Kommetjie
Where I grew up...

This picture would be a typical view from our front door. The mountains in the distance are those of Hout Bay. The Bay in the foreground is called, "Die Kom" or "The small Basin".  Directly behind us were the mountains.

Although Kommetjie was not my birthplace and 5 years separated my birth and my first look at Kommetjie, I still classify it as "My Town". Where I grew up and lived for 24 years of my life.
The first 2 years of my life in Kommetjie were at the "Slangkop" (Snake-head) Lighthouse.  This is where my father was to retire.  Even though I was young (5-7), I have many fond memories of my life at the lighthouse. We had a large dog, (a cross between a Labrador and a Great-Dane).  Mom always loves to tell the story of how I had made my dad cross one day and how he chased me over small hedges, with "Blacky" chasing him from behind.  She wished she had a movie camera to have caught this chase scene on.... :-) -- On many occasions I would go up the lighthouse with my dad. The Lighthouse itself was built in 1906 and was a cast-iron construction of 100 feet with five floors. Cast iron stairs spiraled up, floor by floor until you reached the lantern room, made up of mirrors and lens'.  A door opened to a balcony that surrounded the lantern room.  I remember being pretty scared on my first few visits, but had fun thereafter.  The folk below looked like ants. This gave you a sense of power.

We then moved to the house on the side of the mountain, where we were to stay there for a further 7 years, until my father passed away. The years spent in that house was some of my best. Not only did it have a wonderful view, and the access to the ocean and mountain was as quick as a blink of the eye, but I was allowed to keep chickens, pigeons, some finches and even some tortoises. There were a couple of scary moments with snakes that made there way down into our yard.
I began to surf at the age of 8 and did so until the day of my accident.  Surfing became a big part of my life. Kommetjie is a renowned surfing spot with some of the best waves found, not only in South Africa, but in the world. The most famous of these was "Outer Kom", a large right hand break, with waves in the region of 8 foot, and as big as 18 foot plus. Other good surfing spots was "Long beach", a small 4-7 foot shore break, "Sunset", known as the "Monster" as waves of up to 25-30 foot have been measured. Just around the mountain pass is the "Crayfish" factory which has a wonderful left hand break that also reached sizes of up to 12 foot and more. Along the "Witsands" (White sands) beaches there are numerous surf spots with the Scarbourgh point break the most common.

When I wasn't surfing, I could be found catching crayfish (see Picture),  normally I caught them from a boat, but the diving method was also used extensively. The art of catching crayfish varied, but the result was the same.  A nice sized crayfish boiled in ocean water, and eaten with a good wine, was the "in thing". I did however prefer perlemoen "Abalone" After selling the mountain side house, my dad was hospitalised due to stroke related complications from which he never recovered, and died before we moved into our new house, just a mile away from the other.

This was to be my home for a further 12 years. I had just turned 14, and began to drive the car (taking advantage of mom's new role as mother and father). The car made getting to the surfing spots more accessible and far quicker.  The car enabled us to roam from one surfing spot to the other and pick and choose more freely.
I entered many surfing contest, not being the best, but holding my own against some of the countries best. My best finished just happened to be on the same day as my accident, coming 1st.  The accident in 1980 (read my testimony) made many changes to my life. Because I now could no longer surf, I took up photography and took many surfing pictures of friends.
When I gave my life over to the Lord in 1983, I naturally wanted to be closer to St. Kiaran's Presbyterian Church. We moved to Sun Valley, 7 miles from Kommetjie, which is basically a extension of Fish Hoek, which is on the Indian ocean side of the Peninsula. A small lazy town built in the valley of two mountains. (The picture below is taken of Fish Hoek with the Bay and showing the mountain on the left). My stay in Sun Valley has lasted since 1984 to date.

It has been a wonderful place to grow up, and I love the place and it's surroundings dearly. I hope that my brief tour of just some of the small town's and villages, I have been blessed with, will just give you a bit more insight as to where I come from.  I thank you dearly for your time and patience. In Christ Jesus, I thank you all.....

How lovely on the mountains are the feet of Him who brings good news, who announces peace and brings good news of happiness, who announces salvation, and says to Zion, "Your God reigns!"   Isaiah 52:7

Below are just a couple of photo's of various town's around the Kommetjie area. All of these town's including Cape Town, the City, are within 30 miles of each other.

A lovely view of Hout Bay taken from the mountain tops near Noordhoek. The Mountain range runs all along the coast towards Cape Town.

Cape Point and the Penisula

A view of Cape Point, showing the division of the two oceans. The Atlantic on the left and Indian on the right, although the official transformation is at Cape Agulhas.

Kalk Bay Harbour

A view of Kalk Bay harbour, a small fishing village with a view looking towards Cape Point. Fish Hoek is just 2 miles to the right of the photo.

Simonstown

A view of Simonstown yacht basin and the tranquil town in the background. The South African Naval Base is just to the left.

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Greg Murray