 28 Lyme Road South, St Francis Bay. Property owners are welcome to call into our office where our Admin Manger, Lyn Aitken will be happy to be of assistance between 08h30 and 13h00 on week days. 2020/2021 Annual Membership If you haven’t done so yet, please consider supporting us by becoming a member or renewing your membership. The annual subscription for a property owner/resident is R500 or R330 for a pensioner. The SFPO membership runs concurrently with its financial year – from 1st October to 30th September annually. Payment Options Visit the website and submit your payment online – https://stfrancispropertyowners.co.za/membership/ Or make an EFT payment direct to the bank account : Francis Bay Residents Association Standard Bank, Humansdorp Code: 050015 Account No: 082499276 Please use your Erf number and surname as reference. If you wish to make a more significant donation to the fund, please do so, it will be very well received.