UNITED COLOURS OF ARNISTON
The sea and the sky
To those who are familiar with the lovely towns on our southern Overberg coastline, the word “Arniston” conjures up by association visions of a myriad of Aegean colours. It is for this reason that artists, photographers, thinkers, and writers flock here throughout the year for creative inspiration for their work.
With just one glance out to sea, we see the deep cobalt blue of our African skies meeting the Indian Ocean with its striations of different colours: there’s the deep blue line of indigo on the horizon which then blends into shades of viridian and aquamarine. Closer to shore the turquoise colours lighten, sometimes turning to ochre, and where the shallows have a rocky bottom, there’s a mixed range of purple hues.
These lovely colours meet the muted whites of our sandy shores backed with cliffs of sandstone providing cosy nests for sea birds.
The dunes and fynbos
Turn away from the sea and stark whites of the coastal dunes stretch away into the distance, eventually mingling with the verdant blue-greens of our fynbos heritage changing to the shades of bluey purple in the distant mountains.
Kassiesbaai and the harbour
Up on the hill at Kassiesbaai, lines of colourful laundry flapping in fresh breezes, catch the eye. These create spots of colour among the natural hues of the historic white limewashed fisher cottages with their thatched roofs. And then a glance down at the little fishing harbour picks up the brightly coloured stripes of the fishing boats in Arniston Bay as they bring in their catch for the day.
The cave
From the depths of the Waenhuiskrans Cave, the view out to sea through the mouth of the cave is spectacular – the darkness of the cave making colours outside even more vibrant. Plan your trip at sunset if you’re able and you’ll see the gentle turquoise-blue sky of early evening change to pastels of coral and saffron which darken to a deep red-orange as the setting sun meets the horizon.
Watch out for the green flash – a 2-second flash of bright green light, caused by the dispersion of blue light, and described by Jules Verne in his 1882 novel Le Rayon Vert (The Green Ray) as
a green which no artist could ever obtain on his palette, a green of which neither the varied tints of vegetation nor the shades of the most limpid sea could ever produce the like! If there is a green in Paradise, it cannot be but of this shade, which most surely is the true green of Hope.
This brilliant green flash can sometimes be seen as the last ray of the sun passes below the horizon.