This is one of the best Rube Goldberg machines I have ever seen. Trickshot expert (since 2014) Cree took one month to build this at his home, and another month to get it to work - that is a bucket load of dedication for the shot. The video was filmed in one take without any cuts or edits. I think it's incredibly smooth, especially with the aerial and fast moving shots of the course. Very fun to watch.
This is a few weeks late with level 3 lockdown restrictions announced this week, allowing the sale of alcohol from 1 June in South Africa, but I wanted to document this anyway as it tasted pretty good and it's my first attempt speaking to the camera. When my booz started depleting during lockdown, I went on YouTube to learn how to brew my own 'beer', this is obviously after I had conquered banana bread and all the other lockdown must-dos. I took what I thought were the best tips from multiple people and created my own recipe. Seven days later, the end result was fantastic. So much so, that we immediately started the next batch, the very next day. I'm no expert, but this recipe and method worked, plus it definitely had a kick, so it's worth trying, even if just to learn about brewing basics.
Pineapple beer making has increased massively in South Africa since lockdown restrictions banned the sale of alcohol. After the first batch of pineapple beer, we replaced the pineapples with apples and raisins with the exact same method and it produced a very pleasing cider drink.
The recipe:
4x pineapples (or apples and raisins for cider)
2kgs of brown sugar
2x 10g sachets of instant/brewers yeast
23-24L of water
The method:
Clean everything (scrub the pineapples with a brush)
Chop pineapples with skins and place in the brewing vessle
Pour sugar into the brewing vessle
Fill with warm water - only half way so you can dissolve the sugar (stir)
Fill the rest of the brewing vessle with cold water
You want the overall temperature of your mixture to be about 26 degrees celcius
Add both sachets of yeast (if the water is too hot, you will kill the yeast and prevent fermentation)
Stir well and seal the container, leave it alone for two days
Thereafter stir it once a day for five days
On day seven, you're ready, strain the mixture into another container to remove the pineapple chunks and then bottle - you can drink it immediately.
DIY airlock
The airlock is essential, I read you can use a glove, but it might give your mixture a rubbery taste, I tried this initially and it popped off my container, so I quickly made the airlock, details in the video.
For our December holiday we decided to break away from the norm and spend 4 nights on our own in the country. We chose Elgin and Greyton as our destinations for their proximity to Cape Town, but mostly for their small town, good wine and good vibes feel. Quality surroundings with tranquility.
We visited the Elgin Railway Market, which was nice and over New Years we stayed 8kms outside of Greyton at Oewerzicht, which was amazing and is perfectly suited to couples, groups and families.
Danny MacAskill has released his first video of 2020, he gets creative on his BMX in a personalised gymnasium playground, to show that staying in shape doesn't have to be daunting. Respect good sir!
The legend, Ken Block, is back with his gymkhana series, but this time climbing the most dangerous road in China, Tianmen Mountain. Not his usual hatcback, this time he is seated in a 914 horsepower Ford F-150 and although the road is narrow, he still manages to entertain in true Ken Block style.
Finally! After all these years, I've ridden a race track on my weekly commute. The freedom to ride without worrying about busses, potholes or oil spills on the road. I think two things - I'm glad to have thoroughly enjoyed it slightly past the usual comfort zone and lived to tell the story, and also because it's pretty much as others say, you learn from it and come out a more knowledgable rider.
The groups are fast, medium and slow - all first timers go in the slow group (only one with lessons).
4x 20 minute track sessions. Between each session, there is an advanced driving school lesson.
Groups are paced at different times in 20 minute per hour intervals, so it's like clockwork.
Overtaking is restricted to straights and the outside of corners, so you can hug the inside in peace.
As locals, it was lekker to experience the Wine Tram in Franschhoek on our minibreak. Along the way we visited Rickety Bridge, Moreson, Eikehof, Paserene and Le Lude the next day. We love Franschhoek, go there often and really enjoyed our first wine tram, bus and tractor rides.
Decided to venture far north this time to Scandinavia, we sailed from Stockholm, Sweden to Russia onboard Royal Caribbean's Serenade of the Seas. We spent two nights in port at St Petersburg before heading to Helsinki, Finland and then onto Tallinn, Estonia. The final stop was Visby, Gotland, whereafter we spent two nights in Stockholm. Days stretched to 11pm with sunlight, it was amazing.
Google went inside the largest model railway exhibit in the world based in Hamburg, Germany to create a street view version of Miniatur Wunderland. It has over 15km of railway track and 263 000 figures at present, now you can navigate some scenes online. Nice one Google Maps.
The Redbull Airforce wingsuit team recently visited the Drakensberg mountain range in Lesothu, South Africa. The video is a documentary style, taking you on the epic journey of their time in SA.
