Herman Charles Bosman, one of my absolute favourite authors, wrote stories based on a character called Oom Schalk Lourens. Mr. Bosman (the author) was sent to the Marico district as a teacher back in 1926. His character, Oom Schalk on the other hand, was a farmer and he originally came from what was then the Cape Province before settling in the Marico, which was in the Transvaal. He was a veteran of the Boer War. He (Oom Schalk) comes across as rather simple, prejudiced, and narrow minded. The character has far outlived time and place and even today speaks to us as poignantly and moving as he first did when he was created in 1930. In a story titled Great-Uncle Joris, Bosman (aka Oom Schalk) tells of how at the time in the Marico there were almost as many Cape farmers, as there were Transvaal farmers, yet the Cape farmers were still regarded as unwelcome foreigners. Although they were all from the same country and fought in the same Boer War, each group considered the other group as “Immigrants.” And so, firmly split down the middle, they went off to war to fight a mutual enemy. The war did not go well, with each group blaming the other for the outcome.

Colin and I almost daily bump into yet another person from Gauteng who has moved to the Western Cape. Traveling from Botrivier to Somerset West last week, Colin got pulled over by a Traffic Officer. Colin had not done anything wrong, it is just that Traffic Officer had also moved to WC from Gauteng 3 months ago, and he when he saw a Gauteng registered car coming his way, he could not resist the temptation, and so Colin got pulled over for a “are you from Gauteng” chat. A bit of banter about how both experience their new environment, Colin was on his way again. And this is where the comparison to Oom Schalk comes in. I think there are as many Gautengers that have migrated to the Western Cape, but if we all went to war tomorrow, we will be firmly split down the middle.

As part of our process to have our title deed altered, we had to display a notice at the property informing the community of our intended sin, and to invite approval, objection, or comment from the community. This is entirely apart from all the registered letters we had to send. Notice board was duly displayed, and only a single comment was received from the Rate Payers Association, sternly warning us: “if landowners are going to continue challenging by-laws…soon enough those feelings are going to be bye-the-bye and Bettys Bay will just be another town down the coast.” Now what they mean by “bye-the-bye”, I think only they will know. Not even the Thesaurus could help me out with an explanation.

Perhaps I need to give some background to Betty’s Bay and how the town came into existence. I will leave out the bit about it being a hiding place for run away slaves and that it essentially was a whaling station as late as 1930. The bye-the-byes may not want this bit of history rehashed. Instead, this little spot was named after Betty Youlden, daughter of the first developer, Arthur Youlden. Those old bye-the bye-byes wanted to keep the area quite exclusive and as such placed restrictions in the land title deeds that made it quite difficult for newcomers with new ideas to settle in the area. The town, wanting to remain bye-the-bye, also refused fiber cables being laid in town. That is until lock down happened and all of town realized how they had collectively shot themselves in the foot. I eavesdropped on a conversation in a coffee shop recently, and the conversation was around how quickly fiber cables can now be laid. But back to title deed restrictions. To make sure that Betty and her friends would always have a nice little bay to bathe in, it was decided that under no circumstances will you slaughter an animal in Bettys Bay. (This coming from a town that slaughtered whales) So too, you will not use wood and iron in your structure (because, you see, surely run-away slaves did not use such materials to make dwellings.) And as for being just another town down the coast: that is exactly what it is, and if they do not keep up with current trends and developments, may find themselves a used-to-be-town down the coast. I hope that this bye-the-byeness only reflects a small part of the town, and that the rest of the town will remain as welcoming as we first experienced them.

Yesterday morning we were caught up in an extended period of Eskom darkness. I simply could not face another day of no electricity and suggested to Colin we do something distracting and drive out to our mountain to see how the diggings are progressing. Having done that, we had more time to pass, and we decided to drive down to the penguin colony, which is mainly what Betty’s Bay is known for: it’s very big African Penguin colony within the Betty’s Bay Marine Protected Area. It was early on a chilly Monday. There were no people (other than us) in sight. And when Man is away, the Penguins will play. There they were. Waddling along. All over the parking lot. Some marching from left to right. Others from right to left. Mother penguins berating cheeky teenage penguins. Baby penguins putting up a fuss at having their baby down groomed. A few fat uncles comparing tummy sizes, and a couple of grannies exchanging fresh fish recipes. They objected loudly when we tried to drive in the gate. Colin ended up bundu bashing through the long grass so as to avoid upsetting any penguins going about their important business. And in that moment, all the bye-the-byes flew out the window. Penguins do not care what registration you have on your car and could not care about title deeds.

Having upset the penguin colony enough for one day, we then popped in at a coffee shop we have never been to before. At the back of the coffee shop, was a small gift shop and there I bought a pair of quite unique house slippers. Friendly lady behind the till did as they do in small towns and struck up a conversation. She moved down to the Western Cape, and her small town where she used to live, misses her so much that she still gets utility bills for a property she sold over a year ago. We had a good laugh and shared our challenges with our territorial bye-the-byes. She too has a few of those.

Just as Oom Schalk had to contend with Marico issues, such as white ants and cattle diseases, so we have our fair share of niggles. At the end of the day, it is just a case of who can be more resilient. Newbies vs Bye-the-byes. While the whales were whaled, penguins did not stand a chance. Goliath towered over David. In the end, victory goes to the one that can adapt (or die) best. If a fiber cable could conquer, who are we to question our destiny.