Bloubergstrand is in the locality of Cape Town

Cape Town

Cape Town is the second-most populous city in South Africa, and the provincial capital and primate city of the Western Cape. As the seat of the National Parliament, it is also the legislative capital of the country. It forms part of the City of Cape Town metropolitan municipality...

 along the shores of Table Bay

Table Bay

Table Bay is a natural bay on the Atlantic Ocean overlooked by Cape Town and is at the northern end of the Cape Peninsula, which stretches south to the Cape of Good Hope. It was named because it is dominated by the flat-topped Table Mountain.Bartolomeu Dias was the first European to explore this...

, about 25 km to the north of Cape Town city centre. Its name Bloubergstrand in Afrikaans

Afrikaans

Afrikaans is a West Germanic language, spoken natively in South Africa and Namibia. It is a daughter language of Dutch, originating in its 17th century dialects, collectively referred to as Cape Dutch .Afrikaans is a daughter language of Dutch; see , , , , , .Afrikaans was historically called Cape...

 literally means "blue mountain beach" derived from Blaauwberg, a nearby mountain. Bloubergstrand is mainly residential and attracts a large numbers of visitors. The beach at Bloubergstrand is a popular location for a classic view of Table Mountain

Table Mountain

Table Mountain is a flat-topped mountain forming a prominent landmark overlooking the city of Cape Town in South Africa, and is featured in the flag of Cape Town and other local government insignia. It is a significant tourist attraction, with many visitors using the cableway or hiking to the top...

 across the bay. 6,9 km west of the coast at Bloubergstrand is Robben Island

Robben Island

Robben Island is an island in Table Bay, 6.9 km west of the coast of Bloubergstrand, Cape Town, South Africa. The name is Dutch for "seal island". Robben Island is roughly oval in shape, 3.3 km long north-south, and 1.9 km wide, with an area of 5.07 km². It is flat and only a...

.

History

A local hero, “Harry die Strandloper”, or Hadah, was the leader of the Goringhaikonas, who were the first people documented to live in Bloubergstrand. Hadah, his original name Autshumao, was taken to Java in 1629 by the Captain of the ship 'London' to be taught English. Because of his entrusted duties to deliver letters to the British seafaring community, he became the first “Postmaster” in South Africa.

In 1806, the first casualties of the Battle of Blaauwberg

Battle of Blaauwberg

The Battle of Blaauwberg, also known as the Battle of Cape Town, fought near Cape Town on 8 January 1806, was a small but significant military engagement. It established British rule in South Africa, which was to have many ramifications during the nineteenth and twentieth centuries...

 drowned when their boat was driven by the large surf into the rocky point at the end of Stadler road and it capsized. The invading British forces went on to defeat the defending Dutch forces and subsequently occupied the whole of the Cape Colony

Cape Colony

The Cape Colony, part of modern South Africa, was established by the Dutch East India Company in 1652, with the founding of Cape Town. It was subsequently occupied by the British in 1795 when the Netherlands were occupied by revolutionary France, so that the French revolutionaries could not take...

.This was a initial step in the major colonisation that then took place throughout the southern African continent.
Now a famous national monument, "Ons Huisie" (literally translated to Our Small Home) has a long and colourful history in the development of Bloubergstrand. The first dwelling of Frederick Louis Stadler. (Hence Stadler Road is the original street). Shortly after the Battle of Blouberg in 1806, he became owner of almost all the farm property that is now known as Bloubergstrand. The exact building date is not known, but a Thomas Bowler made a beautiful pencil drawing of the house in 1853. Hendrik Louis Stadler, the sixth son of Frederick Louis, was the owner of "Ons Huisie" at that time. His sons, Frikkie, Rozier and Johannes, were the some of the original founders of Bloubergstrand (the building is now a restaurant of some reputation)

From the 1940s a well-known writer of illustrated Afrikaans children's books, Helena 'Mollie' Lochner, who lived at the end of Stadler Road in "Die Groot Withuis" or the Lochner House, on the southernmost tip of the promontory. Her ashes are buried under the front step of the house. When she died "Mollie Lochner Huis" was bequeathed to the South African Teachers Union as a holiday home for female teachers but because of the high maintenance cost they had to dispose of it. Over the years it was changed beyond recognition, ultimately demolished in 2004 and a contemporary Westcoast styled guesthouse developed.
The large wooden cross out on the promontory rocks was erected in memory of the Bam family who lived in the same house before Mollie and drowned off the point in 1911.

Local traditions

The past continues in certain areas. Local licensed fishermen still use a small local design of rowing boat to put their nets out in Small Bay for mullet

Mullet (fish)

The mullets or grey mullets are a family and order of ray-finned fish found worldwide in coastal temperate and tropical waters, and in some species in fresh water. Mullets have served as an important source of food in Mediterranean Europe since Roman times...

 when the temperature and other conditions are favorable. They retrieve their nets manually, after which the fortunate locals buy this delicacy directly from them. A traditional way of cooking the “Harders” or Mullets

Mullet (fish)

The mullets or grey mullets are a family and order of ray-finned fish found worldwide in coastal temperate and tropical waters, and in some species in fresh water. Mullets have served as an important source of food in Mediterranean Europe since Roman times...

 after cleaning it at the waters edge with the seabirds enjoying a free meal, is to make a wood fire, put lots of salt on the external skin and then to “braai” or grill it to taste. The Mullet has quite a few small bones and needs to be carefully digested together with freshly baked bread or pap from maize, enhanced with a regional traditional jam. Sometimes another local delicacy, “braaibrood”, replaces the freshly baked bread. “Blouberg Braaibrood” consists of 2 slices of white, whole wheat or brown bread, on the outside, barbecue

Barbecue

Barbecue or barbeque , used chiefly in the United States, Canada, the United Kingdom, New Zealand and Australia is a method and apparatus for cooking meat, poultry and occasionally fish with the heat and hot smoke of a fire, smoking wood, or hot coals of...

d with onion, Mrs Balls chutney, tomato and cheese on the inside.
Streetnames in the Village of Bloubergstrand, since the early days, bear the names of well-known people i.e. General Sir David Baird, General Jansens, Commodore Sir Popham, General Ferguson and locals such as the family Stadler.

Sea life

The Bloubergstrand area falls within a Marine Nature Reserve and diving for delicacies such as Jasus lalandii (also called the Cape rock lobster or West Coast rock lobster) and "perlemoen" or abalone

Abalone

Abalone , from aulón, are small to very large-sized edible sea snails, marine gastropod molluscs in the family Haliotidae and the genus Haliotis...

 are not allowed. To catch previously well-known local varieties of Galjoen

Galjoen

The galjoen, black bream, or blackfish, Dichistius capensis, is a species of marine fish that is found only along the coast of South Africa. Length up to 55 cm, weight up to 7 kg....

 and Hottentot, the hopeful angler has to be in possession of a license. Seafood is popular including the local white mussels

Donax

Donax is a genus of small, edible saltwater clams, marine bivalve mollusks. The genus is sometimes known as bean clams; however, Donax species have various common names in different parts of the world....

. In season Southern Right Whales, occasionally Killer Whales, Humpback Dolphins, Haviside's Dolphin and Cape Fur Seals are commonly seen in the bay.

The beach

Bloubergstrand has a long white sand beach on the Atlantic ocean

Atlantic Ocean

The Atlantic Ocean is the second-largest of the world's oceanic divisions. With a total area of about , it covers approximately 20% of the Earth's surface and about 26% of its water surface area...

, with a few rocky outcrops where black mussels

Blue mussel

The blue mussel, Mytilus edulis, is a medium-sized edible marine bivalve mollusc in the family Mytilidae. In spite of its specific name edulis, it is not the sole edible Mytilus species.-Distribution:...

 are found. The water is cold due to the cold Benguela current

Benguela Current

The Benguela Current is the broad, northward flowing ocean current that forms the eastern portion of the South Atlantic Ocean gyre. The current extends from roughly Cape Point in the south, to the position of the Angola-Benguela Front in the north, at around 16°S. The current is driven by the...

 but the beach is popular with surfers. The bay on the west side of Bloubergstrand, known as 'Big Bay' has become a very popular kitesurfing

Kitesurfing

Kitesurfing or Kiteboarding is an adventure surface water sport that has been described as combining wakeboarding, windsurfing, surfing, paragliding, and gymnastics into one extreme sport. Kitesurfing harnesses the power of the wind to propel a rider across the water on a small surfboard or a...

 spot due to the constant trade winds bringing a 1-3m surf for a majority of the year. Big Bay Beach is also well known for the ease with which White Mussels ( as species of the family Donax) can be extracted from the sand by a process locally known as 'jiving'.

See also

• History of Cape Colony from 1806 to 1870
  History of Cape Colony from 1806 to 1870
  The history of Cape Colony from 1806 to 1870 spans the period of the history of Cape Colony during the Cape Frontier Wars, also called the Kaffir Wars, which lasted from 1811 to 1858...