So when I let Paternoster; filled with optimism and the random goodwill of others, I was a bit disappointed when the sky went from a crisp pool-blue to a kind of disappointed feather-grey. Worst of all, once I had circumvented the bay, climbed up a mountain in dress pants to get a good picture, and headed up the mountain pass away from Elands Bay, the clouds decided to take a momentary leave of absence. I would just like to say thank you nature for being a bit of prick. I mean I understand hurricanes, tsunami's, earth quakes and volcanoes. They have great special effects, wonderful marketing and powerful titles. However, people underestimate the life-destroying consequences of A Little Bit of Unfortunately-Timed Overcast Sky, now do they. Do you see how devastating it is, I can't even complain about it without sounding like a prat.
Oh well, back the story, let me tell you all about Elands Bay whilst trying to be a little bit funny, and entertaining enough to make you think I know what I am doing. This town feels untouched the raving need to build hotels and guest houses on any piece of beach that connects to major road. Which is weird because that is what the place is mostly; a very long strip of very pretty beach. It is 200 km out of Cape Town, which I found hard to believe. I know it did not take me that long to drive there, but I did put a few days into it. It was astonishing to me how much variety and natural splendour can be packed into such a small area. Perhaps the Garden Route really has been that long ago for me.
Once you arrive there are many things the website says you can do there, such as rowing, sailing, surfing, rock climbing, mountain-biking, bird watching, whale watching and fishing. Sadly I am rather adverse to getting wet, I don't really fish (oh I gave it a try but I just hate touching the things), so I took photographs instead.
Weirdly I found some of my favourite graffiti there. Not for the amazingly complex artistic talent it showcases, but for the reason I use for any kind of art, because I like it. To be fair, making me laugh did count in its favour.
The higher and higher I got up the coast, the more the grandeur of commerce felt like it was slipping away into a surrender to the grandeur of nature; where beaches are not beautiful from hotel windows, nor the mountains in need of illumination throughout the night. I am sure every one knows about the place, and of course there are very nice places you can stay and enjoy a high level of comfort; but it still surprised me. It almost made me feel like I had been living in the Soap Opera South Africa up until then, with its cosmopolitan expectations. If your not making thirty grand a year you're nobody. BMW is the only acceptable car to drive. To which country are you going to escape this terrible winter. Of course I am secretly shallow; if the woman does not look good on my arm then how can I expect to be respected, let alone be happy. These are the gross kinds of inaccuracies that get peddled blindly amongst the few who can afford to entertain them. Alas they would be trite and pathetic in almost all of South Africa, were the very few think they are the real face of the many.
Caveat
Yes I do like my metal, but it's kind of a bumpy relationship. More than a few times I get put off by repetition and jarring screams that drown out any semblance of melody. It has made me more and more apprehensive about going to metal gigs. I do the headbanging thing for a while, but then I wonder to myself .. am I actually enjoying the music? That's why when I went to Zula in Cape Town for Frontline I was blown away by Wildernessking's performance. They had the screaming vocals, but unlike many other bands that would get lumped into the same genre with them, it did not overpower the sound. Instead it was an accompaniment to a powerful melody. So let me tell you a bit about the guys, and the band I was lucky enough to sit down with for a few hours and chat to.
The Sound
They call themselves a Black Metal band. They definitely have a metal grounding. It has the kind of sound that hits the body, yet maintains a thoughtful melody. The vocals add a raw power to the songs that doesn't hammer the listener, but takes them on a journey instead. They are the kind of anthems you expect to hear behind an ancient army coming out of a snow-clad and black-barked forest, their breath hanging in the air. It is a mature metal that brings to the fold many different ways the genre can sound, without losing their own.
They have one full album, The Writing of Gods in the Sand, and an EP, ...And the Night Swept Us Away.
Give them a listen at Last.FM.
The Guys
Not only is their music good, but they are genuinely nice people. After I saw them perform at Zula I approached Keenan about meeting up, and I am glad that they took me up on it. I met them at the house of one of the band members, and the atmosphere was very chilled. I really enjoyed their company and the passion they had for the music, and the band itself. Some of the band members have jobs on the side and others are still studying, but they still put in the effort to make the band a success and the music sound good. I can't help but want these guys to be famous.They have a great attitude and I look forward to their future fame.
The members of the band are as follows:
Keenan Nathan Oakes - Bass, Vocals
Jesse Navarre Vos- Guitars
Dylan Viljoen - Guitars
Jason Jardim - Drums
The Beginning
Keenan and Dylan had a band called "Heathens" but when Jason and Jesse joined in 2011, they changed the name to Wildernessking. What really impressed me was how they jumped straight into writing an album with Antithec Records. Very often I see bands that play for about six months, get a bit of a following, but subject the crowd to the same set over and over, once in a while bring out a new song, and then only do they sit down and record an album. Now I know there are a lot of logistical reasons for this, but I take my hat off to Wildernessking for getting it done. It gave them a strong footing to start from, with a wide range of songs they can bring to the stage, as well as a chance to explore the sound of the band and solidify the group. From the get-go they took what they were doing seriously and were able to produce marketable product, aside from their live performances.
Writing
Now I have no musical talent, and all the writing I do involves me sitting down and deciding what words to put down before my editor tries to clean up the mess. So I was very interested to hear these guys write their songs.
They told me that they write their music together. There is no one person that goes off into quiet corner with a notepad and plans the next song. They work together, taking a simple riff or drum line and build on it. This collaborative approach works for them because of their relationship. There are no hard feelings if some one says "Hey I don't think that works," and they welcome the input from other band members. In fact they are exited to see what the other person is going to do with it, or where they are going to take it. They see songs as fluid, and can be approached in many different ways. They also like to experiment with different sounds and styles. This gives their songs more variety and depth.
They are exited for what will come from their new album. The album they wrote was the first chapter in their music, reflecting them at the time of writing it. The new one will be them now. Also, the way they are approaching the new album is a bit different. They are spending much more time rehearsing the songs, thus giving them more leeway with what they want to get out of the songs.
The EP was their way of trying something different, staying active and seeing what else works for them. One of the results from their feedback is that they are working on an acoustic set. This not only opens them up to many different venues and gigs, but also showcases their diversity.
The Scene
Coming from Port Elizabeth it as strange to hear them refer to Cape Town as small, but I see their point. With most scenes that have a niche appeal the crowd becomes rather recycled. Its not as though all of a sudden three hundred people are about to suddenly start going to metal gigs, unless they have a marketing genius at the venue. I have to admit, I have fallen into that trap myself: Oh look a gig. Do I know any one in that band? Should I go out and see what local music sounds like these days? Nah, I'll just stay at home, watch My Little Pony and drink wine.
No more, no more I say. Often we complain about the state of local music, or only talk about the bands we see on MK. If this does not apply to you, then wicked; but if it does, brush the Doritos crumbs off your chest, log out of Guild Wars 2, and go see a band.
The Future
I personally cannot wait to see what happens with these guys. They are planning to start touring next year. So if you want to see these guys in your town jump on their Facebook and let them know. If you do see that they are coming to your town don't miss it.
They are also busy with their second album and a collaboration/split album with The Great Ones.
In Closing Wildernessking is a great band, with a fresh and creative approach to the metal genre. They are a friendly bunch, and worthy of our support. Please check out the music video below, and a list of all the places on the web you can go and enjoy their music or share you comments.
Also the vinyl edition for their first album is available, mastered specifically for that medium. Apparently that gives it a warmer sound, but either way vinyls are cool, so get one.
Now, I have already gone into the general appeal of Paternoster,
but let me tell you about the one place that really made this little
fishing village a great memory for me. Seekombuis is right by
the entrance for Tietiesbaai. If they ask you to pay at the
boom, just tell them you are going to the restaurant and
they will let you in for free.
It is an open-area restaurant on the beach; the smell of the ocean mixes with the smell of freshly-baked bread, the smooth rocks stick out of the ocean like silent titans, old crayfish boats have been converted into tables. It all comes together to create an amazing atmosphere. Not only that, but the people who run the place are among the nicest people I have met along my travels. If you need some insider information on which routes to take then they will be able to help guide you in the right direction.
They have only been open for a year, but already they have got a strong local following. Perhaps you don't understand how friendly these guys are. So let me tell you about my experience there.
I stopped over for a beer, and told them about my plan to camp at
Treckosskraal. They advised me on which road to take, but also told
me that if I wanted to camp on the beach by the restaurant, I was
more than welcome. Come now, if that is not the nicest thing ever
then I don't know. Oh but wait, it gets better. So after I go and
check out Treckosskraal, I come back, and decide that I would rather
chill out there, chat to some people, have a few beers, and sleep on
one of the most beautiful stretches of beach I have ever seen in my
life. Things can't get any better than that right? Boy was I mistaken.
So at six in the evening fresh loaves of bread come out and the dinner service starts. Now, without provocation they told me that I have to taste their food, and they did not need me to pay for it. I realise that I told them was on a road trip and that I was doing reviews of places, but that was a surprising act of kindness. What was even better was the food itself. Smoked snoek pate with home-made apricot jam on bread that had only been out of the oven for five minutes. I was close to tears the food was so good
As the night died down, and we all made our way to bed, One of the ladies there gave me three beers, a big packet of chips and a chocolate milk for the rest of my trip. By that point I was so full of kindness if some one had pricked me I would have popped.
I woke up to one of the greatest views a person can hope for. I
would like to thank every one at Seekombuis for making my time in
Paternoster amazing.
For the last few months I could not so much as make a glancing gesture towards the West Coast. Part of my trip without some one mentioning Paternoster. What I found strange was the fact that they did not tell me anything about the place. The just mentioned it. Like knowing that it is there cements their pedigree.
"I am heading down the West Coast soon."
"Oh, ja, Paternoster and those places, lovely......"
"Riiiiiiight....what's it like down/up there"
"Oh its wonderful."
"No he's right hey, it's stunning, you can't miss it."
"Okay... I won't miss it then; I will be back in a moment, I think I hear my beer calling me."
-Actually Happened
The responses I got were more vague than when guys asked my if I was a virgin at 17, or when my mother asks me what I did during the weekend. A part of me might have gone up the West Coast just to see what the bloody fuss was.
I got into the town, and realized that almost all of the brands that I had come to recognize in the little towns were absent. The houses were in the style I only get to see in naturally sepia photographs, taken back when beards were cultivated with love and white people constantly stressed about unruly natives attacking their farms. I drove to a beach that had all the makings of a phenomenal photoshoot -- in the hands of a better photographer of course. The boats were coming in, and the locals were tying their motor-less boats to bakkies as they were pulled along the beach. Again I felt like I was seeing something that had been kept out of reach by movies and other fictions that told you that things a like this happened in the world, but you will only ever see them from the comfort of your couch and by the whims of your television. I was jolted back into reality by ever passer by trying to sell me crayfish. I don't eat shellfish, so it was easy to dismiss them.
These guys kept trying to sell me crayfish
There is not a lot to tell people about Paternoster, I will admit that. Though there are definitely things worth telling. If you go to Tieties Baai there is a Light-House that gives you a panoramic view of the whole area. Tieties Baai got its name, not for the smooth rocks that resemble a certain part of a woman's body, but from a pastor who lived in Jacobs Baai, named Titus. He was fishing outside Paternoster and sadly drowned. The bay was named after him. In Afrikaans Titus is pronounced Tietus. After many years of oral history, Tietus became Tieties. There is also a must see restaurant called Seekombuise, but I will dedicate an entire article to that next.
So why do people remember this as the Beacon of the West Coast? It could be the architecture, the beaches, the working lighthouse, the suggestively named beach; or it could be the fact that the place looks like it does not need you to go there and look at it. It is a town that does what it does. It did it before you rocked up, and when you leave it will carry on. In a way it feels untampered with. So I guess I am going to fall in with the people that will tell you to go to Paternoster when next you head up the West Coast. At least I gave you a good reason.
Not every place worth staying at will be found on a brochure. Let me tell you about one I as told about. Both the barmen at Pirates at Langebaan, and the owner of Seekombuis told me about a far about seven kilometers out of Paternoster on the way to Vredenburg. No you will not find it on Google Maps. There in lies the beauty of it.
This is a road that lead to a private stretch of pristine beach, were many people go to pitch their tent and camp. There is no running water or toilets, so its really ruffing it. Normally I would dip deep into my barrels of descriptive words and try and pain the pictures for you, but I thought that no matter how good i am at writing, I would not be able to do things any real justice so I took some pictures instead.
Now before you all abandon your hotel bookings, jump in your town cars and head out to the pretty little place in the middle of no where; there is a caveat. The road is not tar, nor is it a nice gravel. My Mazda 323 earned some serious hardcore points in getting me through this. There were times I had to take sand bank beside the road at a forty five degree angle, just to avoid the rocks. It's not about the bakkie you have in your garage, it about the bakkie you have in your heart.
So if you are packing a tar-eating 4x4 machine, then you have to take this detour, even if it is simply to justify having the petrol-downing monster.
Being on the road often leads one to into deep contemplation. Life, death, the hereafter; and how cool it is. Oh no; not in the black lace-clad, eyeliner-wearing, latex-sporting, poetry-in-a-cemetery-writing, dabbling-in-sadomasochistic sexual practices, Ann-Rice-reading goth way (which is hot by the by). More in the ten-year-old boy, comic-reading, nerdy kind of way. I am talking about Fossils. I dig fossils. I was the kid would collected the dinosaur books, toys; you name it. My uncle once took a one hundred kilometre detour on a trip so I could check out a Dinosaur Park. So when I found out that between Vredeberg and Langebaan there was a Fossil Park, I had to go.
The site used to be a phosphate mine which started in 1943. The phosphate was first used for armaments during the war the as fertilizer. The phosphate came from the Varswater Formation. Where today we have veld, there used to be lush forest. This was due to the the river that once went through the area. The Cape looked a lot different in those days. Table Mountain and Langebaan were an islands and we had some really cool creatures just chilling out by the riverside, but I will get to that later. When the miners were first asked if they were finding any fossils, they giggled, slapped their thighs and then mocked the scientists for their silly beliefs in giant lizards, whilst hurriedly lead them from the the dig site. This was because they were finding a lot of them, and if they had told any one, then mining would have had to stop and be replaced by painfully slow and careful excavation. By the time some one spoke up, about 80% of the fossils had been destroyed. So thank you bottom line for destroying a priceless part of our history. If ever I was not impressed by people making money in the past, I could care even less now.
But thankfully someone eventually spoke up. The large amount of varying species in one place lead scientists to believe that there had been a flood. This was substantiated by the fact that whale bones were found among the many land-bound animal bones. Though if you were to ask the guys at the History Channel, they would tell you it may be proof of ancient aliens. I asked the tour guide and she said "There is no proof that aliens were not involved," as well as "We could not replicate these finds today". I am not even joking, but I may have asked some leading questions.
Enough back-story; lets talk about the place itself. Tours are done every hour. I was the only one on mine, so I got the cute tour guide all to myself ... which was great because I could pester her with as many questions as I liked without getting the usual stare-down from the crowd. They also have a little museum filled with bones. My kind of museum.
On the tour you follow the tour guide in your car to the dig site. I have always wanted to see a real excavation site. So when I say I was a bit giddy, I may be understating it tad. Seeing as they have pretty much gotten all they can out of the site, they left it as if for educational purposes. There I learned just how cool ancient creatures were here in Africa. There used to be an elephant that had four tusks. I mean they had lower jaws tusks. Come on, how cool is that. Why couldn't that one have survived? Africa also used to have a bear, and it was huge. There were also three types of giraffes. One of the was the Sivathere, and it was massive; the length from its horn to its lip was the size of an adult man. One does not understand the size of these things until you see its bones lying bare before you.
After the lecture I was able to go outside and dig around in a fossil scratch patch. There were mostly shards of bone and tortoise shell, but it was still fun. I even got to check out the lab, were they have many different bones there for comparison. I even got to hold a real fossil. Not just some mold. I can now tick that off my list of things to do before I die. if you have young kids with you who are interested in these things, then this is a place worthy of stopping at. Our natural history needs to be explored and appreciated. Scientific endeavours need to be used for their educational value. Besides, their tour guide is cute.
