Tag: Fish Hoek

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Small business reality series – what information or advice to can you trust?

A limited edition hand-crafted horse at the Bryanston Organic Market, Johannesburg. Price in the region of R8,000. Last one left in a serious of 300. Sadly, the creator died.
A limited edition hand-crafted horse at the Bryanston Organic Market, Johannesburg. Price in the region of R8,000. Last one left in a serious of 300. Sadly, the creator died.

When I have visited the small coastal town of Fish Hoek in the Western Cape I have noticed local artists selling their paintings in shopping malls. What stands out for me is the wonderful, almost idyllic, beach scenes. The beaches are pristine, the sea blue and the mountains fresh and vibrant. It’s a kind of unreal world that reminds one of how things used to be, not as they are now.

You never see these local coastal scene artists with paintings that depict the rough reality of today. Go for a walk on the beach and you likely to see pickpockets and sunbathers leaving their trash in the sand. Go up a little further to Jagger’s Walk where the subway is and you will catch the stench of urine and find unsavoury characters lurking in the shade of the tunnel. This is not to say that the beaches aren’t cleaned up before the holidaymakers arrive but with high-density urban living the picturesque coastal towns just aren’t what they used to be. But many people would rather have the idyllic coastal painting than the sordid reality. Continue reading “Small business reality series – what information or advice to can you trust?”

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Are you prepared to settle for less freedom in your life?

IMG_2765
IMG_2765 (Photo credit: wagaung)

At a street-side cafe in a coastal village a small business owner was telling me about the present tough economic conditions and how they were hitting his business. But what about your freedom? I asked him. “You’ve worked many years to reach the point where you are now,” I said. “You’ve got the freedom to decide how many hours to work a day, when to come in and when to leave work.”

He told me that he reminds himself that despite the economic difficulties he values his independence and freedom to run his business as he sees fit. He says that from time to time he has considered bringing in a business partner but this would possibly restrict his freedom. Continue reading “Are you prepared to settle for less freedom in your life?”

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Earth Day 2013 – A tidal wave of innovation needed

A pair of African Black oyster catchers. Photo credit: Chesney Bradshaw.
A pair of African Black oyster catchers. Photo credit: Chesney Bradshaw.

In my late teens I ran along Fish Hoek beach in the mornings, sometimes with my father, and we’d see little sand pipers race up to the water’s edge to find tiny sea creatures to eat.

Some years ago I was chatting to friends, who grew up in the area, on a hot summer’s morning in December right there at the end of the same beach near Clovelly corner. We were talking about growing up in such a beautiful place when I remembered that I had not seen sand pipers for years.

“What happened to all those sand pipers we used to see on the beach?” I asked one of my friends. Continue reading “Earth Day 2013 – A tidal wave of innovation needed”