Trials and Tribulations of a Photojournalist January 2012

I am cutting it a bit fine to do my January posting today, being the 31st of the month, so here goes.

Lots of exciting stuff has been going on since December, 2011, and not necessarily all to do photographically. In our wisdom, Heather and I, decided to rent our next door property as it was standing empty. So off we went merrily to an estate agent, to avoid any glitches which might occur due to our lack of knowledge in the real estate field. It wasn’t too long before our agent informed us that we had a tenant, and having paid the rental and deposit she wanted to move in immediately. On asking whether their financials had been checked we were assured that whilst her partner didn’t want to expose his statements, as he was “flying under the radar” where the Tax department was concerned, her financial appeared to be in order. Now if that shouldn’t have set alarm bells ringing, I don’t know. We, with our lack of estate knowledge, it sounded dodgy to say the least. I mean what do we know, and of course all the assurances of the agent.  Lease signed, our lady proceeded to take occupation. First week no activity in the house even with the alarm activated. Next, adverts start appearing for an upmarket bed and breakfast in the very street in which we live. Now there is activity in the house,  and when confronted, told by our lessee that it is not our property that is being advertised but another not far from us. So we get out the lease to check on the subject of subletting and it clearly says no. But to our horror when we pointed out to our erstwhile agent this clause, it appears that our lessee as only signed 14 0f the 15 pages, and guess what? The one with the subletting bit is the missing one!!! What do we do now? Of course it is the time of festivity and not a lawyer in sight because they have all trotted off to their modest coastal getaways and have no intention of embroiling themselves in messy and possibly prolonged litigation with little return. So in a festive season when all should be merry, we are gnashing our teeth and waiting for the other shoe to drop. And drop it did when a Kombi of seven tourists from Lesotho arrived and took up residence. By this time obviously the lady lessee cannot deny that these were immediate relatives, as skin pigment defied any doubt to their origins. In answer to our pointing out that sub letting was not on, she calmly replied that our agent had  really messed up, and she could rent out the premises as saw fit!  The next occupants were a couple of young ladies who didn’t appear to have normal daytime jobs but were in residence, with every curtain tightly closed day and night. From no cars anywhere near the property, a flurry of very upmarket vehicles began appearing at odd intervals during the day. I am sure that these people were consoling the poor out of work ladies for an hour or two before departing once again. Funnily enough all the visitors were of the male species. No doubt that the lack of ladies was because they were too busy getting their concerned spouses dinner ready. Next thing is that a large pantechnicon arrives at the garage, which until now has stood forlornly empty and its contents emptied into the previously vacant space. If I said that a mouse would have had difficulty moving the the crammed space, I would be understating the issue. So now we not only have rather dubious neighbors, but we have a garage which runneth over. My normally placid wife is by this time is building up a head of steam which would have the Hiroshima explosion pale into insignificance. To say that we had a strained Christmas and a non existent festive season would be right on the mark. Not wanting to bore you with the long and drawn out  ongoing saga, suffice to say that the legal eagles had returned from their jollies and were putting the legal bits together to evict the by now non paying lessee for January rental, and her happy band of ladies who still seemed to be unemployed in the conventional sense. Someone must of complained to the fire department because they paid the premises concerned a visit and concluded that the contents in the garage presented a fire hazard. Move the stuff within seven days or cough up the fine. This week-end the lot  went off to an unknown destination and the garage returned to its original empty state. Then yesterday, something which has never happened in the 116 year history of the building, was a police raid. Maybe one of the consoling people  felt that the ladies were not being looked after properly and reported it to the police. Would you believe what the police found. Horror upon horror, but these nice ladies were engaged in the oldest profession in the world and here we were feeling sorry for them, hoping they could get work. Over and above this, a syringe was found, poor girls being diabetic to boot. Well the outcome is that we will return to our mundane quiet existence, and my dear Heather won’t have anything to watch out of the window, because the fancy cars  and their concerned owners seemed to have stopped coming since the official visit. Talk about fickle. Back to normality. Phew!!!!!!!!!!!!

Three keen Anglers above a "No Fishing" sign

Now to things photographic. I have just returned from an assignment for a major magazine. The brief was to write and photograph the Southern Cape. My favorite part of the world by far. Its amazing the number of people who are so willing the assist you so freely, giving you information you would never normally have access to. Swimming with the seals at Robberg with Jaco and Monica of Offshore Adventures, an awesome experience to say the least. The Kranzhoek trail with its magnificent scenery and trail names that would make the most avid couch potato want to go rushing out with hiking gear and do these trails

Braai stoves with long chimneys at Diepwalle

Of elevated camp sites in Diepwalle, deep in high Knysna forest, each deck sporting a braai with an incredibly long chimney.  Did you know that there is a town which doesn’t mind being called slow. That’s Sedgefield for you. Walking in the moon light on the Moonlight Meander with Judy Dixon and seeing rock pools from an entirely different perspective.

Mosiac fish at Myoli Beach

Mosiac fish at Myoli beach Sedgefield

Mosaic tortoises, fish and tortoise grave yards.  Picking strawberries direct from the field at Redberry Farm. Visit the Shark Lab and hop into the pool provided to swim with the little fellas, and then trot off to see the most amazing collection of beautifully preserved buildings in Mossel Bay

Beautifully preserved buidings

I must say that it is really good to be back home once again especially now that the worrisome neighbours are long gone and a grand clean up is taking place. A huge thanks to all those I was fortunate to be involved with.