Beachfront lunch and a shiver

Paternoster on the Cape West coast. It's the first day of our annual trip to Namaqualand to see nature's amazing show of wild flowers.

From Citrusdal (about 150km from Cape Town) all the way to the Namibian border (another 600km), daisies and other indigenous flowers bloom everywhere you look. There has been more rain in the windter months - see the pic for evidence - than in almost living memory, which means an even more extravagant display. But not today.

Our first stop was here - the Voorstrandt restaurant. Right on the sand is a good thing on a fine day, but today, it's about 7C and drizzling. A cold wind is blowing.

A fine lunch of Dorado (Mrs P had a fine Cape Malay seafood curry) and a couple of cold beers and we were ready to head north again.