My new apartment!

So, I have moved from the house in Woodstock, to this apartment in Gardens, and here are all the fantastic views! The one above is of Signal Hill, where at 12pm every daysince 1806 the have fired a cannon so ships can tell the time...

Lions Head, just next to that is the new Greenpoint Stadium (not pictured) for the world cup...

The ever present Table Mountain.

And Lions Head again at night... ah, lovely.

5 reasons why Vegemite is BETTER than Marmite

Now I know its so commonly Australian to LOVE Vegemite, but I do. And its so commonly Australian to MISS Vegemite when your overseas, but I do. And I know every other country in the world is confused about why this is, but it just is, so shhh.

Now there are always methods to deal with this common problem: ship tons of it over from Aus, guilt friends onto shipping tons of it from Aus, OR you could try one of the less superior substitutes, Bovril, Promite or Marmite. I am trying the latter.

Please don't get me wrong, I actually like Marmite, but

Vegemite is better, and here is why:

1. Marmite is runny. Not like liquid runny, more like honey runny. Making my sandwiches in the morning I have to be constantly vigilant that a stray piece of Marmite hasn't found its way on to my freshly ironed WHITE shirt. Vegemite on the other hand is more solid, like smooth peanut butter, you know where it is and where its going!
2. Vegemite works better with Avocado than Marmite. The texture of a ripe Avo mixes with Marmite, while even the most ripe Avo will never mix with Vegemite, keeping the delicious divide known commonly as Crazy Toast.
3. Its an undisputed fact that Marmite is sweeter than Vegemite. This means that if you are at the end of
   
   the month and all you can afford is Marmite and toast for dinner, technically its a dessert, but Vegemite on toast is dinner.
4. Vegemite is the rebel. It has been banned in some US states cus its so awesome. Marmite's awesomeness only got it banned in some Welsh schools....
5. It's better for you. Vegemite is described on Wikipedia as "one of the world’s richest known sources of B vitamins, specifically thiamin, riboflavin, niacin and folic acid", however the same website describes Marmite as having "useful quantities" of the same... Well, I have useful quantities of money, but I'm not rich!

Finally, and most importantly, Vegemite has stirred in me the desire to actually spend time scouring the Internet researching this stuff! Something I must admit I'm not proud of! So there it is, I have given in to the most common and undignified type of nostalgia... Vegemite Withdrawal.

The Noon Gun

There is a sure way to tell who is new to Cape Town:

at exactly 12pm every day a huge gun on top of Signal Hill is fired and all the tourists jump out of their skin! This has been happening since 1806 every day without fail (except on Friday, January 7th 2005, the only recorded failure of the gun) as a method for sailors to ensure their timepiece's work, and they still use the same original guns. The sound ricochets around the City Bowl before being lost out in the bay, and every day at work it reminds me I'm running late! Its just one of those things that seems insignificant, but Cape Town would not be the same without it!

Interesting side-fact, the boats who were out in the harbour used to use telescopes to see the smoke rather than listen for the bang, because light travelled faster than sound. Cool.

Second interesting side-fact: once, the tamper used to load the gun was accidentally left in the gun, when it was fired, it flew into the city and killed a horse...