A Weekend for the Okes

The weekend kicked off early this weekend, when Bryson and I decided that we would play a friendly golf match on Friday afternoon over at Mowbray Golf Course. It was a beautiful day and though I had a rugby game that evening, I decided it was too nice of a day to pass up. So we headed over in the early afternoon and teed up for a quick round of nine.

Started out with weekend with a round of Golf with Bryson

The course was surprisingly nice and in decent condition. We played a match and he took an early lead though I fired back to take a one stroke lead with one hole to go. He had the tee and poked one out and a bit to the right. Being the idiot I am on the tee box I decided to not play not to lose but rather to play to win it independent of what he does. So i teed up the driver and went deep left, lost my ball, and lost the hole by two strokes and he won one up. It was an unfortunate loss to start the weekend, but it was fun. I hurried back home to rest and relax a bit before the rugby match.

Couple of okes sporting the new UCTRFC warmups

We had just recently gotten our club kit for the rugby team and tonight was the first opportunity we ahd to don our kit. Fresh jersey, sweaters, bags, polo shirts, the whole nine yards. We were playing False Bay that night and it was a bit chilly, so our kit arrived just in time. The Americans stayed put on the bench in the first half, which at this point we were fine with. We were laughing so hard this game due to a couple of characters on the team, including Alan (old oke) and Emlyn, who are characters from sitcoms brought to real life. Though we all got minimal playing time, it ended up being one of the more memorable games we had because of all the laughs and the fines sessions afterward.

After the match we gathered in the locker room as usual for fines. The previous fines session, Levi and I had been pouters (the worst job), where we are constantly filling the beer cups for those being fined. This time we had free reign to enjoy the fines and be as involved as we could. Last time I caused a stir by fining Doug for going to Harvard and this time Doug was the fines master. As probably the least likable guy on the team, Doug had a hard time controlling the rest of the squad while he was in charge. We sang songs, I even contributed an original verse to the team favorite "I Wish Wll the Ladies," and soon a mutiny formed against Doug, and we tried to vacate him from the Fines Master role. It was a great evening and start to the night. We made plans with some of the okes, but failed to meet up with them as we had other plans in store for the night.

Club 31 is located on the top floor of the ABSA building in Cape Town

With the positive energy we had generated in the fines session, and the extra energy we had after not playing much of the match, we decided to go to one of the swankier clubs in Cape Town. Club 31 is a club with mainly young professionals in their late 20's and early 30's. You actually have to be 23 years old to get in, but we were able to swindle our way through the door and make it upstairs. We spent hours here and had an amazing night. All of the energy and drinks we'd enjoyed with the okes in the locker room ensured that we'd have a blast and it ended up being a pretty late night. Some didn't return home until about 5h15. That would have been fine, except the following morning was our fishing expedition.

The sunrise as we leave Hout Bay Harbour

The truck arrived at 5h45 to pick us up and bring us down the coast to Hout Bay. I got about an hour and a half of sleep, some got less, and Kevin got none. Since we had so much alcohal in our systems, so little sleep in our systems and we were about to go on a 2 hour boat ride out to the deep to fish we knew it would be difficult to be comfortable on the boat. So, we decided that we would continue drinking on our ride out to Hout Bay and out on the boat. If we stopped we would presumable feel the effects sooner.

Kevin, Mike, Me, Ross and Doug from Left to Right

This hypothesis did not pan out as fact as we discovered. We all began to feel sick about an hour and a half into the boat ride out. Miky Yu was the first to give some chum to the fishes overboard, though many of us were soon to follow. Before the day was over everyone but Kevin had vomited overboard multiple times. Ross was reported as the leader in the clubhouse with double digits. For the first couple hours we had very little luck with fish. We had about 4 fish after 5 hours of fishing. We were all becoming hungover, were vomiting or were sleeping. It was not our finest hour at sea. However, at about 14h30 we cleaned up our act and really started to catch some fish.  

giving all my strength to a sizable Yellowtail

 At roughly 15h00, the fish began to come. Between s15h00 and 15h45 we caught roughly twenty-four Yellowtails. This feeding frenzy was incredible. I caught seven in roughly a half an hour. Everyone on the boat caught a fish and we could not put on bait fast enough to catch all of the fish we had at our disposal. For lack of a better phrase it was like shooting fish in a barrel. 

giving my catch a smooch

With the huge amount of fish we caught, we decided that a braai was in order. So as we headed back to shore with all of the fish we could carry, we got on our phones and invited everyone to come to Charlton House so that we could braai the Yellowtail and a bit of Tuna for all to enjoy. The fish made us feel so much better we were drinking beers again on the way back to shore, despite being in the gutter just an hour or two before.

Back in Hout Bay with enough Yellowtail to last a couple of weeks

It was a roller coaster of emotion and a roller coaster of nausea. But it was a heck of a day and the braai was a great way to cap off the weekend. Truly a weekend for the okes. Everything from Golf, to rugby to Club 31 to a day on the open sea made it a memorable weekend. Weekends like this help illustrate how versatile Cape Town and how many different activities one can experience in the very same city. There is no other city in the world I'd rather spend a semester abroad.