The mad things we did

[happy daze john in oz]

Those of you who served with UCL may recall we got a day off in Durban and two in Cape town homeward bound. Time to meet with the locals and enjoy their hospitality among other things. Watching something the other day about drunken behavior brought back to mind something that happened in Cape Town almost half a century ago, though it was not bad behavior.
Mike, Colin, Ginger and I decided to go to Sea Point beach for a few hours to enjoy some of the lekker chics there, it was about mid- summer so we knew there would be plenty there. On the way there Mick, being the resourceful guy he was, purchased a large bottle of Gin and some tonic. He had also 'borrowed' from the tourist gallop suitable containers from which to drink.
We arrived and spread our white UCL towels on the beach, stripped off and set out for the water. Mick being a cautious guy decided to hide the drinks in the sand. We enjoyed our time with lots of sea and sand and sun and fish in the water, the chics were great and showed promise. After a couple of hours we decided a drink was in order. As we all know the sand gets hot and anything in it also suffers from the heat. Let me tell you a quarter a bottle of boiling gin with a modicum of tonic does nothing for the anatomy, in fact it goes straight to the legs. St. Vitas would have been proud of the may we danced on the beach after that, though waking up a couple of hours later having laid out in the sun did not improve matters.
I have never been able to dance those steps again, not that I recall but I am sure they were great.
Must conclude now as I have the 8 to 12 watch in the fog locker tonight.

[alf corbyn]

hey there mr strange. i didn't go on the beach much in capetown as i didn't like to see the seperation of colours. black amahs looking after white kids but not allowed in the water. i preffered east london and durban. but i must admit we had very enjoyable times onthe baches. my first experience of surfing.i think that we owed a great debt of thanks to UCL for allowing us to have a great time and get paid for it.oh those memories john. thanks alf

[Captain Kong]

Good beach at Seapoint , Cape Town and a big open air swim pool right on the beach there, my relatives lived on the road almost facing the Pool and the other rellies lived up the hill on Regent road. I preferred the Pool there as there were more girls in a compact area. I still have a photo of some girls I was with in 1953, beautiful, BUT they will be 75 years old now. wonder what they look like now?. The Seapoint Pool was being refurbished and rebuilt in 2002.
The Orient Beach at East London was very stony in 2002 when I last went there, my hotel was facing the beach, now Bonza Bay near East London, has a good beach, loads of sand and spacious. with changing rooms. But the sea there is deadly with fast currents and tides. When we were there in December 1953 my mate was drowned and so was I , I tried to save him when he was swept away, he couldnt swim , he died and I lost his body and I was rescued unconcious by a South African lad on a line from the beach, I was taken to hospital and brought back to life then recovered. My rescuer, David Brinton, now lives in Scotland and we still keep in touch after all these years.
Durban was another good beach but in December 1953 a couple of people were taken by the sharks.

[Doc Vernon]

Oh yes all those great times we had on all those fabulous Beaches,me well i was lucky as not only when with UCL but as you know lived in SA,so had all the time in the World on the Beaches!
Yes Sea Point was also one of my alltime favourites,and i learnt to swim there at an early age thanks to my late Brother Greg,who while i was strolling past the Deep End just politely pushed me in!
And that was that,i just seemed to take to the water with very little problem!
The Girls as mentioned were abundent ,and one never seemed to have any troubles getting one in hand!
Then there was Camps Bay,the Beach that was always packed! Loved that place too,as there were always Topless Chicks lying around haha!
Three Anchor Bay wasnt too bad,but the Water there seemed very cold ,and the Beach wasnt too crash hot! But good place for catching a few small Fish !
Then its on the Train and down to Muizenberg,now that was a pearler,always a hussle and bustle,again full of lovely long legged and Bronzes Chicks,plenty of Surfing too!
The rows of various coloured Beach Huts made the place.
That is where i got so badly Sunburned,fell asleep one time and when i awoke,well i looked like a Roast Turkey!
My Skin all cracked on my Back and it took ages to come right!
Oh yes there were many Beaches there,and mosy all great!
Durban,East London,Port Elizabeth, But to me Cape Town was the pick!
Although i must say that Durbs came a very close second!
Used to also live on the Bluff in Durban,and go to Anstys Beach there,our House was on the Hill,and we could see all the various Liners and other Ships coming in through the Heads,what a marvelous site that was!
Thanks for the memories John!
Cheers

Pic
This is the view we had from our House in Durban!