Arniston

Arniston
Arniston is a small village near Cape Agulhas. Saddos like me will know this is the southernmost point in Africa, not the Cape of Good Hope. We are staying in the only hotel, rather good it is too.

Arniston has two names, the Afrikaaner one being Waenhuiskrans which means a cave big enough to accommodate a span of oxen and a cart. My Afrikaans is coming on a treat. For example traffic lights are called robots; but I digress.

The English name comes from the name of a ship wrecked here in 1815. The Arniston was a troopship carrying wounded men, families and soldiers from Ceylon to England. It was part of a convoy but became separated from the rest in a series of storms. The crew made a fatal error in their navigating as they thought they were west of Cape Town so they could head due north for St Helena. When they did so, still in appalling weather they were driven, onto the reefs near here. Only 6 survived out of 378. It was the worst maritime disaster until the Titanic.

The monument was raised by a family who lost all four children in the disaster.

The weather today, although hot, had a stiff wind that kicked up some great waves. Quite resonant really of a sad story.