How much does a polar bear weigh? Enough to break the ice – Hi my name’s Cat.
Sorry I can’t offer to buy you a drink or anything, but unfortunately this is the Internet.
Welcome to my virtual brain – luckily for you guys, it has a better filtering system than my real brain does.
But first.. me:
I was born in Cape Town, South Africa, four days before Christmas. I don’t get joint birthday and Christmas presents. I just luxuriously bask in a week of gift receiving. From a young age my parents took my brother and me travelling. My earliest travelling memory was when we went to New Zealand and rented a camper van. Apparently we skied, rode luge’s, and fed many ducks. All I remember is struggling with my car sickness and bruising my shin. We travelled about every 4 or 5 years, and while I despise flying (motion sickness), this sparked my love for travelling.
When I was young my dad would snap photographs of everything we did, everywhere we went. When we got home from our travels these photo’s would be displayed on the projector for our friends and family to see. As I got older, the travelling family camera was handed down to me, and there was a large gap of my life where I disappeared from any family albums.
My father would also write about our travels, documenting every day, and then ask us to fill in the details. This may have contributed to my love of writing, which has grown from just a talent into a passion.
My first calling is writing, but luckily photography is closely linked. For now, I have completed my Honours in Media Theory and Practise – where I focused on travel writing, political writing, and narrative literary journalism. I have entered the working world as a copywriter, but still aim for my dream that one day I will be doing exactly what I did when I was younger: travelling, writing, and taking photo’s, only this time I will be a professional (in other words, I’ll be paid).
At the moment…
My blog is a haphazard collection of my works, as well as one project I am focusing on: Living Without a Roof. These are a collection of stories of homeless people living in Cape Town. The articles come with pictures on an Instagram account @homelessincapetown. So give it a look see – there are people on there who’ve never had the chance to voice themselves before.
In my opinion any creative creation is successful if it sparks an emotion or a reaction – if it doesn’t, it has no use. So hopefully what you find here will spark a reaction from you – be it negative or positive I welcome all interactions, even cheesy pick-up lines.
(All written work, photographs, artwork, and other images in this blog are © copyright Catherine Franklin and cannot be reproduced without her written permission and consent – All rights reserved)
Catching Cape Town 
Hi – I read your article on beaches around the Cape. Was curious about Smitswinkel and Kraalbaai. I normally go to Glencairn, and love the warm water when the SE isn’t blowing sand everywhere. I’m skeptical about West Coast water, but your article suggests that Kraalbaai is an exception to the rule? You reckon the water is warm enough to swim?
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Hi Prinesh
I have to admit, I may have a slightly tougher skin when it comes to cold water, due to the fact that I am so used to it. However, the False Bay beaches are known to be warmer than those on the other side of the peninsula. I have swam at Smitswinkelbaai in Autumn and although it wasn’t like stepping into a bath, it was still very pleasant. It’s certainly not going to be as warm as the waters further up the East Coast, but it’s definitely warmer than Llundudno or Camps Bay. Kraalbaai, as it is a lagoon, and a fairly shallow one near the shore, collects a lot of heat from the sun and isn’t as influenced by the freezing Atlantic Ocean, so the water is a lot warmer. However, I would just recommend going to test it out yourself – even if you find the water too cold they are still beautiful beaches and well worth the visit.
Hope this helps!
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