Jackass penguins make Boulders no go

Just outside Simon's Town is what used to be one of the world's  best beaches - Boulders. These days it's infested with African 'jackass' penguins. They have been allowed to take over this haven of bright sand and granite, offering shelter from the wind and a beautiful mix of colours: white, azure, green and grey-black. Bordered mainly by indigenous bush above the high-water mark on the one side and the clear water of False Bay on the other, the area comprises a number of small sheltered bays, partially enclosed by granite boulders that are 540 million years old. When I was a kid we used to play in the sea, run along the sand and climb the rocks, sit on top and gaze out over the bay. But the penguins are now everywhere. They make this rather unpleasant baying sound and stink the place up something horrible. Sure, they are a threatened species and in reasonable numbers are rather cute. They strut around in their 'tuxedos' and can swim a treat. Their distinctive black and white colouring is a vital form of camouflage called countershading – white for underwater predators looking upwards and black for predators looking down onto the dark water. They were originally described in 1758 by the famous Swedish botanist Linnaeus, although he didn't actually visit SA.  Boulders attracts loads of tourists who come for the penguins and I guess that's good for the economy. But for locals they are a pain - you even have to pay to go on to the beach! The QSL is from a Swedish pirate radio station, Radio Pandora, heard one Sunday in Kent in 1996, using just 20 watts. It  was set up by Steve St John in 1993. Up on the 49mb many pirates were active on Sundays and quite a few of them were good QSLers.

Draghi gets out the dragster

Remember 'Whatever it takes' ? Well it's back.  The European Central Bank is to put its foot on the gas. Markets were thrilled on Thursday to hear Mario Draghi announce his programme to 'provide a backstop to remove tail risk from the Euro area.' Tail risk is that dreaded part of the probability curve that is too large for comfort. Tail risk is what hit financial assets after the collapse of Lehman Bros in 2008, creating price movements that weren't statistically possible, or only once every few million years, somewhat longer than the existence of civilised humanity, let alone financial markets. And the same tail risk has threatened to erupt from the Eurozone ever since. Several bouts of frightening volatility have occurred continually, forcing many investors to seek the safest possible havens for their cash. Interestingly, though, the volatility spikes have been declining. This could mean two things: one, investors are learning to live with the dangers, which could be a form of 'disaster myopia' where people simply cease to be able to imagine a major meltdown; two, the perception that Euro policy-makers are gradually getting a grip on things. It's probably a bit of both. One of the first beneficiaries of Draghi's largesse may be Portugal which is putting the finishing touches to yet another bout of austerity. It's already in a bail-out programme and its determination to comply could well receive the ECB's blessing. You might make some money in Portuguese bonds if the yields track down to the levels of Ireland and Spain, or lower. The QSL is from Rádio Renascença a 10 kW station operating on AM from Coimbra, Portugal, heard in Kent in 1999.

Paddleskiing in whale country

The link shows a 4-minute video of yours truly out at Muizies catch waves and getting wiped out on my paddleski.   Graham paddleskiing at Muizenberg, Cape Town   I used GoPro camera mounted on the nose, pointing forwards and backwards. The video was edited by my son, Matt, and is up on Youtube. It's that time of the year again when the southern right whales come and flop around in the bay. While making this video a pair of them was cavorting only 100 metres beyond the surf-line. Later in the day we saw a number of pods from our house in Simon's Town with one particularly energetic soul leaping out in a full breach before rolling over and re-entering the sea with a huge splash. Further up the coast here the town of Hermanus has established a whole service industry of whale-watching with numerous B&B's offering views. But False Bay is just as good and the sea is often calmer. The whales come every year from late-August and are often seen close into shore which is then lined with watchers, some armed with immensely long camera lenses trying to get the ultimate shot. But up in Muizies corner we just combine a bit of great surfing with casual whale-watching, feeling at one with nature and not too exercised about the perfect pic. The whales come north to SA from Antarctica and have unique technique of 'sailing' - using their elevated flukes to catch the wind. The QSL is from the British Antarctic Survey for reception of its Faraday Base in Antarctica in contact with the supply vessel RRS Bransfield, heard in Johannesburg in 1986.

That's Miami, spelt with a V

The US housing market is gradually picking up steam. It looks like the recovery has a long way to go. My index of household formation to housing starts has run in positive territory for several years, quite the opposite of its performance in the years prior to the bust. To me this is a pendulum that is swinging back or a tanker starting to turn. It takes time for the forces that drive prices to build up but once they get going it becomes a self-feeding loop. As prices bottom sellers hold back to see if they can get more; better prices mean more willing lending by the banks; as prices rise more people come out of negative equity enabling them to sell; successful sellers are freed up to move to other cities to find jobs; consumer confidence builds as people perceive their net worth rising again. House prices are now rising at a faster pace than the 30-year mortgage bond rate, something that we haven't seen for some time. This creates positive leverage for buyers and affordability is at the highest level for just about ever. Sure getting a loan is hard but bank credit committees are gradually chilling out and in due course competitiveness will drive them to extend more credit. The recovery is by no means universal with some cities still in the doldrums. But places like Miami and Phoenix are seeing V-shaped bounces. The QSL is from Radio Miami International, signed by the founder, Jeff White. It was heard in London in 1995. For quite a few years I used to travel to Miami on business and always liked the place.

The curious case of Curaçao

The London Olympics are done and dusted and countries have welcomed home their medalists as heroes, including SA. The Brits did very well, having spent their lottery money wisely upgrading the national sports effort. Not all athletes competed under a national flag, however. In three Olympics, Barcelona 1992, Sydney 2000 and the latest in London some athletes were allowed to compete as independents. In 1992 Yugoslavia was under UN sanctions and Macedonia did not yet have an Olympic committee so their athletes were allowed in without a flag. In 2000 it was the turn of East Timorians as their country's independence was not complete while in the latest show it was the athletes from the recently-dissolved Netherlands Antilles. Only Yugoslavians have won medals as independents, for shooting. The Netherlands Antilles break-up is a little complicated. Three islands, Bonaire, Sint Eustatius and Saba became  special municipalities of the Holland proper, while Curaçao and Sint Maarten became constituent countries within the Kingdom of the Netherlands. Go figure what that all actually means! The QSLs are 1) from Curaçao Radio, a utility broadcaster using just 1 kW and heard in Johannesburg in 1993 and 2) Radio Republik Indonesia, broadcasting from Dili in East Timor on 90 mb heard in 1992, one of a bunch of RRI QSLs I'm so pleased to have.

From suckuz to Manila

'Suckuz, does anybody here wan' ice-col' suckuz?' calls the frozen lolly man as he sidles through the compartment before the train leaves the station. The Metrorail from Cape Town to Simon's Town is a unique experience. You have to know the route because you can't see very well out of the windows, smothered in graffiti. In any case even if you could see out there are few signs on the station platforms and they're easy to miss, especially if the trains are full. The 39 km ride is scheduled to take about 70 minutes but it's pretty variable. A sign on the station wall states that 78% of the trains make it on time. Sometimes the scheduled train simply doesn't show up; at other times several arrive within a few minutes. The best section is the leg from Muizenberg to Simon's Town, along the edge of False Bay. I love this bit. At Muizies I can check the swell and surf, especially if the wind is right and see how many guys are out there catching waves. The stations have these names from SA's past: Dutch like Muizenberg, mixed Dutch and English like Fish Hoek and Kalk Bay, Scottish like Glencairn. The very last bit has several twists and turns and the old carriages creak, squeak, screech and squeal at a snail's pace. Then it's Simon's Town at the end of the line, back in the Deep South. Kalk Bay is a fishing harbour with an interesting connection to the Philippines. In the 1840s a Filipino ship was wrecked off Cape Point and the survivors settled at Kalk Bay to be joined by others over the years. Being Catholics they established the nearby St James church and their descendants still live in the area today. The QSL is from the Far East Broadcasting Co in Manila, heard on shortwave way back in 1966, one of my very first.

Breathe deep in the Deep South

Back in Simon's Town after 11 months in London. Friday afternoon a steady north-wester blew, with a medium swell at Muizenberg, water temperature around the ambient air temp of 15 degrees, cold but no problem with a wetsuit. It was great to be back on the paddle-ski for the first time since April. Working out hard at the back you start panting a bit and that's when you notice the richness of the air. Sure Cape Town gets its fair share of smog but the brisk winds blow it away pretty quickly and compared to London the air is so-oo clean. It's like drinking babbling mountain brook water vs the stuff out of the tap. There's an extra deliciousness to it. In the World Bank's Air Pollution index Cape Town scores 15 against Greater London's 23, the highest in the UK. But in the 'Deep South' of Cape Town (e.g. Simon's Town) I'm sure the index is much lower given our proximity to the sea, exposure to breezes and lack of industry. The UK's overall ranking of 19 is actually below SA's of 24. SA burns a lot of coal for its power stations and also in urban areas for cooking. Topping the pollution country list are a number of African countries like Sudan, Mali, Niger, Chad and Egypt. The QSL is from Chad National Radio, received way back in 1969 and heard on 60mb broadcasting on the odd frequency of 4904.5 kHz. In those days the Francophone broadcasters were pretty reliable QSLers.